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 March 23rd 2007 1:43PM
X360 Core price: $299
PS3 "Core" price: $499
I do not need WiFi since I have ethernet in the house, also not needed for movies - $0 for X360, $0 for PS3.
I need a HD DVD add on for X360 - $199 for X360, $0 (not available for PS3).
I need a remote - $0 for X360 (included in HD DVD box), $24.99 for PS3
I need HD cables - $39.99 for X360, $19.99/$59.99 for PS3 (you have to use sony cables, or else you void your warranty)
$538 - $544/$584
So that comes out to $5 to $46 cheaper for the X360 setup to watch HD DVD. Rather than blindly following what Sony tells you, try to add it up. So I get a cheaper (OK, $5 is not a big deal, but it is not vastly more expensive like you or Sony marketing would have you believe) system, with games that I enjoy that are out today, and it is not Blu Ray.
Next week is the GF's B-Day, and she really wants a BD player so that she can watch Big Fish - one of her favorite movies. I would like to see Bond in HD. Other than that, there are no BD movies available or announced that are also not available on HD DVD that I want. I may still have to buy one for her, but I am not happy about it.
I should run Sony's folding program? It is winter/spring, so I guess, yes I could. But I am not going to be running that space heater 24hours a day in the summer, wasting electric to run the machine and also air conditioner to cool it off. Besides, I buy game consoles to play games, perhaps Sony developers should spend their time, you know, creating games. Give me an incentive to buy a game machine.
You know the video game industry is big when MICROSOFT has a "man" they can stick it to.
How immature of Microsoft, unlike Apple's appropriate marketing campaign :).
Why?
HEY, here's a cool new combo-move I learned!
Press A to release Gears of War,
Tap B to launch good marketing campaign,
Press trigger to tag teammate Master Chief,
Pull back on the analog stick, and watch Sony get pwned.
Reply to JP:
You forgot to press and hold Y to take away exclusive franchises from Sony.
I don't know..track history? Windows? Red Ring of death? Any of these ring a bell? Microsoft is NOT known for quality.
"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.
"
360 with all this ugly attachment will come close to PS3 , but ... will be like 20% more expesive. Simple math. PS3 priced more than basic 360 for the same reason BMW cost more the ford focus.
MS just so how quickly Sony humiliated HD DVD. They didn’t expect those war will be over just in 3 mounts. And all this Paris events…. Well it funny. But you know what will be even funnier? If instead of offer free 46 LCD in London, just offer free exchange for new PS3 for old 360 for every single person on that boat if they manage to bring xbox in a next 2 hours. I will pay for it to see how 99% from them jumping out the boat instantly to made it in time….
Instead use “xbox love you” they just have to type “join 3 light club”
Sorry for my English guys. (I didn’t own not 360 non PS3, yet)
I think all of this marketing by microsoft is great, gets peoples attention and were all talking about it so it cant be bad. Im neither a sony lover or hater but all the talk about the ps3 being absolutly amazing just doesnt make sense to me. At the moment for the price, the console is just not worth it in any way - No decent games and an onlne service thats far behind xbox live.
I worked for 3 years at Microsoft in Redmond, and I can tell you I've never been around a group of smarter, yet more socially and emotionally retarded group of people. You've got all of these brilliant engineers that have no clue how to actually relate to people, I would rarely get them to even look at me when talking. Then you have the manager types, who don't get hired unless they finished college at 12 which results in someone who has never had an actual relationship, because they skipped that learning step at childhood. And don't forget the snobby designers, who don't want to talk to you if you're not beautiful, or at least wearing several hundred dollars worth of trendy clothes.
I've left burning buildings in less of a hurry.
Keep your sorry life story to yourself...
Then there was that time I bought my first computer, a Packard Bell with Windows 95. Man, what a piece of crap that thing was. I got it when I first started working for a really great company (not Microsoft, yet) that was all Mac and it was *H*E*A*V*E*N* I got the PC because I thought it was a "bargain," but within a year, it was full of viruses that were actually deleting my files. During one of the many attempts to reformat the hard drive, the thing mercifully died. Of course, it was no more windows for me. The very first Mac I bought after that, a beige G3, was fantastic! That's when I started getting tons of freelance work on top the regular job. It doesn't take long to get the hard projects done when your computer isn't crashing and deleting your files. That beige G3 is still in the basement, playing music over the network with iTunes. The next computer I bought, which I used along with the beige G3 tower was the first Firewire Powerbook. That thing was smokin! All the mac heads at work were sooooo jealous at the time. I thought I would use it just on the side at work for meetings and stuff and to take on road trips (oh I've got stories about road trips, that will be in the next installment) It turned out it was so easy to just get work done wherever I was, that I hardly used my tower any more! That little laptop was my workhorse for over 3 years! All through the Ti books, that thing kept me satisfied. It still works, too, and I *still* take it on roadtrips because it *still* works great for web surfing, email and a photo dump from the camera cards. (How's that for a bargain) Then there were the two G4 cubes, they still work like a charm and serve as music player/servers in the house. And the newer G5 tower and G5 iMac are the tits! (Don't get me started on tits and microsoft, another story of gross human depravity on display) I took that stupid job at TinyFlaccid because I needed the money and will try anything once. Those guys at my previous company, SEVERAL ex softies, had warned me that I wouldn't like it because they knew me and everything. Well, those guys were so right and will never doubt their word again. Within a year I was miserable, but the money was good. (I guess they're right when they say money will make you do some damn foolish things) Then in the second year at billyWorld, I shifted to another group because the product they were working on seemed so exciting, and, like I said before, there are some really gifted and smart people there, and what they had created was so fantastic... But then, like in any situation where people lack skills in communication and relationship building, the thing was mired down in confusion and indecision. That was only when they weren't playing the musical-offices game... you know, where someone leaves (frequent at the soft) and then everybody has to shift up one in the percieved heirarchy of which window is better than the other. After that thing literally dragging it's ass on the carpet for two years, with no outlook of finishing, I had had enough and within two weeks of deciding, "screw this noise" I was in little Miss Management's office telling her where to stick it. The brilliant thing was this was right in the middle of them trying to get a presentation together for none other than the BILLionare Him$elf, and the important part, you know, the part where the stuff moves around on screen, was my responsibility. Of course I would have never met the man or been given any credit, that's not how managers "move up" at the Source-Of-Clippy-That-Shall-Not-Be-Named. Now I'm working on some of the fastest consumer machines on the market and I am in bliss.
This is not cool coming from Microsoft, they're just as bad their fans trying to bully others to buy a 360... I've lost my respect to the 360.
Red ring of death, ive had it once, turned my xbox off and on and it was fixed. Out of all the people who have xbox 360's (millions compared to ps3's tens) the percentage is very small for xbox failures. And I dont know what exactly is wrong with windows? I use windows, I have no problems at all so I dont know what your point was. If by any chance your point was the usual anti-windows remark to do with crashing, viruses or spyware then dont bother replying with it because its more of a compliment to the windows operating system that people actually bother to make viruses and spyware for it, that being because people actually use it. Also ive never crashed. Buy a better processor or something instead of wasting you cash on a multi purpose grill.
If you read french, try this post on Microsoft hit
on PSP press release :
http://www.lavienumerique.com/SONY-et-MICROSOFT-joue-a-Cours-apres-moi-que-je-t-attrape-_a1419.html
And you forget the hard drive...
Why do I need a hard drive to watch movies?
That's why I said track history. Windows has a history of bugs. Not even to mention they stop support WAY too early on Windows. How long is it before Microsoft bullies XP users instead of bringing DX10 to XP like they should? How long before they force you to upgrade by shutting off your license code and disallowing you to patch? That's the track history I'm talking about. I never mentioned spyware/virus, but if you consider it an honor to have, I guess that's your world.
For your information, I have hardware, a Core2Duo E6600, 4G of RAM and 1.6 TB of RAID5 storage on an Areca Hardware XOR SATA controller that cost damn near $300. I'm not afraid to spend a little money to get a quality product. So far I've had and used a 360 and a PS3. To me the PS3 is built better. There's no denying it, at all.
All this Sony hate is retarded IMHO. For the longest time I could have cared less about Sony. I had a PS2 and it was my only Sony device up until my PS3 (which made 2 devices). I've been extremely happy with both products and never had a problem with either. And PS3 owners number in the millions as well. Nice try on a spin punk. If you look at the track record form 360 release till March, you'll notice that the PS3 is selling more units (with competition).
Unfortunately, I have had problems with every Microsoft product I've owned (From my Intellimouse Explorer and Windows 95/98/ME [damn that was crap]/2000 [where's the love? It's the same Kernel as XP, and all apps run on it still as long as you bypass the MSI installer flag that says XP only]... but no...I was forced to by XP, and now I'm waiting on the force buy of Vista.) I would gladly switch over to Ubuntu or BSD if I had the choice, but unfortunately Microsoft has bought their way into the gaming industry because that's the last thing keeping most people on Windows (and they know it), and now I'll be forced to keep a copy of Windows around for when I feel like unwinding. That's where my PS3 or Wii come in. As the games come out for the PS3, it gets better and better. No complaints here.
As you can see here, Microsoft is so desperate to win over people that it resorts to childish pranks. I'm glad you bought into it and are happy to support the monopoly and their stranglehold. I fortunately am not. Now that they decided to get into the Console business to try to sneak their way into the living room, I just can't stand it anymore. Stick to one thing MS. You don't see a Sony Operating system (besides XMB, but that's Linux anyway). You don't see Sony C++#.NET or any of that crap. Stick to your own industry and stop trying to take over the others with your bottomless bank account fueled by the monopoly in the computer industry.
Microsoft must be stopped. Sony is one of few that could knock them down a few notches. That is all I am going to say.
It's called business.
Andir3.0
When you say that PS3 is selling more units than XBOX 360 right now (with competition), you are discounting the fact that the XBOX already has almost 10M units already in homes and thus has 10M fewer potential customers than Sony has with the PS3.
All in all, comparing sales now isn't really valid. With consoles, it's all about who gets to 10M first. In every generation, the console to get to 10M installations the fastest has won the war. Microsoft is already there, and Sony isn't even close.
to cs32
You miss my point. Its not about what you NEED. Its about what they offer.
Core 360 +
HDDVD $$$ (dead before burn)
WiFi $$
Wireless Controller $$
Hard Drive $$$ (20 gig ???, MS have short E-penis on this one)
No HDMI (sorry , even $$ can’t do it for you yet)
XBL $$ (just online shop BTW, not even close to Sony Home)
$600-700 ???
And all this.. just to much out of the box PS3 ? You kiiding me…
And for my computer, they offer scanners, fax, printers, HD DVD, Blu-Ray, DVD, DVD +-RW, DVD+-DL, CD, CD burners, mice (wired, RF, bluetooth), keyboards (wired, RF, bluetooth), video cards from PCI to PCIe (including the NVidia 8800), video capture cards (NTSC, ATSC, QAM), thumb print readers, card readers (SD, CF, and 10x other formats), monitors or every conceivable resolution and size, etc. etc. etc. It does not mean I want nor need every config possible. I can buy what I want and need.
If I want to buy the bare minimum to playback HD DVD, to play games, etc. the prices are lower for the X360. If I need wireless, I can buy the wireless component for extra or I can plug in one of the wireless bridges that I already own. If I want a HD DVD drive, I can buy one. My brother just bought a X360, he has a 27" SD TV. What does he need a Blu-Ray player, HD cables, etc for? If you buy every available option, does it cost more?
X360: $399
HD DVD player: $199
HD Cables: $39
Wireless: $99
-------------
$737
PS3: $599
Remote: $24.99
HD Cables: $20/$59
------------------
$644/$683
Yes, X360 Gold is extra, but from what I have used of the current PSH, it is not worth the "free" cost of it. The stuff that sony ***promised*** (we know what sony has promised in the past, Toy Story real time rendering on the PS2, 4D in the PS3, and so on) does not excite me.
If I want a library of 100s games that I want, I go with the 360. If there are no movies on Blu-Ray that I want (like I said, there are 2 that interest me today that is not available on HD DVD), I go with the 360. If I want an option of paying just what I want for options that I need, then I go with the 360. If I want a small library of games with limited backward compatibility that does not interest me, if I want a BD player with a library of movies that do not interest me, if I want options that I do not need, then I choose the PS3.
The thing that makes me laugh about this whole thing is that when XBOX 1 was released, I remember the PS group talking down the XBOX because it had a HDD built-in. "Why would you want to pay for something that was not needed or necessary", they would say. "Why would you want to pay for an ethernet built-in", they would say. These were things that were standard with XBOX 1, but optional for PS2. Now that they are available in the PS3 standard, the PS fans are criticizing the X360 for not including them. MS gave those people who yelled about them being built-in a choice, but now they are condemned for it. But I do not expect you to be consistent in your arguments.
XD! You have to love Microsoft for acting like college students. Makes 'em look like less of an adult oriented company. I wish I was an MS employee.
You miss my point. Its not about what you NEED. Its about what they offer.
Core 360 +
HDDVD $$$ (dead before burn)
WiFi $$
Wireless Controller $$
Hard Drive $$$ (20 gig ???, MS have short E-penis on this one)
No HDMI (sorry , even $$ can’t do it for you yet)
XBL $$ (just online shop BTW, not even close to Sony Home)
$650-750 ??? (And you stil have ugly looking noisy box:)
And all this.. just to much out of the box PS3 ? You kiiding me…
Yes it's funny. I won't be buying either console due to lameness shown by both companies. Petty and childish.
"When you say that PS3 is selling more units than XBOX 360 right now (with competition), you are discounting the fact that the XBOX already has almost 10M units already in homes and thus has 10M fewer potential customers than Sony has with the PS3."
Yes. Good point. But last time I checked, the Xbox was designed to fight against the PS2. So there really isn't any point in mentioning the Xbox.
This is the saddist thing I've ever heard a corporate company do. Sounds like desperation to me. Microsoft know Sony has better hardware, more power, better software, better games and soon to be a better online experience . Gears is already old and over hyped and only has a few games left I'm looking forward to. I think 360 sales will dramatically slow down soon all over the world and not even Halo will save them.When I got the 360, I didn't have anyone interested to see it, not even my friends were bothered. I got my PS3 yesterday and upon setting it up I had my friends round to see it and I didn't invite them. I had my family wanting to see it and my uncle coming down. My uncle said he didn't like games and Motorstorm was his first ever go on a video game. He loved the motion steering and I suggested the Wii as a good starter pack for him.
HAHAHAHA~
that's the funniest shit I've ever heard. your uncle came down to see you play Motorstorm? what next? your neighbors kill each other for the last seat to see you playing Resistance?
that's the funniest shit I've ever heard. your uncle came down to see you play Motorstorm?
He didn't know I had Motorstorm, he wouldn't have come round just to see a game, he wanted to know what I spent £425 on. He did have fun but he said it wasn't worth that much as he thinks video games are waste of time.
It was like Mouriniho turning up at a Manchester United event and trying to covert the fans to support Chelsea, never gonna happen. As some may of guessed I am a red.Everyone wanted to see my PS3 the same way they would have done if I'd just bought a Ferarri. Not everyone is gonna rush out to buy the PS3 after seeing it as it is a glamorous expensive item, just as they wouldn't rush out to buy a Ferarri, doesn't mean they don't want one. When the price is earlier on the pocket for people that's when everyone will buy one. An old school mate of mine f traded in his 360 for one.
You shouldn't compare a PS3 to a Ferrari. Video game consoles are NOT a destination in themselves-- it's about the games. And Sony is not delivering enough good-- and exclusive!-- games in 2007.
Another one bites the dust...
http://www.gamedailyxl.com/2007/03/19/devil-may-cry-more-like-sony-will-cry/
I can compare the PS3 with a Ferarri. Ferarri got beat by Renault in Formual One last season, so would you say a Renault is a better car? Renault are basiaclly crap road cars.
So I wasn't comparing the games witha Ferarri as games are opinionated, the hardware is not.
"Despite a good and clean launch night"
Sony and Fnac made a special shop under the Eiffel Towel for the event, with something like a thousand PS3 for sale. Only a hundred people was there and 20 playstations were bought...
You can see the video there. It's very funny to see that Sony's tactic to sell only the 80 Go version for 600 euros leads to a lamentable failure.
What is not said in this article, is that MS has lost the bucks they put in this childish but amusing trick... There was at most a few hundred people at sony's event. On the 1000 PS3 that where reserved for that day, less than 50 were bought, and not to say that at "la FNAC des Champs Elysée" (consider FNAC to be the french equivalent of BestBuy), there was an huge queue to buy PS3s... that is if you think that 10 people are a huge queue....
Wow, so many of the Microsoft fanatics here. I agree with some of the posts up here where they talk about Microsoft's venomous business practices.
If they're willing to spend the money to crash a competitor's launch event, what makes you think they won't, or don't already, go on the internet and have their PR department or lackies attempt to take over internet forums and blogs with comments blasting the competition and praising themselves.
Everyone should think about that for a moment and take a lot of these comments with a grain of salt.
ha, wow.
1st off.....I feel as if it should be some respect in this business. You don't crash other people events. This isn't E3 so MS had no reason to be there. I feel as if it may have been a frantic attempt to stay relevant in the console talks. With the Wii garnering respect in it's venue and with PS3 not reaching it's peak yet....MS is nervous.
An apple commercial is one this...it's Mac vs MS with a playful spar that really gives shine to what MS is doing too...so it's a ad for MS anytime apple does that commercial.
But this tact that MS did at a launch is just juvenile and although i don't care for any one system more than the other....I think MS has just been downgraded in my eyes to last