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Microsoft to expand Xbox Live onto mobile platform

'Live is the connective tissue'

Microsoft to expand Xbox Live onto mobile platform
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Speaking to video game website Kikizo, Microsoft Game Studios' corporate vice president, Shane Kim, has been discussing the future – and expansion – of Xbox Live, and the possibility of it escaping from the living room.

Indeed, Kim goes as far as to say some form of handheld Live is a definite.

"We've chosen to focus on the living room experience from a hardware standpoint, if you will, but we're building a service in Live that will… will extend to other platforms. No question about it," he explains.

We've been closely following the drip-feed rumours around Microsoft's ZuneHD, and the possibility of it running Xbox Live content, and admits to being quite excited about this potential iPod touch competitor.

While Kim doesn't specifically make any mention of the Zune relaunch, focusing more on Windows Mobile instead, he has no qualms about the fact that Microsoft intends to lift the Live system off the Xbox 360 and deliberate to a broader, socially connected platform.

"So the question will be, how do we enter into that market – do we do our own device, do we create our own phone, do we continue to go down the Windows Mobile path?" he continues. "But believe me, we understand the importance of that device in people's lives, [and] we're going to need to make sure that [Live] is on all the important platforms in people's lives, including PC."

You can check out the full interview here.

Spanner Spencer
Spanner Spencer
Yes. Spanner's his real name, and he's already heard that joke you just thought of. Although Spanner's not very good, he's quite fast, and that seems to be enough to keep him in a regular supply of free games and away from the depressing world of real work.