November 3rd, 2008

Microsoft Online – Winning The Game

No matter what some of my friends (and enemies, although I don't have many of those) would say, Microsoft is losing the game, at least when talking about the operating systems market. They may close some smaller projects in the software applications market, too, but I am not going to talk about small fish today. The online market is a blue whale, and that's what I want to talk about now because, at least according to Epic Games, Microsoft is winning the online battle!

So...is it possible for the Microsoft online game to be much better than the Windows mayhem? Well, speaking to GamesIndustry, Dr Michael Capps, Epic's president, said that Microsoft's care for adding cool stuff on a regular basis for Xbox users is taking them to the "golden cup" of the online gaming market.

"[..]that's how you join into the Xbox Live experience - your dashboard comes up, you get to see what's new, hey, there's some free stuff you didn't know about - instead of just booting into your game and missing the community," said Capps.

With Epic's support, Xbox Live Arcade can become much more than it is now, and that's a clear sign that the Microsoft online game is headed in the right direction. "So I think making that economy work [for new development], rather than saying, 'We all love Galaga so here's a new one' or 'Here's another retro hit that we've dumped on to Xbox Live Arcade' - making it more like Steam, where it's really easy to go in see what cool games are out and give them a try," concluded Epic's president.