Microsoft in Damage control mode

[vurbano]

With the PS3 poised to kick its ass, microsoft tries to turn lemons into lemonade. Seems like Gates just wants to nickle and dime his customers to death with costs of an add on drive that should have been in the 360 to begin with. http://www.cdfreaks.com/news/13500

Microsoft criticizes Sony for including Blu-ray in PS3
Posted by Dan Bell on 02 June 2006 - 04:35 - Source: Games Industry Biz


It looks like Microsoft is throwing gas on the flames in the battle of the blue laser high definition formats. In an interview on Eurogamer, they blasted Sony for making people buy a Blu-ray drive with the PS3. Calling it an unproven technology, they planted the seed of doubt by reminding the audience, that Sony are the folks that brought you the Betamax format.

They say it's a shame that the PS3 gaming platform has an added cost of several hundred pounds, due to the inclusion of a Blu-ray drive. This is why Microsoft have given Xbox 360 customers the option to upgrade in the future, if they so wish, to add on an external HD-DVD drive.



Microsoft believes Blu-Ray's inclusion in PS3 plays right into the US firm's hands, since it is offering Xbox 360 users the option to upgrade to next-generation movie tech later this year with the release of a standalone HD-DVD drive.

“If gamers over time choose to go to HD-DVD we're going to give them the choice to do that, but we're not going to force them to buy that day one,” Thompson remarked.

“I find it concerning for consumers that they're being forced into a purchase... I don't think they need to make that decision for another two, three years maybe. Sony now have a very interesting business model I think they're going to find challenging.”

This is an interesting spin and shows once again that the Redmond giant can take lemons and make a tasty lemonade. Remember when the Xbox launched, many said that Microsoft made an error by rushing to market without a HD drive integral to the Xbox 360. Now, they are using this to their advantage...or at least trying to. With a strong desire and even a chance to knock Sony from the top slot of the gaming platform market, rest assured that Microsoft is going to wage a bloody battle against Blu-ray!

If Sony cannot make a go of Blu-ray, do you think the PS3 will suffer? Can Sony withstand yet another failure in the marketplace? The Walkman was a hit, but it was so long ago....

 

[mwgiii]

I agree with MS. Sony is using the popularity of the PS2 to push the corporate strategy of Blu-Ray into households using the PS3. Sony this week said that if you buy a PS3, you won't need a home computer. With the price point of the PS3, it is a risky strategy.

It will be very interesting to see after the hard-core gamers snap up the first shipments of PS3s, will the casual gamers start buying or will they go with the 360 or Wii.

 

[korsjs]

i don't know if i would consider that damage control mode. sounds like they are going on an offensive if you ask me.

 

[T2k]

ROFLMAO. MS in damage control?

This is hilarious.

If somebody then Sony is in serious damage control mode for months now, as it's obvious for the whole industry and media.

 

[alexgmny]

Damage control? Come on! MS is doing the right thing. Leaving the option available for the consumer to upgrade with an add on if they want HD-DVD or later blue-ray.

Sony its just pushing Blue-Ray down the throat of the consumers that want PS3 (the final price is incredible!). I know that MS is backing up HD-DVD but they left it to the option of the gamer to get it or not.

 

[skakusha]

It is very easy for Sony to say that BluRay is needed for the size and complexity of the games, and that movie watching is a value add to purchasers of the PS3 box. PSP uses UMD, Nintendo uses cartridges, media from one platform does not work in the other, thus making this an invalid legal argument on the part of Microsoft. I agree that this is just lots of noise to get the public scarred, but as blue ray has more support, I am not sure it will make as great an impact as MS would like.

If this were a valid argument then all platforms would have to be regulated, and forced to adopt the same media. As users have a choice, there sales figures will decide who is the clear winner.

Personally, I hate the idea of an add on drive. I prefer to have everything in the box. I know many non-gamers that are waiting for the PS3, because they see the abaility to play games as a value add, but really want BluRay. I had the Xbox 360 for a while and sold it as it was primarily for streaming media, but then I ended up with an Intel Mac mini running both OSX and Windows. I am working on getting a review and story of what I am doing with the box.

I think this competition is good for us and the HD movement. It has helped, and will continue to help, move HD into the mainstream and educate consumers. In the end, the platforms will have there share of the market and capture those that want the device. At least it is nice to have choices, and it will be interesting to see, independent of the gaming platform, which media will prevail. (Last count there was a 3 to 1 ratio of movie studios supporting BluRay, but I will check for latest updates)

 

[T2k]

It is very easy for Sony to say that BluRay is needed for the size and complexity of the games,

That's actually a big hairy BS form Sony.
PS3 games won't be close to size of PC games - there's no hw variety that would require different elements - and *ANY* games fits on a single DVD, no matter what you put in.

 

[Purogamer]

Wrong.

I disagree that future games need Blu-ray Space (single disc blu-ray, since double are nowhere near ready yet). However they can't all fit on single layer DVD, especially at sony. A lot of games on ps2 are on DVD-9 already, mostly because sony fills the discs with junk data to screw with pirates. They took a game that had 700 something MB of data and expanded it to over 3gb with junk data. Nonsense.

The Xbox had very few titles on DVD-9, but they did have them. MS is much better at fitting things on a disc than sony is.

If MS had put an HD-DVD drive in, the console would have cost at least $100 more.

If Blu-ray fails, it doesn't mean ps3 is a washout, as the games will still come out on blu-ray disc. It will make things difficult for PS4 as they'll have to include a blu-ray laser to read the old discs, or re-release all the games on HD-DVD format...The 360 won't have this problem. They can't get stuck with the loser of the format wars (if there is one) since DVD is proven already. You can add either new format that you want, IF you want. Some people are playing 360's on 27 inch standard defintion TV's ya know, so they may have no reason to upgrade to HD-DVD.

MS Did the right thing. They got out the door first, they came in $200 less for a system of comparable performance to PS3, and it's in no risk of having obsolete technology in it. The user has control over which format they want to support.

It's funny how some people are in the middle, and some people lean SO heavily towards Sony and some lean SO heavily towards Microsoft or Nintendo. This isn't the 90's where "Sega Does, Nintendon't" ads are everywhere and you pretty much had to like one or the other. It's a different time now and it's OK to support more than one company. Most people have two consoles right? Just sit back and watch the show, it's not worth getting so upset about. Competition makes things better for US, so let these guys hammer it out.

Sit on the sidelines and watch the fireworks...

 

[skakusha]

I agree with the competition being good for all. I also can see owning more than one console. I still have my old Xbox and my Playstation, and I also play Nintendo with my brothers. The other thing that will be interesting is how computers in media centers will impact the home. I for one prefer console play because of the remote controls, TV experience etc, but the lines are getting blurrier.

I agree that BluRay has more space then will be needed, but just commenting on expected Sony replies. I am not sure, but I remember reading that the DVD's were not enough space for MS either, which is why the launched HD-DVD soon after. This new media, either one, does allow for a lot of potential beyond what were seeing today, on all platforms including PC.

Regular DVD is the proven winner, but it does have limitations. New compression algorithms are making the space utilization better, but why compress when you don't need to. I saw a few movies on my friends HD-DVD player and it was pretty cool too see ZERO pixelation, and PQ that blew anything we can get via OTA, satellite, or cable.

 

[VIPERS-PIT]

The problem with bigger HDD and Blue-ray is that it lets the programmers write sloppy code! the more room you give a programmer the more he is going to use, If you make a 100 gig DVD they will write a 100 gig game with tons of sloppy code that slows the games load times down. If you limit the space you force them to write better code.

I am glad Microsoft offered the 360 with the option of no HDD. Why is that a issue but Sony offering 2 different size HDDs not an issue?

I have no issue with an add on HD-DVD player. With all the issues of blu-ray, I see it going the way of most of Sony's other new technology, down the toilet. The fight over blu-ray vs DH-DVD is BAD for the consumer. It will push the average person off up to 2 years from buying a new machine.

 

[Wildeye]

From day one my concern has been the durablity of the format. Using a weaker/narrower laser is seems to be good in theroy but how will is stand up in practice. Dvds are fragile compared to cds. I think scratches and dust are going to be a major issue with them. Is the blue laser going to bring back the caddy days?

 

[T2k]

Guys...

1. a DVD can hold up to 8.5 gig per side.
2. there's no game on Earth that wouldn't fit there nor will be for long-long years.
3. filling up disc space with garbage is not part of the game.

Trust me, this reasoning is a usual BS from Sony to shovel down BD and its high price on your throat.

 

[Purogamer]

1) You ever see a video game that was double-sided? Nope...I think the biggest xbox1 game was probably rallisport challenge 2, somewhere around 7gb. Gorgeous game, huge tracks...PS2 games that were in the 6gb range were around 3gb on xbox...The exact same game, using almost half the space. Anyone who doesn't think that's absurd is way too into sony. All it meant was the ps2 version took longer to load, and looked like trash.
2) I don't know, as games get bigger and bigger, I could see a game needing more than 1 full DVD's space. Final Fantasy would probably be the first culprit...
3) Actually it is, it gives us those lovely "Now Loading" Screens we love so much...

 

[Wildeye]

Realy its bs. More data on one disc, who cares. If games start to become that massive just use multi disc setup.

 

[houselog442]

Microsoft is ALWAYS in damage control mode! They always have rip everybody's new inovations off and claim it as thier own and then try to sell it cheap, with no quality at all and tons of flaws! Do they make anything thats good? Windows is complete JUNK! Thier new Vista system is XP with them ripping off features from Mac OS X, but will still retain all the bugs and flaws that makes microsoft... microsoft, only now they want to charge you money to fix you computer of all the flaws they put into it! If they make Windows like that, why the hell would I go near any xbox system, or believe anything they say?

 

[Purogamer]

Biased much?

 

[Tom_P]

Hmmm I consider the Xbox platforms far superior to Sony PS. I have a PS2 too, so I can compare. Besides Sony Co. has always been like this. Dlp vs 3Lcd, VHS vs Beta. And I do accept that Betamax was a better format, but as stated the consumer is the one who paid the cost of a non supported format. By dad did over 20 years ago.

The only product that I support at this point of time is the Minidisc, I was planning to buy tha Ps3 too but I prefer to spend that money on two 512 PCie Nvidia Video Card for my Athlon X2.
We can spend a whole day discussing how bad the quality of the Sony products is, but we go off topic..
As many of you stated the consumer should have the option, because if I bught a system for my Kid, do you think that I'll be calm thinking that he playing with a 600-$700 console is his 20" tv?

 

[T2k]

Microsoft is ALWAYS in damage control mode! They always have rip everybody's new inovations off and claim it as thier own and then try to sell it cheap, with no quality at all and tons of flaws! Do they make anything thats good? Windows is complete JUNK! Thier new Vista system is XP with them ripping off features from Mac OS X, but will still retain all the bugs and flaws that makes microsoft... microsoft, only now they want to charge you money to fix you computer of all the flaws they put into it! If they make Windows like that, why the hell would I go near any xbox system, or believe anything they say?

Jesus in heaven, a 'true believer' Macalot...
FYI: I just sold my dual G5 (finally! yippy! ) and I can tell you OS X was a useless PoS bugfest until Panther - which came years after XP, let alone Win2k etc. After I bought Tier, I was screwed for MONTHS until Apple worked out all the bugs. Stupid, stupid me that I ever trusted a compeny which prefers outlook over performance or technical engineering.

Besides Apple is notorious to take something existing and present it as their "invention" - see all those idiotic urban legends about Apple's assumed 'firsts' in CDROM, Firewire, ethernet, graphical interface etc... HINT: all false.

 

[Purogamer]

What does hating windows have to do with xbox anyways? It's got a special version of windows in it, you don't get BSOD's and it doesn't delete drivers or anything. Xboxes are actually very stable in terms of their software. If it didn't say microsoft on the box when you buy it, you'd never know it was running windows...

 

[BobMurdoch]

The shocker may be that after a spike in the first few months when the PS3 is released, the pS2 may overcome the ps3 in the spring next year. With The PS2 likely to cost $100 and the PS3 to be many times that, most of their customers may have to sit out the first year or two. We've hit the point where the unit may just be too expensive for its' audience.....