Xbox also suffers because video game publishers will sometimes release a Play-Station2 version of a game first, then deliver an Xbox version months later. That happened last year with Medal of Honor, a top-selling game from Electronic Arts that came out some six months earlier on the PlayStation2. Jeff Brown, a spokesman for Electronic Arts, said, however, that the company was increasingly releasing games concurrently for the two platforms.
Industry analysts like Wallace of UBS Warburg said Microsoft needed to find video game makers that would produce hit titles exclusively for its console.
To bolster its game portfolio, Microsoft has been in discussions to buy Vivendi Universal Games. Microsoft would not comment on the issue.
In the meantime, Microsoft has quietly begun to make inroads with a feature that cuts across individual games: Xbox Live. This is a US$50 attachment that lets console owners play games against one another over the Internet. Microsoft, citing figures from NPD Funworld, said it sold 350,000 Xbox Live kits since introducing the service in November. Sony has sold 438,000 of its own online kit, said Microsoft, citing NPD Funworld figures, but Sony has been selling its kit for almost twice as long, since August.
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