Microsoft might be mulling the possibility of a video game/Xbox-centric television channel according to multiple sources. Just what the station would feature or how it would work is still a mystery, but Microsoft has already demonstrated that their current generation Xbox gaming devices can serve double-duty as set top boxes (STBs) without substantial upgrades or customized software that requires a world-class hacker to install.
Content Will be…?
The Xbox Channel, for lack of a better term, could be very similar to G4TV or other channels with similar themes. Whether Microsoft is up to producing their own content or will buy content from other parties is unclear at this time. One possibility that is intriguing is the idea of having league play or tournaments on Xbox live appear as highlights in news feeds or broadcasts. Given the incredible technical knowledge of the Redmond juggernaut, this is not entirely out of the realm of possibilities.
The big question that people are asking is simple: why? Why would Microsoft want to get into television in the first place? The company already has MSNBC, which is not the most successful of channels within its own segment. It is possible to argue that MSNBC’s liberal leanings are harder to sell than the off-the-deep-end performances of the ‘entertainment’ portions of Fox News, which outweigh the news portions of the broadcasting day.
Microsoft Dedicating Itself to Gaming?
Another argument is that the content is ultimately less important than the presence. Microsoft has been steadily attempting to solidify themselves as a company that cares about gaming since at least the run-up to the release of Windows 95. At the time, Microsoft was buying developers and investing in publishers in order to have DirectX emerge as an industry-dominant interface for many aspects of gaming. While DirectX has been successful, it has not managed to completely defeat OpenGL and other rival standards to the point where development on alternative OS gaming has halted. If anything, OpenGL has received a boost recently when Microsoft began to focus more on consoles.
Microsoft’s relatively recent push into the console arena may have helped loosen the company’s grip on the desktop market to a small degree, but it has enabled a relative newcomer (Microsoft) challenge industry giants such as Nintendo and even SEGA. Sony, itself a relatively new name in consoles, has also seen Microsoft take a slice of the coveted gaming market. With developers having a hard time deciding which platform(s) to develop for, could Microsoft’s idea of a channel be an enticing reason to go exclusively with the Xbox platform?
Consider the marketing muscle and hype that having an entire channel comes with from the point of view of a developer and/or publisher. Is it possible that the ‘free’ hype could be worth favoring the current generation Microsoft console? It would seem likely that at least a few game developers would opt to take this route. There might be even more arguments in this regard for indie developers and/or developers on a tight budget.
Other Possibilities
There might be other possibilities for the Xbox channel as well, especially with Microsoft’s announcement that its forthcoming mobile phone OS will be tied into the Xbox live service. As everyone is attempting to compete with iTunes, Microsoft might be outflanking the competition and moving the mountain to Muhammad so to speak. While it might be difficult to dislodge Apple’s DRM-infected hold on iTunes customers, it might be far easier to pick up media/app download converts by easing them from existing mediums to new technologies.
This could become increasingly important in the near future as digital distribution of everything from media to games seems to be taking retail by storm. It might be lights out for traditional retail in the not-too-distant future, and Microsoft might just be trying to find a way to leave a logical trail for their customers to follow. On the other hand, informed customers have long since been the bane of Microsoft, as evidenced by the popularity of alternative operating systems. For example, very few ‘serious’ developers or artists use Windows when they could be using Mac OS X or Linux. Perhaps a television channel will provide users just enough information to make purchases, but not enough to be truly educated on any given subject. The result might be a lot of light entertainment and news that is more product placement than anything else.
