David McLean, chief of Australia,s Xbox division, has stated that Sony,s delayed launch of the PS3 outside of Japan and the U.S. was not surprising to anyone at Microsoft. His comments, made to GameSpot, were given shortly after the news broke about the shortfall of PS3 units to Japan, Europe and the U.S. In respects to the Australian PS3 launch date, McLean said, “[The delayed launch] doesn’t surprise me–and it further wouldn’t surprise me if this product wasn’t seen in March next year either."
McLean further elaborated that the only surprise about the Sony delays were how others took the news. "We have always been comfortable with our strategy for Christmas irrespective of Sony. We are completely unsurprised by this situation. We have actually been a little surprised at how surprised other people have been."
Business analysts have predicted that that the void left by a smaller yield of available PS3s for sale will translate into additional sales for Microsoft and Nintendo. McLean hinted that the Big M is gearing up for the holiday shopping season with some strategies to induce consumers to go with the Xbox 360, although specific details were scant. He said, "We may well look at working with our retail partners to come up with some opportunities to give gamers more choice. It would have been nice for people to really contrast what the Xbox 360 had to offer versus Sony this Christmas, so the vaporware aspect could go away."
McLean then shifted gears and spoke about Microsoft,s other competitor, Nintendo, and gave some rather positive remarks about the Wii. "I actually think the Wii is very innovative. I think it will have an interesting niche market for that controller. I do think that it will lend itself to some new experiences around gameplay–but I also do think that in terms of true power, next-generation content and true digital lifestyle scenarios, the game is still with Xbox 360."
Ironically, less than a year ago, industry pundits were predicting a two horse race for the next gen game console trophy-namely the PS3 and the Xbox 360, with no mention of Nintendo,s offering. In an odd turn of events, these same observers are now doubting whether Sony,s PS3 will be able to pull even with the Xbox 360 and Wii. As unpredictable as the past year has been–and with a few months to go before the PS3 and Wii launches–it’s a safe bet to say that anything can happen between now and then.
