Is the Dream Really Dead?

[n4gix]

Is the Dream Really Dead?

Well, is it? Why would MS be advertising for this position if it were?
My informed opinion is that MS has simply decided to "clean the slate" and rebuild a team centered on MS's long-term goals...
Note the bolded text below to put at rest any supposition that it will be an "XBox360" title...

http://members.microsoft.com/careers...SortOrder=Desc

Job Title: Art Management
Job Category: Game Design
Product: Games
Date Posted: 01/30/2009

"Join the team responsible for building the most fun and rewarding flying experiences available on Games for Windows Live. Does working on a small, innovative team that delivers the most immersive flight experiences available today on the PC intrigue you? Our technology makes available entire continents - potentially the entire planet - for a detailed and dynamic 3D experience. We are looking for a Project Art Lead who can define, refine, and extend the visual elements while balancing the need for fun and approachability for a broad set of users."

Bill

[Leo112]

Flight Simulator from the ground up and you don't think it'll be an XBOX title. I think of how many years it took to get Flight Simulator where it is today (20+ years) and they're going to wipe all that clean with a whole new team and think it's going to work. Executives have never been known as great visionaries (those were the ones they let go), so having things in there capable hands is troubling to say the least.

[n4gix]

Les, read the job description with a more discerning eye...

The last sentence is pretty clear that they (MS) aren't scrapping the existing world model, but rather seek to "...refine, define, and extend..." it.

Also, carefully parsing the rest reveals that MS Game Studios (and by extension MS Corporate) have been hugely unhappy with the increase in user frustrations, and wants it redesigned to the point where the end user doesn't have to have an advanced degree in computer tweaking to enjoy the product!

[boxcar]

Also, carefully parsing the rest reveals that MS Game Studios (and by extension MS Corporate) have been hugely unhappy with the increase in user frustrations, and wants it redesigned to the point where the end user doesn't have to have an advanced degree in computer tweaking to enjoy the product!

That would indeed make a whole lot of sense. Thanks again, Bill. Just hoping that it's not mere flowery rhetoric & is actually substantial.
.

[mgh]

Of course it could be that the adertisment was prepared and submitted before the decision and was overlooked?

[n4gix]

Of course it could be that the adertisment was prepared and submitted before the decision and was overlooked?

Note carefully the date (which I even bolded): 01/30/2009...

Also note that I can only speak of things which are already made public, such as this job announcement.

[loki]

Well, here's to hoping it doesn't get completely dumbed down to the point that it is little more than an arcade game with fancy graphics. Less need to tweak would certainly be a good thing, as long as they don't throw out the baby with the bath water.

Kind of odd though that they would dump the current team completely and then start posting for new positions. Wouldn't it make more sense to move people over from ACES that have experience already?

[Bridget]

Well, here's to hoping it doesn't get completely dumbed down to the point that it is little more than an arcade game with fancy graphics. Less need to tweak would certainly be a good thing, as long as they don't throw out the baby with the bath water.

Kind of odd though that they would dump the current team completely and then start posting for new positions. Wouldn't it make more sense to move people over from ACES that have experience already?

1) Good sense and "management" don't always go together--ask Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac!
2) Not if they had lost confidence in the ACES team ability to deliver
3) They may feel that a "fresh ap[proach"s needed and that means a fresh team, coming at the problem from a new angle, also they may have felt ACES was too large.
4) The may have realized they FUBAR'd and are now trying to un-FUBAR

Cathy

[mgh]

I did see the date which I assume was the date it was put on display. My point is that companies can be fallible and that that the adertisement could have been prepared earlier and someone forgot to pull it!

Microsoft are currently advertising 23 positions in Games. Many are for Halo but none of the others seem to relate to anything like Flight Simulator. Having sacked all of ACES, a new Arts Manager will have a lot to do.

Please let have no more if only I could tell you what I know. It really doesn't impress.

[n4gix]

Please let have no more if only I could tell you what I know. It really doesn't impress.

It's not meant to impress; merely to inform. Read into it whatever you wish though; that's certainly your right.

Some have their nose in the tent; others merely have their's in the air.