What do you think of E3 this year? I imagine you were probably a part of the group pushing against the previous incarnation, because I know EA was a big factor in it. What do you think of this current iteration of E3?FG: We were just one of a bunch of people, so it wasn’t like we were leading the charge. At the end of the day, it’s the hardware companies who have a big impact. I don’t know if the show necessarily leverages the best efforts of the industry and its profile. I liked the way it worked before, but the way it was before was no longer really sustainable. I’m not sure that this configuration’s formula is leveraging the best that we have, but I think it will undergo more evolution.I know our experience is that it’s clear to us that we want to bring people to EA or go see them with our stuff in a much more concerted, impactful way, and also at consumer show opportunities, so we can continue to have that impact that that one concentrated E3 had, but not with the complete diversion and distraction of resources and time against development teams that was creating. Have you looked at all into the more casual MMO space? Some have been talking recently about how the game industry is getting beaten to the punch by web guys in terms of the casual MMO stuff, like Nickelodeon’s offering for instance.

FG: I actually consider them as part of our industry in a way. There’s an interesting collision between social networking and entertainment. There’s Second Life — is it a 3D visualized social network, or is it actually a game? I don’t really care — it’s fun! I look at PSWs [persistent state worlds] and at what Nickelodeon’s done, and there’s a whole bunch of really cool activities happening there. I consider that part of what we need to be doing as a company and as an industry. For me, it’s really encouraging.

It seems like Pogo was going in that direction with the downloadable games.

FG: You asked if we’re looking at it, and we’re definitely looking at it. We’re doing a lot of study on it, and we’ve been looking at a lot of opportunities. We’re encouraged on multiple fronts, having been in the MMO business before. Frankly, Pogo’s a pretty damn cool business. If you look at the behavior patterns of the women playing Pogo — it’s prominently an older female target — it’s the same pattern as a WoW player. They’re putting a certain amount of hours and money into their hobby, and the way that they’re looking at it is pretty much the same.

The New EA: An Interview With Frank Gibeau

Frank Gibeau Executive Vice President, General Manager North American Publishing (38 years old)
Mr. Gibeau has served as Executive Vice President, General Manager, North America Publishing since September 2005. Previously he was Senior Vice President of North American Marketing, a position he held since 2002. Mr. Gibeau has held various publishing positions since joining the company in 1991. Mr. Gibeau holds a B.S. degree from the University of Southern California and an M.B.A. from Santa Clara University.

As well you can find a review about the E3 2007 in the point of view from EA on Forbes. And a more explanatory article about the PS3 situation on gameindustry.biz.

… MJ