Rare working on two new 360 titles, says Moore

Xbox VP Peter Moore has revealed that Microsoft-owned Rare, the studio behind Kameo and Perfect Dark Zero, is currently working on two more new titles for the Xbox 360.

Speaking to MTV News, Moore said that Microsoft plans to "leverage Rare's incredible ability to broaden the demographic that are attracted to the consoles." He added that the new games, both of which have already been in development for almost two years, will be officially announced in the spring.

Moore said that the 360 launch title he is most proud of is Rare's Kameo, and also praised Call of Duty 2 and movie tie-in Peter Jackson's King Kong. However, he acknowledged that Perfect Dark Zero, Rare's flagship Xbox 360 shooter, has already faced some negative criticism: "It's taken some knocks because it was built in a visual style that doesn't show off the next generation well."

But the game will really start to shine once players have experienced the 32-player online mode, Moore said.

He defended Microsoft's decision to offer two versions of the Xbox 360 and give consumers the choice of a console with 20GB hard drive (EURO 399.99) or the basic "core" system (EURO 299.99). Standalone hard drives and 64MB memory cards will be available separately, priced at EURO 99.99 and EURO 34.99.

"The ability for us to be able to drive the hardware price down requires us to have some kind of a business model elsewhere," Moore said.

"We've set the pricing where we think it needs to be priced in the marketplace, and that's where it's at."

Moore also discussed the decision to name the new console Xbox 360, telling MTV: "We tried Xbox 2. We tried a number of names. Went around the world for four months, and Xbox 2 got a shrug of the shoulder."

"Then we explained the Xbox 360 as a living entertainment experience powered by human energy that revolves around you and makes you at the center of your experience and people were like [snaps fingers]... 'I get that.'"

So what of Sony's rival console, the highly anticipated PlayStation 3?

"If the PS3 is so incredibly superior to the Xbox 360 in game quality, game quantity, game breadth, game visuals, depth of the digital entertainment experience and price, God bless them," Moore said.