Karraker to Microsoft: “XBLVM a disservice”

When the Xbox Live Video Marketplace was announced the other day, it sure did shake everyone’s foundations. A lot of people were wowed, and a lot of the feedback was positive. Over on the blue corner though (ding-ding-ding!), Sony Computer Entertainment America PR chief David Karraker had something rather sour to say.

He had criticized Microsoft as, in a sense, alienating their lower-end customers (those with the US $ 299 system) with: “I think they are doing a disservice to their consumer base because they are ignoring all those people who bought the Core system.” In this Core system, there isn’t any HD attachment that could support the massive downloads that they’re offering. He also mentioned that given a 20GB capacity in the system, 7GB of this is already taken up with pre-loaded content. Strange thing though is that he didn’t point out the fact that 4GB of this 7GB can be deleted.

Anyways, he defends his statement by saying that the PS3 will have the hard drives built-in in the US $ 499 and US $ 599 units. “We would never segregate or shut out any of our consumers from our entertainment experience because they didn’t buy the top of the line system,” he continues. Their units will be available in two models: a 20GB and a 60 (we knew that). But how much of that is pre-loaded content (OS, shells, firmwares, etc.), he did not say.

Do we smell another flame war coming? [looks at smoke detectors]

When the Xbox Live Video Marketplace was announced the other day, it sure did shake everyone’s foundations. A lot of people were wowed, and a lot of the feedback was positive. Over on the blue corner though (ding-ding-ding!), Sony Computer Entertainment America PR chief David Karraker had something rather sour to say.

He had criticized Microsoft as, in a sense, alienating their lower-end customers (those with the US $ 299 system) with: “I think they are doing a disservice to their consumer base because they are ignoring all those people who bought the Core system.” In this Core system, there isn’t any HD attachment that could support the massive downloads that they’re offering. He also mentioned that given a 20GB capacity in the system, 7GB of this is already taken up with pre-loaded content. Strange thing though is that he didn’t point out the fact that 4GB of this 7GB can be deleted.

Anyways, he defends his statement by saying that the PS3 will have the hard drives built-in in the US $ 499 and US $ 599 units. “We would never segregate or shut out any of our consumers from our entertainment experience because they didn’t buy the top of the line system,” he continues. Their units will be available in two models: a 20GB and a 60 (we knew that). But how much of that is pre-loaded content (OS, shells, firmwares, etc.), he did not say.

Do we smell another flame war coming? [looks at smoke detectors]