Microsoft’s Robbie Bach speaks on Xbox 360 profits and the Wii

Microsoft‘s Entertainment & Devices Division president Robbie Bach was recently interviewed by eWEEK at the mega company’s Mix show. Among the things that Bach spoke on were his thoughts on the on-going next-gen competition and when they expect the Xbox 360 to start earning.

He dismissed Sony from being a main competitor saying that Sony “has some real challenges,” enumerating pricing, costs, content, and lack of an online service as some of the more pressing issues. Nintendo however was another matter. While he believes that both Microsoft and Nintendo are in the “driver’s seat”, he had his analysis about the pilot console of the rival company, the Wii:

The product has gotten more broad-base acclaim that I would have expected. It’s a very nice product, but it actually has a relatively specific audience and a fairly specific appeal, frankly, based on one feature, which is the controller itself. And the rest of the product is actually not a great product—no disrespect, but Â… the video graphics on it aren’t very strong; the box itself is kind of underpowered; it doesn’t play DVDs; there are a lot of down-line components [that] aren’t actually that interesting.

He did however note that the company is poised to take the casual gaming market by storm given the fact that the controller of the Wii is intuitive and the gameplay experience has been simplified. He also stated that Nintendo will have a hard time producing games of the same graphical level as Halo or Madden considering that the system’s graphical horsepower is less than that found in the original Xbox. He believes that Microsoft’s challenge is to be able to take away some of Nintendo’s casual market and claim it for themselves.

Now, with regards to the Xbox 360 making money for Microsoft, he believes they will start earning a profit by next year. He gave word that there are three ways to make money on an Xbox: Software, Subscriptions, and peripherals.

First and foremost, he clarified that it won’t be on the hardware. They’re basically just going for break even over the life cycle of the Xbox 360. So to start, he gave the skinny on earning through software. He explained that there are two models when it comes to this: Either they develop their own games or earn royalties from third-party manufacturers.

Bach spoke on many other topics such as the Zune and the community that has grown around it. To read the full interview, click on our read link.

Microsoft‘s Entertainment & Devices Division president Robbie Bach was recently interviewed by eWEEK at the mega company’s Mix show. Among the things that Bach spoke on were his thoughts on the on-going next-gen competition and when they expect the Xbox 360 to start earning.

He dismissed Sony from being a main competitor saying that Sony “has some real challenges,” enumerating pricing, costs, content, and lack of an online service as some of the more pressing issues. Nintendo however was another matter. While he believes that both Microsoft and Nintendo are in the “driver’s seat”, he had his analysis about the pilot console of the rival company, the Wii:

The product has gotten more broad-base acclaim that I would have expected. It’s a very nice product, but it actually has a relatively specific audience and a fairly specific appeal, frankly, based on one feature, which is the controller itself. And the rest of the product is actually not a great product—no disrespect, but Â… the video graphics on it aren’t very strong; the box itself is kind of underpowered; it doesn’t play DVDs; there are a lot of down-line components [that] aren’t actually that interesting.

He did however note that the company is poised to take the casual gaming market by storm given the fact that the controller of the Wii is intuitive and the gameplay experience has been simplified. He also stated that Nintendo will have a hard time producing games of the same graphical level as Halo or Madden considering that the system’s graphical horsepower is less than that found in the original Xbox. He believes that Microsoft’s challenge is to be able to take away some of Nintendo’s casual market and claim it for themselves.

Now, with regards to the Xbox 360 making money for Microsoft, he believes they will start earning a profit by next year. He gave word that there are three ways to make money on an Xbox: Software, Subscriptions, and peripherals.

First and foremost, he clarified that it won’t be on the hardware. They’re basically just going for break even over the life cycle of the Xbox 360. So to start, he gave the skinny on earning through software. He explained that there are two models when it comes to this: Either they develop their own games or earn royalties from third-party manufacturers.

Bach spoke on many other topics such as the Zune and the community that has grown around it. To read the full interview, click on our read link.