Next-Gen Interview: Microsoft's Console War

Xbox 360 group product manager Aaron Greenberg gives Next-Gen an in-depth view on the console war from Microsoft's vantage point, getting a few digs against PS3 in the process.

Next-Gen: That's quite a claim to say that the battle for the core user is over. PlayStation 3 has got LittleBigPlanet, Gran Turismo 5 and Metal Gear Solid 4 coming. Do you really feel it's safe to say that you guys have won the core?

Aaron Greenberg: Yeah. I think the type of audience that they are going after with many of those games, frankly, are Xbox 360 owners...They're trying to go after a consumer that has already bought an Xbox 360, and frankly has a much broader lineup with more titles and more exclusives. You could say that they showed up with too little, too late.

[FLOPbox 360]

hahahaha I love it. Xbox 360 is going to lose.

[BrownPowerzz]

laugh till your last bubble explodes, sucker! :P

360 FTW!!

@Shadow Man: funny how you get disagrees when you have a foot in both camps.. do I smell some fanboys here?!

[Shadow Man]

If they "lose" so what?? They gave me games I can't get on ps3. I love my 360! Xbox fan first blu-ray fan second.

[Odion]

lol so many ballys comment in that, this is going to turn into a huge fanboy war lol

[Breakfast]

We all know everything he said in that interview was and is true.

"You could say that they showed up with too little, too late."

Dont worry...they're fine with waiting beyond

"We expect we'll end the year with a two- to three-times larger installed base than the PS3."

Probably the truest statement ever. Give up now PS3. The Xbox is gonna beat you by 5thousand consoles a month. Which in the end, will increase the install base by "two- to three-times"

[Sanhlami]

Yep, this is just a ticking time bomb waiting to explode in 3D funtastic flame war.

[Genesis5]

I still don't understand the strategy of not revealing what your line up is. They have more surprises later in the year. You might want to inform the consumer before they buy another system based on their line up.

I think that this game of hide and seek is not a really sound approach to marketing and it shows in sales.

[JVIDICAN]

microsoft must be kidding themselves...
2 to 3 times larger than ps3's maybe if it had no games this year but thats not the case the ps3 has the games and much more for 2008
there getting themselves all riled up for whats going to end up being a big let down

[Ko_Uraki]

They claim to have at least a couple of great exclusives, but the 2009 line-up is almost empty...
Nevertheless they still have to show a lot of announced games: Alan Wake, Banjo, Halo Wars etc.
Wake Up MS! =)

[PimpHandHappy]

i dont know but isnt this guy full of himself

anyway

If i cared about sales i could say

well lets just see what MGS GT5 and Socom will do for the system. Thats not even counting in FF or KZ. I could list out all these games that ppl know have rabid fans that still are not out yet. I guess they dont want to talk about global install base because then it might be hard to sound so c0cky.

If you 360 backers really need that year head start to make yourselfs feel like you won something then go ahead, jump for joy. At the end of the year the PS3 will have sold more units in NA! Again! Count on it!

[PimpHandHappy]

isnt this a 360 article?

i know times are dry over there but still this dude has nothing to do with the PS3....

atleast put it in all

come on TNS

your a full timer and should have seen this

[hotshot127]

thier strategy is basically, throw money here and make things cheaper. they really dont understand that most of the games that are big this year all target the same audience.........HARDCORE GAMERS.

and did they say they have the core audience? thier are over 125 million gamers out there( who have a ps2 by the way) and they think that there 18 million in which a good amount are broken are ALL the core gamers? microsoft has a long way to go and alot of things to learn and with the attitude that they have, thier going to lose.

one thing i'll give microsoft is that their a very agressive company but nothing more then that. throw out money and get exclusives and advertise the hell out of it is thier strategy..............

but they need more then that to win this console war

[pricklypete]

i can tell a subtle hint of GTA IV 360 DLC in there.

The funny thing is you never heard the sum Sony had to pay for the exclusive bundling.

I'm sure when MS got new of the bundles they had a fit.

MS: ZOMG we can bundle 3rd party games with our system!? OMG! why didn't we think of that!?

Sony knows when to use the money... on research and long planning.

It's general marketing: Nintendo does it and so does Sony.

The head start MS obviously had a crippling effect on Sony. If Sony was by itself. The console would be crappier. if MS didn't exist sony would prolly be in the dark ages without online play, and maybe not even have a hard drive.

[pricklypete]

the lies regarding a 360 shortage.

If you looked at every major company like Circut city, future shop, best buy, EBgames, Gamestop. They never said out of stock online stock.

I never have seen an empty cage where 360's should be.

I'm actually starting to believe that the amount of 360's stated in existence aren't even real.

I bet that there is so much positive talk from MS because they are avoiding the US's major problems .. like you know that little Sub-Prime problem?

[demonrock]

360 stands no chance against PS3 at all. Just because the system showed up a year later doesn't matter because the console has more power and is capable of better graphics by far. This year and next year will push the PS3 console beyond and show people why it is the better choice. Even if Microsoft decides to come out with a newer system, all Sony has to do is do the same thing with 100% backwards compatibility and it will still come out on top. Microsoft rushed things and even though it had that year to gain more and more of an audience, it still in the end will lose. Look at what their doing to PC Gamers. They take the only OS that actually works well with games and now are forcing people over to Vista which I like don't get me wrong, but when it comes to gaming, it sucks.

I like both systems, but when it comes down to it, I go with the console that has gamers in mind. Yeah you might pay alot for the system, but its worth paying for something thats good. In the end I wish they could just get along and be able to play nice together. But, then again. When does Microsoft ever play nice.

[pricklypete]

cough cough... EU antitrust millions of $ in fines?

[juuken]

More lies from Microsoft.
Why am I not surprised?
Do they actually think that they're going to beat Sony? The only way for them to beat Sony is if they do some more bribing for exclusive games, brainwash more talented developers for their system because it's easy to work on, and brainwash consumers even further.
I do have to admit that Sony needs to get the big guns out and now. They need to get out Home and in-game before people have heartattacks over it. They also need more downloadable content for PSN as well.

[jmare]

This guy is funny. He is awfully c0cky for being number two. Aside from the ridiculous prediction that the 360 will have a 2 or 3 to 1 ratio over the PS3, this guy is just spouting what you would expect any dumbass from any of these companies to say. Come on, does he really think that the PS3 is going to stay at 12 million all year? there is no way that the 360 is going to sell 18 million units of the backs of GTA4 and GeOW2. It's not going to happen; and only the most delusional fanboy would think so. Especially with MGS4, GT5P, R2, LBP, etc. Some of those games won't do well, just like some of the games the 360 fanboys will respond with won't do well. However, there will be a huge spike in PS3 sales in June. It is guaranteed. Just like it is guaranteed that GeOW2 will move 360s. So, conservatively, worldwide, I figure Sony can reach 20 million PS3s worldwide. There is no way the 360 will be at 40 or 60 million by the end of the year.

Edit: This is funny. I had to edit c0cky because it registered as c0ck. Fvcking N4G.

[disgaea]

I love how these are getting more specific the more time it passes, first they where the worldwide leaders, then the American leaders, then the nextgen leaders and now the core gamer leaders.

[Genuine]

As far the is ps3 goes, the 360 is currently all of those things. I agree with him regarding the Wii audience, they haven't exactly graduated to the big leagues yet.

[Genuine]

Wow, more Sony trolls in this story than 360 fans. Odion, Breakfast, and Ko_Uraki are the only people not on my ignore list. Sony fanboys are like the crabs, they are unwanted and are always biting your nuts.

[Genuine]

Thanks trolls for proving my point with your disagree's.

[Meus Renaissance]

Interesting interview, I disagreed with him on the Core audience in the US. He thinks that Microsoft have already won that group - I see no evidence to suggest that. Whereas Nintendo are sucking that market up like a tornado, Sony still has a few cards left to play with franchise titles that could potentially rekindle the memory's of the PlayStation 2 for some, to upgrade to the PS3.

[Defectiv3_Detectiv3]

If you look at the respective launch years for each console, PS3 sold more Hardware in its launch year.

"The XBOX is now cheaper than the Wii in Europe" - that isn't operating at a loss!!! You have the cheapest console and you still can't outsell anyone in Europe, and In Japan XBOX sells less than 1/4 of the PS3's that get sold.

Whatever games they are planning to surprise w/ at E3 they wont be coming out this year. Game Dev. costs millions of dollars and when a studio starts spending money ppl take notice. M$ has nothing to gain by holding their cards close to their chest this late in the game.

Lets be honest, the tactic they're using would be the same one a desperate company in their position would have to use.

[Sanhlami]

This is a load of bluff. Xbox 360 had squeezed all its hardcore juice out with 2007 and Halo 3. Gears of War 2 is the only thing left and it won't be hyped so much since Resitance 2, Little Big Planet, & Killzone 2 are gang banging Gears2 in the same quarter period. Xbox was only alive because of Halo & Halo 2 and Xbox 360 is only alive because of Halo 3 and now that its over, it will quickly run out of juice.
I don't know this huge line up for Xbox 360 that this guy is talking about, does it even exist? I know PS3 line up is existant for sure.

[Genuine]

The 360's line up is solid. NG2, Gears 2, Fable 2, Halo Wars, Alan Wake, Banjo Threeie. Personally, I favor the 360's line up over the ps3.

[CaliGamer]

Do you really favor the 360's lineup over the PS3's Genuine? I wouldn't know since you are such a balanced and fair person. LOL.

It's funny you are all over this story defending the 360, it's almost like you don't believe anything this guy is saying either...... Hmmmm.

[Genuine]

Lol, if you and the other Sony trolls in this story did the mature thing and stay in news that pertains the ps3. Then someone could have an actual intelligent debate on the subject at hand. Instead time is spent wading through comments by people who are completely ignorant to a console, and have no desire to learn. You aswell as 80% of the other people in this comments section, are here for one reason, to be a loud mouthed douche, nothing more-nothing less.

http://www.n4g.com/up/4903/...
Before you start trying to make any excuses. Yeah, your a Sony troll.

[jkhan]

2-3 times the install base, oh come on, I am not a fanboy, both systems are equal to me as for now and I own both system. But seriously all I can see is that 360 lead over microsoft is going to decrease and nothing more. They release the system almost more than a year head start over Sony, and still they haven't sold twice the number of consoles as Sony. Secondly he claimed that the war for core gamer is over, I think thats the problem, the system is a fps/tps bundle nothing more. I was looking at my collection of 360 games and I noticed apart from Assassin's Creed and my racing games, all it has is fps/tps. Nothing else. While Sony has dozens of exclusive going to release this year, all with different flavors and different genre. I mean the core exclusives on 360 are at the end of the day is TPS. Most of all there is the problem that they don't have many system seller. We see at the end of the year, who sold more console.

[Mike134nl]

Of course Sony can go after the same core market as Microsoft, the difference in launch time and delay of titles like MGS allows the same core group who owns a xbox 360 to buy a PS3.
In particular the group of people who had or having problems with their xbox 360.
Microsoft is clearly shifting its focus, to the mass market, which is the best thing they could do since they already a large part of the core market
But they should still be considering that they can lose a large part of their core market to sony's Ps3.

[CaliGamer]

Aaron Porky Greenberg seems loves to praise his 360, and by the looks of him he also loves his assortment of salted meats, kudos to him for not caring about his health or his looks.