A Q&A with AU Xbox exec David McLean

Posted Feb 7, 2007 at 5:56PM by QJ Staff Listed in: PS3, Wii, Xbox 360 Tags: Australia, David McLean, Gamespot, Microsoft, PS2
Ó


David McLean - top Xbox exec of Australia - Image 1While Europe and Australia waits for the Playstation 3's arrival on March 23, Randolph Ramsay of GameSpot Australia decided to ask Microsoft Australia's top Xbox exec, David McLean, what he anticipates from the addition of competition.

For McLean, he's pleased with the current progress of the 360 down under. GfK Australia figures mark Xbox AU shares at approximately 145,000 units in the market. He is also satisfied at the current status of the Xbox 360 in its life cycle and that they're notably ahead of the competition.

All the talk about life cycles seemed to have stemmed from the fact that the competitors have claimed that the 360's install base hasn't hit anywhere near the PS2's. McLean justifies the 360's progress based on the point in the life cycle it's situated in now. He has every belief that the momentum of the product puts the 360 "on track."

McLean, just like another Sony exec, acknowledges the Wii's success and respects Nintendo's experience in the industry and their innovative direction. He is speculative, however, of the attach rate of the console. He stated that the Wii could be challenged by that fact. He believes that the right games and software would be able drive the rate up and continually provide rich content to support the motion-sensing game drive.

With the launching of the PS3, McLean knows that the real truth will come out once stores display the PS3, 360, and Wii side-by-side. Customers' first-hand experiences will now reveal which console they really favor the most. He's also pretty happy that the 360 does provide great value for money. Even with the price difference between the PS3 and the 360, he believes that price does play a part in the race, although he is sure that it depends all on the customer's choice.

You can click on the "Read" link below to read the whole session.

 
 
 

Comments

by highps3 - 2007-02-07 17:50:35
...

Do these Microsoft exec even work? Seems like every week they do interviews to talk about the Ps3. Kind of funny, no one can stop talking about it. Oh well free advertising.
by - 2007-02-07 18:15:14
666

why do we need to know what a Halobox 360 exec has to say?
by - 2007-02-07 18:46:17
Killzone 2 > Halo 3 (or < or =)

When these 2 games were released, - Resistance was known as the most technologically achieved game; most sophisticated, 40 player online mode, extremely huge maps, maintaining perfectly silky smooth frame rate at all times even when the action is hottest - Gears of War was known as the prettiest game in terms of graphics Most technical Vs. Best graphics, and the winner was GoW; GoW took the crown by huge gap - GoW got average review scores of 94/100 from 131 different game publications and magazines - Resistance got 89 from 74 publications If Sony wants to have the halo-killer application, then they must have done the followings, otherwise Killzone 2 has no chance of winning. (1) Killzone 2 must have been made from scratch (Killzone 1 was mediocre, so completely throw away the first one into a garbage can, and make a brand new game) - Killzone 1 got 73/100 from 106 publications - Halo 2 received 95/100 from 159 (2) Killzone 2 must run in 1080 progressive scan resolution. Sony has announced so many times that 1080p is the only true HD. If Killzone 2 which is one of the most anticipated games of all time runs in 720p, it’s still okay; however, Sony will be seen as some sort of lying bullcr+p. (3) Sony must learn this basic thing; the online mode is like 10 times more important than the single-player mode. - Resistance’s single-player (SP) lasts for 12 hours, and that’s extremely long for an FPS; Resistance hasn’t got great review score. - Halo 2’s SP lasts for about 4 hours, that’s extremely short for an FPS. GoW’s SP lasts for about 5 hours, that’s very short, too. Even an episodic game like Sin Episode’s single-player lasts for 7 hours; however both Halo 2 and GoW got ridiculously f+cking high scores. How about multi-player only games like Counter-Strike Source, Day of Defeat Source, Battlefield 2142, and such? Insomniac shouldn’t have wasted so much time, budget and brain power for SP. The same goes for Killzone 2. (4) Killzone 2 must choose the art style of other colorful games. - Resistance and Killzone 1 both had grayish and blend graphics; and game reviews say these are not the good way to go. Halo 2 and GoW have colorful, crisp and bright art styles; and these games received 95/100. - Halo 2 and Killzone 1 both were released in Nov, 2004. Sony said that Killzone 1 needed about a half a year more development time to polish things up, but they had to release it to counter Halo 2. Killzone 1 was a rushed, unfinished and half-assed game. If Killzone 2 is released like its predecessor, then I’ll pass it. Based on the following known facts so far, Killzone 2 has some chance of becoming the true Halo 3-killer app. (1) Biggest amount of budget has been invested for Killzone 2 in Netherlands’ multimedia history. - Killzone 2’s total budget: US$ 30 million - Gears of War’s total budget: US$ 9.5 m (2) Total number of programmers and graphics artists - Guerrilla: 120 developers - Bungie: 90 (3) Sony officially said a month ago that many aspects of Killzone 2’s current version are surpassing what were shown in that famous and infamous E3 trailer. (4) Sony recruited many foreign developers from around the world; and all these foreign developers are supposed to be elites. Guerrilla which is a subsidiary of Sony Corp. in Netherlands now has 120 employees and half of them are from other countries around the world; about 60 people who have made mediocre Killzone 1 have been fired.
by CHUCKINGROCKSATSPACESHIPS - 2007-02-07 18:56:22
OH MY GOD!!!

Smart gay just figured that one out? This dude is pretty ignorant. Tell us something that we don't already know and stop wasting time.

Add New Comment




You must be logged in to post comments




Add QJ.NET
Add to My Yahoo!
Google Reader Subscribe with Bloglines
Add  to your Kinja digest Subscribe in NewsGator Online
Subscribe with Pluck RSS reader Add 'www.qj.net' to Newsburst from CNET News.com
Subscribe with SearchFox RSS del.icio.us www.qj.net
Add to Technorati Favorite! Add to My AOL
furl! it Stumble for Treehugger!