Peter Moore wears his career on his sleeve...or, more exactly, his arms. Sources differ on whether the Halo 2 tattoo he famously brandished at the 2004 Electronic Entertainment Expo is still there or not, but regardless of its current status, it reflects the brash personality he's brought to Sega, Microsoft and Electronic Arts during his time at each outfit. In August he was promoted to COO at EA, the position he used to have at Sega of America, making him once again one of the most powerful men in the game business.
He sat down with Japan's Famitsu magazine for a long interview this week, and -- despite the original Xbox's Asian struggles during his time at Microsoft -- Moore sounded remarkably upbeat about the Japanese market in general. "Japan is a very active market," he said, "and I think it's really got this spirit of always trying something new. The Japan game industry, in particular, is really unique in its passion and its cutting-edge technology -- those two things, combined, I think lets it run with anyone else in the world. I remember during my time at Sega, when Tetsuya Mizuguchi created Sega Rally; watching people have lots of fun playing it on dial-up. I really had to respect the drive among Japanese creators to always pursue new things."
That hasn't faltered any since the Dreamcast era he oversaw, in his eyes. "The level of Japanese technology is just as high as it was," he said. "The handheld market, in particular, has really matured, probably because the rail network is a fully-integrated part of society. I don't think portables have taken root so deeply in any other country in the world. It's a remarkable contrast from the US, where the culture revolves around playing console games on big-screen TVs in your large living room."
Even in the US, though, the major trend as of late seems to be going small -- with smartphones, social networks, and other forms of casual gaming. Moore, who oversees develop on both little iPhone projects and massive games like Battlefield 3, doesn't seem to mind. "What I can say is that the users always win in the end," he noted, "something I think the music market has made very plain. You had a retail music market that network distribution got driven into, and nobody had any idea how it would turn out at first. Now, though, it's transformed into a market where people can get the music they want more quickly and easily than ever. That's what we want to do at EA. As games go more into the cloud, there'll come a time when game services will be more tuned to user needs than ever before, something that I think Japanese gamers will be seeing soon enough."
It does seem that, overall, Japanese gamers are responding a bit more to EA these days. FIFA 12, for example, got 39 out of 40 points in Famitsu's review last month -- the highest score for any EA game ever, and a feat Moore is endlessly proud of. "I've spent the day going around shops in Akihabara and elsewhere, and I can tell that there's a major push for a lot of our titles," he said. "If we put in the effort on game quality, marketing investment, and branding, I think we've got to succeed. Orders on Battlefield 3 have been going well, and I think we'll have a really strong launch in Japan. We'll be releasing Need for Speed: The Run on December 1 -- Japan has a really developed car culture, and a lot of the best racing games have come from Japan. Along those lines, I think we'll take a triple-jump approach this holiday season with Battlefield, FIFA and Need for Speed."
Japan, as of late, has had a reputation as being a new "Galapagos" of technology, pursuing its own games and hardware and neither importing nor exporting much beyond its boundaries gamewise. Moore couldn't disagree with that stereotype more: "We live in a connected world, one where you can see all kinds of exciting things no matter where you are, and Japan is the same way. There's a lot that's unique about Japanese culture, but Japan isn't being left behind; they just respect their traditions. They're always on the cutting edge, and they're very flexible with taking in technology from the US and Europe. I really don't see this."
As proof of that, he brings up the Wii U, a system, he's characteristically enthusiastic about. "It's a very exciting machine and I'm glad to see it out there," he said. "I mean, a hi-def Nintendo platform! There's nothing that could make me happier. Its online capabilities are really extensive, too, so we'll be able to differentiate ourselves from the competition more easily with our sports lineup. We can't announce anything yet, but what I can say is that Nintendo is a company that's been producing new types of play culture for years. The 3DS and Wii U have taken on that DNA, so I really can't wait to see what kind of new surprises are waiting for us."
Where's the world industry going in the future? To Moore, the keyword to follow is "engagement." "Up to now," he explained. "the business model was to make advertising and try to spread it across as wide a range as possible in hopes of getting people to notice and buy our games. Recently, though, we've been talking more proactively with customers and selling products based on their reactions. There are lots of talented developers in the world, from Activision and Capcom to Konami and Namco Bandai Games, but we don't want to do the same thing as everyone else -- we want to build a foundation, like Facebook and Apple have, and use that to expand the entertainment opportunities for our customers."
Still no merger news, but Yahoo, Microsoft, and AOL have agreed to share unsold ?premium? display inventory among their respective ad networks.