Don Mattrick, president of Microsoft’s interactive entertainment division is offending gamers but pleasing Xbox shareholders. This video from Bloomberg.com has Mattrick defending the US$500 price of the Xbox One (Sony’s PS4 will cost US$399). The video was shot at this years E3, an annual gaming trade show.
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Mattrick says that the value-adds of the Xbox One include Xbox Live, “innovation unique to Xbox One” like the newly updated Kinect, SmartGlass, a partnership with the NFL, Halo 5 game and TV series.
And then, Mattrick is questioned about the price of the Xbox One.
“We’re over delivering value compared to the choice consumers get” says Mattrick. “For any modern product, US$499 isn’t a ridiculous price point. We’re delivering thousands of dollars of value to people and we think they’re gonna love it when they use it.” When Xbox One launches November 2013, it’ll be the wallets of gamers who decide if US$500 is too much or not. Gamers may have already chosen though, as the International Business Times reports that the PS4 is outselling the Xbox One 2-to-1 in pre-orders.
Is the Xbox One future-proof then, Bloomberg asks? Mattrick responds. “Devices and services, that’s the world that we’re living in. The more services that get to global scale, the more valuable they are to consumers across the world.” That’s one way to avoid an answer.
Microsoft is banking on value-added services such as Twitch.tv (live in-game streaming) to propel the Xbox One towards greatness and past the competition. “People love that. Someones playing a game, you’re seeing the game and commenting on their strategy, and for millions of people around the globe, that’s a form of entertainment. We’re making the living room a centre of fun for your family.”
Bloomberg, and gamers have concerns over privacy which Mattrick squashes with “we have a great set of privacy polices people can read and review. We put you in the centre of controlling your data, how it gets used. It’s nothing that would make me personally uncomfortable.”
Bloomberg ends with a cool question that cuts Mattrick off from his pre-backed answers. It’s a fair question as well: What lessons has Xbox shown us?
“We’re pleased with our growth. Teamwork and collaboration is a theme you’ll continue to see unfolding in the future. It’s all part of our strategy: how do we give people the best experiences on our devices?”
The price, controversial DRM methods and overzealous region locking of the Xbox One has been under heavy scrutiny by the gaming public. Microsoft isn’t making any new fans and Mattrick even told the public earlier this week that if they don’t have the internet connection for an Xbox One they should “get an Xbox 360.”
