Microsoft’s Jeff Bell talks on Mass Effect, format war, US IPTV

Jeff Bell, Microsoft‘s Corporate Vice President of Global Marketing for Interactive Entertainment, was interviewed at the tail end of the Consumer Electronics Show 2008 a few weeks ago. During the interview, he commented on what the future may hold for Mass Effect‘s exclusivity. He also touched on the format wars (Warner Bros.’ decision to go Blu-ray), and IPTV for the Xbox 360. Read more in the full article.

 

Microsoft‘s Jeff Bell was recently interviewed at the tail end of the Consumer Electronics Show 2008. Bell, Microsoft’s Corporate Vice President of Global Marketing for Interactive Entertainment, talked about Mass Effect, the format wars, and the possibility of an IPTV service for Xbox 360 units in the US.

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Electronic Arts recently acquired BioWare, the studio behind Mass Effect. Since EA is known for its fondness of multiplatform releases, Mass Effect appearing on the PlayStation 3 is considered by some as a possibility. Analyst Michael Pachter expressed confidence in this theory as well.

Bell doesn’t confirm nor deny the possibility. He comments  “whatever the future holds for Mass Effect, we know it’s going to be part of our future, as well.” Rather evasive, but it may be worth noting that he made no effort to dispel the possibility of Mass Effect going multiplatform.

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Talking on the format wars, Bell expresses his disappointment on Warner Bros.’ decision to go exclusively Blu-ray, which is no doubt a blow to Toshiba’s HD-DVD. However, he maintains that Microsoft is still committed to their ally format, saying:

I will tell you that we are committed to HD-DVD and still have some great partners — Universal, Paramount, DreamWorks — these are great participants in the format. We have sold very well the HD-DVD accessory.

We did make a specific choice; we did not impose technology upon our consumers. We would like choice to be our guiding principle, and it has worked for us. We’re not demanding that people choose a format, but rather, we’re with DVD in the Xbox 360.

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With this the interview segued into the possibility of IPTV coming to the US. It was recently announced that the BT Group will be offering an IPTV service in the UK – Bell says that the US may follow suit:

We do have Media Room partnerships that are already in place in the US and other European markets. BT was the first to say they’d offer IPTV in the Xbox 360, but that is available to our other partners, so we’re hopeful that it’s successful and we believe it will be. From that, others will most likely join suit here and around the world.

Via 1up