Microsoft's Moore Moves to Madden

Talk about leaving one evil gaming empire for another.

After announcing his decision to abandon his post as the key executive behind Xbox 360 (and prior to that, Xbox) development, Peter Moore has decided to join Electronic Arts' Sports division. In many gamers' eyes, it's like morphing from the Darth Vader of hardware to the Montgomery Burns of software.

Jokes aside, some reports are suggesting that Moore's decision has something to do with the Xbox 360's troubled reliability. Although the console currently retains top spot amongst next-gen systems and boasts the most impressive game library by far, it has long been plagued by overheating issues. In other words, when the Xbox 360 works, it's a great console. When it works. (Source: usatoday.com)

Moore denies that this, or the recent $1 billion hit Microsoft took by extending the 360 warranty to three years, were behind his decision to leave. Instead, he simply cites a desire to return to a beloved home town, stating "I couldn't be more excited about joining EA and moving my family back to the San Francisco Bay area". (Source: computerworld.com)

That decision might just be the truth, given evidence that EA filed for such a hiring with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on June 5, a month before Microsoft announced its massive charge for failed Xbox 360s.

Thus, the real story no longer surrounds Moore. As a master of the public image, he'll fit in nicely (if not, quietly) with the world's most dominant game publisher. It's the Xbox 360 throne, a much more visible seat of power, that will need to be filled, and fast. With the video game industry set to enter another busy fall quarter, it should be interesting to see who Redmond appoints to match wits with the likes of Kaz Hirai and Shigeru Miyamoto.