Interview with Microsoft's Chris Lewis and David Gosen

* Q: One of the key targets for the Xbox project has been to chip away at the platform exclusives that Sony's previously boasted, whether it's the likes of Pro Evolution Soccer, or Grand Theft Auto. Now the Metal Gear Solid franchise has ended, and the Final Fantasy XIII announcement has been made, has that process reached its logical conclusion?
* Chris Lewis: I think you're right in terms of the really significant beats in the business, though I think it would be complacent of us to say that we buttoned that up. Because it's all very well having them, but they've got to play better, the experience has got to be richer.
Take GTA for example - yes, we're genuinely pleased and excited about what we managed to achieve there on what history would frankly say is a very traditional title for Sony as opposed to us. And what we did there in terms of retail, what we're doing in terms of premium downloadable content through the Live service, we're really excited about the fact that we've been so agile in that space.
And as you say, I think you've got to have at least an equal if not a stronger position on those types of franchises. If you are slightly shorter in terms of time in the industry as we are versus Sony - because I think we forget sometimes we've only been in this business for about seven years - and certainly in terms of Europe we have a very high ambition to win in this generation. What we did with the price drop, and GTA, and other spikes in the business - you're going to see us invest in the right and appropriate way to achieve our ambition.
We'll hire the right people, we'll bring the right content, and we'll continue to invigorate the service through Live in a way that nobody else can get close to. And you've got to be at the right price - you've got to do a lot of things well, and that's good for the consumer. You've got to rely on your price, your content, your services and everything else, and I think it's a really important inflection point in the industry at the moment. This Holiday period will be key to that, but we have a low tolerance for doing anything other than winning - it's a fun thing to be involved in, I assure you.

* Q: Are the avatars a direct response to the success of Miis on the Wii platform?
* David Gosen: Well avatars go back to this concept of a social experience on a social network - as I said, 12 million members globally, and we have a very actively engaged member-base. I'll give you an example - every day three and a half million instant message texts or Live Vision events happen on Live every day. Three and a half million, every day.
So we've got a really active community already, and what we need to do is create an identity for those people. Personalisation isn't really new - we know people want to personalise their experience. Now, the avatars we've got are Xbox avatars, and they have arms, necks and legs, which other people's avatars maybe don't.
But that's just the start point. They're appearing in the game, and what you'll see us do more and more is make sure that avatars are truly integral to everything we do. It just goes back to true personalisation and creating a social network that really works and is really relevant to all people.
I was talking to some hard core gamers after the event, and they were saying that they'd use an avatar. And I'm sure that when I talk to my daughter she'll use an avatar. It's about personalising it and making it relevant.

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