Microsoft to Attack Korea Market With New Blockbuster Games

November 8th, 2006, 22:26 Posted By: wraggster

The high season for the game industry is coming _ Christmas and the New Year. Game developers and distributors are ready to unveil blockbuster games, filling the markets with new games and giving gamers more choices.

Microsoft seems to be even busier this season with the release of new games for Xbox 360 and also for the preparation of the battle with other new consoles _ PlayStation3 of Sony and Wii of Nintendo _ which launches are due from in November.

``We need to act like a leader in order to be a leader,¡¯¡¯ Tae Lee, global marketing manager of Microsoft, told The Korea Times last week. ``We¡¯re now heavily investing in new exclusive games on the platform with a lot of online features, just trying to win the hearts and minds of gamers.¡¯¡¯

Lee visited Seoul last week to promote the upcoming games along with his colleague Hees Kyung, global product manager of Microsoft. The two Korean-Americans, who now work at the headquarters in the United States, came here with the robust lineup of upcoming blockbuster titles, and their visit to Seoul was part of the Asian promotional tour.

Tae Lee, left, global marketing manager of Microsoft, and Hees Kyung, global product manager, visited Seoul last week to promote upcoming games on Xbox 360.
The launch titles include strategy action game ``Gears of War¡¯¡¯ due on Nov. 10, simulation game ``Viva Pinata¡¯¡¯ on Nov. 17, role-playing game ``Blue Dragon¡¯¡¯ on Dec. 7, with a fully localized version due in March, the first-person-shooting game ``Crackdown,¡¯¡¯ and racing game ``Forza Motor Sports 2¡¯¡¯ due in the early 2007.
At first glance, it is obvious that Microsoft made an effort to release games in diversified genres. It is largely attributed to the fact that their first console Xbox was a commercial flop in Asia mainly because it did not provide enough games appealing to players in the region.

In the past, they had only one strategy to tap foreign markets, but they are now customizing approaches depending on the characteristics of each different market and gamer, which is the reason that they will release many exclusive games such as ``Blue Dragon¡¯¡¯ and ``Viva Pinata¡¯¡¯ for Asian gamers, Lee said.

``At the end of 2006, we¡¯re planning to sell more than 10 million consoles. And when we hit that goal, I think that¡¯s when we reach the mass market. With 10 million console owners out there, it¡¯s going to spread much quicker and the publishers are going to be much more willing to develop more games on the platform,¡¯¡¯ Lee said.

Lee agreed that the Korean game market has been somehow neglected because it is too small compared to others in the U.S. and Japan and it is dominated by online games, but he believed that the Korean market has huge potential.

``Personally, I¡¯ve been pushing the Korean region as one of the biggest markets for us. Per capita, a Korean spends more money on entertainment than any other country in the world. In terms of online gaming, consumers spend more money toward that,¡¯¡¯ Lee said.

As many start to appreciate other types of games in Korea, he thinks Xbox 360 can be very successful. They will release more exclusive games in the future, and many of them will also be developed by Korean or Japanese companies to add Asian touches and flavors for appeal, he said.

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