What is everyone's read on Shawn Laydan? He seemed shaky on stage at 2014 e3, but at PAX and PS Expo this past year he was more laid back looking.
I can't say it is shocking that more PlayStation America people are getting higher positions within the video games divisions of Sony. I'm not enough of a business man to say if that is good or bad though...it just seems more logical to my layman's brain. Of course Shuhei Yoshida is great and I have a lot of respect for how Kazuo Hirai is handling the CEO position. They should keep Shuhei as an onstage spokesman for sure, he has worked hard to tap into the audience directly and through people like Greg Miller and Geoff Keighley.
I think Layden's biggest issue is he had to follow Jack Tretton. Jack had a smoothness to him. It seems like Layden is getting more comfortable with the position and managing the crowd at stuff like E3 and PSX. He is an authentic guy though. He's been with Sony and PlayStation forever, and there's stuff like him talking about Vib-Ribbon and working on the publishing side of Mortal Kombat II or III.
It was great seeing somebody good at Downwell. If I'm lucky I get to 2-1 and then die halfway through that level. It's a really cool game, but I know I'll never reach the bottom. (Maybe I should try the PC version with a gamepad...)
Nice article Jeff. I saw the 0.5 Super Mario 64 jumps video the other day and it is probably the most insane video game video I have ever seen. Tearing apart the game to the memory level is insane. Some games are probably more fascinating to look at than others, but seeing games dissected in that way is fascinating.
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