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SANTA MONICA, California - Fresh from taking a billion-dollar hit for flawed Xbox 360 video game consoles, Microsoft has unveiled a line-up of new titles and a deal to distribute Disney movies online.
Ahead of Wednesday's opening of the E3 Media and Business Summit, Microsoft staged a theatrical press conference in an amphitheater at a high school in the seaside town of Santa Monica, California.
"This year people will spend more on games than they will on music," Microsoft vice president of Interactive Entertainment Business said late Tuesday, displaying sales figures on a huge screen behind the stage.
"While you can see we are in a tight race with the Wii and outselling PlayStation 3 by nearly two-to-one, right now Xbox 360 is selling more games than anyone else."
Half of the video games sold are for Xbox 360, according to Moore, who credited blockbuster titles such as "Halo", "Grand Theft Auto", and "Madden Sports".
"Halo 3" will be in stores September 25 along with an Xbox 360 console designed with graphics from the game, which will be a billion-dollar franchise by year's end, Moore said.
"This holiday will be unlike anything that has come before it," Moore predicted as he listed new titles coming from Microsoft and third-party publishers.
Microsoft is beefing up its Xbox Live online features, making high-definition Disney movies available for download to consoles as of Tuesday, according to Moore.
Xbox Live boasts seven million members and will expand to Canada and Europe by the end of this year, Moore said.
Microsoft's new offerings included games designed for people that prefer to play on computers instead of consoles.
"We are bringing the Xbox and the PC (personal computer) closer together," said Microsoft vice president of marketing Jeff Bell.
New games for the Xbox 360 include "Mass Effect", "Lost Odyssey", "BioShock", "Grand Theft Auto IV", "Assassin's Creed", and "Rock Band", a variation on the popular title "Guitar Hero".
"Our cards are on the table," Moore said. "This is who we are and what we will deliver to you this holiday season."
Rival video game console makers and leading software designers are in Santa Monica to show off what they hope will be this year's blockbuster titles in the multi-billion-dollar industry.
The invitation-only E3 summit features Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony as well as game publishers such as Disney Interactive Studios and Ubisoft.
From 3,000 to 4,000 of the video game industry's key players are meeting in hotel suites and a small hangar through Friday to make connections and get previews of titles to be on the market by the Christmas holiday season.
The gathering begins just days after Sony announced it is trimming the price of PlayStation 3 (PS3) consoles, sales of which have languished since it launched in November.
On Friday, Microsoft said it expects to spend as much as 1.15 billion dollars fixing or replacing Xbox 360 consoles that evidently overheat and lock up, flashing three red lights users refer to as "the red ring of death."
Meanwhile, Nintendo is riding a wave of popularity so strong that it has been selling Wii consoles as fast as it makes them since sales began in November 2006.
- AFP /ls
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