| Air Raid 2006-02-25, 10:30 pm |
| Microsoft Hails Xbox Live Success
By Kris Graft and Colin Campbell
During his DICE session, Peter Moore touched on some key Xbox 360
issues such as shortages and Xbox Live.
Regarding shortages, he said, "Within the next four to six weeks,
anybody will be able to walk into a store and buy an Xbox 360."
He defended the company's decision to launch the Xbox 360 in three
territories. "Was it controversial? Yes. But it's what we needed to do
to bring next-gen gaming to a global audience. There have been
short-term shortages, but we're driving a clear advantage as we go
forward. It was the right decision." He added, "There were component
shortages, but they've been fixed. Now we're starting to cook. We're
building a vibrant, rich and profitable business model for the future."
Moore also reiterated some previously released Xbox Live stats: 54
percent of Xbox 360 owners use Xbox Live, compared to 10 percent for
the original Xbox.
"Our goal is to maintain that all the way through XBox 360's
life-cycle."
He said there have been 4 million pieces of content downloaded from
Xbox Live since launch.
He talked about Xbox Live Arcade and the success of the
try-before-you-buy model. He used the example of Geometry Wars
(pictured), for which 36 percent of consumers who downloaded the demo
bought the game. The average Xbox Live Arcade conversion is 20 percent,
with the lowest conversion rate for a game being 10 percent.
"Nothing normally converts from sample to purchase at a rate of 35
percent. It's proof positive that we are dragging gaming into the
online era."
He described Xbox live arcade as "The Sundance of independent games."
To date there have been 2 million Xbox Live Arcade downloads.
http://next-gen.biz/index.php?optio...d=2239&Itemid=2
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