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Microsoft Plans to Improve Xbox 360 Game Bundles for Holidays.

Category: Multimedia

by Anton Shilov

[ 09/28/2007 | 07:28 PM ]

Microsoft Corp. plans to bundle free games with its Xbox 360 game consoles in the coming months, images found on a web-site Microsoft “uses to market its products” reveal. The intention, if it exists, will help Microsoft to grab numerous hardcore/standard gamers with the Xbox 360, however, there will still be hardly any rivals for Nintendo Wii from Microsoft.

The world’s largest maker of software will bundle Forza Motorsport 2 and Marvel Ultimate Alliance titles with its Xbox 360 premium and elite versions, providing more value at already lowered price, reports Kotaku web-site. Free games will also allow Microsoft to once again boost sales of its Xbox 360 among those interested in racing and action games.

Nevertheless, adding free games to the game consoles that are priced at $349 and $449 will only attract attention of those gamers, who are already very familiar with video games in general. Therefore, those games will hardly attract attention of casual gamers, who buy Nintendo Wii with free Wii Sports game for $249 and can enjoy it right out of the box.

Executives at Microsoft recently acknowledged that the company needs to attract casual gamers to the Xbox 360 platform to compete against Nintendo Wii. However, since then the company did not take any measures to realize this commitment.

Microsoft Xbox 360 console is based around microprocessor developed by IBM, high-definition visual processing unit designed by ATI Technologies, I/O controller engineered by SiS and some other key components. The gaming machine provides a broad set of multimedia capabilities in addition to games. The game console also features an HD DVD drive that should be acquired separately.

Officials for Microsoft did not comment on the news-story.