Why do people think that having multimedia is going to kill software?  I've just seen a lot of  comments about the split in focus on Nextbox and I don't see it as having 1 or the other.   Do the same people who normally work on games have to work on apps and streaming?  How is this work divided?  Because honestly I don't see one effecting the other.  If all of their first party studios are making Kinect that's 1 thing but Xbox could easily do first party AND multimedia despite what has happened that last couple years.  Same goes for PS4.  Any reason this couldn't happen?

Some people are under the illusion that more multimedia means less games, which is nonsense.

Especially considering the bulk/90+% of games are third party made.

Don't you know? Anything Xbox on many forums has to be thorn to shreads... it's just impossible for MS to do anything good so fanboys will always find new stupid spins to downplay them...

To answer your question regarding work split:  No.

The Xbox Team that is largely focused on Xbox Live and the console.  On the software side, the Xbox Team is focused on creating new Xbox experiences, while this may include gaming, it's largely focused on what Xbox LIVE offers.  They may offer development expertise to both in-house development teams (i.e. Microsoft Studios) and third-parties, but they don't actively develop games.  They may do a proof of concept, which gets developed into an actual product, but they aren't responsible for actual games.  That's what Microsoft Studios and their teams of studios are responsible for.

So, no.  If you're one of the studios that's a member of Microsoft Studios, then you work on games.  If you one of the Xbox team members, then you work on the core Xbox software and Xbox LIVE applications.  There may be resouces that fluidly transition between teams based on availability and opportunities, but they're relatively static teams.  For example, you may have worked on something for Windows 8 which needs your expertise for Xbox 8, to facilitate development you may be transferred from the Windows team to the Xbox team as a temporary assignment.  Then once the development is done and there is a knowledge transfer, you go back to your Windows development team.  

indeed. if developers work on a kinect game they can't work on another game so if you hate kinect for that it makes at least sense but a developer who would normally work on a game doesn't make a nba app or an app to stream movies or whatever instead, those will be probably totally different people.

some people say they could invest the money in games instead but microsoft isn't releasing those apps to lose money, they make them to increase the profit of xbox in the long run. that means microsoft would have more money to invest in the xbox ecosystem and not less.

I'm actually interested to see what microsoft can do on the cable box side. My time warner cable box sucks and it would be cool if the xbox could replace it.

I can only speak for myself, but I'm not worried that multimedia applications will take away resources from game development. I'm worried that multimedia applications signal Microsoft's plan to take resources away from game development.

In other words, these applications aren't the cause of the problem; they're a symptom of the problem.

But we still know so little, so I'll wait until May 21 to make an informed decision.

Microsoft spend 500 $mln on Kinect marketing.
How many games they could create in 500 $mln ?

It's a simple answer.
Because they don't need to.

There are more lucrative audiences than the traditionally core gamer, so why waste time developing when the average Joe only really needs netflix and various apps?

Nintendo and MS both understand this.
Hence why when their consoles were doing really well, they stopped making core games.

Sad but true. Hopefully the nexbox reveal in May will bring some older xbox fans such as Seece and a few new guys who hopefully aren't trolls or extreme fanboys. I miss seeing the Seece Kowan 1, 2 KNOCKOUT!