Microsoft, feeling confident, if not a little belligerent about the success of their Xbox 360, decided to kick a little more sand into the executive faces at Sony by harping on the slated PS3 online service-an obvious copying tactic, according to Microsoft. Nintendo, who also plans to launch an online service of its own, was not included in the bashing.
According to a recent interview given to Eurogamer TV, Chris Lewis, head of 360 marketing in Europe, said of Sony,s planned service, "I’m flattered that they’ve followed our clear direction. Plagiarism is a good thing – that in itself isn’t such a problem, it’s what the market wants. But we’ve known that’s what the market wanted all along.”
Lewis continued to twist the embedded knife a little bit more by saying, “It’s good to see them catching up in that regard. I think the service is still hazy in my view in terms of how it’s really going to work for the consumer – how the pricing is going to work still to me seems very unclear."
Lewis than expanded upon the differences between Sony,s offering and Microsoft,s very successful Xbox Live online service by saying, "They talk about the online component – the analogy used was the air conditioning unit in a car. From our point of view, right from version one, online gaming was built right into the heart of the first Xbox. For us it was the engine; it wasn’t some peripheral component people may or may not want to use. It was right at the heart of the proposition then and now."
Lewis then stated, “I think we can be very confident that our service continues to develop. It’s a fully connected, seamless environment – we’re in a fantastic position there already."
All the blustering talk from Microsoft may be hints of a slightly worried Microsoft. Sony has already stated that its PS3 online service will be free of charge to customers. If this turns out to be a reality, it will definitely put Microsoft on the defensive in rethinking its pricing structure for Xbox Live.
