Microsoft UK’s Stephen McGill: “Games for kids, families, mums and girls”

Those Europe folks folks are cutthroat. Just look at that “we hearts Xbox 360” barge that floated right in front of the French Sony PlayStation 3 launch, and that beer plus Xbox 360 package that they sent. Anyhow, now that the PS3 is now officially in the ring in Europe, what else does Microsoft have to say? In an interview with CVG Microsoft head of gaming and Entertainment and Devises Division UK, Stephen McGill, said a few pointed things.

Basically McGill says that Microsoft welcomes the competition, that they’ll keep an eye on what they’re doing but they’ll stick to what they’re doing, and they’re proud that they’ve got a larger game portfolio than the PlayStation 3. For example, when CVG asked how they’re keeping an eye on the PS3. McGill said:

Through us we’re putting gaming in the centre and so games are part of everything we do, but we do do a lot of different things; you can play music, you can watch movies and look at your photos and stuff, which actually seems to be something that Sony is really focusing on – they don’t seem to be focusing too much on the games.

So if you look at the early reports of people queuing outside of Virgin Megastore – there’s another report in the paper today – they’re already saying they’ve got 27 games that are already out but where are the killer games that will drive console sales?

Read the rest of this post after the Jump.

Those Europe folks folks are cutthroat. Just look at that “we hearts Xbox 360” barge that floated right in front of the French Sony PlayStation 3 launch, and that beer plus Xbox 360 package that they sent. Anyhow, now that the PS3 is now officially in the ring in Europe, what else does Microsoft have to say? In an interview with CVG Microsoft head of gaming and Entertainment and Devises Division UK, Stephen McGill, said a few pointed things.

Basically McGill says that Microsoft welcomes the competition, that they’ll keep an eye on what they’re doing but they’ll stick to what they’re doing, and they’re proud that they’ve got a larger game portfolio than the PlayStation 3. For example, when CVG asked how they’re keeping an eye on the PS3. McGill said:

Through us we’re putting gaming in the centre and so games are part of everything we do, but we do do a lot of different things; you can play music, you can watch movies and look at your photos and stuff, which actually seems to be something that Sony is really focusing on – they don’t seem to be focusing too much on the games.

So if you look at the early reports of people queuing outside of Virgin Megastore – there’s another report in the paper today – they’re already saying they’ve got 27 games that are already out but where are the killer games that will drive console sales?

Questioning the value of that UK£ 425 seems to be Microsoft’s marketing ploy in Europe, and they’re pretty aggressive about it. McGill even questions the edge that Blu-ray has in light of the fact that they plan to offer High-Definition movie downloads via Xbox Live. He says:

In the States we’re already offering the choice of downloads so you can get TV programs and movies in high-definition straight down your broadband pipe. And as we see broadband around the UK and Europe now at 85 percent penetration and the pipes getting fatter and fatter, we’ll be looking at how we’ll be bringing that over to Europe.

So consumers have to decide if they’re prepared to pay that money for technology they may or may not want.

Yes, yes, their marketing assertion makes sense. Whether you’re a fan of Microsoft’s console or not, their pitch is still compelling. You can’t argue with it. They do have a big portfolio, and a large install base, and a robust online network. The only thing that got some folks a bit turned off was his response when asked for comments on Reginald Fils-Aimes’ claim that the Xbox 360 is only selling in UK and not the rest of Europe. Mc Gill said:

We’ve got a 10.4 million install base around the world and while we don’t release country by country specific statistics it’s clear that the UK phenomenon of Xbox 360 has also been a success around all of the European territories.

We’ve got a great portfolio of games for kids, families, mums and girls. If you look at the PS3 line-up it’s quite heavy in shooters and drivers so I’m pleased to say that our portfolio is quite appealing to the masses.

Games for kids, families, mums and girls? Hmm. Well, yeah the casual games on XBLA does satisfy a certain demographic, but we believe that it is safe to say (Xbox 360 fanboy or not) that Microsoft needs to take the initiative to make more games similar to Viva Piñata. Oh, and this time try to get those family games to sell better.

Hey, Microsoft, we know that it can’t be argued that you guys are doing certain things right, but please, be aware that you don’t have a reputation for having family friendly games on your console (no, that boatload of Disney movie franchise extensions don’t count). Don’t do what other folks did with their consoles; work on it first, then brag about it. Rayman Raving Rabbids is great start.