Microsoft’s Greenberg gives details on upcoming Xbox 360 update

Microsoft‘s group marketing manager for the Xbox 360 and Xbox Live, Aaron Greenberg, was recently interviewed by Next Generation. He gave details regarding the major changes that will be coming to the Xbox 360 this December 4, specifically the incoming downloadable Xbox Original Titles, Xbox Live Arcade hits, and the much talked about news feed feature.

Want to find out what Greenberg had to say? Read the full article.

 

Microsoft‘s group marketing manager for the Xbox 360 and Xbox Live, Aaron Greenberg, was recently interviewed by Next Generation. He gave details regarding the major changes that will be coming to the Xbox 360 this December 4, specifically the incoming downloadable Xbox Original Titles, Xbox Live Arcade hits, and the much talked about news feed feature.

 The first wave of games players will be getting include Psychonauts, Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge, Fable, and Halo. According to Greenberg, Microsoft plans on adding even more games in the future:

WeÂ’re going to be adding titles at a pretty regular flow. We expect [more games] on pretty much a weekly basis. We have a large catalog of backwards compatible titles to choose from. Not all of those titles may be available as Original downloads, but the best-selling ones and the real popular ones like the cult-classic Psychonauts that arenÂ’t available at retail anymore will be made available as Originals

Each game is going to cost 1200 Microsoft points (about US$ 15) each. Much like other downloadable games on the Xbox Live marketplace, gamers get to permanently keep the game and play it as much as they want.

Speaking of downloadable content, Greenberg also mentioned that they plan on releasing Xbox Live Arcade Hits on this December 5. This will drop the prices of games such as Small Arms, Zuma Deluxe, and Marble Blast Ultra 4 to 400 points each. In addition, Bankshot Billiards 2 and Lumines Live will also be receiving a price cut to 800 MS points each. How does a game qualify as an Arcade hit? Here’s what Greenberg had to say:

A hit Arcade game will do hundreds of thousands of units. TheyÂ’re doing some pretty big volume. WeÂ’re going to do top titles and games that publishers will agree to put in this program. The assumption is that by offering these at a value, weÂ’re going to drive net, weÂ’re going to drive incremental sales and revenue for the games. ItÂ’s a pretty steep discount, and some prices are being cut in half.

Greenberg also mentioned the new news feed feature for the Xbox Live community. He described it as being “similar to an RSS feed from a website on PC.” He added that the news feed will contain photos, text and even video, all accessible from the living room TV.

Big changes are slated for the Xbox 360 this December. If all goes as planned, it looks as though the Xbox 360 will be one step closer to the media hub Microsoft initially planned the console to be.

Via Next Generation