Chris Lewis is Microsoft's Xbox VP in Europe. A job which no doubt involves all kinds of boardroom speeches and spreadsheet ogling. All very important stuff. What it should not involve, however, is public relations:

Some of them [retailers] are now seeing the three-year warranty as another USP for 360. It's ostensibly a very positive message for the consumer.

Real words that he actually spoke. But wait. He speaks more of them!

The three-year warranty does actually give us an advantage over the competition. And the fact that we're now ahead of this thing will heighten people's levels of confidence in terms of the Xbox 360 purchase.

Fucking hell. Is nobody watching these European executives? Can these massive multinational corporations not afford to send a normal, sane person to sit in on these interviews and say "ah, what my employer was meaning to say was, we do not comment publicly on this matter"? There's a reason this three-year warranty exists, and it does little to heighten anyone's confidence.