Xbox One’s launch plan sharpens Microsoft’s focus on the mainstream

http://media.edge-online.com/wp-cont...e1-610x343.jpgMicrosoft’s mercifully concise media presentation at Gamescom this morning displayed plenty of the attitude that has defined the console’s public outings to date, no matter how much the platform holder has changed its mind since May 21.It remains a mainstream entertainment box, and aligning itself so closely with videogame colossi FIFA and Call Of Duty is Microsoft’s smartest move yet in a pre-launch campaign fraught with blunders.In terms of mainstream player power, it’s difficult to imagine a better one-two punch. The news that every European Xbox One pre-order will now come with a free copy of FIFA 14 is sensational, and the Call Of Duty: Ghosts bundle – allied with a string of timed, exclusive content drops – cements the Xbox brand’s close affiliation with the industry’s biggest shooter.This was Microsoft playing to the average joe, who couldn’t care less about independent development, DRM or who ‘won’ E3 – they just want to play CoD or FIFA, and they’ll buy the console best for doing that. A new current-gen FIFA bundle, offering the game and an Xbox 360 for £199, was also confirmed in a press release that followed the conference this morning – a proposition that will cannily sweep up anyone outside the existing player base that hasn’t got a box to play FIFA on yet and might be tempted by a £200 splurge.

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