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Getting Families to Play Together
Xbox kingpin Robbie Bach, president of Microsoft's entertainment and devices division, says there's still plenty of time for the company's game console to reach a mainstream audience.
"It's still early in the product cycle," he said in a phone interview yesterday. In the first year or two of a console's life, hard-core gamers are the target, he said. After that, the company will work to broaden the market with a roster of more family-friendly offerings.
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Bach said the company has high hopes for an coming title called Viva Piñata, a game that's already turned into a TV show, an attempt by Microsoft to build a Mario- or Pokemon-like moneymaker. Microsoft is hoping that the game (and show) -- which takes place on a cartoonish island populated by herds of, yes, piñata-looking animals -- will appeal to kids and grown-ups alike.
In any case, the head start for the Xbox 360 is almost over. The console had the market to itself for a year, but now the competition is about to arrive. In addition to the Wii, Sony's next PlayStation is also on the way -- and there is already demand for that system.
Some game stores took a limited number of pre-orders for the PlayStation 3 and quickly sold out of their expected inventory of the console, which lists for up to $600. EBay auctions for the not-yet-available device already have started; the going "Buy It Now" price on eBay for the PS3, which launches next month, is about $2,000.
The last PlayStation won the console war by a factor of four to one, by some calculations. And Pachter predicts that Sony will eventually pull ahead because more of the important Japanese game developers will support the PlayStation 3 first, based on the company's past strong performance.
As for the Viva Piñata franchise, he's not a fan of what he's seen so far -- and not optimistic that the title will be the one that will break open the family market for Microsoft's console.
"Please," he said. "You might as well tattoo 'geek' on your forehead."
For Those About to Rock
On the other hand, who cares about the 360, PS3 or Wii? Guitar Hero 2 is on the way, amigos, and it will be available only on the PlayStation 2 for now. Publisher Activision has announced that the popular game, the one where players rock out on songs with a toy guitar controller, will be available for the other consoles -- but not this year.
This week, developer RedOctane announced the songs on the new version of the cult-hit game, which comes out Nov. 7.
There's still no Metallica or AC/DC in the game -- which, I think we all can agree, is a bummer. But on the set list are songs from the Rolling Stones, Van Halen and Rage Against the Machine. And toy-guitar rockers will finally be able to play the Southern-fried rock classic "Free Bird" for an encore.
