Microsoft By Russell Holly Apr. 7, 2014 3:20 pm
Microsoft is getting into the content business in a much larger way than anyone originally understood, with six new shows on the way to the Xbox One.
The Xbox One console reveal came with a few interesting announcements regarding the content that would eventually be available on the console. Alongside the HDMI passthrough functionality and the Xbox One Guide tool, there would be exclusive content for Live subscribers to make the cable box a part of the Xbox experience. The most notable content that was announced at the time was a Halo series, which has expanded a bit since then. We now know that, on top of this, Microsoft intends to have a variety of unique televisions shows starring the likes of Seth Green and some humans*in robot form.
Nancy Tellem, Microsoft’s President of Entertainment and Digital Media, has been essential in the plans to make the Xbox One more than just a device for streaming content. By offering original content, much in the same way Amazon has, Microsoft puts themselves in a position where they own the content, the hardware, the network, and all of the relevant apps for other content providers. All they need now is to make sure the shows they create are actually worth watching.
According to Bloomberg, the current lineup includes a comedy show with Sarah Silverman, a show called “Fearless” starring Paul de Gelder, a stop-motion show from the creators of Robot Chicken, a street football reality show called Every Street United to play alongside the World Cup, a robot thriller called Human and something with Michael Cera’s JASH comedy collective. What will make these shows stand out in the crowd, according to Tellem, will be a combination of real time interaction and external character participation, no doubt powered by Xbox SmartGlass.
At a time where Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon are all deep into their own unique content, Microsoft has quite the arsenal in mind for a global audience. This move further cements the Xbox One as a entertainment console that is capable of delivering a good gaming experience, as opposed to Sony who is set on delivering a high-end gaming console that also handles streaming content.
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The Xbox One console reveal came with a few interesting announcements regarding the content that would eventually be available on the console. Alongside the HDMI passthrough functionality and the Xbox One Guide tool, there would be exclusive content for Live subscribers to make the cable box a part of the Xbox experience. The most notable content that was announced at the time was a Halo series, which has expanded a bit since then. We now know that, on top of this, Microsoft intends to have a variety of unique televisions shows starring the likes of Seth Green and some humans*in robot form.
Nancy Tellem, Microsoft’s President of Entertainment and Digital Media, has been essential in the plans to make the Xbox One more than just a device for streaming content. By offering original content, much in the same way Amazon has, Microsoft puts themselves in a position where they own the content, the hardware, the network, and all of the relevant apps for other content providers. All they need now is to make sure the shows they create are actually worth watching.
According to Bloomberg, the current lineup includes a comedy show with Sarah Silverman, a show called “Fearless” starring Paul de Gelder, a stop-motion show from the creators of Robot Chicken, a street football reality show called Every Street United to play alongside the World Cup, a robot thriller called Human and something with Michael Cera’s JASH comedy collective. What will make these shows stand out in the crowd, according to Tellem, will be a combination of real time interaction and external character participation, no doubt powered by Xbox SmartGlass.
At a time where Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon are all deep into their own unique content, Microsoft has quite the arsenal in mind for a global audience. This move further cements the Xbox One as a entertainment console that is capable of delivering a good gaming experience, as opposed to Sony who is set on delivering a high-end gaming console that also handles streaming content.
More...
