Despite a
good and clean launch night, with a moderate turnout -- at least in the UK -- and free TVs galore, Sony just can't manage a full 24 hours free of lame PR. Microsoft was on the scene to make sure a few Sony feathers were ruffled, ostensibly to "welcome" the PS3 to Europe, but somehow we're guessing Sony would've rather gone without the greeting. In the UK Microsoft handed out chairs to people waiting in line, with each chair pointing to a web address for an oh-so-clever "tooLate" message from Microsoft. In Paris, where Sony had a special barge docked to act as a makeshift launch store, Microsoft drove its own "XBOX 360 [hearts] YOU" barge up and down the river (see video after the break). There are also reports of Microsoft sending SMS messages to press members about the Xbox 360 wishing them a good night, and even Microsoft employees standing on rooftops blowing whistles to drown out Sony PR. And unfortunately, even the lack of violence couldn't last forever, with a woman in Wiltshire UK being mugged outside her home last night for her PS3, though she was able to fight off the attacker and hold on to her PS3, and the weak-sauce man and his accomplice were quickly arrested. Oh well Sony, you gave it the old college try. And Microsoft: you're pretty dang clever, but couldn't you try and resist the juvenile impulse now and then? Not everyone's laughing.
[Thanks, Oliver,
Mehdi M and Dan]
Read - Microsoft crashes Sony launch
Read - tooLate
Read - Microsoft barge, whistle blowing
Read - Woman mugged for PS3
posted Mar 23rd 2007 at 1:43PM
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Rohit Kapur @ Mar 23rd 2007 1:50PM
You guys think Bill Gates is making up for the fun he lost when he dropped out of college?
Seriously, with the way these companies go after each other, you begin to wonder whether one ever really outlives their teen/adolescence years.
andy @ Mar 23rd 2007 2:27PM
Rohit Kapur: "Seriously, with the way these companies go after each other, you begin to wonder whether one ever really outlives their teen/adolescence years."
At 30y/o and someone who dreams this stuff up, I can tell you that the answer is undoubtedly no with respect to every facet of your life. Seriously, you never grow out of being 18, you just get a little smarter along the way.
This (MS's advertising) is what's called good, old fashioned ribbing/fun. The world could do with a bit more of this harmless ribbing.
AI @ Mar 23rd 2007 1:51PM
Microsoft did this just to attract attention cos they know that in a few month's time PS3 is going to be the biggest thing ever in the console wars. Microsoft can't gather a large crowd so they use Sony! Cheap!
Manuel @ Mar 23rd 2007 2:17PM
I like how everything about the PS3 is always "in the future" or "soon" or "in the next update" .
Gears of wars anyone?
falcon2xp @ Mar 26th 2007 9:44AM
good job microsoft!
Arno @ Mar 23rd 2007 1:54PM
Good fun.
Joystiq reports that they were also handing out chairs for the people waiting in lines with the following URL printed on the back.
http://www.shkyw.org/
:)
ATW @ Mar 23rd 2007 2:01PM
that's so typical microsoft, begging the audience for attention with cheap-a$$ so-called strategy. zune, windows, xbox... could you for once not being so cheap and make some real products for us consumers.
mattstl77 @ Mar 23rd 2007 3:56PM
Wow... you think Sony never pulled this crap? I guess you wouldn't have none about it if you read this site. You guys are pretty much anti-Microsoft everything.
Really...this is all harmless and fun prodding done by one company towards another.
With or without Microsoft teasing Sony, people were still not going to line up for a sub par system for way too much money! I am sure that you can go into almost every single store that sells ps3s and see that they are heavily stocked. But the 360s continue to be bought a year and half after it's launch. Could it be that Microsoft launched a quality product for a decent price. Yeah... I think so.
Andir3.0 @ Mar 23rd 2007 5:18PM
"Could it be that Microsoft launched a quality product"
Hold a sec while I hold my stitches from busting open...
mattstl77 @ Mar 23rd 2007 10:36PM
And Sony did launch a quality product? Wow...I guess all of the people who didn't decide to buy a ps3 have no clue on a fantastic quality.
ph @ Mar 23rd 2007 5:00PM
"Microsoft did this just to attract attention cos they know that in a few month's time PS3 is going to be the biggest thing ever in the console wars. Microsoft can't gather a large crowd so they use Sony! Cheap!"
I live in europe, and no one cares for the PS3...they do not even know it is coming out. They are xbox 360 fans the whole way. Unlike the xbox, which did terrible next to the PS2, the 360 is dominating. No one, especially in europe where the govt taxes the people who CAN afford it so much that they cant afford it anymore, is going to go for a PS3 over a superior xbox 360 console that costs 200 euro cheaper.
Geoff Gibson @ Mar 23rd 2007 2:01PM
"Not everyone's laughing."
I was. In fact that is probably the best media blitz microsoft has ever done. It was hilarious. Don't get my wrong, I don't have any particular love for Microsoft, but come on. Give credit where credit is due. Microsoft stole more than a few headlines from Sony last night. Good times.
MearWolf @ Mar 23rd 2007 2:04PM
ha ha trying to outdo each other with barges
JoshLowry @ Mar 23rd 2007 2:06PM
Luckily they weren't arrested like Microsoft's guerrila marketer in Austin who was putting up Zune posters all over the place. XD
- Josh
Where's your head at? - http://www.StateOfBrain.com
dan @ Mar 23rd 2007 2:08PM
>> And Microsoft: you're pretty dang clever, but couldn't you try and resist the juvenile impulse now and then? Not everyone's laughing.
Seriously? I completely disagree, I'm loving this! Too often, corporate competition is negative press leaking, meaningless marketing buzz and eventual legal battles. I much prefer this form of corporate competition, a good clean fun that includes witty jabs and even childish antics. Two excellent products with cult followings, going up against each other, challenging each other to a competition of quality, blowing rasberries at each other using barges and whistles.
These consoles are designed for fun, so might as well have fun selling/buying them, right? As long as no one ends up mugged or jailed, let the heckling begin!
Sam @ Mar 23rd 2007 2:15PM
I'm laughing. Its funny.
john @ Mar 23rd 2007 2:25PM
"juvenile impulse"...like Apple's "PC vs Mac" TV ads.
Vilppi @ Mar 23rd 2007 5:22PM
What I love about Microsoft products is that they're always released only when fully completed and never have to be updated or fixed because they're perfect and lovely and clever and stuff. Pot, kettle, see you next tuesday.
Ryan @ Mar 23rd 2007 2:20PM
"Microsoft did this just to attract attention cos they know that in a few month's time PS3 is going to be the biggest thing ever in the console wars. Microsoft can't gather a large crowd so they use Sony! Cheap!"
I've got to make a couple smart ass comments here. For one the PS3 will not be the biggest thing in the console wars, that will be the Wii. In fact I am fairly sure the 360 may take 2nd place this gen with Sony in 3rd. Ok, so that wasn't really smart assed.
This one is, you said MS couldn't get a large crowd and stole Sony's? Did Sony actually have a large crowd anywhere? /zing
"that's so typical microsoft, begging the audience for attention with cheap-a$$ so-called strategy. zune, windows, xbox... could you for once not being so cheap and make some real products for us consumers."
Wait so you're saying the Xbox, Windows, and Zune are not real products? Funny since most consomers with a computer run a Windows operating system. I recently bought a Zune and think it's a fairly nice MP3 player. And currently the Xbox 360 is the best value for a game console all around.
I will eventually buy a PS3, but mainly for Blu Ray over games. I think some die hard fan boys just need to have an open mind and realize that just because it says Sony, MS, or Nintendo does not make it the be all end all of gaming consoles.
Mike on a Bike @ Mar 23rd 2007 3:58PM
HA HA HA OMFG a barge and chairs and whatnot the console war has finally gotten hilarious and cool enough of the fanboys bring on the insane marketing tactics!
Jesse @ Mar 23rd 2007 4:10PM
I thought is was funny:)
JackSim @ Mar 23rd 2007 9:04PM
Blog post (in French) with better pics of the Xbox boat:
http://www.journaldugamer.com/index.php?2007/03/23/4926-lancement-de-la-ps3-en-france-chroniques-d-un-fiasco
willrs @ Mar 23rd 2007 2:33PM
lol owned.
skagen @ Mar 23rd 2007 2:36PM
Kind of funny that most people here cry about apple being immature with their ads for making fun of the almighty MS while when shoe is on the other foot, it's hilarious and awesome!!!111!11
Kamokazi @ Mar 23rd 2007 3:02PM
@skagen
I don't have any problem with Apple's maturity and find the commercials rather amusing. What I do have a problem with is their accuracy. Naturally as mareting, they should make the Mac look favorable, but some of those commercials are overly deceptive and underhanded (Namely the Cancel/Allow Vista one...with Macs you'd have to type in a password as often as you'd have to click allow for Vista). I would assume that is the primary 'beef' most people have with the PC vs mac commercials...not maturity but accuracy and truthfulness.
Iridium @ Mar 23rd 2007 11:29PM
Seriously, people wonder why a lot of people hate Microsoft. Also why the XBOX really only appeals to the same sort of crowd that finds this type of thing funny, the adolescent hardcore gamer. The same people that love to laugh over a headset when they pull off a headshot and then make another snarky comment. Those that when they die believe that the other person must be hacking to stop their inherent greatness. Microsoft can keep this market, there aren't enough of them to make the 360 a success on the level of the PS2. Not even the original Xbox.
It really is in poor taste and shows that Microsoft knows that they need to try every dirty underhanded trick in the book to try to win people over. Microsoft runs things like a dirty political campaign which turns a lot of people off. A lot of the gamers that Microsoft sells to are the people that casual gamers will try to avoid like the plague.
Stunts like this and that ridiculous website reinforce Microsoft’s bully image and will help Sony's PR. What this screams is: Is this the kind of company you really want to support, are these the kind of gamers you really want to play against, those that would ruin your fun to pump up their own image. Nobody other than the hardcore is even going to care about this entire ordeal and those people have already picked their side.
Tim @ Mar 24th 2007 10:48AM
I love it when people portray Microsoft as some giant evil corporation, while acting like Sony is some tiny "mom-and-pop" business struggling to stay afloat.
Poor Sony, getting picked on by Microsoft.
jimhuf @ Mar 23rd 2007 2:40PM
"that's so typical microsoft, begging the audience for attention with cheap-a$$ so-called strategy. zune, windows, xbox... could you for once not being so cheap and make some real products for us consumers."
What a stupid thing to say, climb back under your rock. you need microsoft more than they need you.
OddManOut @ Mar 23rd 2007 4:42PM
"she was able to fight off the attacker and hold on to her PS3, and the weak-sauce man and his accomplice were quickly arrested"
"Weak-sauce" is the (compound/hyphenated) word. 2, count'em, TWO guys could not successfully rob a WOMAN who presumably only had ONE arm with which to mount her resistance (the other arm ostensibly being occupied with carrying her PS3...though I suppose that in and of itself might indicate supernatural strength...). But I suppose if you don't have guts to get a job and earn the things you want as opposed to stealing them, there's already weakness apparent.
Good for her though...laying the smack down in, around, and for the gaming arena.
As for Microsoft's antics, all except the whistle blowing sounds okay to me. But in addition to chairs, free coffee/tea/sodas (festooned with MS ads and URLs of course) would have been good.
I mean that opportunity was there for Sony as well. The opportunity to show that Sony respects and takes care of it's customers. If they choose to let it lie fallow and unexploited, why shouldn't microsoft make use of it ?
Would have been nice if they had done it at their OWN launch though...
Andir3.0 @ Mar 23rd 2007 5:25PM
"Would have been nice if they had done it at their OWN launch though..."
That wouldn't fit the Microsoft standard practices. Release crap, tell everyone it's the best, and buy out or berate those that produce a better product.
LJKelley @ Mar 23rd 2007 2:48PM
I'm loving this 'new' face of Microsoft. Yes, its childish and outrageous but its a good laugh and doesn't harm anyone. It isn't negative, or an 'attack' like the false lies out of Sony.
I'm not anti-Sony, As I am writing this on a Vaio that cost a leg and an arm and I'm gonna go to my local Sony Store tomorrow to consider upgrading. But I do think they have done their fair share of negative lies against the 360, claiming the PS3 was so much more better when the only thing that is better is Blu-Ray.
Way to go Microsoft. You made my day!!
Paula @ Mar 23rd 2007 3:07PM
They should have busted out the PS3 grills and cooked up some steaks. ^_^
Chedabob @ Mar 23rd 2007 4:55PM
Somebody needs to harness the power of fanboy tears, cos god damn, they are flowing today!
Deezee @ Mar 23rd 2007 3:17PM
I think this is great. Everybody else makes fun of microsoft at will, so its good to see the xbox team fire back a little.
kingofwale @ Mar 23rd 2007 3:26PM
wait wait... Sony's showing goodwill by giving out free-tvs, and Microsoft's acting like the Apple ads??
What is this world coming to? :D
as much as it pains me to say it... Good launch by Sony in Europe, it's late, but they got it right finally. now.
Rick Lyon @ Mar 23rd 2007 4:57PM
Shouldn't the heart have a " 's " next to it to read 'Microsfot Xbox Loves You' instead of 'Microsfot Xbox Love You'?
Rick Lyon @ Mar 23rd 2007 3:38PM
Shouldn't the heart have a " 's " next to it to read 'Microsoft Xbox Loves You' instead of 'Microsoft Xbox Love You'?
Garry @ Mar 24th 2007 6:45PM
@Rick:
"Shouldn't the heart have a " 's " next to it to read 'Microsoft Xbox Loves You' instead of 'Microsoft Xbox Love You'?"
Technically, no. The barge was in Paris, so the ad was for French-speakers. In French, "I love" becomes "J'aime". "Microsoft loves" becomes "Microsoft aime". No "s" involved.
This is also why you see the T-shirts and buttons with "J'[heart] Paris" everywhere in Paris.
Rick Lyon @ Mar 25th 2007 8:57AM
Ah, so it's the translation to french then? I see.
chris @ Mar 23rd 2007 3:36PM
So apple's child like "switch ads" are ok, but microsoft starts getting playful with the 360 advertising vs the ps3 and you guys whine?
Stop being so idiotic, sony's really late to the game and so far has 0 to offer buyers, and with MGS and FF to be rumored now to be considering moving to the 360... its really 0 points on the ps3 side.
SomeOne @ Mar 23rd 2007 3:36PM
hahahaha
kynetx @ Mar 23rd 2007 6:55PM
I wish Sega had done something like this when the PS2 broke out.
This is good. A little creativity won't kill anyone maybe Sony will razz MS at some future point.
ssuk @ Mar 23rd 2007 3:49PM
Funniest game related stunt in a while now. I mean, sad to say, but Microsoft hit the nail on the head with what it's saying, Sony are late and I don't think they deserve a fair chance to do anything, since Sony haven't given Europe a fair chance on anything regarding the PS3 so far, so to hell with them, I support MS 100% on this, if you don't you're an American PS3 fanboy (not insane) or a EU PS3 fanboy (what the hell is wrong with you?)
Seventhexile @ Mar 23rd 2007 8:16PM
I wont be happy until 1 of 2 things happens..
Sony and Micro's barges play chicken..
or Micro and Sony build mechs and fight it out..
to the winner goes my allegiance
Sam @ Mar 23rd 2007 5:53PM
I'm sorry but blowing whistles from rooftops is WAY more juvenile than the Mac vs. PC ads. I'm not for either company but in this round MS wins the childishness hands down.
Martez @ Mar 23rd 2007 5:47PM
I lol'd.
Franck @ Jun 28th 2007 12:41AM
another pictures and video of the Xbox 360 boat :o)
http://www.giiks.com/?2007/03/23/516-lancement-de-la-playstation-3-en-france
KC @ Mar 23rd 2007 4:30PM
That's good marketing by MS to get some xbox attention. Nothing wrong with bumping up the competition by a couple of notches.
Jamie @ Mar 24th 2007 7:55AM
And the penis envy continues....
Matt B @ Mar 23rd 2007 4:38PM
It's funny that people still bring up the price whereas if you added the HD-DVD and wi-fi to bring the 360 up to par with what the PS3 does, you end up spending more.
And you still couldn't do folding@home during idle times.