Xbox 2 + PC = ?
Microsoft thinking about a machine that would play both console and PC
games.
May 27, 2004: 10:58 AM EDT
By CNN/Money staff writer Chris Morris
NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Two months ago, Microsoft spoke glowingly of
bridging the gap between the PC and Xbox. Now the company is
considering erasing that gap completely.
While Microsoft has publicly avoided discussing its next generation
machine, it has been quietly conducting studies on the consumer appeal
of a hybrid device that would play both PC and Xbox games.
"We would be remiss if we didn't look at consumer scenarios that take
advantage of our strengths," said Peter Moore, corporate vice
president of worldwide marketing and publishing for Microsoft's home
and entertainment division. "[But] this is one amongst many, many
other consumer scenarios that we're looking at."
The B/R/S Group, a California-based market research company that lists
Microsoft and the Xbox division specifically as clients, has been
gathering consumer feedback on a device it refers to as Xbox Next PC
"a videogame console system with a hard drive and a built-in fully
functional PC." Mention of the device came on one of several slides
shown to focus groups.
One slide describes the unit, which would require a PC monitor or high
definition television, as being backward compatible with current and
next-generation Xbox titles. It would also play PC games and include a
fully functional version of Windows, CD burner, DVD player (with
remote control), built-in access to Xbox Live and a hard drive.
Control-wise, the system would come with both a keyboard and mouse and
a standard Xbox controller. The price point this particular study
tested was $599.
B/R/S officials declined to comment for this column, citing a strict
confidentiality agreement with Microsoft.
The point of the study that included the Xbox Next PC was to determine
what consumers want to see in next generation machines and what
they're willing to pay for those features. Gathering pricing
sensitivity data for products is one of the most challenging market
research projects for hardware developers.
It's important to note that any product looked at in these sorts of
studies is conceptual and may undergo dramatic feature changes before
hitting the market if, in fact, it manages to emerge from the doors
of the R&D labs.
"If you put two and two together, there's no doubt there's a great
opportunity to put the two platforms together," said Moore. "Obviously
with a company like Microsoft this is something we have to look into
and ask about. Is it actionable today? Probably not, but it's
something we need to look at."
There is, of course, a greater question of whether consumers would
have any interest in a console/PC hybrid. Game machines, historically,
have evolved rather slowly. Large leaps haven't been rewarded. Sony
learned this lesson with the introduction of the PSX, a combination
PlayStation 2/Digital Video Recorder, which sold poorly in Japan and
has yet to receive a U.S. launch date.
Microsoft first showed interest in bringing the PC and Xbox closer
together in March at the Game Developer's Conference, when it unveiled
XNA, a software development platform meant to allow developers to skip
writing boilerplate code that often bogs down the time it takes to
create a game.
The same platform would open up cross-platform integration
opportunities, letting PC and Xbox owners play in the same world,
though each would have different experience. (PC gamers, for example,
could act as virtual generals in a strategy game, coordinating troop
movements, while Xbox players playing an action version of the same
title would fight the battles.)
"There will come a day in the not too distant future that [PC]
games will be interchangeable between Windows and the Xbox," Moore
told me at the recently completed E3 trade show.
Should Microsoft (MSFT: Research, Estimates) move forward with a
hybrid machine, it will likely come after a standalone Xbox 2 unit is
released. As for when we'll see next generation Xboxes on store
shelves - officially, Microsoft isn't commenting, but it has been
giving publishers guidance to plan for a 2005 launch.
That's a short time frame, which might raise some questions about why
the subject of Xbox 2 is being so studiously avoided. The answer's
simple. Xbox has momentum right now and its holiday line-up of games
(led by titles such as "Halo 2") is strong. Talking about Xbox 2 would
distract consumers, which could significantly cut into sales across
the board.
"Xbox has got so much going for it as we go into the holidays that
anything that disturbs the ecosystem for us is bad for business," said
Moore.
