Xbox 360 aims at family market

Microsoft wants to take a page out of Nintendo's book and expand the audience of its Xbox 360 console, reports Bloomberg.

The hardware manufacturer, impressed by the success of the Wii in appealing to women, children, and older people, will be adopting a similar strategy to expand its demographic, stated Peter Moore, Microsoft's corporate vice president of interactive entertainment. Moore is worried that the 360's sales will not surpass those of the original Xbox unit. He said, "If we don't make that move, make it early, and expand our demographic, we will wind up in the same place as with Xbox one, a solid business with 25 million people. What I need is a solid business with 90 million people."

To try to make these figures come true, Microsoft will be adding more family games to the 360's lineup, and rejigging retail displays to give more prominence to children's titles. Xbox global platform marketing director Albert Penello also added that despite the runaway success of titles such as Gears of War, the company is keen not to have the Xbox 360 pigeonholed as a hardcore, gamer-only machine.

Analyst Heather Bellini of UBS AG also predicted a price cut for the console, although Microsoft refused once again to be drawn into commenting. However, Xbox director of project management David Hufford did note, "We are well aware that the sweet spot of the market is really $199."