Sony's Stringer reveals "obsession" over Xbox 360

Making it perfectly clear that even the mightiest CEOs sit up at night fretting over their competitors' products, his highness Sir Howard Stringer recently confessed to having an "obsession" with Microsoft's Xbox 360 after inadvertently mentioning the PS3-rival in an interview with the Wall Street Journal's Walt Mossberg. Stringer's admission followed what can only be described as a classic Freudian slip, in which he substituted the words "Xbox 360" for "X-Men III" when bragging about the success of Sony Pictures' The Da Vinci Code. After some prodding from Mossberg, Stringer even went on to pay Microsoft founder Bill Gates something of a backhanded compliment, admiring Gates' ability to put a positive spin on setbacks like the constantly-slipping Vista release date while still managing to take shots at the PS3 for its own delayed arrival. So, the obvious question that now presents itself is: who would win in a fight, Gates or Stringer? Comments are on and awaiting your thoughtful analysis.

[TCK @ Jun 8th 2006 6:04PM]

Bill Gates is rich enough to hire Mike Tyson to fight his battles for him.....me thinks that gives him the edge lol

[jef @ Jun 8th 2006 6:05PM]

dude, it's gotta be stringer. he's SIR Howard Stringer.. he's a freakin' KNIGHT!

[Aaron @ Jun 8th 2006 6:05PM]

I'm going with Stringer. If anyone has any questions why look at that video of Gates getting pied from several years ago. Also I think Stringer was knighted and I'd like to think he is the member of some elite force of rock and roll veterans and actors that kick ass.

[Sodikop @ Jun 8th 2006 6:08PM]

http://www.googlefight.com/index.php?lang=en_GB&word1=Bill+Gates&word2=Howard+Stringer

[Guruboy @ Jun 8th 2006 6:10PM]

Stringer all the way! Mike Tyson my rear end, Stringer could pull out his sword and cut Gates to pieces!

[Brendan @ Jun 8th 2006 6:25PM]

Stringer would snap Bill Gates in two!!

[Stephan @ Jun 8th 2006 6:26PM]

gates would have the upperhand.. that is until Jobs Teleports in with his new "iPortal" 'n layz waste. all the time he's groovin to "elevation" on the u2 30 giggidy.

[Dust @ Jun 8th 2006 6:31PM]

Sword? c'mon. Just because he's a knight doesn't mean he can fight. Hell they even made that bitch Elton John a knight.

[elliot @ Jun 8th 2006 6:34PM]

Bill Gates was knighted as well, so that has nothing to do with anything. However, he doesn't and can't use the Sir title because he is American, but he deserves to be knighted very well, do a google search to find out why.

[GDiddy @ Jun 8th 2006 6:46PM]

Hmmm...fanboy alert! C'mon, MaxSmoke...give it a rest. Nintendo has turned into a niche provider. It focused on its core group (i.e. 6-16 year olds) and completely missed out on the huge demand for more mature titles.

Instead of providing our generation (the original
Nintendo owners, who would otherwise be fiercly dedicated to the brand) with titles that appealed to our growing age, they continued to recycle old franchises until they nearly beat them to death.

Now they are using gimmicks and a price-cut to try an attract the millions of hardcore fans that they have lost. I truly hope the Wii controller is really as revolutionary as, say, the N64 controller was, but I am truly skeptical about how effective Nintendo is going to be in its implementation.

Nintendo may have started this war years ago, but they aren't even on the right battlefield anymore.

[tank @ Jun 8th 2006 6:46PM]

If I were Ref, I'd knock them both out.

[sh @ Jun 8th 2006 7:01PM]

Bill Gates hits like a girl, but Melinda would come break it up and kick Springer's @$$. And Ballmer would probably go all psycho on his knighted heiny, too. That would be the pay-per-view ticket-- Ballmer vs. some wrestling dude. And watch Ballmer dole out the whoop-ass. (^_^)

[Bill @ Jun 8th 2006 7:03PM]

Stringer. And I have proof:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=Sckba-EX5MM&search=g4tv

[Joe @ Jun 8th 2006 7:14PM]

Does it make anyone else angry that all of the links on Engadget stories are searches? If you put a link on XB360, I don't want to search your site. I want to see the official page, especially when you have followups on new product releases. Its a really low-down way of keeping viewers at your site.

[Matt @ Jun 8th 2006 7:47PM]

"Skinny guys fight till they're burger."
-Fight Club

[snowpuff @ Jun 8th 2006 7:50PM]

Stringer is like the James Bond of CEOs. He would knock out Gates without even getting his tuxedo rumpled, save the world and get the chick.

Gates would be in the bathroom trying to stop his nose from bleeding.

Winner: Stringer

[Mo-Thug @ Jun 8th 2006 8:11PM]

its just so funny that, people who seem to be complaining about ps3's price are so angry and shows that they cant afford it, sorry but only rich gamers can play rich games,

go buy your budget wii, its just so childish, that you can say shit to sony if your not even gonna buy a ps3, so why bash, them,,,, just go get ur wii when it comes out,, there is no point dissin sony and ps3, if you can afford it. dont play games, sheesh

and dont use ur wii, use ur brain,
iv preordered 2 ps3's so i can sell one off to make money back, so i get a ps3 for literaly free,

if xbox360 can sell for £1000, on ebay im sure ps3 can do the same effect

[TTX1 @ Jun 8th 2006 8:20PM]

I'm going with Stringer: He's far more likely to have Ninja backup. And until MS makes decent TVs, Stringer controls the point of delivery in the living room. Sony could implement an 'X-Chip' that would prohibit viewing Xbox content on Bravias, Wegas, Trinitrons, et. al. and put Bill on notice!

[Chris Clark @ Jun 8th 2006 8:38PM]

I'm with Stringer. Bill Gates has always seemed like a little weakling to me.


Stringer will spank Gates!

[Jed Merrill @ Jun 8th 2006 8:46PM]

Knight or not, Stringer would lose to Bill Gates. Corporate nerds are far more powerful than corporate pawns, and Stringer is nobody in my mind. How is he supposed to compete with the richest person in the world? You know Bill Gates probably has a private bat cave somewhere in Washington.

Seriously though, if this is about which gaming dictator is the greatest, it would have to be President Reggie Fils-Aime at Nintendo. Stringer is a suit, Bill is a nerd, but Reggie is the man.

As much fun as I am having with the 360, I am mostly looking forward to the Wii.

[Reg @ Jun 8th 2006 9:15PM]

Gates would go down as soon as anyone breathed on him, but then the 800 lb sweaty armpit gorilla called Ballmer would charge in and start ripping people's arms off.

But then Steve jobs would arrive and activate his Reality Distortion Field and everyone would shake hands and make up and start listening to iPods.

[Patrick @ Jun 8th 2006 9:51PM]

to MaxSMoke... the xbox 360 is 299$ that's not expensive and the games start at around 49$ you can buy used and rent games for a lot cheaper too. i personally don't spend 59.99 on a game that i don't plan on keeping after i beat. so i rent and by used.

[Porkchop Flavored Cupcake @ Jun 8th 2006 10:46PM]

gates would have the upperhand.. that is until Jobs Teleports in with his new "iPortal" 'n layz waste. all the time he's groovin to "elevation" on the u2 30 giggidy.

Posted at 6:26PM on Jun 8th 2006 by Stephan
==============================================
That is positively the best pre-fight analysis thus far. LMFAO

[Mat @ Jun 9th 2006 4:52AM]

Well the Wii will have good third part support, have you even seen Red Steel? That controller is true genius, and Ubisoft is doing great with it. Sure, the best titles that use the controller will be from Nintendo, but there are so many ways to use the controller I'm sure that the third parties will bust out some tight shit. Anyway, I think that both the Xbox 360 and PS3 are big machines to compete with, and both look badass. If you dont want to buy one, dont buy it. Dont bash them either, everyone has their own opinions. I wish people would just aprreciate gaming as a whole, not segregate it into companies and platforms.

[Ihar `Philips` Filipau @ Jun 9th 2006 6:07AM]

GDiddy, you miss the point. Wii is targeted at non-gamers. Compare number of gamers. And then compare number of non-gamers. non-gamers beat gamers any time.

And that's the target for Nintendo Wii. The goal they have stated is quite formidable: bring games to the people not used to games. I hope they will succed. In fact, I'm one of those non-gamers and their idea looks promising to me.

For hardcore gaming you would pick Xbox or PS. But as a normal person, you wouldn't see me cashing out even for Xbox + games: it's too pricy for something I have chance to use once a week. Too specialized. Too complicated. Game controllers (PS/Xbox ones) are no-go to people not familiar with computer or video gaming.

I can imaging golf contest at party powered by Wii. But I hardly see any similar possibility with Xbox or PS. And just for that I want to try Wii.

[GhostDoggy @ Jun 9th 2006 8:50AM]

Historically speaking, what has been the consequences of an incumbant releasing an updated console a year behind a competitor's updated console? How much can we dran in conclusion on this come 11/22/06?

[Kamalot @ Jun 9th 2006 10:02AM]

"Historically speaking, what has been the consequences of an incumbant releasing an updated console a year behind a competitor's updated console?"
Nintendo released the N64 a year after Sony released the PS1. It was much more powerful but too late, the world already had the PS1 bug. The exact same thing in reverse could easily happen this time.

[DrMojoRisn @ Jun 9th 2006 10:10AM]

Are you freaking kidding me?

GATES. No contest. Geeks fight dirty - kicking, scratching, hair-pulling - whatever it takes.

[Joel @ Jun 9th 2006 11:18AM]

Stringer. Most Def. Bigger, badder and ya know he just saw X Men III, so he's ready to kick some ass;)

[Christian @ Jun 9th 2006 12:58PM]

Are you freaking kidding me?

GATES. No contest. Geeks fight dirty - kicking, scratching, hair-pulling - whatever it takes.

Posted at 10:10AM on Jun 9th 2006 by DrMojoRisn
===========================================
I believe this is true! I'd actually like to see a celebrity death match for this one.

[Fede @ Jun 9th 2006 2:57PM]

It may be just me, but I have a bit of a problem with a guy donating a ton of $ for good causes, Africa, etc. and at the same time criticizing the OLPC project because it isn't good/sophisticated/M$ enough...
It's a doble-sided person IMHO.

On the other hand, Stringer is the kind of simple man that will admit to his freudian slips up front. It seems to me he could convince anyone with its charm and positive mentality...

Just my $.02

[Meat @ Jun 9th 2006 4:28PM]

I dont know stringer is a knight, but gates could buy himself some kind of robo fighthing suit. abd knights aren't nearly as wiry as the used to be.

[Trumad @ Jun 10th 2006 5:54AM]

Stringer would throw Bill Gates into the sun!

[royce @ Jun 10th 2006 9:38AM]

Sword fighting. No not that kind, the kind men with full erections engage in.
Now thats a celebrity video I would pay money to see.

[Hirsbrunner @ Jun 10th 2006 3:19PM]

Sword fighting. No not that kind, the kind men with full erections engage in.
Now thats a celebrity video I would pay money to see.

Posted at 9:38AM on Jun 10th 2006 by royce [ ! ]


Now THAT'S my idea of sword fighting! And also, you can fight w/a sheathed or Unsheathed sword. :-)

[Dave @ Jun 11th 2006 7:18PM]

I'm pretty sure the fight would be delayed indefinitely and it'd be declared a draw.

[rom-wii @ Jun 12th 2006 3:20AM]

#MaxSMoke "They do little more then make uninformed decisions and undermine their own corporations. The less interference these guys do, the better off their companies would be."
I would have to disagree. They have control over the projects in their company if only by having the ability to shut one down.

[Luke @ Jun 19th 2006 7:44AM]

GATES!! he would just crush Skinner with the weight of his wallet

[E71 @ Jul 1st 2006 3:43PM]

See Sony, that's what happens when you put a limey in charge. Hope you're happy.