Microsoft’s Entertainment and Devices president, Robbie Bach, has taken yet another shot at Sony, saying the once-monolithic electronics superpower is experiencing "strain," and "spread really thin" in the wake of the PS3 launch.
Bach told the San Jose Mercury News, "I need the people who are focused on gaming to focus on Xbox 360… you have to distract a whole group of people that are doing content and the Live service and a whole bunch of other things to do that. I think Sony, frankly, suffers a little bit from this problem, which is they’re spread really thin across all these areas. And trying to do PSP, competing with Nintendo, PSP to DS; competing with us, 360 to PS3… It would naturally strain any organization."
During the holiday shopping season, Bach believes that the Xbox 360 is positioned to sell extremely well against the PS3 for several reasons. "The number one thing happening in the holiday season is where is the content… The second thing is frankly our value proposition is just better. Our console is at $299 and $399. Sony is going to have a pretty limited supply of consoles at $499 and $599. Consumers want to buy during the holiday. We’re going to be a great logical choice for them."
Microsoft wants to take away the leadership crown away from Sony and hopes to nab 40% of the game console market. Bach detailed his strategy to win by asking some rhetorical questions. "There are a couple of things you have to look at. You do have to look at the content. Where’s the best content? Is it cross-platform? Where was it first developed? I think that does matter in the marketplace. The second thing you have to look at is economics. You have to ask the question, over the life cycle, who has the cost advantage? Who can price most effectively? Who can reach the price points quicker? That has a huge impact on what gets driven."
However, as it was a year ago, one game company is conspicuously absent from Microsoft’s banter regarding the next gen console races — Nintendo. While the Big M sees Sony as its main competitor, Nintendo’s Wii may not be disregarded so easily. With over 600,000 Wii consoles sold during the first days of its debut, Mario and Friends has shown that it is a viable contender for the leadership crown, as well.
