Sony vs Microsoft: Ray Maguire and Neil Thompson square off on Eurogamer TV
Sony‘s Ray Maguire, and Microsoft‘s Neil Thompson were recently interviewed in the latest edition of the Eurogamer TV Show. Both executives of course, were quick to note the value involved with their respective product, and criticised (however slightly) the competition.
Microsoft’s Neil Thompson had a whole lot to fire in Sony’s direction. In response to Sony’s announcement of PlayStation Home and Maguire’s promise of user freedom, user generated content on the PlayStation Network, and why Sony’s claims being more of a “show not tell” type of company when it comes to their products and services, Thompson said:
We passionately believe that online gaming, and having an identity within the online gaming community, is what’s core to what you need to offer – a service that can transcend different titles where you can communicate with your gaming friends no matter what platform you’re on and what game you’re playing.
I don’t see how Sony can really deliver that, and they’re certainly not delivering that in a compelling way today. …I think what Sony’s talking about has compelling aspects to it, but I don’t think there’s anything there that… We’re going to be afraid of competing with, because we will certainly evolve our service as we move forward.
More after the jump!
Sony‘s Ray Maguire, and Microsoft‘s Neil Thompson were recently interviewed in the latest edition of the Eurogamer TV Show. Both executives of course, were quick to note the value involved with their respective product, and criticised (however slightly) the competition.
Microsoft’s Neil Thompson had a whole lot to fire in Sony’s direction. In response to Sony’s announcement of PlayStation Home and Maguire’s promise of user freedom, user generated content on the PlayStation Network, and why Sony’s claims being more of a “show not tell” type of company when it comes to their products and services, Thompson said:
We passionately believe that online gaming, and having an identity within the online gaming community, is what’s core to what you need to offer – a service that can transcend different titles where you can communicate with your gaming friends no matter what platform you’re on and what game you’re playing.
I don’t see how Sony can really deliver that, and they’re certainly not delivering that in a compelling way today. …I think what Sony’s talking about has compelling aspects to it, but I don’t think there’s anything there that… We’re going to be afraid of competing with, because we will certainly evolve our service as we move forward.
The debate then moves to the High-Def market (this means Blu-ray vs. HD-DVD), and then each exec goes on to defend their console’s version of an online community (the charged service Xbox Live or the free PlayStation Network). Nothing new we haven’t heard of really. Sony questions the fee to get into Xbox Live and also notes the seeming success of their Blu-ray format. Microsoft notes that three years down the line Blu-ray might not even matter since folks might move into high-definition downloads, and the add that their service and their online community is better than Sony’s at the moment.
When price point was talked about, Neil Thompson talked about how similar the PS3 is to their old Xbox: “It is frighteningly déjà vu with the boot on the other foot at the moment. They’re 18 months after us, they’re at a very high price point, a really big machine compared to ours, and all of the things that we were at the time.”
Maguire then defends the PS3, and slightly comments on the competitor’s technology by saying that instead of taking products from the shelf, putting them in a package, and then selling them to consumers, their approach is that Sony looks to the future and decide that this is what they can offer in terms of technology.
Each competitor’s final point? Neil Thompson said a lot:
People that are thinking about a PS3 or a Wii, I would just say, look at what you’re buying, and what do you want to buy? Do you want to buy a gaming machine that offers you the best high definition gaming, and online gaming, for the best possible price? …If those are the questions in your head, I really can’t see why anyone would choose anything but the Xbox 360.
Against all of that ammo, Sony’s Ray Maguire had few words to say. It seems he was going for the simple approach. He says:
Quite simply, if you want the best gaming experience, if you want the best output in terms of high definition, if you want the best connectivity, then you need look no further than a PlayStation 3. Simple as that.
To get a better idea of how the whole “match” went between the two execs, feel free to head tot he video via the link below. Just skip to 17:20 in the vid to get to the “meat” of the fight.
Via Eurogamer