Shane Kim says Microsoft is better poised to win

Microsoft Game Studios’ Corporate VP, Shane Kim told anxious bloggers and reporters in a Microsoft-hosted breakfast at the 2007 Game Developers Conference, “[Microsoft’s] aspiration in this generation is to win – we’re better positioned than when we kicked off this generation.” Kim believes they have much to learn from their competitors and must give the Xbox 360 a much wider berth for improvement.

He praised Nintendo for their direction with the Wii. Nintendo has tapped a segment of the market that, before the Wii, was never thought to have existed. Now the gaming industry has access to a much broader customer base, and the Xbox 360 will meet the challenge of tapping into that segment.

Unfortunately, for a console aimed primarily at hardcore gamers, they will have to time their attempt right. With their previous focus on casual gamer-friendly titles such as Rare’s Viva Pinata, the console is still steeply priced for any non-gamer to consider worth a buy.  Kim said that the 360 still hasn’t met the mass market price point “yet.”

Because of their slight disregard for the mass market with the original Xbox, they will have to work twice as hard to convince non-gamers to consider the Xbox 360 option.

Kim also looked towards the PlayStation 3 for inspiration to addressing the news regarding PlayStation Home‘s software and its significant impact for the console. He believes that Microsoft has every means capable of meeting the challenge of creating a more involving online component to the Xbox 360. In fact, he’s sure that Microsoft is already creating a foundation to provide such options in the future.

For the casual gaming side, many of the attendees were quick to question the lackluster performance and current release issues of Xbox Live Arcade games, including depressing concerns about some key staff leaving the XBLA team. While the situation looks grim from a certain standpoint, Kim assured that they are confident about the team they have behind XBLA.

Click on the “Read” link below to learn more about the breakfast discussion.

Microsoft Game Studios’ Corporate VP, Shane Kim told anxious bloggers and reporters in a Microsoft-hosted breakfast at the 2007 Game Developers Conference, “[Microsoft’s] aspiration in this generation is to win – we’re better positioned than when we kicked off this generation.” Kim believes they have much to learn from their competitors and must give the Xbox 360 a much wider berth for improvement.

He praised Nintendo for their direction with the Wii. Nintendo has tapped a segment of the market that, before the Wii, was never thought to have existed. Now the gaming industry has access to a much broader customer base, and the Xbox 360 will meet the challenge of tapping into that segment.

Unfortunately, for a console aimed primarily at hardcore gamers, they will have to time their attempt right. With their previous focus on casual gamer-friendly titles such as Rare’s Viva Pinata, the console is still steeply priced for any non-gamer to consider worth a buy.  Kim said that the 360 still hasn’t met the mass market price point “yet.”

Because of their slight disregard for the mass market with the original Xbox, they will have to work twice as hard to convince non-gamers to consider the Xbox 360 option.

Kim also looked towards the PlayStation 3 for inspiration to addressing the news regarding PlayStation Home‘s software and its significant impact for the console. He believes that Microsoft has every means capable of meeting the challenge of creating a more involving online component to the Xbox 360. In fact, he’s sure that Microsoft is already creating a foundation to provide such options in the future.

For the casual gaming side, many of the attendees were quick to question the lackluster performance and current release issues of Xbox Live Arcade games, including depressing concerns about some key staff leaving the XBLA team. While the situation looks grim from a certain standpoint, Kim assured that they are confident about the team they have behind XBLA.

Click on the “Read” link below to learn more about the breakfast discussion.