• Western developers were able to gain a foothold in console development.
• Online play in console games became an expectation.
• Xbox Live and the social gaming experience.
  
• The propagation of downloadable games and downloadable content.
• Achievement points.
• Halo.
• Gears of War.

• Western developers were able to gain a foothold in console development.
• Online play in console games became an expectation.
• Xbox Live and the social gaming experience.
  
• The propagation of downloadable games and downloadable content.
• Achievement points.
• Halo.
• Gears of War.

OMG NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Poor J.

Bury the suit jacket/sweat shirt combo.

Good article intern ;) You highlighted their contributions quite clearly, which are pretty integral to gaming as we know it today. I certainly do salute them. they did good

All legends must come to an end, salute.

Your news items are just too long for me. 
Also: Maximum verbosity.

Can you confirm rumours that Brad Shoemaker has taken time off work to come to terms with the sudden news of J.Allard's departure?
 
Otherwise nice read :)

I order two days of mourning for the very sad news. 

I was really, really hoping that Brad would report this :(

They have done nothing but great things for gaming and I salute them as well.

Awesome article. I am really digging all these news articles and stuff. Thanks new guys!

Not a fan of Allard at all, I always thought he came off as a dick. 

Someone should tell J Allard to buy the Alan Wake outfit for his avatar for the full effect.

Well this sucks. After all the enjoyment I have had with the Xbox and the 360 I have to salute them as well.

Fair thee well, you magnificent bald bastard.  I shall don my hoodie and blazer in tribute to your amazingness.
 
You think they'd give him a shower cap if he went in for surgery?
 
Also, is it just me, or does that picture of Robbie Bach look like a perp shot from an Amber alert?

A Microsoft tablet would be a waste of time anyways.  It wouldn't get any support after launch and nobody would buy it.  Just like the Zune HD...the thing has like 18 apps.  

Are chances of seeing J Allard on stage at the Microsoft press conference just went to shit.

Despite my hatred for Halo, it would be hard to imagine today's gaming without Master Chief.

Though I have no difficulty in imagining today's gaming without DLC.

Without J. Allard, no Alan Wake. Calling it.

I read about this rumor a while ago, sucks that it's true.

Dang...

Hmm, ok, yeah. Life goes on.

 Just to set the record straight, the Xbox isn't the reason Halo exists. Halo was well into development as a PC FPS when Microsoft stepped in with a big wad of cash to make it Xbox exclusive (or at least a timed exclusive).

And like I give a damn. 

Remember when we used to play games offline? How dumb was that?! lol!

Who are all these new GiantBomb writers? Is there going to be a more dedicated news team here now?

As much as I disliked the original XBOX, I can't deny that it brought forth a huge influx of how games are done now.  Imagine if we all were still stuck with Japanese-centric gaming.  The PS2 - while capable of doing much of what the XBOX could - largely ignored things like voice chat, hard drive functionality, dedicated online matchmaking, DLC, user profiles.  Not until the PS3 did Sony finally embrace these, and only because the XBOX and 360 made them an expected feature of a modern console.

So they mostly made a bunch of existing PC stuff work on a cheap, standardized PC.  Twice.  Then entered two console races with them and lost both times.  Then moved on to the Zune?  
 
There's a reason he's "leaving to spend more time with this family" or whatever, take your pick.  I think you're perhaps overselling how much gaming owes to these guys a bit.

Holy shit, J Allard is gone?
 
I don't even own a 360 and that seems like earth-shattering news.

i'm trying not to cry Bodega.  TRY ING  :) 
 
yeah havent heard from these 2 in a while so i guess this was bound to happen.  hope to see what they're working on in the near future. 
suit jacket w/ hoodie.  wow

"

Despite my hatred for Halo, it would be hard to imagine today's gaming without Master Chief. "

" Who are all these new GiantBomb writers? Is there going to be a more dedicated news team here now? "

/salute

As someone who bought and enjoyed everything Allard was involved with at the company (I had an Xbox, bought a 360 on launch day, and have had every model of Zune since the Zune 30gb on it's launch day, with a HD on the way right now) I'm really sad to see him go.  The Courier sounded interesting, and I probably would have picked it up when it came out too.

" Who are all these new GiantBomb writers? Is there going to be a more dedicated news team here now? "

This is huge news.  Only time will tell how this will affect the Xbox division at Microsoft.  But having it roll up directly under Steve?  Scary shit man...

How much does MS pay these dudes? It seems like as soon as they come into the spotlight they retire. Except this dude has been around for a while.

My reaction can only be expressed in song:
 

"So they mostly made a bunch of existing PC stuff work on a cheap, standardized PC.  Twice.  Then entered two console races with them and lost both times.  Then moved on to the Zune?    There's a reason he's "leaving to spend more time with this family" or whatever, take your pick.  I think you're perhaps overselling how much gaming owes to these guys a bit. "

From purely an achievement point of view those two were surely titans in our world.  They were proof that the Japanese cadre of Miyamoto, Kojima and the like didn't have such a complete grasp on the market. 
On a personal note, J Allard was proof that bald men look good.

ANNOUNCEMENT:
 
J Allard now has a Twitter account.

What does the J stand for?

" What does the J stand for? "

Today is a sad day.

It is a bleak day for the disciples of J.

Sony should hire them to design the next playstation.