Sony welcomes Xbox 360 to 'Elite' HD experience
As word spreads that tomorrow Microsoft will apparently confirm that Xbox 360 Elite is currently being manufactured in a plant somewhere in China, Sony PR sent around a welcome message, attributed to SVP of Marketing Peter Dille:
"We think every PlayStation 3 owner should have an 'elite' experience, which is why we include an internal hard drive and HDMI output in every PS3 we sell, along with the 50 GB of storage capacity on a high definition Blu-ray disc. Sony has been the strongest advocate of high definition as the future of next-generation gaming. This requires high-definition components, including HDMI output, and large storage devices to deliver and store all that rich and vivid HD content. Microsoft's announcement today [er, "tomorrow"] not only legitimizes Sony's PS3 strategy, it moves us closer to adopting universal standards in the area of high definition gaming that will benefit game developers and ultimately the end user."
Clearly Dille and Sony are eager to seize this opportunity to play the leader. Sixteen months after launch -- 12 months ahead of PS3 -- Microsoft is suddenly playing catch-up. And, as Sony points out, even the 'Elite' efforts don't necessarily match up well against PS3; certainly for consumers also interested in high-definition video (on disc). Are the facts enough to sway consumers over to Sony's side -- or does PR also need to FedEx the beer and deploy the boats to win this console war?
