Microsoft Expects Xbox 360 To Outsell PS3 Across "Entire Generation"
You know us--we'll never turn a blind eye to a good megacorp vs.
megacorp battle. Be in Intel vs. NVIDIA, AMD vs. Intel or Dell vs. HP,
we love to watch the shots from the sidelines. And folks, this is a
good one. Microsoft's Aaron Greenberg, director of product management
for Xbox 360 and Xbox Live, recently sat down with Game Informer in
order to talk shop, and while some of the chatter involved far too many
numbers and guesstimates for us to worry over, a few choice quotes
definitely caught out ear.
For starters, he didn't miss any opportunity to brag about the Xbox 360's expansive game library, not to mention the console's ability to tap into Facebook, Twitter, Last.fm and (of course) Netflix. He also didn't hesitate to point out that these factors were clear reasons why the Xbox 360 was superior to the "competition." In fact, he called his console "the best value in home entertainment," despite the fact that Sony's $299 PS3 Slim can handle Blu-ray Discs and all sorts of media streaming via PlayOn.
When questioned about the Xbox 360's extras, he pointed out that "it seems clear that this strategy and commitment is at a very different level relative to our competitors." Zing! Want more? Try this: "No other competitor comes close to offering the breadth of quality entertainment options as we do on Xbox LIVE." Nobody else, huh? We guess Sony's free online play isn't offering much to its gamers, right? Oh, and Nintendo's online play--no sweat, right?
When questioned about the impact of Sony's newer, slimmer, cheaper PlayStation 3, the gloves finally came off: "What I can tell you is we remain confident that Xbox 360 will not only outsell PS3 for the full calendar year, but for this entire generation. It is similar to a game of baseball, it is not about just winning one inning, but instead being able to win the game by consistently delivering across all nine innings." Those are pretty big words. Sony's PS2 sold (and continues to sell) a huge, huge amount of units over the console's life. Even with the PS3 on shelves, PS2s are still being made and PS2 titles are still being moved. It's quite amazing--you don't see GameCube and original Xbox consoles still being sold in retail, now do you? For Microsoft to beat Sony's PS3 across the entire generation, it'll have to pull off something most would say it's darn near impossible given the loyalty to Sony's brand and its recent push to become more price competitive.
Of course, only time will tell if the Xbox 360 really has the staying power to eclipse the mighty Sony, but at least one bigwig up there in Washington seems confident that it does. Let the war begin, gentlemen.
For starters, he didn't miss any opportunity to brag about the Xbox 360's expansive game library, not to mention the console's ability to tap into Facebook, Twitter, Last.fm and (of course) Netflix. He also didn't hesitate to point out that these factors were clear reasons why the Xbox 360 was superior to the "competition." In fact, he called his console "the best value in home entertainment," despite the fact that Sony's $299 PS3 Slim can handle Blu-ray Discs and all sorts of media streaming via PlayOn.
When questioned about the Xbox 360's extras, he pointed out that "it seems clear that this strategy and commitment is at a very different level relative to our competitors." Zing! Want more? Try this: "No other competitor comes close to offering the breadth of quality entertainment options as we do on Xbox LIVE." Nobody else, huh? We guess Sony's free online play isn't offering much to its gamers, right? Oh, and Nintendo's online play--no sweat, right?
When questioned about the impact of Sony's newer, slimmer, cheaper PlayStation 3, the gloves finally came off: "What I can tell you is we remain confident that Xbox 360 will not only outsell PS3 for the full calendar year, but for this entire generation. It is similar to a game of baseball, it is not about just winning one inning, but instead being able to win the game by consistently delivering across all nine innings." Those are pretty big words. Sony's PS2 sold (and continues to sell) a huge, huge amount of units over the console's life. Even with the PS3 on shelves, PS2s are still being made and PS2 titles are still being moved. It's quite amazing--you don't see GameCube and original Xbox consoles still being sold in retail, now do you? For Microsoft to beat Sony's PS3 across the entire generation, it'll have to pull off something most would say it's darn near impossible given the loyalty to Sony's brand and its recent push to become more price competitive.
Of course, only time will tell if the Xbox 360 really has the staying power to eclipse the mighty Sony, but at least one bigwig up there in Washington seems confident that it does. Let the war begin, gentlemen.
