New 360 model is interactive, plays television shows, music, films. Marke Andrews (Vancouver Sun)Microsoft is still making Xbox games for its target audience of 19-to-26-year-old males who like action games with strong graphics, but the company has broadened its entertainment role with other interactive media.
The Xbox 360 doesn't just play standard games. It has interactive games in which players can create avatars to participate in the games, it plays television shows, music and films.
Think of the Microsoft console, says Vancouver video game icon Don Mattrick, as an entertainment centre.
"Our starting point is making great games for interactive entertainment, and we pay a lot of attention to that," said Mattrick, Microsoft's senior vice-president, interactive entertainment business, speaking on the phone Wednesday from Los Angeles, where he was between meetings. But, thinking beyond the core business, Mattrick believes that Xbox "has the capabilities to be the centre of your living room."
Mattrick and other Microsoft executives spoke of its expanding universe at this week's Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in Los Angeles. Faced with robust competition from Nintendo's Wii -- whose physical games put the active in interactive gaming -- Microsoft has made strides in taking its customers further with its products.
In a move called Xbox Experience, Microsoft updated its software and the user interface, making it easier for online gamers to navigate its systems.
It allows them to create avatars, digital alter-egos that can participate in Microsoft Arcade games. The avatar can also participate in 1 vs 100, a massively multiplayer game show with a live host and hundreds of digital participants who will play on Xbox Live Primetime, a Microsoft channel.
"You can be the one or you can be a member of the 100 or you can be in the audience," said Mattrick, the former president of Electronic Arts international studios. (full story Link)
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