Microsoft had one goal in mind for the European Playstation 3 launch ... be annoying. The Xbox marketing team did everything in their power to humiliate, taunt, and make fun of Sony's launch, all with a smile and a devilish whit. We mentioned France's love boat and the Foster's beer delivery, but there were a few more incidents we didn't acknowledge.
During the PS3 launch in France, the Xbox team sent out text messages to anyone who'd accept them wishing everyone great night.
More beer was delivered.
If you were a waiting in line for a PS3 in the UK, the Xbox team handed out chairs to sit on with a URL on the back. The website, toolate, taunts the PS3 by saying "Xbox welcomes PS3 to the next generation. Sony ... you're late! Let the games begin."
There were also reports that Microsoft employees were standing on nearby rooftops blowing whistles to drown out Sony's press conference talk.
Whether you find these acts hilarious, creative, immature, or evil there's no doubt Microsoft stirred up some negative PR for Sony's European launch. This is the time when we ask ... can't we all just get along?
With the Playstation 3's Europe launch underway Microsoft had to get creative with various ways to spoil Sony's launch fun. So, during the PS3 launch festivities in France, those who lined up to purchase a PS3 were surprised to see a message from the Xbox team. Microsoft hired a boat to cruise the river near the PS3 launch party with a banner on its side reading "Xbox 360 Loves You". You can see the commotion the boat created in the French video embedded after the break. Between this and the beer delivery we're not sure what has gotten into the Xbox 360 marketing team ... but we definitely like it. Remember gamers, the 360 will love you for who you are and not for how much you spend on it.
It's pretty common knowledge that the PS3 is a bit more expensive than a Xbox 360. In Europe the difference in price is around £146, something Microsoft really wanted to hit home with their latest generous offering. This afternoon, over at the CVG offices, they received a special delivery of £146 worth of Fosters beer, rolled in by beer couriers, and sent to them by none other than Microsoft. Perplexed by Microsoft's sudden generosity, they opened the attached note which read;
"What would you purchase for £146...? (The price difference between an Xbox 360 and a PlayStaion 3) Well, for a start we thought you might like £146 worth of beer to kick start your weekend early."
What a great point Microsoft, we would have never thought to purchase beer with all of the money we've saved. But why you didn't share the beer love with Fanboy Towers? We're still a little confused to exactly how much beer one could purchase with the savings in US currency, so we'd welcome the knowledge. Lucky CVG writers ... they get all the drunken fun on Microsoft's tab.
With this Tuesday's release of Armored Core 4 on both the Xbox 360 and PS3, GameTrailers decided to put together a visually informative graphics comparison video. After watching their comparison, one thing that is noticeably different between the 360 and PS3 versions is that the 360 version is much darker where as the PS3 version is more white washed. Sometimes the 360 version is way too dark, but sometimes the PS3 version looks like a snow storm ... it's a give and take. Though, we feel the two versions are nearly identical in some respect, we fully expect someone to pick apart each frame to see which version does better lighting, textures, and anti-aliasing. Watch the video above and tell us which version you think looks better. Don't worry, if you like the PS3 version better we won't ban you from our site ... yet.
GameDaily BIZ posted the just released February NPD sales numbers which show that Xbox 360 software is selling quite nicely. Overall, things are looking bright for video games as the industry is up 66% over last year with hardware and software sales on the rise. Crackdown led the month's sales moving 427K units, with other 360 titles like Gears of War and Lost Planet in the top ten. The Xbox 360 is also moving a fair amount of consoles beating out an under-performing PS3, 295K units to 228K 228K units to 127K.
It's great to see our little boy Crackdown succeed in February and four other Xbox 360 games place in the top ten. Though, we wonder, with the Nintendo Wii selling so well (485K 335K units) does Microsoft have to shift its focus away from Sony and watch Nintendo to protect its next gen lead? Only time will tell, but we're confident that our white box can fend for itself simply by the games that will be released for it in 2007. A full list of NPD's February sales rankings for hardware and software is after the break.
Update 1: Fixified the comparison numbers between the 360 and PS3 ... and the Wii. Math is hard.
Microsoft has been quite mum about what they think about Sony's announcement of the PS3 Home service. Does Microsoft think it's a ripoff of their achievement system or is it just Mii clone? Today, CVG is reporting that Microsoft's Chris Satchell finally broke the silence calling the Home service "not a very game-centric approach". He goes on to say that "it's a cool world but it's like a little game by itself. Our approach is the other way around; it's that games are the center and that's the star of the show, that's what people buy the console for". And as the service compares to the 360's achievement system, Satchell says that "they've definitely taken some concepts that we originated like achievements, but I think they're pushing in a different direction and we've sort of fundamentally got two different approaches going on here". So, Microsoft is playing it cool and tainting Sony's announcement by saying it isn't as integrated as the 360's system and it seems to be more of a stand alone game. What's your opinion of the PS3's Home service? Would you like to see this functionality built into the Xbox 360 or does it feel like an added game that's aimed more at the real-life sim fans?
Microsoft commented on preliminary January console sales stating that they sold 18% more 360s than last January. Reports are citing that 294,000 Xbox 360s were sold in January, where as last January 250,000 were sold. This of course could have been due to the lack of consoles in the marketplace last year, but who's to say? Also, Bloomberg is reporting that the Nintendo Wii sold 426,000 units and the Playstation 3 moved 244,000 in January. It's also interesting to note that the Xbox 360 had the highest drop off from December where it shipped over 1.3 million units.
It's good to see that the 360 is outselling the PS3 and isn't letting its disappointing Japanese performance hinder its chances at console supremacy. But after watching the Wii make up so much ground in the last few months, does Microsoft have to worry about the Wii taking the next gen console crown?
Yes, we were a little shocked when part 1 of of CNET's Prizefight between the 360 and PS3 leaned towards the Playstation 3 winning out. (We're still not forgiving you CNET for praising the PS3's black exterior ... blah!) But they just released part 2 of the battle and yes, we have a winner. The remaining categories all tilted in the Xbox 360's favor taking home better scores in online service, performance, and available titles. So, the Xbox 360 nudged out a win with 23 points compared to the PS3's 20. We're happy that they got their head's on straight and crowned the right victor, but we will not forgive you CNET for part 1 ... blasphemy we say!
It's time for one of CNET's Prizefights, where they pit competing electronic products against eachother in hopes of declaring one the superior. Their most recent Prizefight has the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 dueling it out for console supremacy, but before you get too excited they haven't crowned a winner yet. It looks like they are splitting this Prizefight into multiple episodes and this is only part one. And wait one second, now that we think of it we're less than impressed by CNET's little Prizefight and how they are awarding points. So far the PS3 is beating the 360, this can't be right ... let the flaming begin!
What's the big difference between a 90nm and a 65nm processor? Well, a lot of cash if you are Microsoft or Sony. Arstechnica.com has taken a look at the battle between Microsoft and Sony and the journey to get their respective consoles' processors to be smaller. Not only is there a bunch of technical improvements with a smaller die, but the hardware cost would drop significantly (roughly $50 per console). We don't fully agree with the article's "race" argument, but think that whichever company can do the most with the processor change will be the victor. Whether it be price cuts, a sleeker console design, or the removal of the huge power brick, it's all about what the companies do with the new technology. Which begs the question, who would be up for getting a new Xbox 360 if it had a smaller processor?
We're a little late getting to this, but 360 Fanboy would be remiss if we didn't mention the appearance of a Playstation 3 advertisement in a 360 game. The ad appears in UEFA Champions League 2006-2007. Before anyone jumps the gun and assumes Sony pulled a fast one to get this ad in the game, it really stems from the PS3 officially sponsoring the real life sport. Naturally, the ad would most likely show up in any iteration of the game. The funny part is this: the game is not currently scheduled to hit the Playstation 3, and the game is expected to debut on March 23rd. If you've been keeping score, you'll know that March 23rd is the same day that the PS3 is launching in Europe. Little ironic, doncha think?
Wow. First PGR3 screen shots are showing up in ads for Gran Turismo HD, and now we have a Playstation 3 ad in a 360 game. What's next? Dogs and cats living together?
On Thursday we reported about reasonably priced Xbox 360s for Canadia's Fanboys. While comments gave mixed reviews regarding Factory Direct's customer service and product quality, that doesn't hold a candle to the latest deal ripoff from the competition. As if the whole "PGR: HD" ordeal wasn't enough, Sony figured a price change was in order for their "Friends to the North". Future Shop, as well as its owner Best Buy, are both selling the 60GB PS3 for $699.99 CDN, which is $50 more than the list price was on November 17th. Why would Sony, or perhaps the retailers themselves, do this? The Canadian Dollar has been doing fine in terms of exchange rate next the American Dollar, recently. In any case, this isn't the best way to sell an already overpriced console. If Sony keeps at it with these missteps, do you think the PS3 will be able to recover?
Major Nelson just caught Sony in a major faux pas. On the PSP Connect site -- a site that offers downloadable goodies for PSP owners -- there is an ad for a new Gran Turismo HD trailer. There's only one problem though, the image used for the ad is from Project Gotham Racing 3. Seriously, check out the original image on Bizarre's website. Looks like someone didn't get the memo that GTHD and PGR3 are, in fact, different games. And just in case someone wises up and changes the picture, Major Nelson caught it on his Flickr account. We won't even go in to the hilarity of mistaking a year old 360 launch title for a brand new "4D" Playstation 3 game. Oh no, we couldn't do that. It would be too low. Check out the incriminating evidence after the break.
Back when the 360 launched in 2005 there were shortages for months and months. Nobody could find 360s earlier this year, so why hasn't the PS3 shared the same "hard to find" lifecycle? The PS3 did share similar launch shortages just like the 360 due to blue diode manufacturing issues. Shouldn't that have spurred an overflow of sustained demand like the 360 did? Geekidiot.com put together a few reasons why the PS3 hasn't been in huge demand and we must say, we agree with them. Especially the point they make about the 360 being the console that your friends have, the console for online gaming, and the console for multiplayer fans. It's kind of odd to see how the 360 and PS3 demand cycles ended up being so different.
Be sure to kiss your 360 tonight knowing that you have one damn fine gaming system in your possession ... be proud of her.
It's pretty common knowledge that the PS3 is a bit more expensive than a Xbox 360. In Europe the difference in price is around £146, something Microsoft really wanted to hit home with their latest generous offering. This afternoon, over at the CVG offices, they received a special delivery of £146 worth of Fosters beer, rolled in by beer couriers, and sent to them by none other than Microsoft. Perplexed by Microsoft's sudden generosity, they opened the attached note which read;
GameDaily BIZ posted the just released February NPD sales numbers which show that Xbox 360 software is selling quite nicely. Overall, things are looking bright for video games as the industry is up 66% over last year with hardware and software sales on the rise. Crackdown led the month's sales moving 427K units, with other 360 titles like Gears of War and Lost Planet in the top ten. The Xbox 360 is also moving a fair amount of consoles beating out an under-performing PS3, 
Microsoft has been quite mum about what they think about Sony's announcement of the PS3 Home service. Does Microsoft think it's a ripoff of their achievement system or is it just Mii clone? Today, CVG is reporting that Microsoft's Chris Satchell finally broke the silence calling the Home service "not a very game-centric approach". He goes on to say that "it's a cool world but it's like a little game by itself. Our approach is the other way around; it's that games are the center and that's the star of the show, that's what people buy the console for". And as the service compares to the 360's achievement system, Satchell says that "they've definitely taken some concepts that we originated like achievements, but I think they're pushing in a different direction and we've sort of fundamentally got two different approaches going on here". So, Microsoft is playing it cool and tainting Sony's announcement by saying it isn't as integrated as the 360's system and it seems to be more of a stand alone game. What's your opinion of the PS3's Home service? Would you like to see this functionality built into the Xbox 360 or does it feel like an added game that's aimed more at the real-life sim fans?
Microsoft commented on preliminary January console sales stating that they sold 18% more 360s than last January. Reports are citing that 294,000 Xbox 360s were sold in January, where as last January 250,000 were sold. This of course could have been due to the lack of consoles in the marketplace last year, but who's to say? Also, Bloomberg is reporting that the Nintendo Wii sold 426,000 units and the Playstation 3 moved 244,000 in January. It's also interesting to note that the Xbox 360 had the highest drop off from December where it shipped over 1.3 million units.
Yes, we were a little shocked when 
It's time for one of CNET's Prizefights, where they pit competing electronic products against eachother in hopes of declaring one the superior. Their most recent Prizefight has the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 dueling it out for console supremacy, but before you get too excited they haven't crowned a winner yet. It looks like they are splitting this Prizefight into multiple episodes and this is only part one. And wait one second, now that we think of it we're less than impressed by CNET's little Prizefight and how they are awarding points. So far the PS3 is beating the 360, this can't be right ... let the flaming begin!
What's the big difference between a 90nm and a 65nm processor? Well, a lot of cash if you are Microsoft or Sony. Arstechnica.com has taken a look at the battle between Microsoft and Sony and the journey to get their respective consoles' processors to be smaller. Not only is there a bunch of technical improvements with a smaller die, but the hardware cost would drop significantly (roughly $50 per console). We don't fully agree with the article's "race" argument, but think that whichever company can do the most with the processor change will be the victor. Whether it be price cuts, a sleeker console design, or the removal of the huge power brick, it's all about what the companies do with the new technology. Which begs the question, who would be up for getting a new Xbox 360 if it had a smaller processor?
On Thursday we 
Back when the 360 launched in 2005 there were shortages for months and months. Nobody could find 360s earlier this year, so why hasn't the PS3 shared the same "hard to find" lifecycle? The PS3 did share similar launch shortages just like the 360 due to blue diode manufacturing issues. Shouldn't that have spurred an overflow of sustained demand like the 360 did? Geekidiot.com put together a few reasons why the PS3 hasn't been in huge demand and we must say, we agree with them. Especially the point they make about the 360 being the console that your friends have, the console for online gaming, and the console for multiplayer fans. It's kind of odd to see how the 360 and PS3 demand cycles ended up being so different.
