Video-console makers gear up for duel
Sony and Microsoft use LA expo to showcase exclusive titles on sale for year-end season
Microsoft and Sony are gearing up for the next phase of competition between their duelling video-game consoles, highlighting exclusive titles that will be on sale for the year-end holiday season.
Microsoft kicked off this week’s annual Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles by showcasing its in-house shooting game Sunset another exclusive, plus a package of rereleased
titles, all on sale by the holidays. The content for Xbox One, which has trailed the PS4 since both consoles were released in November, ups the stakes for Sony, which is up next with its E3 presentation and has seen exclusives such as pushed back to 2015.
Microsoft used its entire 90 minutes to focus on hard-core players, who were alienated by an Xbox One debut last year focused on non-game entertainment.
“We will continue to listen to you, our community, and will continue to make Xbox for you,” said Phil Spencer, executive vice-president of the console unit.
Microsoft has struggled to convince gamers that the Kinect motion-sensing controller justified the US$499 ($587) price tag of the Xbox One, US$100 more than the PlayStation 4. The maker of Office software yesterday began selling a US$399 version without Kinect.
The company is also offering free access to applications that formerly were part of a paid Xbox Live Gold membership.
Both new consoles have sold faster than any previous generation, with PS4 sales to March nearly double the PS3, according to Michael Olson, a Piper Jaffray Cos analyst. He said videogame developers were racing to deliver titles showcasing the machines’ graphics prowess.
Nintendo, which beat Microsoft and Sony for most of the last console generation, has struggled to gain traction for its Wii U. It presents its E3 today. For more on the expo go to nzherald.co.nz/
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The holiday shopping season will be packed with shooter games, including Activision Blizzard’s
and Electronic Arts’ Ubisoft Entertainment’s Take-Two Interactive Software’s While each firm tries to shore up gamer
and support, they are also trying to woo mainstream buyers with entertainment offerings including virtual reality headsets and home-grown web programming.
“They’re positioning to move the boxes into the living room as multimedia devices,” said Michael Pachter, a Wedbush Securities analyst.