Xbox 360 Arcade is Targeting Family Time
By Chris on Tuesday, October 23rd, 2007 at 1:17 PM PST In Gamer Life, Games, Games Industry, Microsoft, Microsoft
The Xbox 360 Arcade was officially announced yesterday (finally) and Aaron Greenberg had some words to say about it and the marketing direction Microsoft plans on taking. Talking with Next Gen, he stated that while Microsoft is proud of Halo 3 and Xbox Live, it intends to turn its sights on families and appealing to that traditionally non-gamer market.
“From the very beginning when we launched Xbox 360, the first two years were very much about winning the core consumer,” Greenberg said. “We think we’ve done a great job with that with things like Gears of War, Halo 3 and what we’ve done with Xbox Live.
“Now, as we enter this holiday we feel like the timing is right to really focus and turn the spotlight on our family content and yeah, we feel great.”
In addition to the non-violent Xbox Live Arcade games packed in with the Xbox 360 Arcade system, Microsoft has signed a deal with Warner Bros. to bring high-def Looney Tunes episodes to the Xbox Live Video Marketplace. Currently the number of episodes is at 50, although Microsoft is targeting “well over 100 eventually.” Nickelodeon will also add some of its shows to bolster this family friendly lineup even more with Blue’s Clues, The Backyardigans, and iCarly. Isn’t Blue like 89 in dog years now? Shouldn’t he be dead?
Additionally, SpongeBob and Shrek will each see game releases on the Xbox Live Arcade, and Greenberg believes there will be more than enough family friendly content between this and other games we already know of, such as Scene It?, Naruto: Rise of a Ninja, Viva Piñata: Party Animals, etc.
So what do you think of this attempt? Does Microsoft stand a chance in this particular market? I’ll be chiming in with my thoughts soon, perhaps including some of your thoughts and opinions.
They’re now going after the Wii’s audience.
But it doesn’t make any sense. The Wii = cheaper than 360. Families, as a general point, aren’t going to spend £180/$250 on a whim and will have to carefully consider it. Even if they did then get one (which is clearly seen by the through-the-roof Wii sales) why would they then want to get another games console that is more expensive? The logic is totally lost on me.
Microsoft. You have some great games on the console…but keep on doing what you’re doing. Perhaps if you’d have done this as a side project before the Wii came out, you might have stood a chance in this area.
This console doesn’t make any sense. I can’t put it any clearer than that.
Norbit, do you like anything about the 360?
The console does make sense. It’s the mid-way point between consoles and PC (although I still think the Wii would perform as an excellent medium for RTS’) allowing for a more diverse genre on the console. The only fault of the machine, other than its record of breakdown (I’ve had no issues with it, then again, I followed the instructions allowing it to be well ventilated and isn’t played for about 4 million hours straight) is its lack of simple games, something Arcade seems to make up for, even if I would rather hold the game in my hand first.
The family aspect they want to introduce has simple come too late. If, when it was released, Microsoft went “hey, well, whilst we do serve up hardcore shooter action, why not enjoy our subtle blend of family gathering and light entertainment via the medium of games” then I would be in support of this, but because they’ve left it so damn long, they’re gonna be getting nudda out of it.
I’m talking about this specific version. It doesn’t make any sense. They should be making games that appeal to a wider range of people not just cobbling together another package and hoping that will.
I would probably buy a 360 at some point if it was free to play online. I like the look of the new Ace Combat and Project Gotham games and they would probably have sold me a 360 but I refuse to pay more money for the privilege of playing a game I have already paid for. If more people had that attitude Xbox live would be free.