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skorp
06-01-2005, 07:24 PM
By the end of this year, the first of the next-gen consoles will be upon us. That leaves plenty of time, however, for the respective platform makers to toss verbal barbs at one another. In a recent Japanese interview Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo went at it. Microsoft promised victory, Sony said MS had not yet earned its black belt, and Nintendo was... well... Nintendo.



It never fails. Every five years or so when the video game industry gears up for the introduction of a new wave of consoles, the bigwigs from the respective hardware manufacturers inevitably wind up hyping their platform while simultaneously downplaying or even attacking the competition.

With the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Revolution now on the horizon, executives from the "big 3" have already commenced in the usual mudslinging. In a recent interview orchestrated by the Japanese newspaper Asahi Shinbun, and translated by GameSpot and other websites, Microsoft senior vice president and chief Xbox officer Robbie Bach, Sony Computer Entertainment president Ken Kutaragi, and Nintendo president Satoru Iwata were all asked about their competition.

Bach vows victory
Bach began by claiming that the 360's capabilities were largely the same as the PS3's and he vowed that Microsoft would be No.1 in the next-gen battle. "Sony's [PS3's] capabilities are the same as ours... The current-generation Xbox sold more than the PlayStation 2 in North America last Christmas. We will become the market leader with our next-generation console," he said.

[ "Beating us for a short moment is like accidentally winning a point from a Shihan (Karate master), and Microsoft is still not a black belt," Ken Kutaragi, Sony Computer Entertainment president ]


Bach also questioned the feasibility of PS3's seven-controller, two-HDTV configuration and he claimed a cost advantage for the Xbox 360. "Sony's [PS3] will be able to use seven controllers simultaneously and connect with two high-definition TV sets. But it's hard to share a single screen with seven people, and it's also difficult to imagine a room with two high-definition TV sets. We don't know about the selling price yet, but to say the least, our cost of manufacturing [an Xbox 360] is less than Sony's [PS3]," said Bach.

Microsoft still no black belt
Not to be outdone, Kutaragi fired back by using a karate analogy. "Microsoft is trailing behind us, but they are not a threat. They are good at improving [on products], but we will be advancing to the next level with revolutionary technology. Beating us for a short moment is like accidentally winning a point from a Shihan (Karate master), and Microsoft is still not a black belt. Just like with their operating systems, they might come out with something good around the third generation of their release," he said.

Kutaragi also insisted that if the PS3's price point ends up on the high side it will be worth it because he claims the machine will pack a serious punch. "It isn't a bad thing to have a high price. When we released the original PlayStation at 39,800 yen ($368), Nintendo's Super Famicom was in the 10,000 yen range ($100 range). Still, everyone went for the PlayStation. This time, ours [the PS3] will be like a BMW that's equipped with a Ferrari engine," boasted Kutaragi.

He also believes that the PS3's use of the Blu-ray disc format (as opposed to the 360's use of regular DVD) will not only boost HDTV sales, but will also do for Blu-ray what the PS2 did, in part, for DVD. "By using Blu-ray in the PS3, we hope to boost the amount of available software and sales of high-definition TV sets. With enough product [in the market], the Blu-ray will be one step closer to becoming the standard [next-generation] format," said Kutaragi.

One thing that Bach and Kutaragi had in common, however, was their dismissal of Nintendo as essentially a niche player. "Nintendo is aiming for the niche market," said Bach. Added Kutaragi: "Nintendo's [Revolution] will be something like a new model of a family car. Some people might want it, but if it was me, I'd want to advance to the next level."

[B]The Nintendo difference
Iwata, as expected, maintained the now familiar Nintendo stance that pushing high-tech features will not be enough to widen the video games market. He also cast doubt over the cost of making all games in hi-def when only a relatively small segment of consumers owns an HDTV set. "It's questionable what the 'horsepower' of the two other companies' consoles will be used for, such as fast calculations and high-definition resolution. Creating game software in high definition will require everything from the [graphic's] models to the background to be redone, and it will bloat up development costs," stated Iwata.

He continued, "And yet, it has no use for people that aren't playing with a high-definition TV set. Game consoles are not an essential product in life, so we want to make ours as compact, thin, and as inexpensive as we can so that it won't be viewed with hostility by family members."

In the end, Iwata pointed to the major difference between his company and the competition: "We're not about selling new kinds of TVs or taking control of the living room."



hehe... Lets get it on! :)

TheCovenant
06-01-2005, 09:36 PM
hahahaha.

GO SONY! JAPANESE INSULT MASTORZ!

Solid Snake 015
06-03-2005, 08:03 PM
Sony is about as bad as their fanboys... hahaha i hope M$ Karate chops them in the balls and then nintendo comes over and finishs them off

I mean does them talking smack about other consoles make me go WOW i want to buy a PS3... Sorry sony but no

Sony how about you run a truthful console war and see what happends... we all know you were untruthful about the PS2... i wont buy one till i try one this time around. You lost me on this one sony sorry :rofl:

Hangnail
06-04-2005, 07:38 PM
All of the consoles have there strong spots and their weak spots, just like every type of video game boss.

The XBOX 360 has the online market that everyone is wating to see, but like my self, not all of us are able to get XBOX live.

Sony's PS3 has the incredible graphics and gameplay, but the controller is a kinda stupid. Now don't get me wrong, I'm just saying it looks a bit like a banana. :confused:

Then there's the Revolution. It is a small black box that is capable of downloading 20 years of our favorite Nintendo games! plus they have yet to reveal a controler that is capable to play games from the NES to the DS. But we have yet to see any gameplay from this console...