Next Gen: At his CES keynote (…), Microsoft boss Bill Gates said his company is winning the console war, and that consoles are winning the battle for supremacy in the living room. (…)
As expected, Gates announced IPTV for Xbox 360, bringing integrated TV services to the console towards the end of this year. The service will bring together broadband TV with gaming and Xbox Live providing consumers with community-based features while watching TV and playing games. He called the service the “living room device that does it all.”
Gates added, “”People are underestimating the importance of the announcement that the videogame is the set-top box and the set-top box is the videogame.” (…)
Speaking on the console wars, Gates told an interviewer prior to his speech, “It’s a complete reversal of last time. Last time, we tried coming in a year late with a big, clunky box that cost more and having less titles. We tried that and it’s not that much fun.” He added, “Sony is our most direct competitor. Our goal was to not be Sony, not be a big box, not be expensive.”
Microsoft announced that it sold 10.4 million Xbox 360 consoles last year, exceeding its stated target of 10 million units. (…)