Home
Games
Games News
Microsoft's Jaspreet Bindra on Gears of War 3 launch

Microsoft's Jaspreet Bindra on Gears of War 3 launch

By Karan Patheja & Sameer Mitha | Updated: 6 June 2012 15:52 IST

Highlights

In conversation with Jaspreet Bindra about the launch of Gears of War 3 and the future of Microsoft XBOX 360

In conversation with Jaspreet Bindra about the launch of Gears of War 3 and the future of Microsoft XBOX 360

In an in-depth conversation with Jaspreet Bindra, Regional Director Entertainment and Device Division, Microsoft at the launch of Gears of War 3, one of the most anticipated games of 2011. Jaspreet Bindra was in conversation with Gadget Guru's Gaming Guru Karan Patheja and Sameer Mitha

Karan: For the majority of the year you have been criticized by the hardcore gamers for ignoring them. Is the launch of this title your way of answering them?

Jaspreet Bindra: Well I think that this launch has not been to answer someone or to prove a point, its just that Gears of War 3 is one of the most awaited and has one of the largest fan followings in India and across the world. Across the globe we are launching it on the same day so I'm sure, it may not answer them but it will surely make them happy.

Karan: We've just played the game and it looks out and out like a hardcore game. This is not for a newbie who can walk in and start playing it. You have catered to the hardcore audience. Is that intentional?

Jaspreet Bindra: No, it's not done intentionally. Look it's also Gears of War 3, so it's not a new game which has been made for this audience. So there was a Gears of War 1 and there's a Gears of War 2 and now I believe that this is the best one in the series. It's always been a stated objective that we are going to cater to the core gamer and the general audience, and we are going to have a slew of titles that are hardcore that are not going to be for newbies, at the same time there are going to be titles which are coming, Disney Land for example which is certainly going to be for newbies.

Sameer: In terms of the big launches this year, there are just 2 games, viz a viz your nearest competitor who is coming with a slew of new launches that is catered to the hardcore gamer. Do you think this is a race where you are actually lagging behind?

Jaspreet Bindra: I don't think so. The gaming audience does comprise hardcore gamers and casual gamers and funnily the hardcore gamers live in a family of casual gamers. In fact, one of the guys who won our Gears of War competition, who is the best Gears of War player in the country has a 3 year old daughter who can't let go of Kinect and Kinectimals. So we tend to describe this as hardcore and 'not hardcore', we define it as someone who works in office and at home, they are the same people. I would disagree with the 2 numbers of hardcore games. The game we launched today is hardcore, Forza 4 is pretty hardcore and it is also going to add Kinect gameplay, Halo 4 which will come later down the year is also for that segment and these are just 3 of the 5 or 6 core gamer games that are out there along with many of the casual games out there.

Karan: You know, a lot of people in the gaming world out there say that it was Gears of War one that brought in the XBOX 360, do you think that Gears of War 3 is the start for you to think about a new console?

Jaspreet Bindra: There is a beautiful comment on our Facebook page today that says you know what, I have seen Gears of War and I am now going to go and buy a XBOX 360. So a lot of times it is content that drives console buy which is what we really want. In terms of having a new console I think over the past 2 to 3 years, every 6 months or so has been an amazing innovation in the console itself which has taken the current console to a completely different level. So I don't think that this is the harbinger of a new console and we are not talking about that right now.

Karan: The existing hardware that is there, a lot of people have comeback and said,"Kinect, brilliant idea", it has broken sales record numbers, are you going to make improvements to what already exists? And what are those?

Jaspreet Bindra: Sure, when we were in beat Kinect, people said that there were issues there, I remember someone talking about lag and that's the nature of hardware and software. When Kinect actually debuted most of those issues had gone. I thinks it's about 10 months that Kinect came in, and many new things have already come. Fun Labs for Kinect, Kinect SDK's have been opened out and crazy stuff has started happening for Kinect for the XBOX as well as for the PC. Some of those improvements have already happened. Kinect maps 48 points on your skeleton right now, you can see more and more points being mapped and so Kinect has already started looking at emotions. It is going to go beyond gestures to emotions.

Karan: A lot of people have come back and said it's fun, it's very casual, it's amazing but at the same time, the accuracy is still a big problem. Let me be the devil's advocate and ask you, are you going to go hand held or is it the human controller?

Jaspreet Bindra: We are in hand held right now as we speak. The XBOX controller is hand held. So we have not moved away from hand held. One of the things in technology is that you never say never. You never say this is always going to be this way. In fact, I am sure that the inventors of the technology itself will never go beyond 6 months or 1 year about what is going to happen. But if I was to gaze in the crystal ball, I don't think Kinect as a whole will ever go hand held. However, what has started happening is with some of the things you hold, table tennis on Kinect for example, you actually play with your hand. A lot of people now want to hold something. They want to hold a table tennis racket. They don't want to hold a controller. They want to hold the bat. So now with Kinect what you can do is hold up a bat, Kinect scans it, you can dress it up if you want, it becomes your personal bat with your avatar, and next time, just hold the bat and play. So, this is hand held, very naturally with the actual things in your hand.

Karan: Crystal ball gaze and tell us 3 things we can expect from Kinect in the next 1 year.

Jaspreet Bindra: Let's put it as is in the future, be it 1 year, 6 months.

1. I think we will move where we can look at going beyond gesture to even emotions as the technology progresses.
2. We can certailnly have more integration of Kinect with the core gaming experience. It starts with Forza 4 and Star Wars.
3. Kinect moving beyond the gaming console to other devices. So the PC or other form factors.

Karan: We have seen media integration in North America and Europe. We are really lagging behind as far as the Indian market is concerned. Is there any content collaboration that you are looking forward to?

Jaspreet Bindra: When you talk of the XBOX, broadly there are 2 kinds of content you can talk about. One is content into XBOX live, which can be movies, sports, etc. The 2nd is Kinect led gaming content like Disney Land, etc. As the Indian market matures, I think the first thing we would do is taking what is best in India like Bollywood content and move towards having the content in XBOX live. On the gaming bit, I for the last 2 years have consistently maintained that in India, Indians are far more western oriented. What they really want is get a global game here on the same day. Initially, we will look at Indian content from a XBOX live perspective.

Sameer: Any plans to enter the hand held gaming market? With the Nintendo 3DS and now PS Vita on the way, Microsoft has never divulged any plans for the handheld gaming market?

Jaspreet Bindra: No plans and no announcements at this point in time, but stepping back you must understand the philosophy of having an XBOX. It's really 3 screens and the cloud. You have the PC screen is the home screen. The cloud, obviously here it is the enterprise cloud, connecting the XBOX Live as a cloud. Therefore bringing XBOX Live in the living room and having a connected experience with your PC and your phone. Handheld device from us is the Windows Phone 7. It is a great handheld device with XBOX Live.

Karan: You have Windows Phone 7. All you have to do is come up with the hardware, which gives you exclusive gaming experience. I am sure if your competitors can do it, then you can think of it as well.

Jaspreet Bindra: I have not tracked how that hardware has really done. Whether consumers have accepted that hardware as a standalone. But an integral part of every Windows Phone is XBOX Live. It's up there. Your avatar, etc. The phone has enough computing power for us not to really venture into. The speakers, the computing power, etc. it is the same thing.

Comments

For the latest tech news and reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you want to know everything about top influencers, follow our in-house Who'sThat360 on Instagram and YouTube.