Xbox 360 gets first female beauty app; male gamers confused

The cosmetic company L'Oreal has launched a new Xbox 360 media app called The Next Level, devoted to covering female style and beauty topics, showing yet another extension of Microsoft's game console.

As the Xbox 360 expands beyond being just a game console, its audience has also expanded to include more than just the stereotypical young male demographic. Yet, most of the non-gaming content on the Xbox 360 is still squarely centered on the male audience.

Today, the major cosmetics company L'Oreal announced it has launched a new Xbox 360 media app called The Next Level, which it claims is the first such app for the console devoted to covering "beauty and style" topics for women.

Esohe Omoruyi, the VP Digital Marketing for L’Oreal USA, states:

With more content and women on Xbox LIVE than ever before, we see this as a tremendous opportunity for L’Oréal USA. We wanted to connect with this rapidly growing audience and combine their passion for entertainment and beauty into one seamless personalized experience.

The Next Level app includes, among other features, a library of beauty "how to" videos, beauty product recommendations, and more. It will also feature content from Lucky Magazine and Makeup.com. You can bet that Microsoft welcomes such apps as it tries to get the Xbox 360 in homes that would normally not purchase a game console.

Source: L'Oreal press release