Microsoft Aims High for Xbox 360

Peter Moore wows London conference with solid numbers and talk of hardware possibilities for Europe.

If things go Microsoft's way, in a year's time you'll be sitting down to play next generation games on your Xbox 360. The company is planning an aggressive start to the next round of consoles that will use its head start over Sony to full effect.

Microsoft will launch Xbox 360 simultaneously in Europe, North America and Japan this Christmas. Part of the reason for this ambitious launch strategy is to cut down on the grey market imports of the kind that are bedevilling Sony with the PSP at the moment.

Peter Moore, a vice president at Microsoft, said the company is aiming to sell 10 million consoles within the first 12-16 months.

"That is a target we are looking at that we think we can reach in quite a quick manner," Moore said at the International Games Summit, taking place in London this week.

Moore also acknowledged the growing importance of Europe, which could act as a swing region, giving one of the big three console manufacturers the edge in the hardware race.

One problem Microsoft is facing in Europe is the slow adoption of high-definition TV. While more than 10 per cent of households in the US now have HD TV, that number is still in the low single-digits in Europe.

To ensure that Europeans are still able to get the visual punch Xbox 360 is capable of delivering, Microsoft is considering adding VGA support to the console, which would give a better picture on the millions of LCD TVs sold in Europe over the past few years.

Alex Wollenschlaeger
Editor, Kikizo Games