LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Microsoft, looking to turn its loss-making Xbox game console into a digital entertainment centre, has unveiled a series of upgrades to its online game service, showing off several high-profile games.
At a press conference on Monday to kick off the $30-billion video game industry's annual E3 trade show, Microsoft demonstrated a preview of "Halo 2", a sequel to the interstellar action title that ranks as the Xbox's best-selling game.
The brief demonstration drew enthusiastic applause from a packed auditorium once used for boxing matches.
The company also showed the first inhouse efforts from British publisher Rare, acquired by Microsoft last year to improve the software giant's line-up of higher-margin games.
Such games, including upcoming Rare releases like "Kameo" and "Grabbed by the Ghoulies", are key to the company's strategy for selling hardware and ultimately turning a profit on the Xbox.
Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft said on Monday that its Home and Entertainment division, which is responsible for the Xbox, lost $190 million before taxes, write-offs and other charges in the most recent quarter compared with a loss of $97 million a year earlier.
Microsoft unveiled a new brand for its sports titles, "XSN Sports", and said players would be able to create virtual teams and leagues and engage in competitions through its Xbox Live online service.
Professional football star Peyton Manning appeared briefly to promote the new brand, though he did not play any of the sports games on stage, in contrast to a star-studded demonstration by Sony at last year's E3.
A glaring absence from Xbox Live is the best-selling sports line-up from the No. 1 games publisher, Electronic Arts. EA is set to announce this week that it will only support online sports play for rival Sony's PlayStation 2.
XBOX LIVE
In an effort to further differentiate itself from Sony's dominant presence in the game industry, Microsoft "Chief Xbox Officer" Robbie Bach told the audience that "gaming is about community."
But he acknowledged that Microsoft had yet to sign EA onto its Xbox Live platform.
"Sure, we'd love to have them on the platform and we'll keep talking to them," Bach said in an interview.
Microsoft claims an advantage over Sony in online gaming, since the Xbox connects through a central broadband server for its 500,000 users. Sony leaves the management of such online services to individual game publishers.
Microsoft announced a slate of new Xbox Live functions, including an online voice-based chat room and a feature that can alert and invite other players to join in online contests.
The company also rolled out software called "Music Mixer" that will let Xbox owners move digital music files from PCs or CDs to the Xbox, create playlists and sing karaoke.
One thing fans will not hear from Microsoft any time soon though is details of a price cut on the Xbox. Bach said the company saw no need for such a move.
"We're very comfortable with the way things are selling," he said.
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News source:
Reuters
