From gamasutra.com (http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=19304 ): [QUOTE] Aaron Greenberg, Microsoft's director of product management for Xbox 360 and Xbox Live, recently sat down with Gamasutra to discuss Microsoft's progress and plans. He discussed the Asian markets, digital distribution and the upcoming game creation avenues offered by XNA, the idea of an all-in-one entertainment console, and why Microsoft still isn't competing with Wii. * To me that's always been silly logic, because developers would be using it [a default HDD on every 360 SKU], and so consumers would be using it if they had it. * AG: Trade-offs and everything, but sure. * Do the Arcade models sell? You probably can't say percentages. * AG: You know, you can look at NPD data. I don't know it off the top of my head, but I can tell you that the majority of sales are for the Pro or Premium SKU, and then the split beyond that is the Elite and the Arcade. I think it's something like 60/20/20, more or less, but it can vary from month to month, and from market to market. I mean, we find in other markets, outside the US, the high price point is an issue, so the lower price makes the Arcade a little bit higher. * Nintendo, for their part, if they keep going down this path, they don't really need to make a Wii 2. You don't really need to level the graphics out too much. Are they going to extend the life of that platform for a super long time, then come out with a completely different product? * AG: Everyone says that eventually the novelty will wear off, right? I think that a lot of the people that are buying that console today are not people that have generally bought consoles in the past, right? You see they're not buying games on it, right? They're buying it, it's like something they break out when people come over, and it's maybe a fun thing, but it's almost like the same people that buy a karaoke machine, you know? They're not really buying it for games, they're just buying it as a novelty. * How are things post-Peter Moore? * AG: I think great. I mean, we're very fortunate to have a really seasoned senior leadership team at Microsoft. You know, [Microsoft senior VP] Don Mattrick was a top executive at EA for a number of years, and oversaw games studios, and actually started his own game development company, years ago. Both him and [Microsoft corporate VP] John Schappert - who founded [EA] Tiburon, and has been heading up all of Live's software services - are, obviously, the new top execs running Xbox business, and it's been great. I think it's always good to have new, fresh perspective. I know John has a lot of passion around Live, and has been very ambitious about really continuing to innovate in that space, and Don across the whole business, every piece of the business from Live, to games, to the console platform. So while everyone loved Peter, and we still have a solid relationship with him at EA, I think we're lucky that it feels like we haven't skipped a beat since he's left. I think the biggest thing we feel is that there's no Peter to talk to, right? Don and John are more business guys, and they're running the business. People will hear more from them. I know we heard from John at GDC. He talked to a lot of people there. Don's been pretty hands-down focused on the business, which I think is the right thing. So I think people here miss Peter and his personality. [/QUOTE] Full Story: gamasutra.com (http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=19304 )

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Site: Xbox Scene Feed: Xbox News () Url: http://www.xbox-scene.com/xbox... Views: 2 Added On: 2008-07-08 21:32:01

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