Microsoft clearly understands that the platform element of Xbox is as much a selling point as its game titles: in just the first week of being live, 10% of Microsoft’s Xbox Live subscribers connected their accounts to Facebook. The platform represents new online content (such as Netflix) and the ability to make console gaming more social and viral.

Furthermore, the association with big brand names like Facebook, Netflix, and Pandora is an effective sales tool that is appealing to all console owners (whereas games and their audiences vary dramatically: Madden Football vs. Call of Duty vs. Little Big Planet).

So in Microsoft’s most recent Xbox advertising campaign, the ‘platform’ is a major theme: “more games, more entertainment and more fun” and “plugin to the endless entertainment of Xbox Live”.

Popularity: 1% [?]