January 13, 2022 • 26 mins
Siri Daly is the Founder of Siriously Delicious, Food Blogger, recipe developer, self taught cook, author of "Siriously Delicious": 100 Nutritious (and not so Nutritious) Simple Recipes for The Real Home Cook, she's also the wife of Carson Daly.
Robbie Bach is best known for founding and leading the team that created the Xbox. Today he is an entertaining storyteller and catalyzing voice who writes books and speaks to audiences on leadership, creativity, strategy, and civic issues.
During his twenty-two years at Microsoft, Robbie worked in various marketing and business management roles—including supporting the successful launch and expansion of Microsoft Office and leading the creation and development of the Xbox business. Then as Microsoft’s President of the Entertainment and Devices Division, he was responsible for the company’s worldwide gaming, music, video, phone, and retail sales businesses until he retired in 2010.
Robbie Bach is best known for founding and leading the team that created the Xbox. Today he is an entertaining storyteller and catalyzing voice who writes books and speaks to audiences on leadership, creativity, strategy, and civic issues.
During his twenty-two years at Microsoft, Robbie worked in various marketing and business management roles—including supporting the successful launch and expansion of Microsoft Office and leading the creation and development of the Xbox business. Then as Microsoft’s President of the Entertainment and Devices Division, he was responsible for the company’s worldwide gaming, music, video, phone, and retail sales businesses until he retired in 2010.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:01):
Hi, I'm Wendy Lowie Sloane,and this is What's Up with Wendy's Podcast.
I just wanted to tell you alittle bit about myself. I began
my career in New York City asa television producer for talk show legends Phil
Donahue and Heraldo Rivera, and forthe last decade, I've used these experiences
to create my unique style in interviewinghundreds of a list celebrities, newsmakers,
(00:22):
comedians, musicians, reality stars,fitness and nutrition experts, best selling authors,
and so much more. So.I hope you enjoy this wide variety
on my podcast. I hope you'llshare and subscribe, and again, thanks
for tuning in. Welcome to thefirst episode of What's Up with Wendy's Podcast
of two twenty two. Happy NewYear, everybody, and welcome my guest
(00:44):
today. She is Carson Daily's wife, the founder of Seriously Delicious and author
of the cookbook Seriously Delicious. She'sa food blogger, recipe developer, and
self talk cook and also mom tofour kids with Carson Daily. Also joining
me is Robbie Back. If youdon't know him, he is best known
for leading the team that brought Xboxto life on November fifteenth, two thousand
(01:04):
and one. Fast forward twenty yearslater. Today, more than three billion
people play games around the world,and gaming is a two hundred billion industry
and the fastest growing form of entertainment. Robbie is now celebrating the twentieth anniversary
of Xbox and all that it started, and we'll talk about that and so
much more, and the release ofhis new book. Thanks for joining me,
(01:25):
don't forget to subscribe and tell allyour friends Happy New Year. She
is the founder of Seriously Delicious,author of the cookbook Seriously Delicious, and
she is a food blogger, recipedeveloper, self talk cook and mom.
Welcome to my show, Sirie Dearly. Thank you for having me. Wendy,
thank you for being here. Howare you? How are the kids?
(01:46):
How's Carson? How's life been?We are all good. We're all
hanging in there, you know,getting ready for the new year, and
it's busy, but everything's everything's great, thank God. And everyone stayed healthy.
Yes, yes, where we're allgood. Um, yeah, just
taking a day by day. Iknow that's all we can do now,
(02:07):
right. We don't know what tomorrowbrings, but we're just going to do
that when your when did your loveof cooking first begin? Oh, probably
as a like real little kid.My mom and my dad they love to
cook. My extended family loves tocook. It's just always been about,
you know, gathering around the kitchenand gathering around a meal. So,
(02:28):
um, it was definitely at ayoung age and it just kind of flourished
from there. I've just always beena real, you know, passionate cook,
and I just love to try newthings and experiments and make mistakes and
learn from them. So you're thefounder of Seriously Delicious. It's perfect,
perfect, great titles, very catchy, a popular food blogs that chronicles real
life cooking. How did that allcome to be? Um, it was
(02:53):
probably when I had my first son, who's now twelve years old. I've
found myself at home in a domesticsituation where I was you know, trying
to you know, feed a familyevery night, and I wanted to really
actually record what I was doing.So that's kind of how it started,
and then it's kind of went fromthere. I've always had a real interest
in writing as well. I didthat, you know, in television back
(03:15):
in the day, so I wantedto you know, kind of chronicle um,
what I was cooking and trying,because I really think that, you
know, the whole culinary process isabout telling a story. So that's kind
of where the blog came, That'sthat's where the cookbook came. Just I've
always been interested in in the storiesthat food offers. It's so funny because
(03:37):
so many people that I've interviewed thathave authored cookbooks and have written cookbooks and
everything else, they've always said thatit's like food tells a story, like
it tells the story. And ofcourse kitchen is the heart of the home
where it all begans. So whatare some of the tips to involve kids
and the meal prep time, becauseI think it makes it more fun for
everybody, right, absolutely, yes, I think that they're much more willing
(03:59):
to eat what they're making if they'reinvolved in the process. So for instance,
we try to pick a day andmake you know, a snack or
a few snacks that they can havethroughout the week, whether that be like
mini banana muffins or apples, sannaranola bars. If they're you know,
cooking with you, they're definitely goingto be more willing to want to eat
them throughout the weeks. That makesa lot of sense, right, Yeah,
(04:24):
So I mean I have to letgo of my control issues because I'm
a eat freak. But gotta letthem get messy. That's what they say.
You gotta let them get messy.And what about if they're very picky
eaters. That's also hard. Ohyeah, I definitely have some picky eaters.
I just I have to keep remindingmyself that their palets are evolving,
they're changing, So I have totry ingredients multiple times because sometimes maybe they
(04:47):
won't like it, but a weeklater they will, or even the next
day if you prepare it differently.So like my daughter will have a banana.
I mean I'm a banana and anapple. It's in peanut butter,
but not on its own. Soit's just never a process of, you
know, not giving up and letand letting them try different things. It's
funny because I remember when I wasa kid, I used to like put
things under the table for the dogbecause I didn't want to eat my vegetables
(05:10):
or eat things. I tried notto take that mistake with Mike with my
kids, so you don't dog nopackard. Um, what are the five
most important ingredients to have in akitchen. Oh, that's an interesting question.
Um hmmm. I feel like Imean what I'm using on a everyday
(05:34):
basis is like obviously olive oil.Um, as far as my kids are
involved, you know, I thinkspinach is actually a great ingredient because you
can use it in so many differentways. I have a a recipe that
has spinach and um, juicy juice, white grape juice and um. If
(05:55):
you like blend spinach with with wonderfulthings like that, like fruit juices that
they hance the flavor. Um,they're not going to hide the ingredients.
So anyway, I have to finisheda lot um. Let's see, Greek
yogurt actually is a big stable becauseI feel like it's a great substitute for
things like mayonnaise or sour cream,um, to make things creamy. Um.
You said five, right? Howam I doing? Yeah? You
(06:17):
do you have anything? I'm abig fan of olive oil too. I
started that, I think like justa few years ago. I'm like,
why wasn't I always using olive oilfor everything? I know? And it's
great instead of butter for instance,Like I'll use it that a lot um
talco the chips because that's yeah,it's okay, so go ahead. I'm
(06:39):
sorry, as you justested, I'mtalking to a handful a handful of Talco
the chips that's at the end ofthe night, like I just have to
so um, yeah, that's agood thing to have. If you just
turned. I'm talking to Sarah Dailey. We're talking about simple recipes and things
about the kitchen and cooking. Whatare what are some of your simple simple
like a staple in your house,like it's for lunch, Um, for
(07:02):
lunch. Let's see, Well,for my kids, um, they love
to do cautesdias, you can youcan always sneak in some like protein or
veggies and quetodillas. Um. Formyself, I have a salad almost every
day. Um. But and let'ssee for my like toddler, smoothies are
great because you know you can addso much to smooties. I lose smoothie
(07:26):
bowls. Um. I cook alot, like I said earlier, with
juicy juice, and I make alot of different smooties or popsicles with um
uh, different flavors of the juice. So yeah, I think that Um,
so probably I can just I couldjust see your house now the kids
are always popping into the kitchen andthen there's always something there for them to
(07:46):
eat and for them to try andsomething of new, so it's kind of
fun for them. Yeah, wellsomeone's always hungry, right right, will
the will there be another cookbook?Um? Maybe down the line. I'm
you know, I still have aone month old and she's you know,
consuming most of my time at themoment. But I definitely I think that
I would love I would love toois the answer? And your favorite lastly
(08:09):
and your favorite thing to blog about? Um, I mean just life.
Like what I'm I try to keepeverything very general and very organic to what's
happening in the present moment. Ilove to try new things and experiments and
uh, you know, recipe developedso latest trends, all that kind of
(08:30):
stuff. I don't know where youfind the time to do all this,
but you do do it. Youdo it great. So the book seriously
delicious. I think everyone should getit. It's a really wonderful book.
I have picked it up. It'sterrific. So we look forward to seeing
the next one and see what's next. And thank you. Any other last
minute tips you want to share withus right now? I have a sweep
six going with Juicy Juice, soyou can check that out. If you
(08:52):
go to juicyjuice dot com last SeriouslyFun, you can win a signed copy
of my book and one hundred dollarstowards grocer to check that out as well.
Oh that's awesome. Thank you somuch. Send our love to Carson
and the kids. I will thanksWendy, thanks so much. That's him
for leading the team that brought Xboxto life on November fifteenth, two thousand
(09:13):
and one. Now fast forward twentyyears. Today, more than three billion
people play games around the world,and gaming is a two hundred billion,
two hundred billion industry and the fastestform of entertainment. It's pretty amazing celebrating
twenty years of Xbox and all thatit started, and some and his new
(09:33):
book. Welcome to My show,Robbie Bach, I Wendy, good to
be on with Good to be onwith you too. So okay, So
when I first saw you coming acrossmy screen Xbox from like my son's twenty
one years old. He's been playingXbox for as long as I can remember.
Xbox is a theme in my house. He's in college now, so
(09:54):
he's on and off, but thenhe's like, well, I don't have
them any classes next semester, soI'll probably get on Xbox again. And
it's the funniest part is, Um, there's a group of his studdies that
my daughter and I call um hisXbox friends. So um crazy, tell
me, um the launch of Firstof all, tell me the launch of
your first work of fiction. Let'sstart with that. Well, So the
(10:18):
book is called The Wilson Surrection andit's a sort of a techno thriller.
Is a book about an anarchist whobrings down an airplane. The crash lands
at an air force base. Mymajor character, Major Temika Smith, is
there to save people from the plane, and that starts us on a journey
(10:39):
where this anarchist is trying to tearapart the country and a group of people,
led by Tamika rise up to tryto protect the nation and and and
capture him. And you know it, it comes out of that Xbox background,
right. I learned a lot aboutcreativity, a lot about storytelling,
a lot about character development during mytime on Xbox, and you know that's
(11:00):
enabled me to to to write thisbook that really draws on that experience plus
my real life experience to create.You know what I think from what reviewers
have said, is a great thriller. It sounds like it's going to be
a great book. A difference betweenwriting fiction versus nonfiction a huge difference.
I wrote a non fiction business strategybook in twenty fifteen called Xbox Revisited,
(11:26):
which was about my Xbox story writtenfrom a strategy perspective, and you know,
that was fun. I learned towrite, and it's well written and
all those kinds of things, andI said, Okay, I can.
I can actually write. But there'sno dialogue, there's no scene distriction,
there's no character development, there's noplot. These are all things that have
(11:46):
to come together in a fiction story. And then you add the thriller elements,
which requires great pacing and twists andall those kinds of things. So
I think they're completely different. Oneis hard because the content has to be
real and valuable. That's the nonfiction start. And then the fiction part
is hardy because you have to makemake up the world and make up the
(12:07):
characters and draw people in. That'scrazy. So I'm excited to rejoin his
both assuaged way to me you guessI'm talking to Robbie Back. He is
best known for a bounding and leadingthe team that created the Xbox twenty two
years at Microsoft. So how didXbox even begin? How did all this?
How did the journey take us wayback? Yeah, so if you
go back to nineteen ninety nine,Sony was introducing a product called the PlayStation
(12:31):
two and they were calling it aPC in the living room, and of
course the one Microsoft here PC inthe living room, and they say,
no, that's what Microsoft does,Sony. You know that we need to
go compete with that. And sothere were a couple of groups that had
already been throwing around some ideas ongaming consoles, and we met with Bill
Gates, and Bill reviewed their technicalplans and picks up technical strategy, and
(12:54):
a group of people that were inmy organization went off and drew up a
plan. That plan got approved andpretty soon I was chief Xbox officer.
And you know, I'm a guywho I'm a guy who who loves the
gaming business but doesn't play video games. So that started a really crazy,
crazy journey. But you know,certainly the best ten years of my professional
(13:16):
life. I mean, can youbelieve that how popular it is with the
kids of all ages. Yeah,it's what's happened in the video game space.
He used to think of it asthe teenage boy in the basement playing
a video game by himself, andnow it's a community and people. You
know, the biggest thing we createdan Xbox was Xbox Live, which was
(13:37):
this community of players, and thathas now just blossomed into a whole whole
world, so to speak. Um, and you and now you have people.
This is the part of my mind. People going to stadiums to watch
other people play video games. It'scompletely crazy. And so when I when
I think about when I think aboutthat evolution, and then I think about
(14:00):
writing this fiction novel, you say, wow, who could have imagined in
nineteen ninety nine that that would becreated? And so when I was starting
to write The Wilkes Insurrection, Isaid, all right, I got to
write something that is craving us thatpeople can't imagine it happening, and then
it becomes real and right, youknow, and it's a it's a super
exciting process. Hey, I can'timagine. I wanted to ask you about
(14:22):
that, like, what is thatlike? Like, you guys all sit
in a room and with computer screensand stuff like, how does that work?
No, it's it's I really likethat at all. It's um,
when you're creating, you know,when you're creating a video game. Um,
and and you know, look,I'm not the guy doing the creation
process, right, but when whenI watched the teams create those games,
it is like somebody creating a movieor somebody writing a book. Um.
(14:48):
You have to have an idea ofa plot, so people have to write
out a plot. You have tohave characters, so people have to write
characters, and then an artist actuallyhave to draw those characters literally, and
then they have to turn that drawinginto a computer rendering. And oh,
by the way, you know,if you know the game Halo, everybody
knows the Halo themes, so somebodyhas to write that theme music. When
(15:09):
you're when your son's down there playingand you hear the music, go oh
gosh, he's playing Halo, right, So all that have to come together
and it's like a Broadway production,except that then have to be done digitally.
Um. Yeah, he's into thegame, the basketball game. So
I remember when he was much younger, every time I knew one would come
out, and the next one wouldcome out. We have to be on
(15:30):
and then you can get them.It's crazy. Yeah. And I always
tell people that the video game spaceis sort of a cross between a Hollywood
and Silicon Valley and and and Ithink it's what makes it, to me,
the most interesting form of entertainment.So with the book, you know,
(15:50):
you as an author, you tryreally hard to bring that same level
of engagement, that same level ofexcitement, that same desire not to put
it down that you get the videogame and that's a really interesting chambers.
That's exciting. Yeah, that's whata journey you've been on. What's next,
Well, it's a good question,you know. I'm I do a
lot of nonprofit board work, I'ma small business owner. I do a
(16:14):
lot of public speaking, and youknow, I hope to write another book.
We'll see. I think the charactersmajor timau Dismiss and a number of
other characters in the Wilson Surrection,you know, probably deserve a sequel.
And then I just have to sortof take a deep breath and muster the
energy to do it again, whichyou know is hard, but I think
it could be really rewarding. Ibet it can be so roddy. Where
(16:36):
can we get your book? Sothe easiest way to get obviously you get
the book at any retail or anyonline retailer, but you can also just
go to Wilkson Surrection dot com.There's a video trailer there that describes a
book. There's character descriptions, thereare music playlists for all the characters,
so if you love music, that'sa great place to go. And then
there's a link to to order thebook from any any of the major retailers
(16:59):
and a lot of Itto and Itsstores as well, so it's broadly available
and felling welcome. Awesome. Whata pleasure to talk to you and to
hear your story and I can lookfar ad to reading your book. Thanks
very much, pleaciate for having meon. Yeah, thanks so much.
Thanks so much for joining me onthis episode of What's Up with Wendy's podcast.
If you love this episode, headover to iTunes or Spotify or your
(17:22):
favorite platform to subscribe and leave areview. If you want, Please also
follow me on Instagram, Twitter,and Facebook at What's Up with Wendy.
And you can also learn more aboutmy podcast and about me on my website,
What's Up with Wendy dot com.Until next time. This is Wendy
Lowie Sloan and I really hope youenjoyed my podcast and I hope you'll keep
on listening and most importantly, keepbeing kind. Thanks so much, thanks
(26:18):
for joining me for this episode ofWhat's Up with Wendy. If you love
this episode, head over to iTunesor your favorite platform to subscribe, rate,
and leave a review. Please alsofollow me on Instagram, Twitter,
and Facebook at What's Up with Wendy. And you can learn more about me
and my podcast on my website,What's Up with Wendy dot com. And
remember, only you can make youhappy.
Hi, I'm Wendy Lowie Sloane,and this is What's Up with Wendy's Podcast.
I just wanted to tell you alittle bit about myself. I began
my career in New York City asa television producer for talk show legends Phil
Donahue and Heraldo Rivera, and forthe last decade, I've used these experiences
to create my unique style in interviewinghundreds of a list celebrities, newsmakers,
(00:22):
comedians, musicians, reality stars,fitness and nutrition experts, best selling authors,
and so much more. So.I hope you enjoy this wide variety
on my podcast. I hope you'llshare and subscribe, and again, thanks
for tuning in. Welcome to thefirst episode of What's Up with Wendy's Podcast
of two twenty two. Happy NewYear, everybody, and welcome my guest
(00:44):
today. She is Carson Daily's wife, the founder of Seriously Delicious and author
of the cookbook Seriously Delicious. She'sa food blogger, recipe developer, and
self talk cook and also mom tofour kids with Carson Daily. Also joining
me is Robbie Back. If youdon't know him, he is best known
for leading the team that brought Xboxto life on November fifteenth, two thousand
(01:04):
and one. Fast forward twenty yearslater. Today, more than three billion
people play games around the world,and gaming is a two hundred billion industry
and the fastest growing form of entertainment. Robbie is now celebrating the twentieth anniversary
of Xbox and all that it started, and we'll talk about that and so
much more, and the release ofhis new book. Thanks for joining me,
(01:25):
don't forget to subscribe and tell allyour friends Happy New Year. She
is the founder of Seriously Delicious,author of the cookbook Seriously Delicious, and
she is a food blogger, recipedeveloper, self talk cook and mom.
Welcome to my show, Sirie Dearly. Thank you for having me. Wendy,
thank you for being here. Howare you? How are the kids?
(01:46):
How's Carson? How's life been?We are all good. We're all
hanging in there, you know,getting ready for the new year, and
it's busy, but everything's everything's great, thank God. And everyone stayed healthy.
Yes, yes, where we're allgood. Um, yeah, just
taking a day by day. Iknow that's all we can do now,
(02:07):
right. We don't know what tomorrowbrings, but we're just going to do
that when your when did your loveof cooking first begin? Oh, probably
as a like real little kid.My mom and my dad they love to
cook. My extended family loves tocook. It's just always been about,
you know, gathering around the kitchenand gathering around a meal. So,
(02:28):
um, it was definitely at ayoung age and it just kind of flourished
from there. I've just always beena real, you know, passionate cook,
and I just love to try newthings and experiments and make mistakes and
learn from them. So you're thefounder of Seriously Delicious. It's perfect,
perfect, great titles, very catchy, a popular food blogs that chronicles real
life cooking. How did that allcome to be? Um, it was
(02:53):
probably when I had my first son, who's now twelve years old. I've
found myself at home in a domesticsituation where I was you know, trying
to you know, feed a familyevery night, and I wanted to really
actually record what I was doing.So that's kind of how it started,
and then it's kind of went fromthere. I've always had a real interest
in writing as well. I didthat, you know, in television back
(03:15):
in the day, so I wantedto you know, kind of chronicle um,
what I was cooking and trying,because I really think that, you
know, the whole culinary process isabout telling a story. So that's kind
of where the blog came, That'sthat's where the cookbook came. Just I've
always been interested in in the storiesthat food offers. It's so funny because
(03:37):
so many people that I've interviewed thathave authored cookbooks and have written cookbooks and
everything else, they've always said thatit's like food tells a story, like
it tells the story. And ofcourse kitchen is the heart of the home
where it all begans. So whatare some of the tips to involve kids
and the meal prep time, becauseI think it makes it more fun for
everybody, right, absolutely, yes, I think that they're much more willing
(03:59):
to eat what they're making if they'reinvolved in the process. So for instance,
we try to pick a day andmake you know, a snack or
a few snacks that they can havethroughout the week, whether that be like
mini banana muffins or apples, sannaranola bars. If they're you know,
cooking with you, they're definitely goingto be more willing to want to eat
them throughout the weeks. That makesa lot of sense, right, Yeah,
(04:24):
So I mean I have to letgo of my control issues because I'm
a eat freak. But gotta letthem get messy. That's what they say.
You gotta let them get messy.And what about if they're very picky
eaters. That's also hard. Ohyeah, I definitely have some picky eaters.
I just I have to keep remindingmyself that their palets are evolving,
they're changing, So I have totry ingredients multiple times because sometimes maybe they
(04:47):
won't like it, but a weeklater they will, or even the next
day if you prepare it differently.So like my daughter will have a banana.
I mean I'm a banana and anapple. It's in peanut butter,
but not on its own. Soit's just never a process of, you
know, not giving up and letand letting them try different things. It's
funny because I remember when I wasa kid, I used to like put
things under the table for the dogbecause I didn't want to eat my vegetables
(05:10):
or eat things. I tried notto take that mistake with Mike with my
kids, so you don't dog nopackard. Um, what are the five
most important ingredients to have in akitchen. Oh, that's an interesting question.
Um hmmm. I feel like Imean what I'm using on a everyday
(05:34):
basis is like obviously olive oil.Um, as far as my kids are
involved, you know, I thinkspinach is actually a great ingredient because you
can use it in so many differentways. I have a a recipe that
has spinach and um, juicy juice, white grape juice and um. If
(05:55):
you like blend spinach with with wonderfulthings like that, like fruit juices that
they hance the flavor. Um,they're not going to hide the ingredients.
So anyway, I have to finisheda lot um. Let's see, Greek
yogurt actually is a big stable becauseI feel like it's a great substitute for
things like mayonnaise or sour cream,um, to make things creamy. Um.
You said five, right? Howam I doing? Yeah? You
(06:17):
do you have anything? I'm abig fan of olive oil too. I
started that, I think like justa few years ago. I'm like,
why wasn't I always using olive oilfor everything? I know? And it's
great instead of butter for instance,Like I'll use it that a lot um
talco the chips because that's yeah,it's okay, so go ahead. I'm
(06:39):
sorry, as you justested, I'mtalking to a handful a handful of Talco
the chips that's at the end ofthe night, like I just have to
so um, yeah, that's agood thing to have. If you just
turned. I'm talking to Sarah Dailey. We're talking about simple recipes and things
about the kitchen and cooking. Whatare what are some of your simple simple
like a staple in your house,like it's for lunch, Um, for
(07:02):
lunch. Let's see, Well,for my kids, um, they love
to do cautesdias, you can youcan always sneak in some like protein or
veggies and quetodillas. Um. Formyself, I have a salad almost every
day. Um. But and let'ssee for my like toddler, smoothies are
great because you know you can addso much to smooties. I lose smoothie
(07:26):
bowls. Um. I cook alot, like I said earlier, with
juicy juice, and I make alot of different smooties or popsicles with um
uh, different flavors of the juice. So yeah, I think that Um,
so probably I can just I couldjust see your house now the kids
are always popping into the kitchen andthen there's always something there for them to
(07:46):
eat and for them to try andsomething of new, so it's kind of
fun for them. Yeah, wellsomeone's always hungry, right right, will
the will there be another cookbook?Um? Maybe down the line. I'm
you know, I still have aone month old and she's you know,
consuming most of my time at themoment. But I definitely I think that
I would love I would love toois the answer? And your favorite lastly
(08:09):
and your favorite thing to blog about? Um, I mean just life.
Like what I'm I try to keepeverything very general and very organic to what's
happening in the present moment. Ilove to try new things and experiments and
uh, you know, recipe developedso latest trends, all that kind of
(08:30):
stuff. I don't know where youfind the time to do all this,
but you do do it. Youdo it great. So the book seriously
delicious. I think everyone should getit. It's a really wonderful book.
I have picked it up. It'sterrific. So we look forward to seeing
the next one and see what's next. And thank you. Any other last
minute tips you want to share withus right now? I have a sweep
six going with Juicy Juice, soyou can check that out. If you
(08:52):
go to juicyjuice dot com last SeriouslyFun, you can win a signed copy
of my book and one hundred dollarstowards grocer to check that out as well.
Oh that's awesome. Thank you somuch. Send our love to Carson
and the kids. I will thanksWendy, thanks so much. That's him
for leading the team that brought Xboxto life on November fifteenth, two thousand
(09:13):
and one. Now fast forward twentyyears. Today, more than three billion
people play games around the world,and gaming is a two hundred billion,
two hundred billion industry and the fastestform of entertainment. It's pretty amazing celebrating
twenty years of Xbox and all thatit started, and some and his new
(09:33):
book. Welcome to My show,Robbie Bach, I Wendy, good to
be on with Good to be onwith you too. So okay, So
when I first saw you coming acrossmy screen Xbox from like my son's twenty
one years old. He's been playingXbox for as long as I can remember.
Xbox is a theme in my house. He's in college now, so
(09:54):
he's on and off, but thenhe's like, well, I don't have
them any classes next semester, soI'll probably get on Xbox again. And
it's the funniest part is, Um, there's a group of his studdies that
my daughter and I call um hisXbox friends. So um crazy, tell
me, um the launch of Firstof all, tell me the launch of
your first work of fiction. Let'sstart with that. Well, So the
(10:18):
book is called The Wilson Surrection andit's a sort of a techno thriller.
Is a book about an anarchist whobrings down an airplane. The crash lands
at an air force base. Mymajor character, Major Temika Smith, is
there to save people from the plane, and that starts us on a journey
(10:39):
where this anarchist is trying to tearapart the country and a group of people,
led by Tamika rise up to tryto protect the nation and and and
capture him. And you know it, it comes out of that Xbox background,
right. I learned a lot aboutcreativity, a lot about storytelling,
a lot about character development during mytime on Xbox, and you know that's
(11:00):
enabled me to to to write thisbook that really draws on that experience plus
my real life experience to create.You know what I think from what reviewers
have said, is a great thriller. It sounds like it's going to be
a great book. A difference betweenwriting fiction versus nonfiction a huge difference.
I wrote a non fiction business strategybook in twenty fifteen called Xbox Revisited,
(11:26):
which was about my Xbox story writtenfrom a strategy perspective, and you know,
that was fun. I learned towrite, and it's well written and
all those kinds of things, andI said, Okay, I can.
I can actually write. But there'sno dialogue, there's no scene distriction,
there's no character development, there's noplot. These are all things that have
(11:46):
to come together in a fiction story. And then you add the thriller elements,
which requires great pacing and twists andall those kinds of things. So
I think they're completely different. Oneis hard because the content has to be
real and valuable. That's the nonfiction start. And then the fiction part
is hardy because you have to makemake up the world and make up the
(12:07):
characters and draw people in. That'scrazy. So I'm excited to rejoin his
both assuaged way to me you guessI'm talking to Robbie Back. He is
best known for a bounding and leadingthe team that created the Xbox twenty two
years at Microsoft. So how didXbox even begin? How did all this?
How did the journey take us wayback? Yeah, so if you
go back to nineteen ninety nine,Sony was introducing a product called the PlayStation
(12:31):
two and they were calling it aPC in the living room, and of
course the one Microsoft here PC inthe living room, and they say,
no, that's what Microsoft does,Sony. You know that we need to
go compete with that. And sothere were a couple of groups that had
already been throwing around some ideas ongaming consoles, and we met with Bill
Gates, and Bill reviewed their technicalplans and picks up technical strategy, and
(12:54):
a group of people that were inmy organization went off and drew up a
plan. That plan got approved andpretty soon I was chief Xbox officer.
And you know, I'm a guywho I'm a guy who who loves the
gaming business but doesn't play video games. So that started a really crazy,
crazy journey. But you know,certainly the best ten years of my professional
(13:16):
life. I mean, can youbelieve that how popular it is with the
kids of all ages. Yeah,it's what's happened in the video game space.
He used to think of it asthe teenage boy in the basement playing
a video game by himself, andnow it's a community and people. You
know, the biggest thing we createdan Xbox was Xbox Live, which was
(13:37):
this community of players, and thathas now just blossomed into a whole whole
world, so to speak. Um, and you and now you have people.
This is the part of my mind. People going to stadiums to watch
other people play video games. It'scompletely crazy. And so when I when
I think about when I think aboutthat evolution, and then I think about
(14:00):
writing this fiction novel, you say, wow, who could have imagined in
nineteen ninety nine that that would becreated? And so when I was starting
to write The Wilkes Insurrection, Isaid, all right, I got to
write something that is craving us thatpeople can't imagine it happening, and then
it becomes real and right, youknow, and it's a it's a super
exciting process. Hey, I can'timagine. I wanted to ask you about
(14:22):
that, like, what is thatlike? Like, you guys all sit
in a room and with computer screensand stuff like, how does that work?
No, it's it's I really likethat at all. It's um,
when you're creating, you know,when you're creating a video game. Um,
and and you know, look,I'm not the guy doing the creation
process, right, but when whenI watched the teams create those games,
it is like somebody creating a movieor somebody writing a book. Um.
(14:48):
You have to have an idea ofa plot, so people have to write
out a plot. You have tohave characters, so people have to write
characters, and then an artist actuallyhave to draw those characters literally, and
then they have to turn that drawinginto a computer rendering. And oh,
by the way, you know,if you know the game Halo, everybody
knows the Halo themes, so somebodyhas to write that theme music. When
(15:09):
you're when your son's down there playingand you hear the music, go oh
gosh, he's playing Halo, right, So all that have to come together
and it's like a Broadway production,except that then have to be done digitally.
Um. Yeah, he's into thegame, the basketball game. So
I remember when he was much younger, every time I knew one would come
out, and the next one wouldcome out. We have to be on
(15:30):
and then you can get them.It's crazy. Yeah. And I always
tell people that the video game spaceis sort of a cross between a Hollywood
and Silicon Valley and and and Ithink it's what makes it, to me,
the most interesting form of entertainment.So with the book, you know,
(15:50):
you as an author, you tryreally hard to bring that same level
of engagement, that same level ofexcitement, that same desire not to put
it down that you get the videogame and that's a really interesting chambers.
That's exciting. Yeah, that's whata journey you've been on. What's next,
Well, it's a good question,you know. I'm I do a
lot of nonprofit board work, I'ma small business owner. I do a
(16:14):
lot of public speaking, and youknow, I hope to write another book.
We'll see. I think the charactersmajor timau Dismiss and a number of
other characters in the Wilson Surrection,you know, probably deserve a sequel.
And then I just have to sortof take a deep breath and muster the
energy to do it again, whichyou know is hard, but I think
it could be really rewarding. Ibet it can be so roddy. Where
(16:36):
can we get your book? Sothe easiest way to get obviously you get
the book at any retail or anyonline retailer, but you can also just
go to Wilkson Surrection dot com.There's a video trailer there that describes a
book. There's character descriptions, thereare music playlists for all the characters,
so if you love music, that'sa great place to go. And then
there's a link to to order thebook from any any of the major retailers
(16:59):
and a lot of Itto and Itsstores as well, so it's broadly available
and felling welcome. Awesome. Whata pleasure to talk to you and to
hear your story and I can lookfar ad to reading your book. Thanks
very much, pleaciate for having meon. Yeah, thanks so much.
Thanks so much for joining me onthis episode of What's Up with Wendy's podcast.
If you love this episode, headover to iTunes or Spotify or your
(17:22):
favorite platform to subscribe and leave areview. If you want, Please also
follow me on Instagram, Twitter,and Facebook at What's Up with Wendy.
And you can also learn more aboutmy podcast and about me on my website,
What's Up with Wendy dot com.Until next time. This is Wendy
Lowie Sloan and I really hope youenjoyed my podcast and I hope you'll keep
on listening and most importantly, keepbeing kind. Thanks so much, thanks
(26:18):
for joining me for this episode ofWhat's Up with Wendy. If you love
this episode, head over to iTunesor your favorite platform to subscribe, rate,
and leave a review. Please alsofollow me on Instagram, Twitter,
and Facebook at What's Up with Wendy. And you can learn more about me
and my podcast on my website,What's Up with Wendy dot com. And
remember, only you can make youhappy.
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