17:30 11.05.2006 | All news from "Tech News and Articles"
Microsoft sides with Nintendo in fight vs Sony (Reuters)
The bad blood between Sony and Microsoft in the fight fordominance in the nearly $30 billion video game industry hasescalated over the last few days, with both sides trading barbsat the E3 Expo, the video game industry's annual trade show.
Microsoft entered the next-generation game console marketfirst with its 360 last November.
Sony aims to extend its market leadership with its upcomingPS3, while Nintendo plans to offer a new game machine calledWii in the fourth quarter.
"Tell me why you would buy a $600 PS3?" Peter Moore, aMicrosoft vice president, said in an interview. "People aregoing to buy two (machines.) They're going to buy an Xbox andthey're going to buy a Wii ... for the price of one PS3."
Microsoft predicted on Tuesday it will have 10 million Xbox360 consoles in the market before Sony launches the PS3. Thehigh-end Xbox 360 sells for $399, but it does not include abuilt-in high-definition DVD video player that comes withSony's PS3.
Sony plans to sell a premium PS3 model for $599 when itdebuts in North America on November 17, and Nintendo has notyet disclosed pricing for Wii.
Wii comes equipped with motion sensitive controllers toallow users to mimic the motion of wielding a sword or swinginga tennis racket.
Moore then turned pitchman for Nintendo's Wii, the latestoffering from the Japanese company that once dominated thevideo game industry.
"People will always gravitate toward a competitively pricedproduct -- like what I believe Wii will be -- with innovativenew designs and great intellectual property like Mario, Zeldaand Metroid," Moore told Reuters.
Sony currently dominates the worldwide video game marketwith a 66 percent share, while Microsoft and Nintendo each hold17 percent, according to Strategy Analytics.
"We have 100 percent market share of the next-generation,and their job is to take that from us," said Moore.
"When I think on everything that we've got going right nowthat is real versus what Sony promises to do six, seven monthsfrom now, obviously we feel very good about where we stand."
LOST IN TRANSLATION
Despite Microsoft's head start with the Xbox 360, thesoftware giant still faces an uphill climb in Sony andNintendo's home turf.
Microsoft received a tepid response to its Xbox 360 debutin Japan and demand fell short of expectations during lastyear's holiday season when it sold about 100,000 machines.
The company introduced a competitively priced console inJapan, but some of its game titles did not appeal to Japanesegamers. Moore expects upcoming role-playing games like "LostOdyssey" and "Blue Dragon" from the creator of the popular"Final Fantasy" series to do well in Japan.
"Quite frankly," said Moore, "if we're sitting here a yearfrom now and things continue to fall flat, then we might say'we don't know what to do anymore."'
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