10:22 am PT -- We've taken our seats at Microsoft's GDC keynote -- they're very nice, but we're not sure where to take them yet. The pawn shop seems too far, so we guess we'll just push them to the front row.
10:23 am PT -- A friendly announcer asks us turn off all cellphones and electronic devices. Hmm, yeah, we're not convinced that's something you want to say to an army of laptop-wielding nerds.
10:26 am PT -- Loud James Bond music blasts us from the stage. Obviously, we now expect John Schappert to descend from the ceiling.
10:27 am PT -- It will be "greatly appreciated" if we turn off our electronic devices. Somehow, we suspect our readers won't share that sentiment if we comply.
10:29 am PT -- Jami Moledena steps onto the stage and welcomes us (he's polite!) "Change is the heart of opportunity in the games industry," he says. "The old boundaries of gamer, develoer, technology and social technology are starting to shimmer."
10:30 am PT -- EA Tiburon is the topic of discussion -- John Schappert's origin. After overseeing all of EA's product development, he transitioned to Microsoft to manage all platform technologies.
10:31 am PT -- We fail to applaud during John Schappert's arrival... because we're typing this. He has no TVs to give us, he says. We're leaving right now.
10:32 am PT -- "Like many of you, I started as a hobbyist programmer," says Schappert. He's talking about his computer geekdom (we struggle to identify).
10:33 am PT -- Remember Desert Strike on SNES? How about Madden '92? We're looking at them. How were we ever satisfied with those games? John's first game was Madden '94 -- "We shipped MANY versions of Madden," he quips.
10:34 am PT -- Production budgets have greatly increased since that time, says Schappert. "Thank you," says the screen behind him. The industry should pay its thanks to game developers, you see. (Note: just saw this press release announcing Gears of War 2 on NeoGAF. Real or fake? Wouldn't be much of a surprise if true.)
10:36 am PT -- "The developers are the true pioneers of our industry." Schappert says he's admired the Xbox platform for its pioneering -- the first to have a hard drive, Xbox Live, etc. US video game industry revenues are way up, according to the rather large graph appearing on the screen. Movies and music have been beaten.
10:37 am PT -- He calls 2007 a "blowout year." More Xbox 360s are on the way, says Schappert, addressing current Xbox 360 shortages.
10:38 am PT -- He lists some great games on the 360 -- Bioshock, Halo 3, Madden 08 (from EA Tiburon, *wink*), Guitar Hero III, Assassin's Creed, Mass Effect, Call of Duty 4. We haven't heard of ANY of these games, but they seem neat.
10:39 am PT -- Each of these seven titles sold over a million units each during the '07 holiday period, says Schappert. "They sell better on Xbox 360, because they play better on Xbox 360."
10:40 am PT -- 1The majority of titles are rated higher by reviews on 360, continues Schappert. Easier development and achievements give it the advantage. "The Xbox 360 community has unlocked over 1 billion achievements," says Schappert. An achievement unlocked sound (bi-donk!) is heard. Over $250 million has been spent online in the Xbox Live Marketplace.
