2010 will be the biggest year in Xbox history, says Euro boss
The mass-market friendly Project Natal may be grabbing all the headlines, but Microsoft insists it won’t lose sight of the core gamer audience.
There’s a slew of major titles due from the platform holder this year, including Alan Wake, Crackdown 2, Halo: Reach and Fable III. And Microsoft’s European Xbox boss Chris Lewis has told MCV that this line-up – combined with Natal – will make 2010 the biggest year in Xbox history.
“From the beginning, Xbox has always had a very deliberate strategy to focus on core gamers and then expand the market,” said Lewis.
“Project Natal is meant to complement, not replace, the experiences on Xbox 360. We’ve reached new heights in creating a more natural and responsive gaming and entertainment experience for people of all interests and skill levels, whilst maintaining our commitment to deliver quality core games that consistently exceed expectations.”
Lewis also stated that the 360 still has at least five years of life left in it, and that Natal will push the machine to new heights when it arrives this year.
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“There is nothing like Project Natal available in entertainment and with us not even halfway through the 360 lifecycle, we’re confident that our 30 million owners will be as excited about this new way to play as we are,” he added
“2010 is set to be the biggest in Xbox history and a major year for the games industry, where we will witness a fundamentally change in the way we experience and share entertainment with each other.”
MCV reported last year that Project Natal is on-course for a November release in Europe, with a possible price point of around £50.
Comments
It already did.
A lack of pretty much any decent exclusives last year was a sign that Natal was a core focus for Microsoft, yes, this year is looking good but it should not EVER ignore their customers like that especially with the PS3 having a great year.
hmmm
why not let your customers be the judge of that, since your openly going out for the wiis customers with natal
.
Can't see why MS can't manage both markets, myself- but then it does all depend on third-parties remembering to approach both markets, as well.
Some hope for core users
If they give them a decent head tracking FPS and motion controlled grenade lobbing !
.
dont think it would.. seeing as how the xbox userbase is made up of 12 year olds
@Jeen
Funny, That's usually the argument leveled at PS3 userbase.
The actual average age of on-line gamer (all formats) is 33+
NOOB
Since when??
As far as I am aware more adults buy PS3 knowing the online is not going to be full of kids swearing, calling everyone a noob and modding their pads just to get a second quicker on their MW reloads
well its just a thought that sprang to mind as every adult I know who is a gamer has a PS3 and their kids have a 360, (jesus my ma even has one!!)
risk
If 360 is experiencing slowing sales with core gamers now, then this could potentially be a last chance salon for the platform; given the sales figures in Japan.
For Natal to do well, it has to first convince core gamers, just like the Wii did.
Casual gamer friends of mine, would never have bought Wiis, had they not tried the motion controller at my house first; while the Wii illusion briefly held for me.
Convincing core gamers to go hands free (with gesture control) was tried with EyeToy years earlier. It had limited core gamer traction for good reason; you look completely ridiculous without a prop.
The Wii illusion is lasting longer for casual gamers, and core gamers still appreciate wii motion control for some games. They just needed the Wii to have more powerful hardware and greater accuracy to deliver next-gen qualities.
Sony's new controller might reasonate with disillusioned ex-Wii owners (of the core gamer variety), but whether there is incentive for casual gamers to replace their Wii with a 360 or Ps3 motion solution, is harder to predict.
I'm guessing that Natal chose to use some of the 360's processing power; instead of custom built silicon (inside the camera) to accommodate this being a flop.
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