Microsoft’s European VP is hoping to wring another five years out of the Xbox 360 through Kinect, and believes there is “no doubt” that 3D gaming will take off in three years.
Chris Lewis, vice president of Microsoft’s European interactive entertainment branch, has confirmed that the company plans to sit on the Xbox 360 for a while now that Kinect is coming to consumers. And despite Microsoft’s view that 3D is a future technology, Lewis actually has a strong belief that it’ll take over the game industry in the next few years.
In an interview with BusinessWeek Lewis said: “Kinect really gives us, I think, a very genuine additional five years.” He’s hoping that the motion camera device will bring in a whole new sect of game players. “What Kinect does is broaden us out to users that we weren’t addressing in the past,” he believes. This includes Justin Bieber fans.
Oddly enough, Lewis also seems to have mentioned the possibility of releasing a new console alongside the Xbox 360. BusinessWeek writes that Microsoft “might release a new console while the Xbox 360 is still on sale,” with Lewis commenting: “But we’re not fixated on that right now.” What this exactly was referring to is unknown, but Microsoft assuredly is focusing on trying to make Kinect a success with the mainstream for now.
3D console gaming is Sony’s big thing at the moment, with Nintendo covering the handheld space, but Microsoft has been totally absent from any mention of its future containing a 3D component. Still, of 3D gaming becoming widespread, Lewis says: “We are two to three years away from that, till the price point comes down, till the experience is sufficiently social, that you don’t sit there with big glasses on and don’t talk to your family. That will happen, there’s no doubt.” If Microsoft does have super secret plans to get into 3D, it’s keeping them under wraps.
Source: BusinessWeek
