Q&A: Microsoft Australia talks latest Xbox 360 sales

Yesterday, the Interactive Entertainment Association of Australia unveiled figures showing game sales in Australia increased significantly in 2008. Microsoft was quick to tout its own figures, claiming more than half a million Xbox 360s had been sold down under so far. GameSpot AU caught up with Microsoft Australia's Xbox product marketing manager Adam Pollington to pick his brains on the latest Xbox 360 figures for the Australian market, as well as his thoughts on the PlayStation 3 and Nintendo Wii.

GameSpot AU: We see that Microsoft has sold over half a million Xbox 360s in Australia. Can you tell us exactly how many you've sold now and to what date it is from?

Adam Pollington: We've sold 537,000 consoles as of the end of December. The last report I saw we'd sold, according to GfK Australia, around 537,000 units. That's up to the 28th of December, so it doesn't include the final days of 2008.

GS AU: According to your latest stats over 50 per cent of Aussie Xbox 360 owners have connected to Xbox Live. How does that figure compare internationally?

AP: Globally we've just surpassed the 17 million user mark. From a growth perspective, worldwide we've seen about a 70 per cent growth from 2007. However locally, we've actually exceeded that and grown by about 88 per cent in connected users within Australia alone.

GS AU: Do you expect the adoption rate for Xbox Live to increase this year?

AP: Definitely. We're seeing the price of broadband gradually come down in Australia. The capped plans are gradually becoming larger, and particularly with the NXE launching, we've seen the take up of XBL and interest in it grew consistently. If we look at just the hours spent online alone since the introduction of NXE, we've seen about 9 million hours spent on XBL by Australian consumers. In that six-week period between the launch of NXE on November 19 and the end of December, Australians spent close to nine million hours on XBL. We're definitely seeing the interest of consumers owning a 360 and getting on XBL increasing--we would see the take-up of that increase.

GS AU: While we're talking about NXE, can you tell us when we'll be getting Netflix, or a comparable service, locally?

AP: Yeah, that's definitely a hot topic. Globally, particularly in the US, it's performing very well. Microsoft as a whole is very focused on bringing that to the regions as quickly as possible. I can't really talk on specific dates at this time, but I can confirm that it's a top priority to roll things like Video Marketplace and the like out to its subsidiaries like Australia.

GS AU: Do you think it's safe to say we'll have it by year's end?

AP: As I said, I can't really talk about specific release dates, but it is very much a priority to roll it out in Australia and we are in a number of subsidiaries that are prioritised for receiving services like Video Marketplace as soon as possible.

GS AU: How about the 1 vs. 100 Game channel?

AP: So the primetime channel is another service of high interest globally and again is in the list of services we're very keen to bring to Australian consumers. Again Australia is one of the priority regions to receive it as quickly as possible.

GS AU: Just before Christmas, Microsoft cut the price of Xbox 360 across all models. Can you tell us how much of an increase in sales that gave you?

AP: In 2008 console sales more than doubled the week after each price drop and consistently performed close to double that of pre-price drop sales in the following weeks. We expect this trend to continue given that historically gaming consoles do 60 per cent of their sales volume at the A$299 ($199.96) price point.

GS AU: The Wii has now sold over 750,000 units in Australia since launch. Do you think Xbox 360 has a chance of coming close to it?

AP: Hats off to Nintendo, they have done a very good job at broadening the market. We've seen them sell consoles to people who potentially would never have picked up a console prior. We do see a great opportunity from an Xbox 360 perspective as well. As these consumers who potentially never have bought a console prior, if they progress through gaming and decide to move to a high-definition console, Xbox 360 at that A$299 price point is very much a good value option for them.

GS AU: Do you think Xbox 360 will be able to hold off the PlayStation 3 then?

AP: Currently we're a lot cheaper than the PS3, at A$299. With Xbox Live being such a great differentiator for us and it's such a fantastic service that we're seeing a pick up in momentum consistently, and we think that combined with the price it's a very solid proposition against the PS3. Just talking XBL, we've seen over 27 million hours by consumers on the service just last year, as well as 4.2 million downloads just on the service. So it's something very relevant to consumers and is definitely something that I believe consumers consider when comparing Xbox 360 to PS3.

GS AU: You've come out and said that 63 per cent of 360 games are either G or PG. How important do you think those titles are?

AP: I think it's very important. As the IEAA release stated , "Family Games" are the number one genre of software at this point in time. Xbox 360 at this point in time, and moving into 2009, is very focused on more content for the family audience. We've had Lips released recently, which has consistently for the past three weeks hit the top 10 lists for 360 software titles, then also the likes of Banjo Kazooie. If we look to the future, we have titles like Scene it! 2 and You're in the Movies which expand the style of games Xbox 360 owners can experience on the system. We definitely see the family audience as a key target for us moving forwards. The last statistics I saw was around the 48 per cent mark.

GS AU: Has Microsoft got any more price cuts planned for the future?

AP: I can't comment on pricing activity at this time, but I can say that at a A$299 price point, it is a very compelling proposition. We obviously monitor the market and try to pass on savings to the consumer when we can.

GS AU: Adam Pollington, thanks for your time.