Shane Kim: When I assumed this position in January, we took a very hard look at our entire portfolio of teams and titles and tried to decide which we really believed were going to meet that bar. We realized that frankly, we need to do better in the sports area. Now, as a platform, we're very fortunate because we've got great partners such as Electronic Arts and Sega. Sports is a very important category for Xbox. Of course bringing Electronic Arts to Xbox Live certainly helps, but the decision really had more to do with what was best for our customers.
Were the negotiations with EA in bringing their titles to Xbox Live a determining factor in canceling MGS sports games this year?
Shane Kim: EA wanted to bring their titles to Xbox Live even if we were doing XSN sports titles this year. Xbox and Xbox Live wanted to have EA titles on Xbox Live even if we were doing XSN sports titles. At the end of the day, regardless of the philosophical or business differences that may have been real or imagined, everybody listened to their customers. These same customers who love the EA franchises believe that the games play better and look better on Xbox and they want to be able to play them on Xbox Live.

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