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Mistakes were made with Xbox in Europe, admits Microsoft
ORIGINAL SOURCE
Japan wasn’t the only region to give the first Xbox a tepid reaction - parts of Europe were similarly hesitant over Microsoft’s opening attempt at a home console. Today, in an interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Xbox Europe boss Chris Lewis admitted that the company made errors with the Xbox, primarily by paying too much attention to serious gamers, and not enough to broadening the market beyond the hardcore fans.
"We've got pockets of fantastic achievement in EMEA and I think the UK is an example of that. But then if you look around the rest of the region, we have different challenges," explained Lewis. "Spain was genuinely a problem for us with the first version. We didn't start well, and often when we don't start well we do struggle to catch back.
"We went there probably with too hardcore a level of content," he continued. "We didn't have the partnerships established both in retail or even at a publisher or marketing level in a way that was necessary for Spain, and we had to change things there at a pretty fast click. I think we've given much more empowerment to the local Spanish team to do what's necessary."
One man in firm agreement with Lewis was marketing bod Richard Teversham, who outlined how audiences in different parts of Europe react to different games. "In northern Europe, it's about competitive fun - and that's where we've really done well," he said. "We've got the Project Gothams and the Halos. It's fun, but it's serious competitiveness.
"In southern Europe, it's actually about simple fun. It's an easy experience, it's not this time-eating drain on what you want to do. So, you've got different bits of content, you've got different types of marketing and you've got how price sensitive different markets are as well."
In a way, you can’t help but feel a touch sorry for companies aiming their content at Europe. It may be a huge market, but its varied cultures, languages and economies make it a tricky (albeit ultimately lucrative) land to conquer.
Japan wasn’t the only region to give the first Xbox a tepid reaction - parts of Europe were similarly hesitant over Microsoft’s opening attempt at a home console. Today, in an interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Xbox Europe boss Chris Lewis admitted that the company made errors with the Xbox, primarily by paying too much attention to serious gamers, and not enough to broadening the market beyond the hardcore fans.
"We've got pockets of fantastic achievement in EMEA and I think the UK is an example of that. But then if you look around the rest of the region, we have different challenges," explained Lewis. "Spain was genuinely a problem for us with the first version. We didn't start well, and often when we don't start well we do struggle to catch back.
"We went there probably with too hardcore a level of content," he continued. "We didn't have the partnerships established both in retail or even at a publisher or marketing level in a way that was necessary for Spain, and we had to change things there at a pretty fast click. I think we've given much more empowerment to the local Spanish team to do what's necessary."
One man in firm agreement with Lewis was marketing bod Richard Teversham, who outlined how audiences in different parts of Europe react to different games. "In northern Europe, it's about competitive fun - and that's where we've really done well," he said. "We've got the Project Gothams and the Halos. It's fun, but it's serious competitiveness.
"In southern Europe, it's actually about simple fun. It's an easy experience, it's not this time-eating drain on what you want to do. So, you've got different bits of content, you've got different types of marketing and you've got how price sensitive different markets are as well."
In a way, you can’t help but feel a touch sorry for companies aiming their content at Europe. It may be a huge market, but its varied cultures, languages and economies make it a tricky (albeit ultimately lucrative) land to conquer.
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