Xbox Live Anyone

Then there's the question of demand. Parks Associates surveyed 2,000 gamers with Internet connections, and found that only 18% of all gamers play games on consoles, portables, and cell phones. Of those, 31% would be interested in cross-platform play. "If you are an Xbox loyalist, [Xbox Live Anywhere] expands the value of the service," says Matt Rosoff, an analyst with consultancy Directions on Microsoft. "But it's an incremental thing [in terms of revenue and users]."

Adding PC-to-console playing capabilities may make more sense. Parks Associates' research shows that 40% of gamers who play both console and PC games would be interested in cross-platform play. PC gaming is a huge market, expected to grow from $3 billion worldwide to $9 billion by 2010, according to Microsoft estimates. Microsoft already has a foot in the door with Windows and MSN Games.

-- Microsoft Plays It Cool on Games



I thought Anywhere really seemed like an odd concept, but I completely agree that PC-console makes a lot of sense. While computing might be sneaking it's way out of the study and into the living room ... many of us will still have our boxes under that desk. If an Xbox in the living room and the PC in the den could play against each other ... that would be most sweet indeed.

tagged: game, gaming