It’s a busy period right now for Microsoft, what with the recent launch of Windows Phone 7 and more focus on Cloud. According to Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, though, nothing is more important than Kinect and Xbox 360.
If you want to know where is the consumer heat, the things that people want to get their hands on, it’s Xbox and Xbox Kinect. I think about my own family, said Ballmer. My wife used to say, ‘No, no, that’s the machine the boys use,’ and now she says, ‘Yeah, I want to go watch movies. Let’s go play the dance game.’ It opens up accessibility to family entertainment because with the Kinect, you control these systems with your body, with your voice. We’ve opened up the world of content in TV, movies. You just sit there and say ‘Xbox’ or ‘play movie.’
When asked about competition with other gaming consoles, Ballmer had a rather interesting response. Xbox isn’t a gaming console, said Ballmer. Xbox is a family entertainment center. It’s a place to socialize. It’s a place to watch TV. We have Hulu coming. It’s the only system where you are the controller. Your voice, your gestures, your body.
The issue of cool factor came up with comparisons to Google and Apple and Ballmer went back to the Xbox 360. You go to your average 15-year-old boy, and he will say ‘I’ll take an Xbox,’ asserted Ballmer. I want that average 15-year-old girl as excited about the Kinect, and we haven’t done as good a job drawing in that broader set of demographics.
Source: USA Today
