Following Xbox’s disastrous outing at E3, Microsoft has dragged itself into a dark corner to lick its wounds and evaluate its strategy. It seems that everyone else in the games industry thinks this is great, not least president of Sony Computer Entertainment Ken Kutaragi.
"Microsoft was finished before it even got started. They have no games," Mr Kutaragi said in an interview with the Financial Times. "Microsoft has put itself out of the game. Retailers in the US are already disappointed." All that’s missing from this is Kutaragi adding a satisfied chuckle…
He also points at the fact that it will be pitching itself against the GameCube which will be two thirds the price and the PlayStation 2 which will undoubtedly see a price cut before the two new consoles enter the market.
He also points to the growing level of scepticism regarding the Xbox amongst high level games industry executives in Japan.
Kutaragi then accused Microsoft's of being "disappointing": it lacking good software. He also said that the hardware was unimpressive. "Microsoft does not understand the entertainment business," he said. "The processing speed of their console is not fast enough and the graphics were rough."
Perhaps missing the point somewhat with the processing speed comment, Kutaragi makes a solid point. The games on display in LA earlier this month did look rough, when compared to the PlayStation 2 and GameCube titles on the floor.
"Retailers told me that on a dollar base,” Kutaragi went on. “They expect 70 per cent of their sales will come from PlayStation. The remaining 30 per cent will come from Nintendo and Xbox but almost all of that will be from Nintendo. The next game platform belongs to Sony and Nintendo,"
This is a fairly damning testament from the SCE chief. No one expected Sony to talk about how fantastic the Xbox is but usually Japanese game executives are polite and subtle with their criticisms. These statements from Kutaragi are a complete write-off of any hopes Microsoft have and are aimed at seriously damaging the machine’s credibility.
Only time will tell but as things stand things are starting to look pretty bleak for Microsoft’s new baby.
"Microsoft was finished before it even got started. They have no games," Mr Kutaragi said in an interview with the Financial Times. "Microsoft has put itself out of the game. Retailers in the US are already disappointed." All that’s missing from this is Kutaragi adding a satisfied chuckle…
He also points at the fact that it will be pitching itself against the GameCube which will be two thirds the price and the PlayStation 2 which will undoubtedly see a price cut before the two new consoles enter the market.
He also points to the growing level of scepticism regarding the Xbox amongst high level games industry executives in Japan.
Kutaragi then accused Microsoft's of being "disappointing": it lacking good software. He also said that the hardware was unimpressive. "Microsoft does not understand the entertainment business," he said. "The processing speed of their console is not fast enough and the graphics were rough."
Perhaps missing the point somewhat with the processing speed comment, Kutaragi makes a solid point. The games on display in LA earlier this month did look rough, when compared to the PlayStation 2 and GameCube titles on the floor.
"Retailers told me that on a dollar base,” Kutaragi went on. “They expect 70 per cent of their sales will come from PlayStation. The remaining 30 per cent will come from Nintendo and Xbox but almost all of that will be from Nintendo. The next game platform belongs to Sony and Nintendo,"
This is a fairly damning testament from the SCE chief. No one expected Sony to talk about how fantastic the Xbox is but usually Japanese game executives are polite and subtle with their criticisms. These statements from Kutaragi are a complete write-off of any hopes Microsoft have and are aimed at seriously damaging the machine’s credibility.
Only time will tell but as things stand things are starting to look pretty bleak for Microsoft’s new baby.
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