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The Xboss

Microsoft's Stephen McGill talks Kinect.

Ellie Gibson avatar
Interview by Ellie Gibson Former Deputy Editor
Updated on
Eurogamer Microsoft US exec Don Mattress has said reckons you'll shift 3 million Kinects by the end of the year. Do you agree?
Steve McGill

I agree with whatever Don said. I am not aware of that quote.

Eurogamer Sony has had a head start with PlayStation Move. They've shifted 1.5 million units in Europe during the first month on sale - can you beat that?
Steve McGill

I've heard them talking about a 1.5 million figure, yeah... I'm not sure where that number comes from specifically. I'm sure if you talk to retailers, they might give you a slightly different opinion.

Eurogamer Are you saying you doubt Sony's word???
Steve McGill

No, I'm just saying retailers might give you their opinion. We're playing our own game. It's a brand new game, it's one where your whole body is the controller. We're going to make as many as we can and I'm sure we're going to sell an awful lot of them this Christmas.

Eurogamer Do you think you'll sell 1.5 million in a month in Europe?
Steve McGill

I don't know what the European number's going to be. I know what I'm targeting for and I'm certainly not going to give you specifics.

Eurogamer Have you had a go of PlayStation Move?
Steve McGill

I have. Yes.

Eurogamer ...What do you think of it?
Steve McGill

Yeah, it was all right. I wasn't surprised by it, I've obviously played the Wii, it's very Wii-like, little bit more accurate... Wasn't impressed by the games... So yeah.

It will be interesting to watch as they roll out more titles near Christmas. I think they've got a better Christmas line-up for Move than they had for launch. But we're very focused on what we're delivering and our gameplay.

Eurogamer I asked our readers if they had any questions for you via Twitter. @ianovenden says, "At the risk of sounding provocative, what's your favourite PlayStation 3 game?" That is very provocative. I'm suprised you haven't stormed out the room.
Steve McGill

Haha! Erm... I really can't remember the last time I switched my PS3 on.

Eurogamer GASP!
Steve McGill

There are so few games I want to play.

Eurogamer Ooh BURN!
Steve McGill

The games I want to play on PlayStation are on 360 too, and that's the best place to play - our platform.

Eurogamer Oh my GOODNESS! You can't even NAME a PlayStation 3 game! That's how RUBBISH PlayStation 3 is, is that what you're saying?
Steve McGill

It's also how busy I am playing my own games.

Eurogamer You're too important and the PS3's too rubbish. That's the headline right there.
Steve McGill

I'll say it if you want.

Eurogamer Go on! Go on!
Steve McGill

[Pause]

Eurogamer Oh well. A few people said they were concerned about the Xbox 360 release schedule for 2011 - it's looking a bit empty so far. When are you going to announce more non-Kinect games?
Steve McGill

Right now we've got to get through the Kinect launch and we don't want anything we do to defocus from that. We'll make more announcements in due course. I'm not going to make any today.

But the line-up of non-Kinect games for 2011 is amazing. I'm excited about it. I'm confident about it. I have no doubts, that's all I can say.

Eurogamer @Mistermorriss says, "How many units will Kinect have to sell in the UK before you can consider it a success?"
Steve McGill

I'm not going to give you sales figures. I believe we're going to sell a ton of units. For me it's about the reaction I see from consumers. If they're feeding that back to their friends we're on the right path.

Eurogamer From @streetmagix: "Why aren't you doing any HD remakes? The God of War collection Sony just released did really well - why not do a Halo remake?"
Steve McGill

I'm not sure what's in the pipeline. We're very focused on the games we've announced right now. There's lots of great stuff coming from Xbox Live Arcade, Fable III, Force Unleashed, Black Ops... The Christmas line-up this year is incredible.

Eurogamer Is a Halo remake something you personally would like to see? Do you think it's a good idea?
Steve McGill

I imagine it's a good idea. I think some people want to go back to older games and see them revisited and I think a lot of developers want to see that too.

Me personally? My hands are full playing some of the best games we've ever seen come out this Christmas for Xbox 360. Call of Duty, the best place to play that is on Xbox 360. Fable III, I'm playing that at the moment. All of Kinect... So I'm a very busy and a very happy gamer.