Microsoft to push mobile gaming in 2006 - Joystiq - www.joystiq.com
Microsoft to push mobile gaming in 2006 - Joystiq - www.joystiq.com:
From a console launch to new strategy announcements, Microsoft sure are busy at the moment. Speaking to Business Week, Chris Early of the Microsoft Casual Games Group revealed that the software behemoth is planning to move into the mobile gaming sphere in a big way next year.
Casual gamers make up a fast-growing segment of the gaming demographic which Microsoft is already tapping into, but there’s room for more. There are already several Microsoft-franchised mobile games, but Microsoft has a vision of a unified future:
What we want to do is to offer the mobile community access to games that they’re familiar with — that they’ve played on MSN Games or the Xbox — on a mobile device. What will also be key to the Microsoft mobile-gaming experience is that you’ll be able to be part of the Microsoft gaming community whether you’re on your PC or your Xbox or your mobile phone.
Should Sony and Nintendo be surprised that Microsoft are moving into the mobile games space? No. Afraid? Perhaps. Microsoft will be focusing on an existing handheld device — the mobile phone — which is seen as a more casual platform, so their offering may compete directly or fill a niche in the portable market."
From a console launch to new strategy announcements, Microsoft sure are busy at the moment. Speaking to Business Week, Chris Early of the Microsoft Casual Games Group revealed that the software behemoth is planning to move into the mobile gaming sphere in a big way next year.
Casual gamers make up a fast-growing segment of the gaming demographic which Microsoft is already tapping into, but there’s room for more. There are already several Microsoft-franchised mobile games, but Microsoft has a vision of a unified future:
What we want to do is to offer the mobile community access to games that they’re familiar with — that they’ve played on MSN Games or the Xbox — on a mobile device. What will also be key to the Microsoft mobile-gaming experience is that you’ll be able to be part of the Microsoft gaming community whether you’re on your PC or your Xbox or your mobile phone.
Should Sony and Nintendo be surprised that Microsoft are moving into the mobile games space? No. Afraid? Perhaps. Microsoft will be focusing on an existing handheld device — the mobile phone — which is seen as a more casual platform, so their offering may compete directly or fill a niche in the portable market."
