Next-Gen got a hold of Xbox 360 Group Marketing Manager Aaron Greenburg yesterday and gave voice to some of the big questions surrounding the recent hardware sales upset. The result? We get a peek into Microsoft’s strategery regarding sales, Blu-Ray support and hard drive requirements in the ongoing console war. Hint: Stay the course.
How could the continually arrogant Sony Corporation’s PlayStation 3 finally surpass the Xbox 360 in sales, besides, oh I don’t know, the fact that Sony’s Blu-ray format won the HD video war?
“Our expectation is that because of our shortages at retail during February, we will sell less than PS3,” he says. “That’s not a surprise to us. I don’t know what Sony’s reaction will be to that, but it will definitely be a bit of a hollow victory. The competition sure didn’t show up [in February].”
He adds, “You can go to any given store and happen to find some consoles there, but we can tell you that from working with all of our retailers and being able to actually know our inventory by store across the country that we are still, unfortunately, experiencing shortages.”
So you’re saying that if we want a 360 we can go out and buy one, but somehow there aren’t enough to meet consumer demand. It seems like a bit of an excuse to us, and given that the statement comes right before the NPD sales figures release for the month of February, seems to be intended to cushion a hard landing for Microsoft. But surely sales will pick up once Microsoft adopts the Blu-Ray format and has a competing low-cost high-definition video platform, right?
“I can tell you that we’re not currently in talks with Sony or the Blu-ray disc association regarding integrating Blu-ray to the Xbox 360 experience,” Greenberg says. “We really do believe that it’s games that drive console sales.”
Wrong. But perhaps the future is not on optical disk, but with digital distribution instead?
“We’ve said we definitely believe in offering consumers choice,” says Greenberg, repeating a line common during the Peter Moore days when asked about the HD-DVD drive.“… But at the time [we introduced the HD-DVD add-on], we weren’t offering digital distribution, high-definition content and digital distribution.
“…Today, the market is so fragmented. Yes, you have Blu-ray, but you also have on-demand, DVDs that can be upscaled to hi-def, you have people digitally distributing high definition content. There are so many different choices now for consumers. The marketplace has changed since we introduced the HD-DVD add-on.
So we’ll download the movies and games that can’t fit on DVD (or Blu-ray) to our built-in hard drive, correct? Not so fast:
“You can add on a 20GB drive or a 120GB. The core functionality of the three [models] is the same. The difference is just storage,” he argues.
“You’re a gamer, I’m a gamer, we’re connected to Live, we want to download content, so for us, we definitely want a hard drive,” says Greenberg. “…That’s definitely the right solution for us, and frankly for a large majority of our customers. For my friends that want to go online and get the complete entertainment experience, I definitely recommend that they get the Pro or Elite console.
Xbox 360 Arcade for the win, I see. After we buy our add-on hard drive and wireless adapter (you know, the ones that come with every PS3) perhaps you’ll remain competitive by offering free Xbox Live so we can play those games online?
“What we find is that the majority of people are willing to pay for a premium online multiplayer experience,” he says. “…And there is a segment of consumers who aren’t interested in multiplayer, but want to be able to use messaging, rent movies and download content.
“But what we offer with Xbox Live as a multiplayer experience is unmatched.”
While in the long run it’s the games that matter (and Xbox 360 certainly has plenty of those compared to the competition) one wonders how much of a killing either Sony or Microsoft could make by competing with one another on all levels.
Editor’s note: Snarkiness added to enhance flavor.
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