Microsoft EMEA VP: Xbox 'about halfway through' life because of Kinect

by JC Fletcher on Jun 24th 2011 11:30AM

Thanks to Kinect, the Xbox 360 is enjoying an extended lifespan (we're required by law to joke here that it's the second or third lifespan for many of your non-slim Xboxes). Microsoft's VP of Interactive Entertainment Business for EMEA, Chris Lewis, told MCV, "We see it as about halfway through." He added, "Kinect put a huge shot of adrenaline into the business," likely not referring to last year's infusion of unsold copies of Adrenalin Misfits.

Lewis said that Microsoft deliberately targeted families and younger players with its initial Kinect offerings, and now it's moving more into "core" games. "What you will see is us using Kinect to enhance the experience and not detract from it," Lewis said. "I don't think our core gamers will tolerate anything else from us."

Source: CVG

Tags: chris-lewis, emea, europe, kinect, microsoft, xbox

Reader Comments (97)

i don't know what they are smoking, but they need to pass it around if they think people will still be buying 360 games/systems in any meaningful number in 2017. That is just absurd.

@mietha
It would be surprising, but non-core gamers and young gamers could still be buying Kinect games for the 360 for a few years after the release of a new Xbox.

I don't think he's saying that the new Xbox is 6 years away, rather that this version of the Xbox will be supported concurrently with another console in a few years.

@mietha I am sure hardware is in development regardless of how long this one lasts. Even if it lasts another 2 years I am very happy with this gen's console life compared to every other iteration.

@mietha
Well, considering how much I've invested/spent on the X360 over the years in consoles(yes, I've bought 3 -- thankfully not all of them at retail cost), peripherals, games, DLC, and so much more... I'll gladly welcome their support of the device for another 3-5 years. It's one thing to dislike the KINECT, but to be ungrateful of supported product is just silly.

Do I think they'll output the same amount of games, let alone quality titles among them? Not at all, but some kind of 'decent effort' is always nice, a la PS2.

@mietha

And how long did the PS2 continue to outsell everything? I'm sure Microsoft would love for the 360 to fill that sales niche

The 360 is the new PS2!

@Mr Hett

"The 360 is the new PS2!"

Bwahahahaha.... good one man.

@PN04
Child of Eden says hi.

@PN04

Most Dance Central owners will disagree. Game is a break-a-way hit really. Convinces non-Kinect owners to purchase from what I've seen.

@Truant

>>rather that this version of the Xbox will be supported
>>concurrently with another console in a few years.

lol... yeah - They tricked me once with the original xbox. I'm going to see how well the 360 is supported once the new one comes out. I know the 3rd parties dropped the original Xbox like a hot potato when the 360 came out which pissed me off a lot as I really enjoyed the first Xbox. The support for the PS2 in the PS3 era has been nothing short of incredible. It showed me which system has longer life cycle.

@PR0F3TA

well the ps3 definitely isn't the new ps2, that's for sure.

@ToTheMoon Kudos for not understanding what you're talking about, dipshit. The PS2 continued getting support because:
A) It was a very attractive $100
B) It had a 150 million install base, and
C) PS3 sales were slow at the beginning

@Truant
Agreed. They can't let previous versions of Windows die very easily. They most certainly won't abandon the 360 until it's been sufficiently milked dry of all interest.

...

That's good to hear if true. That means I can buy a Wii U without worry of it being instantly outdated

Hmm maybe this means that if Sony can get the PS4 out in time, they'll be able to get into the Next-Gen wars before MS and they can end up with the same success they had before with the PS2.

@216 Dreamcast came out a year before the ps2 and was a better system.

Coming out a year before is meaningless towards sales and marketshare. Take off your SDF hat.

@Fire Walk With Me

yeah thats why the 360 is owning the PS3 in sales right? has nothing to do with coming out a year before hand?.....

im pretty sure it has ALOT to do with that...

and the fact that it has a better online service, blah blah blah
(i love my ps3.. but 360 takes the cake), nexgenwars.com

@HedonisticKai I'm sure it had something to do with it, but I think the PS3s launch price was it's biggest problem. I think a lot of people were willing to wait for the successor to the PS2, but Sony lost all that goodwill with the $599 price tag and they've been building it back up ever since.

@HedonisticKai No it has little to do with coming out a year beforehand and has everything to do with marketing and software. hence the point of the Dreamcast.

what sold the 360 was Halo 3 and Gear of War, price point and their online service. What continued support was quality games like Bioshock and Mass Effect even through the whole RROD fiasco. Testament to demand.

Consumers buy what they want and this time it was 360 over PS3. In a few years it may be different.

@HedonisticKai

The Wii came out a year after the 360 as well, and that doesn't seem to have affected its success.

Exactly, even with 360s year head start, I know quite a lot of gamers that stuck with thier PS2s and waited for the launch of the PS3 instead of buying a 360.

What turned them off however was the price which was ridiculous and the sheer number of exclusives going over to the 360 making th PS3 launch titles seem quite a lot less significant. Even fanboys swallowed thier pride when they saw that price, lack of PSN at the time and all the other nitty gritty stuff 360 had.

Obviously that is all a distant memory now and PS3 is right up 360's backside worldwide atm, but it certainly took a lot to get there and Sony who had gamers in the palm of their hands before 360 and Wii showed gamers otherwise learnt a valuable lesson, complacency, arrogance and assumptions do not a fanbase win :( Nuh uh uh, not at all

@Spunky Monkey 190906 hopefully MS learned a lesson in all of this as well. QA your damned hardware better.
If RROD didn't exist this gen wouldnt be a horserace. The 360 would be dominating in every category except casuals. Hell, maybe even that.

@Fire Walk With Me

RROD wasn't a major push away factor in the same vain that the hacking crisis wasn't a major push away factor for PS3 owners.

Yeah, there may have been a few to move to the other side, but I really doubt that even without the RROD things would have been that much different. If anything, from what I've seen, more people seemed to have moved because of the games available on the other console, the multiplayer available on the other console and other features like that.

Take me for example, I've gone through several 360s, but yet I still have one and due to the fact I don't play the Wii anymore, it gets a good 50% of my play time, the other 50% for my PS3 seeing as I don't really play games on my PC. RROD has been a pain in the ass, but not so much that I've wanted to ditch my 360 all together, for every flaw the 360 has or had, the PS3 has or had something similar, neither of the two are 100% perfect. At the time, 360 had RROD issues, but PS3 lacked any real multiplayer features to talk about, PSN was pretty pathetic at the time, its only saving grace being the fact it was free.

@HedonisticKai
No it doesn't. Sega Genesis came one to two years before the SNes. Who onwed in the end?

@HedonisticKai
Even though the PS3 came one year later, it took it another good two years or so for it to get some love in the US. Over Japan, I think probably, just probably has something to do with the Wii...

@TheShaper

Sigh...I remember the days when PS3 had only one amazing game to speak of, being MGS4 and there was all the who ha about whether it would go to 360 or not.

If it did it would probably have been the last straw :/ Not only did PS3 fanboys yelp with joy when it was confirmed in concrete it would never see the light of day on 360, but the game itself did exceptionally well :)

These days there are more than enough amazing exclusive games on both consoles, so much so that no one really argues anymore, there is peace and harmony ^^.......most of the time anyway.

Fanboys were a scale 1000 horricane during those times, fanboy rage now is pretty minimal, lol

@Spunky Monkey 190906 I think RROD was a push away for new buyers. RROD started really rearing its ugly head when MS was making a major marketing push for Japan and the lack of hardware quality really killed them over there. They made great strides in getting Jap devs on boards (SE, Cave, Konami, etc) to see it wash away due to a cheap product that was a bit rushed.

I dont think it would have ever beat the ps3 in japan but it may have had a respectable marketshare if it had worked properly from the beginning.

@Fire Walk With Me

Yeah, it had its flaws, but I seriously doubt it was that big an issue that it turned off the Japanese market. If anything, it was just 'another reason' not to get a 360, but Japanese didn't take to the console because:

1) As far as Japanese are concerned, gaming more or less began in Japan (it didn't, but home consoles and game developers as we know them did), so playing a US console is still "out there".
2) The original xbox left a bad taste in their mouth
3) Have you played Japanese games? Believe me, Blue Dragon isn't enough to attract Japanese gamers alone. Sony has it easier seeing as Japan IS their home, but they also have experience overseas which is why PS1 and PS2 did so well.
4) At the time there wasn't a compelling reason to buy a 360 just yet over here, far less over there. PS3's launch issues and the development of Xbox as a brand is what made people change their minds.

Those are four reasons anyway and given a choice out of PS2s massive array of Japanese orientated games vs 360s 2 or 1? I too would have stuck with my PS2. Graphics mean jack**** if there aren't any good games to go with it.

@216
There was a quote from a Sony VP about a week back that said that we shouldn't expect the PS4 to be radically more powerful than the PS3.

@Spunky Monkey 190906

Agreed! Companies should really focus on keeping their "push away factor" to a minimum.

@Fire Walk With Me

I'm of the school that Live and achievements played a bigger role in the 360s numbers then most people give them credit for. A lot of people take trophies seriously. A year head start can equate to a lot of trophies. Live is a big factor but I really don't think it's because it's a "superior" service. Live is big because it connects you to all your friends. If I game on Xbox and all my friends jump to PS3, I probably jump too. That's the hurdle Sony needs to figure out.

@sin2sin I probably would too as my friends being on Live is what attracted me in the first place. MS is always one step ahead of Sony in the online arena though. As soon as Sony catches up they release something new and worthwhile. They even have that on pc gaming as there is one central communication hub instead of Steam, pvp.net, etc etc etc.

But free carries a ton of weight believe you me

I don't think it's just because of Kinnect. (Not that it didn't help their business dramatically) but I think the extended life of this generation of consoles (excluding Wii, which is really last Gen) is due much, much more to economics than anything else. There is simply no market for people to all go out and shell out another $500-$600, and potentially have all their old games become obsolete is not economically viable at this point, nor will it be for several years. What advantages would it bring that can't be programmed into current systems? Super HD?

@Dizazter

I would spend $600 on a new Xbox faster than you can say "console obsolescence". Current systems are not even truly HD.

@Dizazter
True 1080p HD, and Official 3D support right out of the box.

@b3n

Well of course there are people who would buy a new console every year, given the chance. (Oh wait, most XBox players are forced to do that anyway - Zing!) But in general the market won't bear new consoles for XBox or PS right now. The next generation would have to have some insanely mindblowing features to get people in a horrifically bad economy to shell out tons of hard earned money, when their current consoles are getting the job done just fine.

@Dizazter
"Well of course there are people who would buy a new console every year, given the chance. (Oh wait, most XBox players are forced to do that anyway - Zing!)"

-.- thats sony fanboy bullshit!
on average, i only had to buy a new box every 2 years

@(Unverified)

So you're joking/being sarcastic right? Cause having to replace one every other year is pretty insane.

I will never use kinect or any motion sensor game to play any "hard core" game.. but others, feel free! =) if thats what you like, more power to you!

ill stick with my controllers/buttons... (i do own a kinect for drunk nights with the ladies tho)

@HedonisticKai
Personally, DANCE CENTRAL and KINECT ADVENTURES was pretty interesting to try inebriated with friends. Thankfully, no one kicked over any drinks.

@foxhound The mini games on Sports are pretty fun with people.
Eden is the first game I've really loved though.

Everything they showed kinect do for "core" games, the first xbox did with just a headset.

@truant
Hopefully they'll still support the 360 instead of cutting off support like they did to the original xbox when 360 launched. I imagine they would since more sales could be squeezed out of the 360.

If that's true then I'm at the end of my Xbox lifespan. Xbox games already show their age - it's only going to get worse.

I've gone back to PC gaming with my shiny 580GTX.

@b3n

But the new problem we face is that most devs can't exactly advance or innovate when developing PC games alongside consoles-- we all know this by now. And I hate to sound like your typical elitist, but consoles probably are holding the industry back. Notice that multiplatform games usually don't look as impresve as exclusives.

@Shadowbender

I know - Epic and Crytek and someone else have said that they can't make next-gen games because the current consoles aren't good enough. I think everyone is fed up waiting - so we're just going to leave the console behind now.

I played Witcher 2 on my PC with High/Ultra settings. The Xbox 360 version is Medium level in comparison.

Unreal Engine 3 Tech Demo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XgS67BwPfFY&feature=player_embedded

CryEngine 3 Tech Demo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqNHJ-ekMR4&feature=fvst

The Witcher 2 is a DirectX 9c game so it can work on the Xbox. But PCs can use DirectX 11, which is capable of VASTLY superior graphical fidelity and performance.

@Lucky48

Not good enough for me. Having played games on my 580GTX, and after watching those tech demos ...

@b3n
Personally I'd say if Console gaming is holding PC back, STOP TRYING TO MAKE CONSOLE GAMES FOR PCs! The whole great thing about PC is that it has the ability to be it's own thing to offer experiences that you dont get on console but it's like they're afraid to walk down a dark corridor by themselves and want to wait for Consoles! Stop blaming consoles and go do for yourselves!

No way we're only halfway through. I can't imagine that in 2017, we'll still be calling a console from 2005 "current-gen". Meanwhile, potential technology rots in an unopened cabinet. The dust is thickening, MS! I don't know why they wouldn't be as enthusiastic to explore the farther reaches of tech.

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Microsoft EMEA VP: Xbox 'about halfway through' life because of Kinect

Reader Comments (97)

Posted: Jun 24th 2011 11:33AM mietha said

Posted: Jun 24th 2011 11:37AM Truant said

Posted: Jun 24th 2011 11:37AM Fire Walk With Me said

Posted: Jun 24th 2011 11:39AM foxhound said

Posted: Jun 24th 2011 11:42AM The Tim said

Posted: Jun 24th 2011 12:10PM Mr Hett said

Posted: Jun 24th 2011 12:38PM PR0F3TA said

Posted: Jun 24th 2011 12:49PM TheShaper said

Posted: Jun 24th 2011 1:07PM Punkrawk Bbob said

Posted: Jun 24th 2011 2:34PM ToTheMoon said

Posted: Jun 24th 2011 5:28PM Liquidfingers said

Posted: Jun 24th 2011 5:41PM NewEraBlood said

Posted: Jun 26th 2011 6:46PM Polymorphic Ninja said

Posted: Jun 24th 2011 11:33AM D3m0sthenes said

Posted: Jun 24th 2011 11:37AM lonecow said

Posted: Jun 24th 2011 11:37AM 216 said

Posted: Jun 24th 2011 11:39AM Fire Walk With Me said

Posted: Jun 24th 2011 11:42AM HedonisticKai said

Posted: Jun 24th 2011 11:49AM SpacePenguinBot said

Posted: Jun 24th 2011 12:00PM Fire Walk With Me said

Posted: Jun 24th 2011 12:03PM R Planteer said

Posted: Jun 24th 2011 12:04PM Spunky Monkey 190906 said

Posted: Jun 24th 2011 12:26PM Fire Walk With Me said

Posted: Jun 24th 2011 12:32PM Spunky Monkey 190906 said

Posted: Jun 24th 2011 12:44PM TheShaper said

Posted: Jun 24th 2011 12:47PM TheShaper said

Posted: Jun 24th 2011 12:58PM Spunky Monkey 190906 said

Posted: Jun 24th 2011 12:59PM Fire Walk With Me said

Posted: Jun 24th 2011 1:19PM Spunky Monkey 190906 said

Posted: Jun 24th 2011 1:29PM einhanderkiller said

Posted: Jun 24th 2011 1:31PM Negatron said

Posted: Jun 24th 2011 1:36PM sin2sin said

Posted: Jun 24th 2011 2:02PM Fire Walk With Me said

Posted: Jun 24th 2011 11:39AM Dizazter said

Posted: Jun 24th 2011 11:56AM b3n said

Posted: Jun 24th 2011 12:17PM killer rin said

Posted: Jun 24th 2011 12:22PM Dizazter said

Posted: Jun 24th 2011 1:48PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Jun 24th 2011 2:04PM Dizazter said

Posted: Jun 24th 2011 11:39AM HedonisticKai said

Posted: Jun 24th 2011 11:51AM foxhound said

Posted: Jun 24th 2011 12:02PM Fire Walk With Me said

Posted: Jun 24th 2011 11:40AM thatdude21601 said

Posted: Jun 24th 2011 11:51AM GrimFandango23 said

Posted: Jun 24th 2011 11:53AM b3n said

Posted: Jun 24th 2011 12:04PM Shadowbender said

Posted: Jun 24th 2011 12:16PM b3n said

Posted: Jun 24th 2011 12:42PM b3n said

Posted: Jun 24th 2011 12:54PM PN04 said

Posted: Jun 24th 2011 11:57AM Shadowbender said

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