科技前沿:微軟發佈Xbox One遊戲機

MicrosoFT Corp. MSFT -0.66% unveiled a reinvented Xbox videogame console Tuesday, demonstrating an advanced motion and voice-control system and new television functions as it tries to thrust the machine back into the spotlight amid changing consumer habits.

微軟(Microsoft Corp.)週二發佈了全新的Xbox視頻遊戲機，展示了其先進的體感和聲控系統以及新的電視節目播放功能。在消費者需求不斷變化之際，該公司正努力使這款設備重新成爲關注焦點。

The Redmond, Wash., software giant said its new device, dubbed Xbox One, was designed to take advantage of new technologies to offer customers ways to play games while responding to trends such as the popularity of smartphones and tablets.

這家位於華盛頓州雷德蒙德(Redmond)的軟件巨頭說，這款名爲Xbox One的新設備旨在利用新技術爲消費者提供一些新的遊戲方式，以響應目前的一些趨勢，比如智能手機和平板電腦的風靡。

Microsoft also integrated technology from its Skype video chatting subsidiary into Xbox One, allowing customers to interact with friends using a more refined version of the Kinect motion and speech sensor. Xbox One also can play and control live television streaming from a cable or satellite set-top box.

微軟還將旗下Skype視頻聊天軟件的技術整合進了Xbox One，使用戶能夠與朋友互動。Xbox One還擁有更加精良的Kinect動作和聲音傳感器，並且能播放和控制來自有線電視和衛星機頂盒的視頻節目。

The device represents Microsoft's answer to 'a living room that has become too complex, too fragmented and too slow,' with features that integrate control of multiple electronics, said Don Mattrick, president of Microsoft's interactive entertainment business.

微軟互動娛樂部門總裁馬特里克(Don Mattrick)說，這款設備是微軟對“一個變得太複雜、太分散和太低效的起居室”的解決方案，其功能整合了對多種電子設備的操控。

Microsoft said the device will be released later this year, but didn't specify when or how much it will cost. The company's previous device, the Xbox 360, was priced starting at $299 when it launched in 2005.

微軟說，這款設備將於今年晚些時候推出，但是沒有透露推出的具體時間或產品價格。該公司之前的設備Xbox 360於2005年推出時的起價爲299美元。

The Xbox remains key to Microsoft's efforts to penetrate consumers' homes, as many of its other consumer-oriented products─such as Windows Phone─have stumbled. But the console hasn't had a refresh in eight years and arrives as mobile devices such as Apple Inc.'s AAPL -0.74% iPhone have become go-to machines for a new swath of casual games that are either free or cost a few dollars.

Xbox仍然是微軟進滲透進消費者家庭的行動的關鍵所在，因爲該公司迄今推出的許多以消費者爲導向的產品並未獲得成功，比如Windows Phone。但是這款遊戲機八年來一直沒有更新，與此同時，人們已經習慣了用蘋果(Apple Inc.)的iPhone來玩大量免費或是隻花費幾美元的小遊戲。

Those factors combined with the videogame industry's cycles─where sales taper off before a new game console is released─have hurt sales of new games, consoles and accessories. According to market researcher NPD Group, packaged game sales fell 25% to $495.2 million in April from $657.5 million a year earlier. Console hardware sales dropped 42% to $109.5 million.

這些因素加上視頻遊戲行業的週期因素（新的遊戲機發佈之前銷售減弱）削弱了新的遊戲、遊戲機和配件的銷售。市場研究機構NPD Group的數據顯示，今年4月份，打包遊戲的銷售額同比下降了25%，至4.952億美元，上年同期銷售額爲6.575億美元。遊戲機硬件的銷售額下降了42%，至1.095億美元。

The Xbox, which sits at the center of Microsoft's entertainment and devices division, has also seen declining sales as it has aged. While the last Xbox has been the top selling console in the U.S. for 21 consecutive months, profits at Microsoft's entertainment and devices division plunged 71% in fiscal 2012 to $364 million, below what it was in 2010.

Xbox是微軟娛樂和設備部門業務的核心，由於這款設備已經推出了很長時間，其銷售也在不斷下降。儘管上一款Xbox的銷量曾連續21個月在美國保持領先，微軟娛樂和設備部門2012財年的利潤下跌了71%，至3.64億美元，還不及2010年的水平。

Game console makers are responding to the changing consumer landscape by including new technologies in their devices. Nintendo Co. +2.97% melded a touch screen into the controller for its Wii U console, which was released last November. Sony Corp. +0.05% in February showed a touch-sensor built into a redesigned controller for its PlayStation 4 console, due out later this year.

遊戲機製造商正通過將新技術納入其設備來應對消費者情況不斷變化的現實。任天堂公司(Nintendo Co.)在Wii U遊戲機的控制手柄中融合了觸摸屏，這款遊戲機於去年11月發佈。索尼公司(Sony Corp.)今年2月向外界展示了其PlayStation 4遊戲機經過重新設計的控制手柄中內置的觸摸傳感器。索尼將於今年晚些時候推出這款遊戲機。

Aside from additional horsepower to make better looking games, Xbox One includes the ability to watch TV on one part of a screen while looking at other information, such as a fantasy football league scores or a Skype video chat, on another.

除了花大力氣製作外觀更加漂亮的遊戲外，Xbox One還允許用戶分屏，在觀看電視的同時瀏覽其它信息，比如夢幻足球聯賽(fantasy football league)的成績或進行Skype視頻聊天。

Under the hood, the new Xbox is powered by Advanced Micro Devices Inc. AMD -1.95% chips, in a shift away from chips based on International Business Machines Corp. IBM +0.51% designs. The change makes the new Xbox more similar to Sony's upcoming PlayStation, making it easier to develop games for both companies' devices.

炫酷的外表下，新Xbox放棄了基於國際商業機器公司(IBM)設計的芯片，轉而採用高級微設備公司(AMD)的芯片。這一轉變令新Xbox更類似於索尼即將推出的PlayStation，也降低了業界爲這兩種遊戲機開發遊戲的難度。

But the two devices are also different in that Sony plans to offer a way for its advanced data centers to stream game images and button presses over the Internet to its PlayStation, allowing customers to play potentially any game instantly with a Web connection. That includes older games, which otherwise can't play on the new device. Microsoft didn't unveil that technology for Xbox One.

但這兩種遊戲機也存在不同。索尼計劃令其先進數據中心技術一顯身手。該數據中心可以流媒體格式通過互聯網將遊戲圖像和虛擬按鍵傳送到PlayStation遊戲機上，這樣用戶在有網絡連接的情況下基本可以玩任何遊戲，其中包括老遊戲。如果沒有這項技術，新設備無法玩老遊戲。從微軟此次發佈的情況看，Xbox One沒有配備這項技術。

Microsoft put more horsepower behind the technology it does offer, however. The Kinect motion sensor, which debuted three years ago, was revamped and can now better hear gamers speak at the device and more accurately understand their movements, for instance.

但微軟在此次推出的技術上確實下足了力氣。三年前首次亮相的Kinect運動傳感器得到了改進，現在可以更清晰地聽到玩家對該設備說的話，更準確地識別玩家的動作。

Microsoft is also investing in new games for the device. The software company said it would release 15 titles from its own studios during the Xbox One's first year on the market.

微軟還爲Xbox One投資開發新遊戲。微軟表示，在Xbox One上市第一年期間，其自己的工作室將推出15款新遊戲。

The company said it is developing a television show based on its popular Halo space-war game series with director Steven Spielberg. Nancy Tellem, head of Microsoft's television studio efforts, said the effort is the beginning of Microsoft's efforts to apply its Xbox technology to the way television works.

微軟表示，它正在和導演斯皮爾伯格(Steven Spielberg)開發一個基於其廣受歡迎的《光環》(Halo)系列太空戰遊戲製作的電視節目。微軟負責電視製作的泰勒姆(Nancy Tellem)說，此舉是微軟將其Xbox技術應用到電視製作領域的開端。

'Until now, television was a one-way street for the viewer,' she said. 'That's about to change.'

她說，到目前爲止，對觀衆來說看電視是一種單向交流。這種情況就要發生改變了。