Looking ahead from E3 2008 Posted by Matt Lees, 175 days ago
Microsoft seemed terribly preoccupied throughout their presentation to show how hard they’ve been trying to get their teeth into the casual pie, announcing a whole bunch of new inclusive family-fun stuff, and the unveiling of a new, minimalistic dashboard. Even with a fair few Sony mainstream franchise clones under their wing, it’s still an elusive market they’re a long way off cracking any time soon, and with this in mind it’s a good job that in terms of traditional gaming Microsoft are clearly becoming a house favourite for many publishers. Difficulties with console sales over the last year - particularly within Europe – often overshadow the console’s fantastic attach rate, third party publishers increasingly realising that great games consistently sell really well when released on 360, even when the market seems a little oversaturated. With Square Enix making this same realisation it’s safe to say that the days of third party exclusives are soon to be numbered...
Over the next year we’re going to see Microsoft’s position solidify a little more, but not spectacularly. Even though it’s Sony who’re always banging on about 10 year plans, if anything this mentality is better suited to the Xbox 360. The new wave of casual gamers are certainly a tasty demographic to get a grasp on, but in terms of shifting software it’s always going to be the hardcore crowd forking out the most money. We’re not going to see Microsoft heavily chipping into the less serious market for a few years yet, and whilst analysts often equate this with doom and gloom, their solid first party efforts combined with increasingly strong 3rd party relations suggest that the Xbox 360 is definitely on the way up, albeit very slowly indeed. Expect MGS4 to be announced for the 360 within three months.
