Thursday, Jan 10, 2008
Gulf News
Dubai: Microsoft has launched its next-generation gaming console Xbox 360 Arcade for the first time in the Gulf in UAE with a price tag of Dh1,195.
It comes as part of a broader initiative by Microsoft to bring the Xbox experience to families everywhere.
The box contains Xbox 360 console, HDMI connection to enable hi-definition output, 256 MB for storing games and bundled with five full versions of Pac-Man Championship Edition, Uno, Luxor 2, Boom Boom Rocket and Feeding Frenzy games. It does not have a hard disk. But add-on accessories are available in the market.
Features
"In addition to offering an incredible all-in-one package for families to get right into the fun, the system features the industry leading family settings that allow parents to control what their kids are watching and playing, and we know how important that control is to families around the world," Armagan Demir, head of Microsoft Entertainment and Devices Division Middle East.
A Microsoft survey conducted throughout Europe found that parents embrace the idea of support from the gaming industry, with 75 per cent of them welcoming built-in technology or software to monitor the time their children spend playing video games.
A similar Microsoft survey conducted in the US last month found that 62 per cent of parents say they would use a timer if it were available to help them manage their children's interactive entertainment use.
"As a leader in interactive entertainment, it has been our priority to innovate and improve our technology to help parents manage their children's video gaming and online experiences," Demir said.
Xbox was the first video game and entertainment system with built-in parental controls for both online and offline use. Microsoft claims to have as sold about 18 million Xbox 360 consoles since their debut in 2005, helped by its best-selling 'Halo 3' alien-shooting game.
Microsoft is expected to sell about eight million copies of Halo 3 in its first year, since its September 25 release. The first two versions of the game sold 14.8 million copies combined.
Gaming titles
Globally about 300 titles are available but in the Middle East only 200 are available. Halo 3 took in $300 million in sales in its first week in US. That made it the fastest-selling video game ever and the most popular title for any game system in 2007.
Microsoft launched the Xbox 360 in November 2005, replacing the original Xbox that debuted four years earlier to challenge Sony for dominance in a video game industry that is on track to hit $40 billion this year.
Total video-game hardware and software sales probably rose to as much as $19 billion last year from $12.5 billion in 2006, researcher NPD Group said in its latest report.
Gulf News 2008. All rights reserved.
