Be sure to check out the first two parts in our exclusive EA Label presidents series: EA Casual's Kathy Vrabeck and The Sims' Nancy Smith. Up next: EA Games' Frank Gibeau.

What an incredible year 2007 has been, not only for me personally, but for an industry that has seen Halo 3 and Madden pull off two of the biggest launches in entertainment history, and blockbuster deals like our acquisition of BioWare and Pandemic and the Vivendi Games merger with Activision changing the face of the business. Nintendo's Wii continues to be as popular as ever and likely the most sought after gift this holiday season. Who would have thought six months ago that I'd have so many friends begging me to help them get a Wii?

Will forever be known for 'pulling a Peter Moore' in Rock Band at E307

I couldn't be more energized by the state of our business. I said a rather tearful goodbye to a terrific position and some incredible people when I decided to leave Microsoft in July, but I feel like I've really landed in my dream job. I've barely been here three months, but already it's obvious that EA SPORTS is in position to continue to innovate and redefine the interactive sports experience on our way to becoming the world's leading sports entertainment brand.

I've spent years either competing against or collaborating with EA. What I've always admired about this place, and EA SPORTS in particular, has been the company's ability to consistently create compelling, broad-based interactive entertainment while riding the ups and downs of technology without ever stumbling. We've innovated and been a leader for decades, and that's not easy. EA created a genre with the EA SPORTS brand, and when you look at how we established and then have consistently innovated in the sports category, it's obvious that EA SPORTS has not ridden the wave; we've driven the wave.

From the moment my son began playing Madden 10 years ago, it became clear to me that sports games are as much about education as they are about entertainment, introducing millions of young sports fans to the passion and emotion of the game, while at the same time teaching winning strategies and tactics. My love of sports and my love of games is what brought me here, and I've found this an incredibly exciting place to be.

If games are where technology and entertainment collide, EA SPORTS is at the heart of that amalgamation for passionate sports fans all over the world. Hundreds of millions of people speak the common language of sports, and increasingly they are doing that in an online, connected world, spawning vast social networks that defy geographic and socio-economic boundaries. That creates a great opportunity for us and is a good starting point when I get asked the question: "What's next for EA SPORTS?".

I think we have some good ideas of how to answer that question. The industry is at a crossroads, as is EA SPORTS. We're a brand that's built its legacy on developing authentic sports simulations. We're very proud of that, but it's come with a toll. Our games have become more and more complicated and complex, and we often get dogged for one of the biggest misconceptions in the entire industry – a lack of innovation year in and year out on annually iterated titles. I bristle at times when I hear this, because nothing could be farther from the truth.

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