"I prefer to talk about the fact that, yeah, we're competitors, but the competition really has made people so much sharper, and if I can use this analogy, if you're fighting in a war that's, say, Boeing versus Airbus, it's almost like battleship against battleship and you're fighting from 15 miles away; if you're fighting in the car war, it might be that you're fighting in tanks and you're one kilometre away; in the videogame industry, if there's a war, if there's competition, it's almost like hand-to-hand fighting, but it makes you sharper. You want to have a sharper sword, you want to have a sword that feels just about right, and everyone is very sharp, and what they're doing is they're looking for high ground, low ground where they can get an advantage."

So the console industry is like melee combat with swords...or is it like shoes?

The winner is the consumer, and I think that's great. That's why we are not going to slag off Microsoft or Nintendo at all, because again it's rather like the trainer market: one year it's Reebok, next year it's Nike, and then suddenly it's Adidas; it's cyclical, but in the end everyone wins in five to ten years.

See? He's like one of those guys who is really good with analogies. Just reading his words has sapped me of my will to explain one thing using another thing as an example!

Of course what he is trying to say is that Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo are equally matched in terms of what they have to offer the public and are just jockeying for position, but he makes it all seem so poetic, doesn't he?

Incidentally, for those of you who don't keep up with Brit slang, "to slag off" is equal to "to dis". Also, trainers are sneakers, and David Reeves might be the only English-speaking games industry exec who needs a translator when addressing English-speaking markets.

Interview: Sony's David Reeves [Eurogamer]

Report: PS3 sold faster than Xbox 360 for same period [Gamepro.com]

It's fair to say that Xbox Live is clearly head and shoulders above anything anyone else has tried to do. We don't have competition. Sony has done some things online, but nothing that can be called a service. We have a big advantage and we're going to keep pressing that advantage.

EA'S AWARD-WINNING SKATE VIDEO GAME ROLLS ONTO RETAIL SHELVES IN SEPTEMBER Download the Demo on Xbox Live Marketplace on August 15 to Experience True Skateboarding Action Before It Hits Stores

CHERTSEY, UK. - August 3, 2007 - Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: ERTS) announced that its award-winning SKATE video game will ship to retail stores on September 12 in the U.S. and September 14 in Europe for the Xbox 360™ video game and entertainment system. The PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system version will ship to stores on September 24 in the U.S. and October 5 in Europe. For players eager to get their hands on the game pre-launch, EA will release a SKATE demo on Xbox Live Marketplace on August 15 so players can experience first-hand the title's groundbreaking new gameplay style - a new way of playing skateboarding games that will invigorate the genre.

The downloadable demo features tutorials and gameplay challenges in San Vanelona's community center skatepark to introduce gamers to SKATE's revolutionary Flickit controls. The demo also includes the innovative skate.reel feature where gamers can capture video footage of their skate session at any time during the demo and share the footage online at www.skate.ea.com for other players to view, rate and comment on.

In the game, everything you do works towards getting you coverage in two of skateboarding's premiere magazines - Thrasher and The Skateboard Mag. Coverage also means sponsors, product, money and fame. Become a legend by getting the covers and you'll earn a coveted invitation to skate in the X Games - the world's top skateboarding competition. You'll be able to throw down on the street course and go huge in the Skateboard Big Air event, innovated and dominated by two time gold medalist Danny Way.

SKATE recently received the "Best Sports Game of E3 - IGN Xbox 360" award at the E3 tradeshow in Santa Monica. SKATE was also one of only four games nominated for Best Sports game for the "Game Critics Awards: Best of E3 2007". The judges for this award included editors from the 36 leading videogame publications in the industry.

With innovative Flickit controls that take advantage of the dual analog sticks and the ability to sculpt tricks that define your own style, SKATE delivers an authentic boarding mecca like no other videogame. SKATE is developed by EA Black Box in Vancouver, British Columbia and is rated "T" for Teen by the ESRB and 12+ by PEGI.

Japanese Analyst group Nomura Securities has issued a report that estimates Sony only reaching 75% of their fiscal year sales target for PS3s, citing low holiday sales in North America as the primary factor in the figure. According to the NPD figures the PS3 only sold 490,700 units in December for a total of 687,300 since launch. That means that of the reported 1million systems shipped to North America, only 69% sold, a figure I am sure factored into the 75% above.

The Nomura Securities report also lowered their projected sales for 2008 and 2009 by nearly 40%, with 2009's estimate dropping from 18 million to 11 million systems.

Of course this is all just analysis, but coupled with the actual sales figures it paints a pretty grim picture for the PlayStation 3. at the very least the research firms are beginning to lose faith in the product, and once the analysts lose faith you're in for an endless parade of troubling reports, just like this one. Michael Fahey

Analyst: Sony Missing Sales Goal By 25%? [Gamasutra]

Last Friday I told you about the Xbox 360 versus PlayStation 3 event at the famous Apollo Theater in Harlem, with large screen side-by-side 1080p comparisons of the consoles running the same game. Now the results are in, and it looks like the 360 took the event hands-down.

"Xbox is flat-out better both visually and mechanically," said H3's chief communications officer and world class gamer, Adrian "Hollywood" Walton. "When 'Fight Night' is played at its highest level with the highest possible resolution, everyone was able to see Xbox 360's superiority to PS3 as clear as can be on H3TV."

Xbox Scores First Round Knock Out of PS3 [SmartMoney.com - Thanks Oliver]

The battle between the PS3 and 360 wages on in Harlem next Wednesday, as hip-hop stars go head-to-head on giant screens in the famous Apollo Theater. The event is sponsored by H3 Enterprises, a company dedicated to video games, big screens, and the hip-hop lifestyle. The plan is to have the two systems playing the same game side-by-side so the public can get a good idea of the differences between the two.

Tickets will be available on a first-come, first-served basis, but the organizers are expecting a standing room only crowd, according to the company's communications officer, Adrian "Hollywood" Walton. "Everyone playing and watching will get an up-close visual comparison of each system's imagery and will be able to judge for themselves who's really best — Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3," Walton says.

Biz Buzz: It's video-game time at the Apollo [The Star Ledger]

Fact: Australia loves the Xbox 360. The Microsoft console is selling faster than the PlayStation 2 when it originally when on sale. According to market research group GfK, the console is selling like nobody's business. Says GfK's Daniel Morse:

Our figures show that Xbox 360 has been the fastest ever console to sell 100,000 units in Australia, reaching that mark in just seven months.

All the console war talk centers on either the US, Europe or Japan. After the Wii and the PS3 launch, I'm interested in knowing how things play out elsewhere. You? Brian Ashcraft

Australia Loves That 360 [Games Industry]

The PLAYSTATION 3 will conquer all, says Famitsu Editor-in-Chief and Enterbrain president Hirokazu Hamamura. For latecomers, Famitsu is Japan's most popular game mag, and the EIC is somewhat a celeb among game nerds like you and me. (Though, everytime I see Hamamura, he's usually standing around alone, looking lost.) In a recent seminar, he picked Sony's new console as the eventual console war winner. He contends:

The PS3 will have a tough time globally at the initial stage. Its launch titles in Japan and exclusive software titles overseas are quite limited. But its overwhelmingly realistic graphics will give it a long life span. It will stay competitive even when a game console battle breaks out among a newer generation of machines in 2010. Sales should grow every time Sony cuts prices.

His publishing company estimates that PS3 sales will total 34 million, trumping a guesstimated 28 Xbox 360 units sold and 25 million Wii sales by 2009. Yup, Famitsu has also picked Nintendo's Wii as the next gen loser. Brian Ashcraft

Famitsu Loves PS3 [Reuters, Thanks KU!]

I agree with you, DFC Intelligence, that "Sony has done very little to justify why the system is worth a premium price for consumers that don't care about raw hardware performance and are not hard-core audio/visual consumers" but nobody wants to hear you spew such heavy handed market research vitriol.

Plus, it has always been my contention that the $600 price point just doesn't matter—for the first six months. After that, when launch hype has worn off, and the next price drop doesn't have as much impact with what Microsoft can counter, is when the real Sony marketshare blood bath is going to go down. So, we are on the same page when you say "If Sony wants to drive unit volume 2007 needs to be not only the year of price cuts, but the year of drastic price cuts."

However, the following stab at Sony's overly complicated, value unjustified Kutaragi wet-dream is just plain mean!

With the PlayStation 3 the company is going after the high-end power user. It is almost as if Coca-Cola not only decided to go with a new formula, but also decided to exit the low-brow soft-drink business to go into high-end wines.

Daaaayyaaammnnn!! Low brow? You cats are ice cold. Check out further nastiness at the full article. Michael McWhertor

Could Sony Go From First to Worst?

In what is turning out to be the bitchiest console war in recent memory, Jack Tretton, co-chief officer of Sony Computer Entertainment America, is spewing venom all over Microsoft. In an interview with financial news site The Street, Tretton didn't pull any punches, repeatedly laying into Msoft. Here are the choice quotes:

• "I guess if price is the only consideration, then we've won the war, because we've got a $129 PlayStation 2 that outsells the Xbox 360 today."
• "We're looking to sell 100 million-plus worldwide. We're looking to sell 50 million plus in North America. So, if a competitor gets to 6 to 10 million worldwide, I would not consider that to be a significant advantage or a significant disadvantage as far as we're concerned."
• "There's no question they [Microsoft] have a higher pain tolerance. I think most companies, if they'd lost the billions that Microsoft has lost on the Xbox, would question whether or not they belong in the business. Obviously, they have a different standard of success."

Grab a bowl of popcorn, 'cause there are more fireworks after the jump.

• "If we had suffered the struggles that Microsoft had, I'd question whether we'd be serious about the business today. Fortunately for us, we've never been in that position. And I guess until we get in that position, it's difficult to determine how we would react."
• "There's no question that having the Grand Theft Auto franchise helped us a lot and helped us sell some units, but I don't think the battle would be any different with or without Grand Theft Auto."
• "I think it's a fact that Sony Computer Entertainment software has far outsold Halo, because Halo was the one and only title to come out there. So, do we have a title? I don't know."
• "I guess I'd have to look at the numbers on Gran Turismo vs. the numbers on Halo. But I can guarantee you that Sony Computer Entertainment's first-party software far and away outsold Microsoft's first-party software."

Woah. Sony totally hates Micrsoft! Like really, really hates them!! Brian Ashcraft

He Does Say Sony Was "Pleased" With the E3 Presser [The Street] Thanks, Allen!

Website Ars Technica has an interesting interview with Msoft's Matt Lee. He works in the Game Technology Group, which encompasses developer support and education regarding Windows, Xbox 360 and XNA. Okay, so he's not Peter Moore (few are), but Lee's candid and does have knowledgeable insights. He talks 360 system architecture, games and programming. Here's what he has to say about the Land of the Rising Sun:

One thing to note, however, is that Japan is not necessarily the most important market for gaming these days. It is also not quite as large as the US and European markets. The Japanese market is very important to the Xbox 360 and we've got a whole bunch of great Japanese titles on the way form major Japanese developers.

Both the Japanese and US markets are reaching saturation at this point. The big battleground for us (and for everyone) is going to be Europe.

Does that mean companies will stop releasing consoles and software years months after they've hit American and Japan? Heh. Brian Ashcraft

Full Interview Here [Ars Technica]

With damage control in full effect, the company's European honcho David Reeves is playing it safe. He says Sony's next-gen goal is not conquering the industry. No no, forty percent is just fine. This console war is about growing.

The name of the game is not market share, it's how fast we can grow the industry—our ambition is to grow 15 per cent a year on hardware and software if we can. We want to try and double digital entertainment in the next five to six years. Whether we have 40, 50, or 60 per cent market share is not that important.

The bar just officially dropped. Brian Ashcraft

More Here [Kikizo]

In a Pre-E3 interview with IGN, Swedish developer Starbreeze Studios (The Chronicles Of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay) talk next-gen and offer their insights on the next-gen console cat fight. So, is there really a big difference between the Xbox 360 and the PS3? One Starbreeze folkin had this to say:

The PS3 will have a content size advantage with Blu-Ray and a CPU advantage for titles that are able to utilize a lot of the SPUs. The Xbox360 has a slight GPU advantage and its general purpose triple-core CPU is relatively easy to utilize compared to SPUs. I expect that it will be near impossible to tell Xbox 360 and PS3 screenshots apart.

Way to serve up a PS3 fanboy kick-in-the-pants! Commence flame war.

More Here [IGN] Thanks, Snatchy!