What price mass-market? Part 2
Microsoft's Chris Lewis on casual content and Sony's Blu-ray position
With a 40 per cent lift in UK Xbox 360 sales for the first two days following the recent price cut, Microsoft's strategy has certainly reaped immediate rewards. But continued momentum in the coming weeks and months is essential if the platform is to make the mass-market impact its creator claims it will.
With the Arcade pack now undercutting the Wii at GBP 159, Microsoft believes it has hit the price 'sweet spot' that will, in the words of Xbox Europe boss Chris Lewis, "open the mass-market floodgates".
But in part two of the GamesIndustry.biz interview with Lewis, he argues that, rather than Wii's focus on accessible games for all, the Xbox 360's family-friendly entertainment features will make the difference.
GamesIndustry.biz: Let's talk about the casual content on the system. As you point out, there are lots of games, certainly according to their ratings, that are appropriate to a family audience. We've spoken about this before - Sony has had successes like SingStar, EyeToy, Buzz. Nintendo with Wii and DS has made great inroads into the casual market. I would argue that all we've really seen from you in this regard is Scene It? Do you think the casual strategy there is strong enough and successful enough at the moment? Can we expect more on the peripheral-based side of things?
Chris Lewis: You can certainly expect more in general terms. I think Scene It? is one aspect of what we've done in terms of broadening content. You can't ignore what we've done around sports; what we've done through Xbox Live Arcade. All of those are family-oriented, digestible and enjoyable things for a broader audience.
TV and movies through Marketplace; again, I think of what we've done around parental controls. I think we're very proactive there, we've gone out in a positive way to talk to parents and guardians about how to control the digestion of content for kids. That is another strong statement about how family-oriented we are.
To your other point, will you see more content from us in that regard going forward? Absolutely. In a major way. We do already have 150-odd games in that space — there will be more coming.
And we will look at other physical forms of gameplay and other types of controllers? We keep our minds open about all of those things. Our track record is that we listen to what consumers want, and we try to deliver against that in the right time frame. I'm not dismissing any of those things that may appear with Xbox 360 in the right time. So we're always looking for new ways for people to connect and have fun together.
If you look at the success of things like Wii Sports or the Sony peripherals, there's clear evidence that these are the things that casual gaming consumers do want. You say "the right time frame" - is that this side of Christmas for more gaming of that nature?I can't announce timing, but let me draw your attention to the fact we came out with a big button pad, so we clearly have an appetite to do what's right for giving people gameplay in a slightly different way. But I don't have anything specific to announce here. All I will say to you is that our minds are open to what needs to happen there. We always look for new ways for people to engage in Xbox 360. Trust me, that level of interest and focus in that area will continue.
Do you accept that's probably the biggest challenge you're still facing, in terms of attracting that casual audience?Well, no, I do think it's a number of things. I would go back a little bit to the price point there to say, history would say you start becoming more appealing — particularly in parts of Europe where the propensity to purchase more than one console is lower, and they're more casual gaming places — history would say that until you get to that EUR 199 retail price you don't open yourselves up quite in the way you want to.
The content has to be there. The best games have to be on our platform. But I also think people want to digest their digital entertainment in lots of different ways, they want to watch movies, they want to play on the Live service, they want to participate in different ways that isn't just about gameplay.
I think you've got to be prepared to be appealing in lots of different areas and make sure you don't become something that only gets yanked out of a cupboard at Christmas and particularly holiday peaks and doesn't really get used the rest of the time. I think you've got to be careful with that. I think our depth and breadth of experience will ensure that we never get in any way put into the cupboard in that way.
As for movies — the Xbox Live service is ramping up the number of movies you can download and rent in HD. Recent big news was the death of HD DVD, which you supported with the add-on peripheral. Many would suggest that Sony's original argument that Blu-ray is 'better for games' doesn't really bear scrutiny based on the current portfolio. But surely the fact that PS3 now plays the industry standard next-gen DVD format out of the box puts them in a stronger position?What you've got to do first and foremost is give people choice and an experience that's customisable. You're in a dangerous place if you start locking people into a certain technology and forcing them to pay for it inherently in the console from the outset, which is why we didn't do that.
My own sense going forwards is that digital downloads is really where it's at. More and more people's ongoing and ever-increasing downloading of music and movies is becoming the de facto. I think that's going to happen in very short order. People want to consume that way. Before very long we will look back wistfully at shiny discs as something that was somewhat a historic phenomenon in a way that we kind of think about vinyl or VCRs today.
I think that's going to happen sooner than any of us think. My point there would be, we are best placed to offer that, we already offer that, our online pedigree is such that we will offer the best and most seamless experience.
Broadband proliferation is growing and growing — more and more people have access to that and want to consume that way. My sense is that's the future direction, and I think that's going to be the case in the next 12-18 months. I think we're going to be talking much more about that than anything else. Do I think that this Christmas will somehow be defined by DVD playback? I genuinely don't think that will be the case. I do not think that this will have any material impact on our console velocity. And I think other factors, specifically our architecture around downloads, is far more advantageous and important for the future.
Chris Lewis is vice president of Microsoft's interactive entertainment business in Europe. Interview by Johnny Minkley. Part one is available here.