Sony-Microsoft competition rages on; Sony hopes to hit a homerun, will launch Home next month
Microsoft and Sony are still going head to head in the consoles race. Each continue to churn out services and products that aim to outdo the other. Sony, though, is confident that they will hit a homerun soon over Microsoft, especially since the debut of Home is drawing very near.
The battle for console supremacy rages on. Microsoft and Sony still are at it, going head to head with each other, from game exclusives to console interface, and things just get more heated at the Tokyo Game Show 2008.
Microsoft has revealed their update to their interface, the “New Xbox Experience”, where gamers will have the capability to create their animated avatars as well as get new community features. Not surprisingly, this is in direct competition with Sony’s much-talked about PlayStation Home.
Even their launch dates are no coincidence, so it seems. Microsoft has pegged a launch date of November 19 for the NXE, while Sony, through its US President, Jack Tretton, has also confirmed that Home will be debuting in the same month. No exact date was given, however.
Delving further into the groundbreaking experience that users will have with Home, Tretton says:
It is a jaw-dropping experience. You become a part of a living community with an avatar you can customise and your own 3D apartment, it’s a world unlike everything you’ve ever seen. I think it will be another part of our ecosystem, adding social networking and a connective tissue to the experience.
Tretton also expressed confidence with Sony’s standing in the ongoing console wars:
Gamers are coming back to us, we are selling a higher percentage of games such as Madden NFL (09 Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PSP, Wii, and DS) for and Grand Theft Auto (Xbox 360, PS3), because people are choosing the PS3 [over the Xbox]. Sales are up over 100 per cent and we are tracking well ahead of what we expected. We are having success in multiple markets and, coming up to the second anniversary of the PS3, we are right where we want to be.
Actually, I’d have to say I’m glad such healthy competition exists between these two giants. After all, by aiming to be the best, it is we the consumers who benefit the most from it with good products and services.
Via FT.com