Microsoft’s Peter Moore predicts end to Xbox360 shortage and gives out Live details
“Within the next four to six weeks, anybody will be able to walk into a store and buy an Xbox 360.”
- Peter Moore @ DICE convention
RE: the global launch he adds:
“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. 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.”
RE: Xbox Live usage among Xbox360 owners — Moore announced that 54% of Xbox 360 owners use Live. This is a huge increase compared to the original xbox Live usage rate of 10%.
Overall, Moore, who is the Xbox chief at Microsoft, told the audience that there have been 4 million pieces of content downloaded from Xbox Live since launch.
RE: the try-before-you-buy model (first used by shareware developer Apogee back in the day). Geometry Wars was given as an example, where 36 percent of all people who downloaded the demo went on to download and purchase the full version of the game. According to Moore, the average Xbox Live Arcade conversion is 20 percent — with the worst performing game coming in around 10 percent.
He bosted that “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.”
As I’ve mentioned earlier on this blog, the future is an on-demand, all digital distribution system, and Xbox Live is definitely pushing the envelope in the right direction.
Add comment February 12th, 2006