Microsoft always said that the Xbox was intended to be more than a gaming device. It has always been a media hub but until recently most people used the system solely for gaming. Now it seems that gaming makes up just 60% of the time that users spend on their Xbox.
Dennis Durkin, corporate vice president and chief operating and financial officer of Microsoft's Interactive Entertainment Business, spoke at the BMO Capital Markets Digital Entertainment Conference and said that 40 percent of Xbox LIVE members in the U.S. are using their Xbox for things other than gaming such as streaming videos from Netflix or streaming music from Last.fm. Durkin went on to say:
What we found is the core gamer might be the person who brought the console into the house, but as you widen the choices of content, it broadens what people can do with the system
According to CNET, Durkin went on to talk about the recent success of the Kinect, saying that all they units they are shipping out are selling out. But what stuck out is the suggestion that the Kinect will provide more opportunities for advertising by getting a better idea about who is using the console. Durkin had this to say on the topic:
It's hard to track though with a controller-based system. Kinect brings a really interesting opportunity as it relates to that. Obviously with Kinect, it has facial recognition, so we can cater what content we present based on who you are.
Along with advertising to each individual he mentioned that if the Kinect detects a group of people the advertising could be targeted at groups of people as well.
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