Christofer Sundberg, the chief creative officer at Just Cause 2 developer Avalanche Studios, has defended Microsoft's strategy of focusing on the televisual elements of the Xbox One during the console's global reveal.

At its Xbox global media conference on May 21 Microsoft allocated the majority of discussion time to the Live TV components of the new console - a strategy which has proven divisive.
But Sundberg believes Microsoft made the right decision on the night.

"Microsoft has said that it wants to make the Xbox One an entertainment centre," he told Edge.

"If it was dubbed the ultimate gaming machine at this point, Microsoft would lose the attention of general media. This way, they are grabbing mainstream attention first and can focus entirely on gamers at E3. After that they'll have both in their grasp."

Sundberg went on to praise the Xbox division for its dedication to games and, though many have openly disagreed, suggested that Microsoft is not taking its eye off the core market.

"The Xbox is and has always been a gaming platform, and I don't see that changing with the Xbox One," he said.

There was also the suggestion that Microsoft will provide developers with more analytical player data - something which has long been requested and one of the regularly praised components of Steam

"More connectivity is obviously fantastic. It enables us to develop online features that enhance the open world gaming experience without limiting players by having to stay connected," said Sundberg.

"I think Journey and The Walking Dead were great examples on how to use connectivity to make the experience more interesting, with the anonymous connection to other players in Journey and the decision feedback in The Walking Dead.

"We were a little late using all the fun metrics we've gathered from Just Cause 2, to make the game better and interesting for our fans, but future games we are using player patterns to a larger extent."

Microsoft has said it has "more titles in development now than at any time in Xbox's history" and pledged to release 15 exclusive Xbox One games in the first year of Xbox One.

Posted: May 31, 2013 7:47 am
Related Forum: Xbox Forum

Source: http://www.computerandvideogames.com/409909/xbox-one-backed-by-avalanche-exec/