Microsoft Not Gloating Much

Xbox 360
On the surface, Microsoft’s European head Chris Lewis is coming across pretty cool and collected about Sony’s recent announcement it will be delaying the European launch of the PS3.

Behind closed doors, you know he’s got to have at least said “Woo hoo,” “Woot” or “Yippie” at least once.

According to Digital Battle, Lewis is being pretty darn gracious publicly. “We know how challenging it is to pull off a global launch, so it’s not surprising that Sony has backed away from their previously announced launch plan due to the unproven technology they are trying to pack in to their console.”

There’s a little Blue-ray dig there, but not as big as it could be considering the news of Sony’s delay gives Microsoft another holiday season in Europe to dominate the market. The only competition will come from Wii, but even still it won’t be the head-to-head battle that was expected with the PS3.

Rather than slam Sony too hard, Lewis talked up his own console during a recent interview as reported in MCV. He spoke about the upcoming games such as Gears of War, the optional HD-DVD and the pricing. He cited all of these reasons for why he thinks Microsoft will reach 10-million consoles sold by the end of the year. To date, the console’s only sold 5 million units.

In the meantime, Sony America has named Dave Karraker as the PR head for the PS3’s launch.

Peter Dille, senior VP of marketing for Sony Computer Entertainment, has been quoted as saying “SCEA’s communications team will play a key role in the successful launch of the PLAYSTATION 3, focusing on driving not only consumer demand, but also retailer excitement and synergies across the Sony family of companies. Dave has a proven track record for managing responsive, two-way communications between all stakeholders and audiences for the companies he has represented, which will be a critical component of our marketing program for all PlayStation products.”

With high prices, “unproven technology” and now the delay, not to mention Sony’s overall poor planning, can you imagine being in his shoes trying to sell this thing?

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