Microsoft Reveals Plans To Stay Ahead of the Competition

With E3 finally here, I’m pretty sure Microsoft will be unleashing a few tricks to make sure the competition (yes, I’m talking Sony and Nintendo) won’t catch up to their Xbox 360.

Aside from new and exclusive titles, classics are also being brought to the Live Arcade. As mentioned in a previous article, Midway is serving the classics Paperboy, Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, Root Beer Tapper, and Cyberball to the online service; but your trip down memory lane need not end there. Reminisce your childhood all you want with these ‘new and old’ titles seeing their way through the Live Arcade: Ms. Pac Man, Sonic the Hedgehog, and Dig Dug.

Microsoft is also banking on a few Xbox 360 add-ons to keep them on top. Among these add-ons are the wireless headset, video game accessory, and the add-on HD DVD player, which will be available in time for the holidays.

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With E3 finally here, I’m pretty sure Microsoft will be unleashing a few tricks to make sure the competition (yes, I’m talking Sony and Nintendo) won’t catch up to their Xbox 360.

Aside from new and exclusive titles, classics are also being brought to the Live Arcade. As mentioned in a previous article, Midway is serving the classics Paperboy, Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, Root Beer Tapper, and Cyberball to the online service; but your trip down memory lane need not end there. Reminisce your childhood all you want with these ‘new and old’ titles seeing their way through the Live Arcade: Ms. Pac Man, Sonic the Hedgehog, and Dig Dug.

Microsoft is also banking on a few Xbox 360 add-ons to keep them on top. Among these add-ons are the wireless headset, video game accessory, and the add-on HD DVD player, which will be available in time for the holidays.

The Xbox is entering a whole new realm by offering downloadable TV. A documentary of the making of Gears of War will be available for download on the Xbox – well, the first part, at least; second part will be shown on MTV next week.

Bill Gates’ surprise appearance at Microsoft’s pre-E3 conference announced the company’s other plans of capitalizing their head start over its console rivals. Gates is confident that they would have sold 10 million consoles by the time Sony and Nintendo unveils their next-generation consoles. “Before our competition even enters the marketplace we will have a 10-million-unit head start with Xbox 360. It’s a number we only dreamed about a year ago,” the Microsoft chairman said.

From ‘Live’, the Xbox will be going ‘Live Anywhere’, divulges Gates; and this, he says, will also boost support for the 360. the Live Anywhere service will allow players to share online identity across multiple PCs as well as their Xbox 360 and other devices. This service, which will be launched alongside Windows Vista, will allow Microsoft to double the number of Xbox Live subscribers from 3 million to 6 million by next year.

Whether Microsoft’s plans are going to succeed or not is going to depend on how gamers will react to the launch of Sony PS3 and Nintendo Wii. Since both consoles are not due till the fourth quarter of the year, guess we – and especially Microsoft – would have to wait a few more months to see what the fruits of their efforts will be.