Microsoft Takes Shots at Sony

Unsurprisingly catty remarks about Blu-ray amid the company's insistence that it doesn't care about Sony.

In just three weeks the PlayStation 3 is expected to have it's coming out party, at Sony's E3 briefing in early May. But that doesn't concern Microsoft, which is pushing along, getting as many Xbox 360s out as it can in the months before its main rival launches in November.

"It's interesting, but from our point of view we're focused on what we're doing," Microsoft's Chris Lewis told German paper Der Spiegel, talking about the PlayStation 3's release. "I don't really care when they launch. I'm confident that we're on a good journey."

"The rhythm we're dancing to is our own. The consumers are voting with their wallets. We have the next generation console; it's here now, in high definition, with great content. Let's wait and see what actually comes through."

Console production at Microsoft is on the up. The company recently brought on board a third manufacturer to boost the number of Xbox 360s it can make.

Taiwanese company Wistron said this week that it would "fully support" Xbox 360 production and is expecting to get a million systems out per month by the end of the year, according to a report at the Wall Street Journal via Next Generation. Microsoft also has two other firms making the Xbox 360.

The lines in the sand are already being drawn and the next-generation DVD format wars are an important part of it. Microsoft is backing the HD-DVD high-definition standard for movies - games will not move over to the new format - while Sony is equipping the PlayStation 3 with a Blu-ray drive, which will be used for movies and games. Hollywood studios are spread over the formats, which dredges up an older video format war.

"Blu-ray right now reminds us of another technology from Sony: Betamax," said Lewis. "A bit like VHS - we think that HD-DVD is the format that consumers, film studios and publishers will embrace."

There have been some concerns that because the Xbox 360 lacks an HDMI interface (for pure digital signal transfer to HD-ready televisions) it wouldn't be possible to export a true high-definition image, but Lewis told Der Spiegel that Microsoft's upcoming add-on HD-DVD drive "will meet all the requirements for consumers to enjoy high-definition DVD playback".

More important for Microsoft is Xbox Live, which is enjoying rapid adoption in its new incarnation. Half of all Xbox 360 owners have gone online, though Microsoft has never admitted how many of those are paying customers of its subscription-based Xbox Live Gold service, which allows playing games online. Only 10 per cent of Xbox owners signed up for Xbox Live.

It was recently revealed that Microsoft's Xbox Live Marketplace has seen more than 10 million downloads - many of them free.

"That's a faster level of download than iTunes had when it launched," said Lewis. "That shows how central online gaming is to Xbox and how enthusiastic people are about participating in that."

Alex Wollenschlaeger
Editor, Kikizo Games