WSJ.com - Microsoft to Offer Programming Tools To Spur Xbox "Any doubt that Microsoft Corp. is at war with Sony Corp. over videogames should be dispelled by a symbol of that clash in J Allard's office here: a Sony PlayStation 2 that has been pierced by a .50-caliber machine gun bullet. Now the competition is entering a new phase, and the strong-willed Microsoft engineer is preparing a different kind of weapon.
Microsoft plans to announce today that Mr. Allard will lead a broad initiative to develop new software tools for writing sophisticated videogames.
The project will draw on programmers and technologies from Microsoft's videogame group and its core Windows division to create a single "platform" of compatible programming tools for building games that run on both Microsoft's Xbox game console and Windows-based personal computers.
While technical in focus, the plan is strategic in design: Microsoft, which started in the 1970s by selling a programming language called BASIC to write software for PCs, has a long history of using its programming tools as a strategic weapon for breaking into new markets and pushing out competitors. This time Microsoft is using its tools to try to win the attention of independent game developers."
Wednesday, March 24, 2004
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