http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-...-more-tv-programs-as-it-readies-xbox-one.html
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Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) said it will expand its TV programming beyond the show based on its best-selling “Halo” game as it tries to position the new Xbox One console as a portal for games, videos and music.
Phil Spencer, corporate vice president at Microsoft Studios, declined to elaborate in an interview in Tokyo today before the Tokyo Game Show. Microsoft is returning to the show this year as it competes against Sony Corp. (675’s new PlayStation 4 console and online games in a $63 billion industry.
Xbox One is an attempt to merge TV watching with video game playing as Microsoft teams with partners including the National Football League to offer features such as viewing highlights and game scores. To underscore that broader approach, Microsoft is producing a live-action “Halo” show, in which director Steven Spielberg will be involved, and has a production team in Los Angeles developing concepts.
“They have literally hundreds of ideas that they are incubating right now,” Spencer said. “We will have some new announcement for TV shows coming pretty soon.”
Microsoft and Sony are betting that faster machines allowing for features such as motion capture and immersive graphics will lure consumers whose tastes are shifting toward mobile games played on tablets and smartphones. The Redmond, Washington-based company, which is buying Nokia Oyj (NOK1V)’s handset unit, is strengthening a push into hardware as demand weakens for programs such as Windows that made it the world’s largest software maker.
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