MS: Xbox Live still aimed at the core despite Kinect reboot

Xbox Live studios boss Jerry Johnson has said Microsoft is still aiming the service towards the hardcore audience, despite worries Kinect signalled a move towards the casual demographic.

Microsoft plans to release a dashboard update alongside the motion camera this November, and has already done so to those who are beta testing the tech.

But Johnson says the firm isn't turning its back on the core, saying they are "the best advocate" of its service's features.

"I know there's a lot of controversy over, 'Are you turning your back on the core gamer? Are you just focused on the Wii bunch?' My answer to that is an emphatic no," he said yesterday at the Edinburgh Interactive Festival.

"The reason I say that is because I realise that Live was built on the back of the core gamer. It was built to benefit the core gamer, and it was built solely focused on the core gamer when it was originally launched."

Johnson also describe an example of how the core gamer is helping casuals discover the service.

"My wife never let me have an Xbox in the bedroom. Probably not a bad rule, but that was the rule. When Sky launched all of a sudden she was like, you can bring the Xbox in the bedroom. It's OK, because I can watch movies on them.

"My wife probably would have never found out about Sky or wouldn't have known about it or wouldn't have even entertained the idea unless I had been there and shown her some of these things.

"So, we are still squarely focused on the core, and building mechanics that appeal to the core, but also realising that is a path to actually reach up to the broader audience."

There's a lot more over at Eurogamer.