TVG.Speaks...Chris Lewis - Part One Feature

Just over twelve months ago, Microsoft launched their second home console, the Xbox 360. In development since early 2003, the platform has gone on to sell over eight million units to date, with Microsoft insisting that it is on course to hit ten million by the end of the year. Peter Moore has very much become the global face of Xbox 360 now that J. Allard has focused his recent energies on Zune, leaving Chris Lewis to join Moore at European events including X05, Game Convention 2006, and X06 - almost becoming the European face of the console in the process. The Vice President of Microsoft's Home and Entertainment Division for Europe, Middle East, and Africa since September 2004, Lewis had previously been responsible for successfully launching the original Xbox in both the UK and the Nordic regions, and saw his promotion that Autumn as an opportunity to focus "...on continuing this success into the future."

So after steering the Xbox 360 onto store shelves over the course of the past year, and negotiating a small number of issues with the console along the way, how does Lewis perceive the current state of the console in Europe? TVG recently caught up with the executive to ask this and a number of other questions as the Xbox 360 celebrates its first year in the territory...

Announced back in September that UK sales of the Xbox 360 were expected to top one million units by the end of 2006, there's no doubt that Lewis sees the console as something of a success in his native Britain. Speaking to UK-based trade publication MCV, Lewis stated that, "The UK team expects to get to a million 360 sales well ahead of Christmas. We have built up a good head of steam, so it certainly won't be nip and tuck." Nevertheless, with reports of less than impressive sales in other parts of Europe, how does he see the success rate of Xbox 360 across the continent as a whole? Quite simply, as Lewis told TVG, "...We're really happy with the way Xbox 360 has been received in Europe. People love it and are having a great time with the entertainment and gaming experiences Xbox 360 offers. Europe's hugely important to Xbox, and will help drive our sales goal of 10 million consoles worldwide this Christmas." Besides the expected positive message about the response to the console, it's sure to bring a warm glow to the hearts of European gamers to hear at least one hardware manufacturer push the importance of Europe to the overall success... which is more than can be said about one of their rivals.

But it hasn't always been quite as rosy for Xbox 360; early into its life-cycle the online world was amok with what seemed to be endless reports of failing Xbox 360s, all with the console's blue-screen of death variant - the three flashing red lights. Obviously Microsoft had to deal with the situation promptly and effectively, which to be fair, they did. Identifying that a majority of failing Xbox 360s came from batches manufactured in 2005, Microsoft belatedly announced that any of those units displaying the dreaded three lights would be repaired or replaced free of charge. Several months after the problems arose, did Microsoft manage to identify the root cause of the problem? Judging from Lewis' response, there might not have been a single problem, confirming however that, "There is no systemic issue with Xbox 360. Each customer enquiry is handled on a case-by case basis." The Xbox executive did confirm however that despite the flurry of forum posts and reports, the actual number of Xbox 360 failures were not perhaps as frequent as it seemed, "...the return rate for Xbox 360 was significantly lower than the CE industry average of 3-5%," adding, "The vast majority of our customers enjoy their Xbox 360 with no issues."

With the pocket of system failures now under control, Xbox 360 gamers have instead turned their attention to the continued development of the next-generation console. For countless months, there have been rumours and hearsay that an impending announcement is to be made about larger hard-drives for the Xbox 360. Photos attributed to a Microsoft conference in Korea apparently showed 100GB drives flashed across the web earlier in the year; the launch of downloadable movies and TV shows in the US seemed to suggest that confirmation of larger drives was on the cards. Could Chris Lewis shed any further light on the issue? What do you think...?

"We use Windows Media technology from Microsoft which lets us provide a really rich viewing experience with the 20GB hard-drive. A larger hard-drive is always a possibility. With the removable hard-drive, we've built Xbox 360 to allow the flexibility for a larger hard-drive in the future; however, we have no plans to announce such an accessory in the near future."

Ok, so perhaps there were no surprises there, but what about the launch of downloadable movies and TV shows in Europe? When could we expect the territory to catch up with the US, which is leading the cause with TV series to download and own such as Star Trek and CSI, along with rental feature-length films? Again, Lewis wasn't quite prepared to make any revelations, stating that, "At the moment we're working with individual content partners in each territory to provide the Xbox Live Video Marketplace service in Europe. I don't currently have any specific news to announce at this time, but Europe should definitely watch this space." Incidentally, it's worth noting that Lewis' final comment to 'watch this space' is identical to a BBC Press Officer, who advised TVG that there were no concrete plans for BBC shows to appear on Xbox Live Marketplace but to also 'watch this space'. Granted, it's a bit of a jump to suggest that the use of the same phrase means that something is indeed underway...but it's nice to think that Match of the Day could be on the way.

The launch of the Xbox 360 marked the first time that Microsoft had to face the always-difficult transition to a new generation, leaving behind their previous platform. Whilst Sony has arguably become the masters of extending the lifespan of previous generations, Microsoft pretty much killed off the first generation Xbox by the middle of 2005, when Forza Motorsport was the last first-party title released for the black behemoth. Eighteen months on from the release of the first Forza, how does Lewis feel about Microsoft's strategy, and retrospectively, was it the correct tactic to take? Forgoing actually answering the question, the European VP instead re-confirmed that the original Xbox remained, "...great value with a huge library of classic games like Halo and Project Gotham Racing," adding that, "We're very happy with the launch of Xbox 360 and how it is living up to its promise of offering next-generation entertainment and gaming experiences."

One element has carried on from the days of the original Xbox however, and that's the perception of the brand as being largely targeted towards hardcore gamers. A deluge of shooters regularly topped the original console's sales charts in its hey day, including Halo, Halo2, Rainbow Six 3, and Ghost Recon 2; with the likes of Gears of War, Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter, Call of Duty 2, Call of Duty 3, and Rainbow Six: Vegas already available for Xbox 360 (and the likes of GRAW2 and Halo 3 set to appear within the next twelve months), that perception appears to have continued. Microsoft has begun to expand however, with the development of a kids-orientated IP in Rare's Viva Piñata, and the implementation of Xbox Live Arcade, which has seen an influx of more mainstream titles hitting the platform. Explaining the new strategy, Lewis commented that, "Choice is at the heart of what we offer gamers this generation, and Xbox 360 offers something for everyone. With Viva Piñata and the experiences enabled through Xbox Live, we have opened up new opportunities for kids and more casual gamers alike to play and share experiences with their friends in a safe, managed environment." So far in the UK, Viva Pinata has barely taken the gaming world by storm, failing to appear in the All Format UK Top 40 and only making the eleventh place in the Xbox 360 UK Top 40 (Full Price) - hopefully Rare's new IP will be a slow burner as brand awareness increases in 2007 with the launch of the TV series.

We'll have more thoughts from Chris Lewis on Monday, where the man from Microsoft talks about Zune, Games for Windows, and the recently suspended Halo movie...