First Look:

Microsoft links XBox games to mobiles, PCs online

By Bernard Cole
iApplianceWeb
(05/13/06, 1:54 AM GMT)

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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