Microsoft On Portable Gaming: “Never Say Never”

A portable gaming device for is still a possibility for Microsoft according to Shane Kim, corporate vice president of Microsoft Game Studios.

Speaking at the DICE Summit 2008^† in an on-stage question and answer session with New York Times reporter Seth Schiesel, Kim said,



Kim also spoke out about the Xbox's perception in the market place, indicating he would like the platform to appeal to a more casual audience. "We have to fight against the perception that we are a Mature-rated box for hardcore gamers", he said.

On Bungie's departure from Microsoft, Kim dismissed rumours that the developer left because it felt creatively stifled, saying, "I really believe that the root of it is you have a group of enormously talented, creative individuals who wanted to be independent."

On a related note, a Bungie team member said in a recent podcast^‡, “Bungie's next game - that isn't Halo 3 expansion, DLC-type stuff - will be something totally different from Bungie.” SPOnG's glad to hear it. Splitting from Microsoft would have been an obscenely pointless move if the studio was just going to head off and recreate Halo...

He also declared that the console war is not over when asked if the Wii's success has resigned the 360 to second place at best, stating, “The generation has a long way to go, so it's way too early to declare a winner.”

In an interview at the summit^±, Kim also had some choice words about a couple of key games for the 360. “Making sure that we own the launch of Grand Theft Auto IV from a platform perspective is really important”, Kim said. Asked, “How do you own that launch?” Kim went on, “I think it really is about marketing, right? We already own it, I believe, from a content standpoint, because we have the exclusive episodes.”

Intriguingly, Kim also said of Halo Wars, the upcoming real time strategy title set in the Halo universe, “I don't think our target audience is the Halo crowd.” Rather, he hopes that the game might bring a new kind of gamer to the fold. “Lots of people know about Halo. But they might not enjoy the first-person shooter game. So this is a different way for them to experience that.”

That doesn't mean that Microsoft's disinterested in the Halo lot. “I do hope that the Halo fans, the Halo nation will give this a try, but not everybody likes strategy games, either. So we're not trying to sell it to the same 8 million people. Hopefully we'll bring more people into the Halo market.”

^{Source: †Wired, ‡Bungie, ±Wired}