Sony Entertainment s Ken Kutaragi was talking smack about the Xbox 360 to Gamespot today. Besides running with the whole Xbox 1.5 name-calling, Kutaragi is talking up the PS3 s multimedia capabilities, specificially its abilitiy to store non-game content in online storage.

Users will be able to store their content in an online storage server called the 'Cell Storage.' And the Cell processor, when it's not being used, can refine the content's quality. We call it the 'aging' process. For example, users can 'age' their Standard Definition (SD) video and up-convert it to High Definition (HD) video. We have many plans [for the PS3], but this 'Cell Storage' service is something that we definitely intend to launch. By using the Cell's security feature, users will be able to rip DVDs that include copyright protection and lay it in the storage area to refine its video quality.

This is pretty interesting, but what I find more interesting is how the three big companies are positioning their various consoles for launch.

After attending all three launch announcements at E3 I came away with a pretty distinct view of where the companies were headed, at least in terms of marketing.

Sony s announcement was filled with numbers, facts, lots of video of next-gen games and left me with the impression that the console was the one being pitched to hardcore gamers.

Microsoft s soft and fuzzy announcment kicked off with a woman carrying out the 360 in a giant purse and included videos of Friends-like twenty-somethings dancing around in their apartment playing games and dancing. The end result was a console that seemed to be shaping up to be more of a multimedia device than hardcore gaming system.

Nintendo s launch with it s complete lack of facts or figures, but cool design and heavy retro tie-ins seemed to be more about creative gaming then realistic graphics and over the top competition. The end result, in my mind, was a system that will be pushed as the fun console.

So now, Sony is starting to talk up their console as a strong multimedia device, expect Msoft to go for the hardcore gamers again any day now. I fully expect Nintendo to take the high road and just stay out of this my chips are bigger than yours grudge match.

PS2 is not a game machine [Gamespot]

Send an email to the author of this post at editor@kotaku.com.