Microsoft to Target Women for Xbox 360 Launch

By Alice Hill
RealTechNews

In the movie Boiler Room, a young stock broker wannabe lured into a scam stock-selling operation is taught the art of cold calling. Rule one is to hang up whenever women calls or answers the phone. The crude answer given when the young man asks why? “Don’t pitch the bitch.” To be honest, I never knew how to take that. One the one hand this was a scam place and the trainer made it seem like the women would ask too many probing questions which I suppose made them seem smarter than your average dupe, but then there was the B word and the concept of cutting down on annoyances, so I just ended up not knowing how I felt about the sentiment. But it is out there my friend, and nowhere more than the gaming world.

All of this leads up to the announcement that Microsoft is going to pitch the XBox 360 to women. No surprise, really. In an eye-opening study (at the time) women who raise kids were found to use Gameboys more than any other demographic including their kids. And the merging of entertainment and TV makes the female of the species worth trying to land in a serious way and not with pink Barbie and hairstyling games. We say: Games appeal to us all in some way. I know men who hate video games and women who play in online tournaments. I know people who only like cell phone games and leave it at that, but games are a part of life that increasingly includes us all. Event the old school chess players and bingo freaks.

Note to hard-core video game players: Microsoft says it is aiming for your mothers and wives. In 2001, when Microsoft introduced the first Xbox, it focused heavily on hard-core gamers, typically males age 17 to 24 , who wanted a high-end machine with more sophisticated graphics and more complex game functions. The PlayStation and the Nintendo GameCube, meanwhile, put more emphasis on reaching the mainstream market, analysts said.

This time, Microsoft is planning a wider attack. Brochures going out to major retailers like Best Buy prominently describe the 360’s ability to double as a DVD player, play music from an MP3 player through a television’s speakers and even display digital photos on a TV. Its game functions, while impressive, are now only part of the message. Source: International Herald Tribune