Los Angeles, Ca. –
Microsoft Corp. Chairman Bill Gates is looking to expand the market penetration
of its Xbox 360 gaming system to 10 million units this year, not by increasing
the number of Xbox’s manufactured, but by bringing the “Xbox” experience to as
many online PC connected computer users as is possible.
The mechanism for
achieving this is an initiative the company calls “Live Anywhere,” an extension
of its current Xbox Live online entertainment network. His plan, outlined at the
E3 gaming show here, is to connected millions of Xbox 360 gamers with hundreds
of millions of Microsoft Windows-based PC and mobile gamers from around the
world through the Xbox Live network.
The initiative, he said,
puts gamers at the center of a ubiquitous always-on world where their digital
identities, games, friends and digital entertainment are always accessible
through the familiar Xbox Live interface, regardless of location or device.
The plan also clears the
way for groundbreaking cross-platform gameplay scenarios, with participants
using Windows-based PCs, mobile phones and Xbox 360 consoles to play together
simultaneously.
His projection is that by
this time next year, Microsoft expects more than 6 million gamers to be
connected to the Xbox Live network, in addition to the more than 25 million
casual gamers who are currently playing games on MSN Messenger and MSN Games.
The only glitch in these
optimistic projections is that “Live Anywhere” will debut on Windows with the
Windows Vista operating system and “Shadowrun” this winter, which assumes that
consumers will move to the new operating system as quickly as they have from
Windows 2000 to Windows XP and the degree that users of Windows based mobile
devices do so as well.
“By this time next year,”
he confidently predicted at E3, “users will be able to send messages, access
friends lists, download the best of mobile game content, and sample, purchase
and play favorites such as ‘Bejeweled,’ ‘Zuma’ and ‘Hexic’ as part of the
integrated gaming world.
At the show, Microsoft
announced that it will have 160 Xbox 360 titles by end of 2006, including “Halo
3,” the hugely anticipated sequel to the “Halo” franchise. Microsoft Game
Studios also showcased exclusive Xbox 360 titles “Gears of War” (Epic Games
Inc.), “Fable 2” (Lionhead Studios) and “Forza Motorsport 2” (Turn 10).
Ubisoft’s next-generation version of “Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell Double Agent”
will also debut on Xbox 360.
In addition, Microsoft
Game Studios showed “Alan Wake” (Remedy Entertainment Inc.) and “Shadowrun” (FASA
Studio), both slated for Xbox 360 and Windows Vista.
For Windows gamers, the
consumer launch of Windows Vista in January 2007 will introduce the DirectX 10
API, with the graphics and performance capabilities to match the Xbox game
platform. Microsoft highlighted several games from major publishers that will
support Windows Vista and DirectX 10 technologies: “Crysis” (Electronic Arts
Inc.), “Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures” (Funcom) and “Flight Simulator X”
(Microsoft Game Studios).
In addition, several new
games are coming to Xbox Live Arcade, including classic favorites such as
“Pac-Man,” “Galaga,” “Dig Dug” and “Rally-X” from NAMCO BANDAI Games America
Inc.; “Frogger,” “Track & Field,” and “Contra” and “Super Contra” from Konami;
“Defender,” “Paperboy,” “Root Beer Tappe™” and “Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3” from
Midway Games Inc.; “Sonic the Hedgehog High Speed” from SEGA®; and new titles
such as “Lumines Live” from Q Entertainment Ltd.
As part of the Live
Anywhere initiative, Microsoft has announced new cross-platform accessories such
as the Xbox 360 Wireless Controller, Xbox 360 Wireless Racing Wheel and Xbox 360
Wireless Headset.
Go to www.xbox.com or
www.microsoft.com to learn more.
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