The company faced the ire of frustrated gamers last month as limited supplies of the new console quickly sold out. Speaking on the eve of the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Xbox’s Peter Moore said Microsoft was trying hard to meet demand. The Xbox 360 is the first of a new generation of games consoles. It went on sale in the US in November, and in Europe and Japan in December.Microsoft’s decision to offer limited free access to its online gaming service, Xbox Live, appears to have paid off. More than 50% of 360s are connected to Live, compared to 10% of the original Xbox, said Mr Moore. Although a free subscription does not allow people to play games, they can access Microsoft’s Marketplace and download movie trailers, demo games and music.
This strategy also seems to be working. Mr Moore said there had been more than four million downloads in the four weeks since launch. The Xbox executive also announced that Microsoft would be releasing a high definition HD DVD external drive for the 360 later this year. The console itself just has a standard DVD player. Microsoft hopes to steal a march of its competitors by being first out of the gate with the Xbox 360.
[via, BBC]
