I did an interview recently with the folks at www.gamecritics.com. Here's a transcript of it.

Why did you write 360 Uncloaked?

I said that I would only do another book on this subject if I had a
good story. I asked myself if I had material that was worth another
book. And if I had the time and the access to write it. Everything
fell into place, so I wrote it. I just kept collecting more and more
material and at one point it just became clear that I had insider
material that no one had ever written about before.

2. What was the overall reception for Opening the Xbox? Did it impact
your decision to choose an ebook publisher this time around?..

It was a good seller for a game industry book. But it was published
through a traditional hardcover publisher. This book moved in real
time. It happened so fast that the only way to do it was to write an
ebook. I started much of my writing and interviewing in December, and
I finished it in April. By early May, the ebook and the
print-on-demand paperback were ready to begin selling. (The book is
available in either form at www.spiderworks.com). We hope to get it
into stores as well. If that happens, then the ebook serves its
purpose well. It seeds the market, then enables the paper book to get
into the stores.

3. What different challenges did you face when writing the second book
compared to the first?

This book happened much faster than the last one. It was good that I
saved material for four years, but it was harder getting access to the
team on a timely basis that could meet my deadline. We just barely did
it. There were also so many more people to talk to this time because
the Xbox 360 was a much larger effort than the original Xbox.

There were some people who I wanted to interview but couldn't reach.
Some didn't want to talk. Some required that I go through some hoops
with PR. I didn't have time to wait for them. When I was writing the
book, I would write as much as I could until I found a gap in my
knowledge. Then I would have to find some people to answer the
questions I had. Then I would resume the writing.

What made it easier and harder was that I needed to construct a
chronology this time around to keep track of everything and to see
what was the context for certain events. But the chronology was also
hard to construct from people who didn't remember everything or
remembered incorrectly. So I had to double back with sources and check
with them.

Another challenge was that much of the story happened elsewhere, in
Europe and Japan, where I didn't have the luxury of being able to
travel. I relied on phone calls and other journalistic sources for
that information.

4. The original team behind the Xbox or at least the idea of the Xbox
have moved on. How are the new caretakers of the Xbox different from
that original group.

I think we saw the transition become complete as the team became a
real team, not a diverse collection of different types of people. In
short, the gamers left. The corporate folks took over.  But those
corporate folks now have a lot of gamer blood in their veins.

This is very generalized and oversimplified. But I'll give just two
examples of what i mean.

Ed Fries was one of those who crossed the divide between game-focused
executive and Microsoft corporate lifer. He liked to run his game
division as he saw fit. He didn't coordinate his efforts as tightly
with the hardware and system software design teams as the other
executives wanted. This relates mainly to his refusal to cut short the
development of Halo 2 so that a Halo 3 game could be ready for the the
Xbox 360 launch. Ed defended his game developers against time
pressures, but he often put the interests of the game before the
interests of the corporation. After he left, there was less division
among the executive team. This is not to say that the remaining
executives don't care about games. Peter Moore has a good reputation
in the games industry. He has gone along with what the executives
above him want, but he is also in touch with what gamers want.


5. Microsoft made mistakes with the original Xbox. What corrections did
it make with the 360? What mistakes has Microsoft repeated?

It launched early, not too late, with the 360. That gave it time to
fix errors such as the manufacturing glitch. It designed a more
balanced box that was both powerful and not incredibly expensive. It
created a better-looking fit that was thankfully smaller than the
other one. It lined up more support from game developers and
publishers than it did the first time around. It eliminated the GTA
exclusive. It financed new game franchises such as Gears of War.
Microsoft clearly repeated a mistake in Japan: launching without the
right games for the Japanese market. Some of the games being released
don't look like nex-gen games. It was slow to replace many faulty
units, earning it a bad reputation for customer service. And there
have been some dry spells in the release schedule.

6. With all of the problems Microsoft was having gearing up for launch,
did Microsoft really believe it would be ready in time?

I think that many people underneath Robbie Bach thought that he would
allow them to delay the launch for various reasons. He should have
delayed the launch in Japan. But Bach was the one who was determined
to stay on schedule because he believed it was critical to the overall
strategy. So certainly he believed it would be on time because he
wouldn't allow small delays to add up to big delays. Others thought
that he really didn't mean it when he said there would be no delays.
Toward the end, as problems popped up, the Microsoft team had no
choice. They were going to launch.


7. What is your take on Xbox Live and Live Arcade?

I think they are both Microsoft's key advantages. But I don't know if
they are such big advantages that the other guys can't and won't copy
them. Live Arcade helps them make more money than they planned on, but
right now it's a small business. If it grows, the importance could
make a big difference in profits.

8. Why do you think Microsoft hasn't gotten a foothold in Japan? Does it
still perceive Japan as significant?

They should have launched with more and better games. When it was
clearly many of the big games were being delayed, Microsoft should
have delayed the launch. Now it has a lousy brand image in Japan.
Microsoft invested more money in Japan this time, so yes, Microsoft
sees it as important. But if they execute well in the other regions,
they could still grow their overall market penetration in this
generation. So it's important, but not critical.

9. You dropped a bomb revealing that Microsoft would be releasing a
handheld of sorts. Since then Microsoft has announced that it will be a
media device more likely to challenge the iPod than PSP. How serious is
Microsoft about the handheld videogame market?

This first device is likely to target only the iPod. I wonder,
however, if they're going to go after the gamers with a second device
in the Zune family. That would be a good way to attack the profit
centers of Nintendo and Sony.

10. What do you think of the Nintendo Wii? Where does it stand compared
to the 360 and the PlayStation 3?

I think it is the wild card of this generation. It may capture the top
market share, or perhaps No. 2. It depends on how much mileage
Nintendo can get out of leveraging creativity and the new controller.

11. After a tepidly received E3 press conference and months of public
relations gaffes, many journalists and industry analysts have been
critical of the PlayStation 3. Can Sony recover in time for launch?

Sony has a tough uphill battle to regain the undecided folks. Clearly,
they have a lot of fans who love everything that Sony does. For the
rest of us, charging a high price for the console is a slap in the
face. I think Sony will lose some share in this generation, but how
much is the question.

12. Of the three next-generation consoles, the Xbox 360 is the only one
without a motion-sensing technology in the controller. Do you think
Microsoft sees such technology as relevant?

I know that Microsoft claims to have tried it years ago. But perhaps
they were just caught by surprise. It may be relevant and important to
gamers, but it clearly didn't occur to Microsoft to innovate in this
area. Perhaps that is a side effect of being in a rush to go first.

13. Why is Microsoft releasing an HD-DVD add-on? It won't benefit Xbox
360 games and isn't likely to be profitable.

I don't know where you can get the assumption about the latter part.
Toshiba has argued the costs of HD-DVD drives are lower than Bluray's.
I think Microsoft wants to cover the bases. If they offer this option,
they won't necessarily lose the people who really care about this
particular feature. This is about matching Sony.

14. The industry has grown much in the years since the Xbox launched.
But the industry still shows great immaturity and videogame journalism
in particular. Do you see an improvement or shift with excellent
podcasts like GamaSutra Podcast (formerly Tom Kim's FatPixelsRadio), 1UP
Yours Podcast and (the slightly okay) Dean & Nooch on Gaming growing in
popularity?

You mention only podcasts in terms of the immaturity of the video game
journalism. For sure, podcasts are even farther behind. But I believe
there are a lot of institutions that are covering games closely now,
whether it's academic observers such as Henry Jenkins, big media
outlets such as CNN.com, or newsletters such as Next Generation. It's
getting better and it has some way to go before it catches up with
other big entertainment media such as sports or Hollywood-related
journalism. Our roots are with the geeks, and we're growing as they
do. Game journalism has to be about having fun and being serious.

15. Public Relations companies and representatives have a lot of power
in this industry--largely because it is dominated by the so-called
enthusiast press. Has this impeded your duties when covering the industry?

Sometimes PR folks make it easier for you. Sometimes they block your
path. When they block it, you have to try to go around them to get to
the information you need.

16. You've covered Microsoft and its Xbox. This makes you almost the
default Microsoft guy. Ever wanted to do something similar with the
PlayStation 3 or Nintendo? Did you ever try to but found harder to get
into the secretive Japanese companies compared to a secretive American
company like Microsoft?

I've tried to work more closely with Sony and Nintendo. But it's
harder, given my base of operations in Silicon Valley and because I
can't speak Japanese.

17. What do you plan on writing about next? What would be your dream
project?

I hope to take a break. I'll write an essay on the making of Halo and
Halo 2 for a Halo Anthology from Ben Balla books. But beyond that, I
have no books planned right now. There usually isn't a plan. It
depends on whether I can keep finding good stories to tell that are
best told in a book.