In a move that can be classified as either the next major step in integrating living room devices into our lives or the beginning of the end of Western civilization, Microsoft and Pizza Hut have teamed up to offer a new Xbox 360 app that allows users to order food directly from their console without ever leaving the couch.
After logging in and determining a user’s location, the entire local Pizza Hut menu is browsable via the app. Users can customize their own pizzas, tack on appetizers and drinks, and then place an order for delivery or takeout. The app is built to work well with a controller or Kinect motion controls, and it optionally saves a user’s payment and delivery address to make future purchases easier.
Larry Hryb (a.k.a. “Major Nelson”), Director of Programming for Microsoft’s Xbox division, told gaming site Polygon that the app, among the first of its kind, was the result of a “mutual conversation” between the unlikely partners:
We’re always looking at ways to give our audience more of what they’re interested inIf you look at our audience, they love pizza. I mean, who doesn’t? It has international appeal, and Pizza Hut is a recognized brand that matches up well with the Xbox brand.
Online ordering of food and products is by no means novel — there are likely many young gamers who have never ordered food via a telephone in their lives — and prior to the launch of the Pizza Hut app users could easily order pizza via a laptop or smartphone. But the extension of the process to the console crosses a line that is both intriguing and terrifying.
“For the first time, people can order something through their Xbox that’s tangible,” Kurt Kane, chief marketing officer for Pizza Hut, told USA Today. “It brings the intersection of gaming and real world products together.”
The move fits with Microsoft’s attempts to make the Xbox less of a gaming console and more of a home appliance. Since its launch in late 2005, Microsoft has added movie and television streaming options, live TV, sports, and social apps to the Xbox 360 console. As we approach the launch of the next generation of Xbox, many anticipate that this trend will accelerate, and that the company may even offer a new Xbox branded product that eschews traditional gaming and focuses exclusively on its role as a home media device.
The end result is a device that is “a tremendous force in the living room,“ according to Mr. Hryb. ”With all the streaming you can do and the games you can play… It’s not necessarily about bringing in next-gen, it’s about what’s right for the living room space.”
The Pizza Hut app is available on Xbox marketplace today, and users who place an order via the app before May 6 will receive 15 percent off their first purchase.
