Microsoft India has been known to make innovative marketing campaigns for promoting the Xbox 360 in the country. Whether it is a TV commercial featuring an abstract game or an Xbox 360 Lounge. Previously gamers, especially the ones from Mumbai would remember that Microsoft had come up with an Xbox 360 Lounge in Mumbai in June 2006 before the India launch of their next generation console.
Now on the same lines, Microsoft India has rolled out the Xbox Entertainment Lounge at the MobileStore in Mumbai. This unique shop-in-shop is situated at the posh Walkeshwar area in downtown Mumbai. Besides selling mobile phones and related things, the MobileStore outlets also offer value added services, music and gaming devices.
The Xbox Entertainment Lounge was inaugurated by Mohit Anand and Rajiv Agarwal, who is the CEO and director of MobileStore. He seemed very thrilled with the Xbox Lounge. He quoted, “It is our pleasure to announce the first Xbox Entertainment Lounge at The MobileStore. The complete entertainment provided by Xbox 360 will add to the experience of our valued customers and we are confident that this concept will be very well appreciated for its uniqueness and entertainment value.”
We asked Rajiv Agarwal about the whole Xbox Lounge initiative and he said that the MobileStore has been associated with gaming products and Xbox 360 is very youth-centric. According to him, MobileStore’s target audience is the youth segment. We them asked him whether this lounge idea is restricted to the Xbox 360 or does MobileStore have plans to get in other consoles like the PS3. To which he replied that this is an experiment and they are not associated with one particular brand.
Mohit Anand is the country manager of Microsoft E&D in India. He commented, “We are steadfast in popularizing the gaming genre in India and are leading from the front in the gaming space. We already have in place lots of special initiatives for gaming fans where they get the unique opportunity to preview the best titles available on the Xbox 360.”
GameGuru.in had a little chat with him. First of all we quizzed him on the performance of Xbox Live in India. Mohit Anand said that they are stocked out and there is more demand than supply. As for the games, Halo 3 is doing well on the Xbox Live. In fact, Halo 3 beat Gears of War’s figures in India in the first four weeks itself. On the Xbox Lounge project, he told us that Microsoft might come out with more lounges like these. Microsoft does have a flagship store in Gurgaon and we asked him whether the next one will be in Mumbai. Mohit Anand replied they could have a flagship store but it depends on the right real estate being available.
The topic then moved on to one of the most eagerly awaited games of 2008, Grand Theft Auto IV. We asked Mohit Anand if GTA IV will decide which console will do well. He jokingly remarked, “That decision is already made. We have won the generation, haven’t we? I am being brash!” But then he said that he doesn’t think that one game will decide this, adding that GTA IV is an important game as lots of gamers are waiting for it and it is going to be available on both the platforms. He is of the view that the best content and games today are on the Xbox 360.
The Xbox Entertainment Lounge at the MobileStore was very well done and there were three consoles for the gamers to play with. Besides the Xbox 360 consoles and the LCD TVs we also saw some accessories such as the Halo 3 Xbox 360 wireless controller and the Chatpad. The lounge idea seems to be nice but it would be great if they could have more of them and even better if they launched the Xbox 360 flagship stores especially in smaller cities also.