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Microsoft Not Letting Xbox 360 Die, Changing Focus to Sell to Parents and Children - News

by William D'Angelo , posted on 28 October 2014 / 5,777 Views

The eighth generation console race is in full swing, however Microsoft has stated it is not letting the Xbox 360 die just yet. They are just changing their focus with the console as they try to sell it to parents and children. This is due to the lower price and the catalogue of games.

"With exciting new bundles and the largest library of games, the Xbox 360 offers consumers a great value entry into gaming," Xbox 360 product manager at Microsoft Lee Williams told MCVUK. "We’re still seeing strong demand for the UK’s best-ever-selling home console, and with further investment including the introduction of a 500GB SKU, we are committed to supporting Xbox 360 for the foreseeable future."

The popularity for the Xbox 360 has grown among parents and children, due to its wide selection of kid friendly games. Microsoft is now creating new bundles that come with games are focused for kids.

"Since Xbox One’s launch in November 2013, we’ve seen demand for Xbox 360 amongst parents of younger children grow,” said Williams. "This has been supported by sales of software titles such as Minecraft and FIFA, whose low PEGI rating makes them ideal for ‘new-to-console’ buyers and younger audiences. Plus, with the huge library of Arcade games in the Xbox Store, there’s a game to suit every age and taste."

"Where it makes sense, we tailor our bundles and marketing to ensure we offer the best value and relevant content for our customers," added Williams. "An example of this is our upcoming Xbox 360 Blue Special Edition – the console comes with two free games, Max: The Curse of Brotherhood and Toy Soldiers. This PEGI 12-rated bundle makes it perfect for parents looking to gift an Xbox 360 to their teenagers this Christmas, where PEGI 18-rated titles wouldn’t be suitable."

"Likewise, our FIFA 15 Xbox 360 Value Bundle is rated PEGI 3, making it ideal for those keen to enter gaming from a young age with a great value price tag." continued Williams.

Williams added that the way retailers sell consoles have changed drastically since the Xbox 360 launched in November 2005. This is due to the growth in the online market and the loyalty programs that retailers are implementing.

"The modern retail landscape means we can be a lot more targeted in our efforts, due to the greater availability of data and insights – tailoring offers and communications to specific audiences, and even individual customers," said Williams. "We’ve recently launched our code-to-content delivery programme, allowing digital software to be sold directly in-store at GAME, and we’re rolling out ESD (Electronic Software Download) and POSA (Point of Sale Activation) cards to a growing number of retail partners, making it even easier for customers to buy content digitally."

"Xbox 360 hardware is available marketwide at retail and via our exclusive Xbox distributor Exertis, alongside its accessory portfolio, which continues to perform incredibly strongly," added Williams.

"We have more great value bundles, a stunning Blue Special Edition console launching this October, plus a growing Arcade and software portfolio for gamers to look forward to," concluded Williams.

________________________________________________________________________________________

A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel dedicated to gaming Let's Plays and tutorials. Outside, in the real world, he has a passion for the outdoors which includes everything from hiking to having received his B.A. in Environmental Studies. You can contact the author at wdangelo@vgchartz.com or on Twitter @TrunksWD.


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19 Comments
Mr Puggsly (on 28 October 2014)

There still an audience that doesn't want to buy a $399 or $349 consoles.

That's why it makes sense to keep pushing the 360. Also, it still has an arguably better library than X1 and PS4. No need to push it away just yet.

  • +4
HylianSwordsman Mr Puggsly (on 29 October 2014)

Arguably better? There's no argument here, all three last gen systems have a better library individually than all 3 8th gen systems have put together.

  • +1
KingCherry Mr Puggsly (on 29 October 2014)

Arguably better? The 360/PS3 has a vast library of superb titles, and they can be picked up cheap!

  • +1
DanneSandin (on 28 October 2014)

Smart move by MS, and hopefully they'll also cut the price to make it even more appealing

  • +3
NightDragon83 (on 28 October 2014)

Zackasaurus-rex said: "Microsoft betrayed 360 buyers years ago."

I'm sorry, but I'm so sick of hearing this talking point thrown around like it's a fact. Yeah, because the 360s library has been such a barren wasteland over the last 3-4 years. What planet are you living on? Are you sure you're not talking about Nintendo and the Wii? They're the ones who pretty much gave up on it years ago with only a handful of major releases for it from 2010 up until the Wii U's launch, and now it's literally dead.

Meanwhile the 360 is still going strong and on the verge of entering its 10th full year on the market. Up until this point in its life, it has received every single major AAA 3rd party multiplat over the last 3-4 years, the majority of which outsold their PS3 counterparts. And it still has excellent value for the, as you say, "lower income gamers" (I'm assuming these are the poor folks whom Kaz was talking about when he said they'd have get a 2nd job to be able to afford a PS3 at $599 US dollarz.)

But yeah, M$ totally abandoned it these last few years... if you don't count stuff like Halo 4, Gears 3 / Judgement, Forza 4 / Horizon, Minecraft, etc.

  • +1
cfin2987@gmail.com NightDragon83 (on 29 October 2014)

Backward compatibility means that the Wii the sale of new Wii's would make no sense. Whereas the xbox 360 games and accessories die with the console.

  • 0
r3tr0gam3r1337 (on 28 October 2014)

with next to no big games coming to the 360 and a huge market already filled with 360's on the pre-owned market exactly where does Microsoft believe this new SKU fits in, selling to kids and parents? isn't that what they were doing when kinect first came out, we all know how cheap a 1tb hdd is so why is Microsoft still charging way too much for a 500gb hdd, isn't it time Microsoft allowed people to swap the consoles hdd like Sony have allowed since 2001.

  • +1
kumagawa (on 28 October 2014)

For all those saying the price needs to drop Microsoft knows this but are waiting till they can get 20nm chips for the Xbone and switch the 360 to 28nm but that won't happen till late next year.

Losing money on every Xbone is fine to grow but the 360 is over and going back to losing money on every sale is not going to do Microsoft or the Xbox brand any favours.

  • +1
technicalgamer (on 30 October 2014)

They can't give up the 360 while the Xbone isn't actually selling well.

  • 0
Me (on 29 October 2014)

MS targeting 'Parents and Children' - is there anyone other kind of person?

  • 0
Mr Puggsly Me (on 30 October 2014)

Greasy teenagers

  • 0
Zackasaurus-rex (on 28 October 2014)

Microsoft betrayed 360 buyers -years- ago. It can still sell to casuals and lower-income gamers (which is great), but MS themselves ditched it years ago.

  • 0
Ninten78 (on 28 October 2014)

I give it till 2016

  • 0
daredevil.shark (on 28 October 2014)

They need to reduce the price.

  • 0
Jimbo1337 (on 28 October 2014)

So the entire console generation, gamers were able to play the games that they wanted on a smaller hard drive. Now that the 7th generation is almost to an end, they release a 500GB hard drive so that gamers can do what with it? I get it adds value, but come on!

  • -1
HylianSwordsman (on 29 October 2014)

No amount of pushing will make it sell very well. It'll sell a million or two more at tops. Not bad, but with Wii, DS, and PSP gone, 360 will be the next to drop off the market, and that's not Microsoft's fault, it's just the way it is. The times, they are a-changin'...

  • -2
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cfin2987@gmail.com shikamaru317 (on 29 October 2014)

$99 for a refurb at gamestop + a game

  • 0