UK Xbox chief Neil Thompson has reacted to the news of Sony,s European PS3 launch delay. In a not-so-unexpected comment, Thompson remarked to GamesIndustry that, "We know how challenging it is to pull off a global launch, so it’s not surprising that Sony has backed away from their previously announced launch plan, due to the unproven technology they are trying to pack in to their console."
In light of the apparent slight to the European community in making the US the number one priority for PS3 shipments, Thompson said of Microsoft,s intentions, "Europe remains a priority for us. That is why gamers have been able to experience Xbox 360 from day one, and why we’re confident we’re going to have a great Christmas-regardless of what competitors are or are not in the market. [The 360 offers] a growing and innovating online gaming service, fantastic entertainment capabilities, optional HD-DVD capability and a great value price. These factors will help us reach our goal of 10 million consoles sold worldwide by the end of the year."
Microsoft is the first of the two big next gen machine competitors to officially state that Sony,s woes will positively impact sales of their own machine. Industry watchers and Wall Street analysts are already foreseeing a shift in market share to Nintendo,s Wii and Microsoft,s Xbox 360 as a result of Sony,s announcement that they will be unable to meet their production goal of 700,000 units for the US.
