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In his keynote address at D.I.C.E. in Las Vegas, Peter Moore, Microsoft's head of Interactive Entertainment Business, took the opportunity to step aside from all the Xbox 360 hype (for the most part) to discuss a topic that some feel doesn't get enough attention: PC gaming.
He began by admitting that Microsoft has been partly responsible for the decline in PC game sales at retail. However, the company plans to renew its focus on the PC sector and its recent reorganization should help in doing so.
Driving PC gaming with a unified brand Moore outlined several important problems facing the PC games sector, including consumer confusion at retail, arduous install processes, lack of a cohesive online solution, and the need for a unified brand; that unification starts with Games for Windows, of course.
Moore said that as a platform holder Microsoft has a responsibility to drive sales. That begins with spreading the adoption of Windows Vista, a beta of which will be out in the next few months. Branding will be a key issue as Microsoft moves toward the "Vista Wave."
The priority for Vista will be to make games more accessible. Moore emphasized 5 goals that should make gaming on Vista vastly improved: 1) Games explorer - easy finding games; 2) Easy install - make this easier and games more like plug and play in console; 3) More stable environment; 4) Family settings - Control of what content can be viewed when and where; and 5) Managed login.
Games is now a "core scenario," which will be included on the Start menu. The Games Explorer (like My Docs, My Programs) allows any game to be found and launched from one place. Vista will include key item elements for games such as the publisher, developer and it will track meta data and let people directly access websites.
For the more casual gamer, MS will update its "free" bundled Windows games such as chess and solitaire to give them a more appealing 3-D look—the first makeover for these games in over 10 years. And in general, the Windows desktop model is now built on top of DirectX10 to make graphics on all PCs much better.
Another crucial component of improving the PC gaming experience is to streamline the aforementioned install process. "We need to do better on this front as it's scaring away a lot of consumers," said Moore.
Although retail PC game sales continue to be important, online game distribution is rapidly growing in importance and Microsoft is very cognizant of that. Moore acknowledged that there must be a cohesive solution that is seamless in delivering online content to the consumer. And on the retail side, he argued that PC games packaging needs to be standardized.
And Moore also stressed the importance of community. He said that Microsoft and the industry need to take advantage of the connected state with the consumer and move the industry forward. MS will provide game developers with the tools they need for this in Vista.
Moving away from the PC discussion and speaking in more general terms, Moore said that the platform owner will move between desktop, console and mobile devices. Microsoft needs to make this experience sit "above the platform" so consumers can "take their experiences wherever they go." That said, when he was asked about the so called "iPod killer" rumored in BusinessWeek, he said that MS has "no plans, no comments" on that.
Xbox 360 talk Although the speech focused on PC gaming, Moore did talk about the Xbox 360 somewhat. He once again defended the decision to launch globally and he promised that within the next 4-6 weeks consumers would actually be able to walk into a store and easily purchase the new console. He then highlighted the success of Xbox Live on 360 (54 percent of owners use the service) and Xbox Live Arcade, which has had 2 million downloads. Moore was asked about persistent online worlds coming to the 360 in a Q&A session that followed and he said that that may be forthcoming. "Our teams are looking at that seriously. I think (persistent worlds/MMOs) it's still the realm of the PC; however, we may have something to talk about soon."
In the end, Moore stressed that the goal is to drive the industry forward. He argued that the industry is still too reliant on licenses, sequels and gameplay mechanics, so it makes it harder to take advantage of new opportunities. The industry cannot be complacent and it must take risks. "We are the superior medium, we are interactive; tv and film are not," he said.
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