Microsoft wants you to know that the Xbox 360 isn’t just for gaming anymore. In fact, a large portion of the console’s users are already relying on their systems for several options other than video games, and the company has decided to take steps to broaden their focus to the “entertainment experience” that the Xbox 360 provides.
According to the company’s Corporate Communications VP, Frank Shaw, non-game consumption is at an all-time high, and only expected to keep rising in the future.
“While people are still playing a ton of video games, 40 percent of all Xbox activity now is non-game,” Shaw wrote Tuesday on The Official Microsoft Blog. “Put another way, we’re seeing an average of 30 hours of video consumption per month per Xbox, a number that is growing fast. And people are expecting more – more options, more games, more videos, more entertainment.”
Of course, Shaw and company plan to deliver in a way that they think will satisfy those expectations.
“The vision for Xbox is straightforward: All of the entertainment you want. With the people you care about. Made easy,” Shaw proclaims. ”That is why you’ve seen us invest in partnerships with ESPN, Netflix and Hulu. That is why we’ve baked social directly into the experience with Xbox LIVE – connecting gamers, friends and families across the globe. That is why you’ll see Xbox marketed more as an entertainment brand this year. And that is why we’re investing so much in Natural User Interface technologies (speech, touch, gestures) to make the entertainment experience that much easier—and more fun. With Kinect, we’ve made NUI real for millions of people, and we’ve only begun to scratch the surface of what’s possible.”
All of this seems to be a hype-builder for a 90-minute event that Microsoft will hold next Monday at this year’s Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in Los Angeles. At the end of his post, Shaw mentions that “the Xbox home entertainment pot will be boiling over” during the event.
I will be looking forward to seeing what Microsoft has in store to show off next week at E3. In my house, we use our Xbox 360 for movies, television shows, and music, more than the gaming. But, with the recent addition of a Kinect our gaming use has increased again. The company has done a great job of making the console a well-rounded entertainment device, in my opinion, and I believe that staying on that track is a smart move for them.
