Microsoft's Greenberg Says Sony Fails on Promises

Microsoft's Aaron Greenbeg, Director of Product Management for the Xbox 360 and Live, spoke today on promises made by Sony that they've failed to keep. Read his "speech" below.

"I know a lot of folks enjoy watching the console wars and we would never underestimate our competition. But answer to your question specifically, didn't Sony promise all of this last year including Home as well? We have been fighting Sony's promises from the day we entered the market and if you remember at that time it was all about PS2 being an online cybercity with partner announcements from the likes of RealNetworks and AOL. Then three years ago at E3 they showed what PS3 games would supposedly look like with the Killzone 2 video, that we are now learning will ship four years later. That means that we will have shipped Gears of War and Gears of War 2 before they can even get Killzone out the door," he said. "Think back to GDC 2007 when Sony promised to leap ahead in online with the Sony Home unveil. Here we are two years later and multiple delays for a product that appears to have little to no buzz. Where are the achievements? The friends list integration across all games? Where is the long-promised video store? Where are all the other products using and networking with their CELL chip? How come Blu-ray did not result in better games? What happened with Sixaxis and rumble? Where is the complete 1080p game library we were promised? If Blu-ray as they said would be such a catalyst to PS3 console sales, then why have PS3 sales over the past couple months not seen any lift since the format victory?"

The regular PlayStation 3 owner will probably agree with the statements of Greenberg. He makes a valid point, as we still have not received our in-game XMB, Home, or any of the other stuff he mentioned. Games continue to come with required installation even though Blu-Ray is available. Can Sony turn this all around?

[Exclusive Destructoid interview: Microsoft's Aaron Greenberg on GTA IV]

Microsoft Slams PlayStation 3 Grand Theft Auto IV 5-Minute Install Time

A new e-mail from the Microsoft PR group has slammed the PlayStation 3 version of Grand Theft Auto IV for the five-minute install time.

With the OXM review hitting streets today, and your own preview impressions which are looking great, hopefully you’ll all be a bit wiser as to the ins and outs of Grand Theft Auto IV now.

I’m sure you’ve all seen the chatter from the 1UP GTA IV Preview on the PS3 install time….just a few thoughts on what you could do in this time if you were actually playing the 360 version from the moment you insert the disc….

· Steal your first dozen or so cars and test out the improved vehicle handling?

· Check out the cool features on your mobile phone?

· Rack up a 5 Star Wanted Rating?

· Have a blast of your first MP game on Xbox LIVE?

· Ditch the tracksuit chic and buy some new clothes?

· Unlock your first GTA IV Achievement and boost your Gamerscore?

….Or just start downloading a film from Xbox LIVE Video Store to watch later – check out the latest batch of arrivals this weekend!

You know, as much as I'd hate to admit, I agree with Microsoft on this one. You could be doing all these things in them five minutes. Only thing is, I don't mind the install time, I mind the space token up on my hard-drive. It must suck for 40GB owners.

[Microsoft slams GTA IV PS3 install time in PR mail]

Microsoft Fine With Master Chief on PlayStation 3's Unreal Tournament III

Buisness Week spoke with Microsoft in regards to the new Master Cheif character modification for Unreal Tournament III for the PlayStation 3. Microsoft attorney Don McGowan had this to say about the situation.

"Actually it's nothing more than the Game Content Usage Rules...in action. When these were developed, people all thought they were focused on machinima. The truth is that while they do address machinima they also allow for a lot of other things. Mods like this are one of them."

He continues on, getting more personal.

The developers aren't selling the mod, they're not monetizing Microsoft's IP, they're just creating something to share their love of the Master Chief on a new platform...And no one is taking characters from PlayStation games (do they even have any games?) and putting them on our platform...

"Oh no he didn't!". Come on Sony, lets here a good comeback for the guys at Microsoft. Perhaps nobody is taking characters from PlayStation games and putting it on the Xbox 360 because they don't allow community modifications.

[Microsoft Fine WIth User-Generated Master Chief on PS3]

PLAYSTATION 3 Outsells Xbox 360, Almost Ties Wii In January 2008

Well, the first month of 2008 is already proving to be "Sony's 2008" as the PLAYSTATION 3 beat the Xbox 360 in sales, and almost matched the Nintendo Wii. The sales list below.

- NintendoWii: 274K
- PLAYSTATION 3: 269K
- PS2: 264K
- Nintendo DS Lite: 251K
- Xbox 360: 230K
- PSP: 230K

Jack Tretton had a little something to say about the great sales the PLAYSTATION 3 is experiencing.

"Coming off a great holiday sales season we see strong momentum behind PS3 in 2008, and feel confident about the year ahead. We have an exceptionally diverse lineup of exclusive games, from Gran Turismo 5 Prologue, Metal Gear Solid 4 and Resistance 2 to more mainstream games such as LittleBigPlanet and SingStar. Beyond that, we have Blu-ray emerging as the de facto high def standard, the developer community is hitting their stride, consumers are recognizing the tremendous value and innovative services such as PlayStation Home are all in the works, so this is definitely shaping up to be a breakthrough year for us." - Jack Tretton, CEO, Sony Computer Entertainment America

[NPD: PS3 nearly matches Wii, outsells 360 in January]

2007: PLAYSTATION 3 Sells 8.83 Million Consoles, Xbox 360 Sells 7.3 Million

Sony Computer Entertainment released the Q3 figures today displaying the sales of 4.90 million PLAYSTATION 3 units sold worldwide (in the third quarter of 2007). Adding that to the rest of the consoles sold in 2007 makes 8.83 million units, taken straight from Sony's numbers.

The PLAYSTATION 3 is starting to rise off it's feet as it did receive negative press in 2007. So you'd think the Xbox 360 would sell more that year, no? Wrong. The Xbox 360 sold 7.3 million last year, with the PLAYSTATION 3 beating it by 1.5 million units.

[2007 - Sony PS3 sells 8.83 million, XBOX 360 sells 7.3 million]

PLAYSTATION 3 Overtakes Sales of Xbox 360 Since Launch

For all those that said the PLAYSTATION 3 was going to fail, lets do a comparison. The PLAYSTATION 3 has done better from it's launch in a year and two months then the Xbox 360 did from it's launch and a year and two months.

The Wii currently over takes them all, sadly. The PLAYSTATION 3 is generally approaching nine million units sold.

[Via Ruliweb]

PLAYSTATION 3 Outsells 360 For Week Ending December 29, 2007

The weekly sales for the consoles have just came in via VGChartz. Finally, the PLAYSTATION 3 outsells the Xbox 360. Yes, the PLAYSTATION 3 sold 448,491 units while the Xbox 360 sold 337,322 units.

Then of course, the Wii topped them both by selling 962,683. Guess we can't all be winners.

[Via VGChartz]

The New York Times Doesn't Know It's Console Facts

Today's technology section in the New York times mentions video game consoles. Those consoles include the PLAYSTATION 3, Xbox 360, and Nintendo Wii.

The article clearly describes the Wii as it is, but makes some major mistakes on the PLAYSTATION 3 and Xbox 360. Here is the excerpt.

“Those who have spent the day trading carbon credits have another opportunity to save the planet, this time from aliens in Halo 3, the third edition of the Xbox 360 game. The PlayStation 3 game Gran Turismo 5, a hyper-realistic, high-speed journey, is one of the best sellers for that Sony console, which starts at $299. Microsoft’s Xbox starts at $280. Both are built around the multicore Cell processor, which allows numerous tasks to be done simultaneously.”

Now, can you tell me where the errors are? No, well, take a look at the "answer key" below.

1. Gran Turismo 5 is not “one of the best sellers” for the PLAYSTATION 3, considering it's not even out yet.

2. The PLAYSTATION 3 does not cost $299. Nope, lowest price is actually $399.

3. Both the Xbox 360 and the PS3 aren't “built around the multicore Cell processor.” Thats only the PLAYSTATION 3 buddy.

[Via Nex-Gen.Biz]

Image Comparison: Gran Turismo 5 Prologue vs. Forza Motorsport 2

The recently released demo on the Japanese PLAYSTATION Network for Gran Turismo 5 Prologue has caused a lot of buzz. So, member treyeumph from the GameSpot forums did a little comparison on the demo for Gran Turismo 5 Prologue and Forza Motorsport 2.

The comparison images were taken with the same TV, same camera, same settings, same track, same color car, same positioning on track, same room lighting. Gran Turismo is on the left, Forza is on the right. Which looks better? You tell us.

[View: Comparison Images]

EGM: Microsoft is Paying off PlayStation 3 Titles?

The scan above is from the latest Electronic Gaming Monthly. According to this, Microsoft payed 2K Games a load of cash for them to keep BioShock off of the PlayStation 3 console.

If this is true, thats a real low.

[Via GameRevolver]