"That's the first time we've been able to say that," Bach, chief of Microsoft's entertainment and devices division, told the San Jose Mercury News." That's total Xbox business - service, software and hardware."
Well, they've got a two-quarter head start toward that bold proclamation. It probably takes some sting out of the depressing sales numbers over in Europe, where an analyst warns that that weak sales there could see the 360 de-listed by retailers in some territory. Some more outtakes from a chat he had with the Merc are after the jump.
Not sure exactly what he means by "positive" and "negative" here but this is interesting:
"Recognize that for us, the fact that ‘Grand Theft Auto' was a positive event for us is an amazing statement. Because if you think back to last generation, anything associated with ‘Grand Theft Auto' was bad and was PlayStation. And so the idea that we've been able to build an ecosystem and an experience that attracts people who have never thought of being on our platform before is a pretty powerful statement."
Is he talking about bad publicity for a violent video game? Is he talking about San Andreas, the last game, or anything from GTA:III forward?
And on that score, he talks about attracting people "who have never been on our platform before." Yet in the same discussion, says:
In the US, there wasn't much pop for anybody on hardware, and there are a number of things I can point out: First of all, I think both in Europe and the U.S., the idea that there'd be pop right away was probably a fallacy to begin with, because you're going to sell to the installed base first anyway. They're the people who pre-reserved, so the first wave of customers are going to be people who already have a console, whether it's a PS3 or an Xbox.
So which is it?