Harrison Not Worried About MS's Lead

And Microsoft's 10 million by year's end thing isn't going to happen either, or so says Sony.

By the time the PlayStation 3 launches in November, Microsoft's Xbox 360 will have been on sale for nearly a full year. Sales of the console are set to hit 5 million by June, says Microsoft, and they're expecting that figure to double to 10 million by the time the PlayStation 3 launches. But that doesn't concern Sony much.

"I doubt they will achieve that," Sony's Phil Harrison told the BBC this week. "I think the clear advantages of the PS3 will mean that this product is very well accepted in the marketplace."

While Microsoft has made huge strides in North America and Europe, its biggest challenge comes from Japan.

Sony has a stranglehold on the console market there and only faces competition from Nintendo's DS at the moment. The Xbox was a failure in Japan, selling only around half a million consoles during its lifetime and things aren't looking much better for the Xbox 360.

"We have a great brand and fantastically loyal consumers," said Harrison about the PlayStation.

Microsoft is clearly aware of the problem and it's working hard to change it. The company has signed on several of the top Japanese game creators to make exclusive games for the Xbox 360.

"Quite frankly," Microsoft's Peter Moore told the Washington Post, "if we're sitting here a year from now and things continue to fall flat, then we might say 'we don't know what to do anymore."'

Having said that, Microsoft is clearly satisfied with the position it's in right now. Gamers are a fickle crowd and Sony faces challenges of its own, especially considering the high price of the PlayStation 3.

"We have 100 percent market share of the next-generation, and their job is to take that from us," said Moore.

"When I think on everything that we've got going right now that is real versus what Sony promises to do six, seven months from now, obviously we feel very good about where we stand."

Alex Wollenschlaeger
Editor, Kikizo Games