Greenburg criticises Sony, PS3, Home, Blu-ray and broken promises
Despite the obvious fight to be top dog in the home console sales war, Microsoft and Sony executives usually play nice. Sure there is the odd criticism each way but generally, there is some respect and professionalism present. Then along comes Microsoft’s Aaron Greenburg.
In the light of the release of Grand Theft Auto IV and the incredible sales figures it managed in its first week on sale, Destructoid wanted to get the opinion of someone high up in the industry, and so managed to secure an exclusive interview with Aaron Greenberg, Director of Product Management for Xbox 360 and Xbox Live.
Everything was going smoothly, with Greenburg giving his honest, albeit obviously biased opinion on the game, its performance on Xbox Live, and the forthcoming Xbox exclusive DLC.
Then Destructoid changed the conversation a bit, and opened it out to the Playstation 3, and how Sony’s machine has an incredible amount of exclusive titles due out in the next few months, all of which are potential system sellers. This provoked Greenburg to go off on a rant unparalleled in the console war so far:
“Didn’t Sony promise all of this last year including Home as well? We have been fighting Sony’s promises from the day we entered the market and if you remember at that time it was all about PS2 being an online cybercity with partner announcements from the likes of RealNetworks and AOL.”
“Then three years ago at E3 they showed what PS3 games would supposedly look like with the Killzone 2 video, that we are now learning will ship four years later. That means that we will have shipped Gears of War and Gears of War 2 before they can even get Killzone out the door.”
“Think back to GDC 2007 when Sony promised to leap ahead in online with the Sony Home unveil. Here we are two years later and multiple delays for a product that has appears to have little to no buzz. Where are the achievements? The friends list integration across all games? Where is the long-promised video store? Where are all the other products using and networking with their CELL chip? How come Blu-ray did not result in better games? What happened with Sixaxis and rumble? Where is the complete 1080p game library we were promised? If Blu-ray as they said would be such a catalyst to PS3 console sales, then why have PS3 sales over the past couple months not seen any lift since the format victory?”
“The reality is that Xbox 360 is leading this generation with a larger installed base, more than 2xs the games library, the most exclusives along with the leading online service and community. While we have not yet announced all of our plans for the full year, I am confident that we will extend our lead over the PS3 in 2008.”
Woah, enough already, you’re meant to be an executive at Microsoft! I know you’re meant to talk the Xbox 360 up while putting the boot in to the PS3, but keep your cool.
The big problem is that Greenburg made some mistakes in his little rant. Home was only announced a little over a year ago, and despite delays, it should be delivered by the end of 2008. And in terms of sales, the PS3 has indeed outsold the Xbox 360 in most months thought 2008 so far, whether helped by the victory of Blu-ray in the HD format war or not.
I’m not here to defend Sony, but surely a bit of professionalism wouldn’t go amiss when doing a public interview with a gaming website? Greenburg is entitled to his opinion as much as the next man, but he should also pay more attention to getting his facts straight before expressing them in such a way.
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38 Responses to “Greenburg criticises Sony, PS3, Home, Blu-ray and broken promises”
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May 11th, 2008
I love it when fat guys get angry.. their faces get red and they look like an overgrown tomato XD.. I wish I was there when he “blew up”…
but its true… a little professionalism people… I would say the same thing if Kaz Hirai (is that spelling right?) went on a crusade against the 360… but all he said was… “the PS3 sales are catching up to the 360 and has already outsold them in Europe”
but this is business… and looks like an American and MS executive has taken the literall meaning of the old “JAPANESE” saying… “business is war” (or something like that)
so dont get all excited PS3 fans… both companies fess up…. and it leads to one hell of a fight in the forums… which is always enjoyable…
ohh and DAVE PARRACK!!! CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW???
did you like my poem/rap/ode to davey/song (to be sung to the same melody as “dreidel” ???
May 11th, 2008
If only he could have reworded those two facts to be more accurate… though it still seems to be a black eye overall for Sony. And one that will probably sting Sony fans in it’s overall truth.
Just wait though, “in 10 years”… though probably more like 2, if Microsoft doesn’t adapt appropriately to Blu-ray and the big name exclusives yet to be released for PS3.
May 11th, 2008
Hmmm – De-Caff for Mr Greenberg from now on, methinks…
I hope Sony play the strong silent game and let this just wash over. How MS can expect to increase a lead that’s been shrinking for the best part of a year only they must know.
Unless of course they count RRoD replacements…
May 11th, 2008
hah good ‘flame’ post DAVE PARRACK! I have a feeling this article is going to get more comments than the one a few months ago by the dude saying that Home is going to disappoint.
May 11th, 2008
Strange, when I sent mine in after two years of gaming it came back free with the same serial number… I guess they can’t count RRoD replacements. Though they could count elites, just as Sony will count the new models when they put back in the backwards compatibility they took out.
Sony does need to be silent, or at least be accurate about their predictions, considering all their talk before launch.
May 11th, 2008
yup… Sony was arrogant with their “NEx gen isnt here till we say so”
and MS denied the claims of RROD when it first came out… they said it only affected a “small percentage”
see… both companies suck… I dont care…. All I want is………….. GOW !!!… YAY KRATOS!!!
I thought all the PS3 ‘cept the 40gb had backward compatibility… am I missing something here??
why would MS put in the option for its lights to go red?? why would they make their console emmit a red light when it breaks down?? wouldnt it be easier to…… ah never mind…
Kevin is on one of his “I dont use the net on teh weekends.. I have a life” so feel free to verbally bash him till he comes back and makes more riddiculous claims…
May 12th, 2008
I’m sure that greenburg is only talking about sales in NA, as the sales in the “rest of the world” do not count….
Who really cares anyway?
May 12th, 2008
Any yes it is the 40gig PS3 without BC. But now that the 40gig is the mainstream PS3 now, PS3 is being catagorised as being “non-BC”.
I have a 60gig and it has BC and I’ve only found one ps2 game that won’t play (I have tried alot).
May 12th, 2008
meh.. I dont care… my Pirated PS2 games never worked on my PS3 anyways… Ill try to buy the original GOW and GOWII… those games are WORTH IT!!1
May 12th, 2008
DWH – Yes, the 40g PS3 is the only one being sold new at retail now. So I guess you are “lucky” you got the 60 when you did.
May 12th, 2008
yup… I dont really care about the Hdd size though… Ill just buy a 350gb Laptop Hdd and put it in my PS3… YAY!!!
I got mine from Dubai… they fit in the European region.. thats why they had the 60gb one…
oh and GTA 4 WORKS!!!!
May 12th, 2008
love him or hate him, he speaks the truth. sony has broken so many promises its hilarious watching the ps3 fanboys go nuts over every single promise (forgetting 90% are lies) that comes from sony.
May 12th, 2008
DWH, I don’t really care about the hdd size either, it’s just the fact that Sony no longer sells bc consoles. I guess they want to sell all those games again over PSN.
kevin, you’ve got to admit MS did it’s fair share of bending the truth when it came to downplaying RRoD. And what’s up with the price on the 120g?
May 12th, 2008
I first read the full article on Friday and I just read it again because I noticed people only pull certain things from the interview when he said a lot more. I just noticed that destructoid has edited the article that was first put out. There was more said about Sony’s reporting # and the fact that they need to report actual facts not just numbers for example he was saying that, are the numbers the amount of consoles shipped or are they actually bought. He had made some mention of the #’s being on a boat somewhere off china. he said it twice about there reporting fugures not being actual sales but console delivered siting on a boat somewhere. I will be fair to the PS3 guys too because I thougt Microsoft also did the same thing. One part of the artice that really intrest me was licencing LIVE to other platforms. That would be amazing. I would love for PS3 to use LIVE as there online. Maybe we would be able to play together.
May 12th, 2008
yeah… whenever a fat white man “blows up” he’s a hero and is “speaking the truth” even though its unprofessional…
but when someone like Reverend Wright says something… well… the rest is WORLDWIDE MAJOR SUPER URGENT NEWS!!!!
May 12th, 2008
+1 to CAD. However LIVE on ps3, I don’t see it happening …..
May 12th, 2008
xbox sucks, live is a rip off and it sucks, they need to stop charging for it if microsoft ever wants to compete againts PSN.
May 12th, 2008
carl – the ONLY statement ms made about the rrod was BEFORE there were enough console sales to confirm it was a long term issue. BUT, when they did find it was; they offered to fix it, at THEIR expense. remember, sony was sued due to bad dvd drives, and noone here seems to hold them accountable, so why the ms hate? oh that’s right; blind prejudice. the price breakdown of the 120gb is all over the ‘net. it’s Isuppli that’s profitting, not microsoft.
it’s sad when a hater like you and the other non-industry-knowing-zealouts hate w/o facts. you guys single handidly make ps3 gamers look like professional clowns.
May 12th, 2008
carl – so..how about that sony/aol partnership we were promised in 2001? any day now…right? lol.
how about the “spring 06″ ps3 launch?
how about GT4 online at launch?
how about ps3 being 100% backwards compatible?
how about ps3’s 1080p-only gaming library?
…all lies from sony…yet it’s okay to you guys.
May 12th, 2008
Hey you also forgot to add that he said t
“Today Xbox 360 has a 5-million-unit console sales lead on a global basis based on most recently public reported data from both companies. This includes more than double the installed base in the US according to actual NPD sell-through and over a 1-million-unit lead across Europe also based on reported sell-through from Chart Track and GfK.”
So it would appear that Sony Europe uses VGChartz for its European sales data. That or it’s up to its old tricks of simply lying to people and expecting everyone to believe what it says.
May 12th, 2008
Keviin do you take notice of the people that you are writing too and/or what they have written in previous posts…??
You call Carl “blind prejudice” “Hater” etc, etc. Carl owns a 360 and I’m not even sure if he owns a PS3 (correct me if I’m wrong Carl) He seems like a voice of reason. From what I have seen, he adds both negative and POSITIVE comment about 360.
I would put it to you that your diatribe of verbal crap makes you look like a babbling fool and discredits the good 360 owners out there that we have good regular “discussions” with.
Anyways, didn’t you say on another thread that you were leaving…. don’t let the door hit you in the back as you exit…..
May 13th, 2008
HEY kevin…
MS ONLY extended their warranty and pledged $1 billion AFTER it was sued… (and that was settled)
and wheres the “fix” or “patch” for the GTA 3 freeze issues on the 360 ?? guess what?? GTA 4 freezes on the 360 too… go to youtube (or the link I placed in my name) to find out
apparently only you have “industry knowledge and super secret information”… but most of them turn out to be pure 100% american made bullshit… too bad…
May 13th, 2008
dwh – i showed you a line where sony was sued for the ps2 while REFUSING to acknowledge it even had a problem. you have NOT shown any link showing ms was sued for the rrod issue. so, until you do; stop wasting everyone’s time. have you not noticed that noone responds to you anymore? i wonder why.
May 13th, 2008
CAD – good point. just ANOTHER lie that the sony fanboys lap up as “fact”.
May 13th, 2008
Oh now where getting facts from YouTube. you Idiot.
May 13th, 2008
I HAVE shown you.. I gave you a link didnt I?? didnt it say that MS settled its lawsuit??
what so you dont believe in you tube?? even though its visual FACT???
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=Microsoft+sued+over+xbox+360s&btnG=Google+Search
there… you need more links??? its as simple as googling it… I didnt refuse to acknowledge the PS2 problem… I saw your link.. and I believed it… what was I supposed to do?? write Sony a flame mail???
your face is soo stuffed down the 360’s ass that you cant even bother to pick up your hands and click on a link.. and even when they show a FACT… you dismiss them.. cus they arent American or doesnt lick 360 ass as much as you do…
May 13th, 2008
dwh – nice self ownage. next time actually READ the articles. so far, NO mention of a settlement of judgement against ms. i wonder why…. you really need to learn the judicial system…seriously. simply because someone “files” a suit does NOT mean ms was sued. none of those even hit court genius. any moron can find a lawyer to file a suit… however, when it doesn’t even hit the court, it’s because it’s w/o merit. so… answer my questions please. judgment or settlement date, article, rumor..anything? clowns…lol
May 13th, 2008
“In the lawsuit filed on July 9, 2007 in a Florida federal court, Jorge Brouwer says Microsoft has received thousands of complaints but has not replaced all scratched discs. The lawsuit seeks class-action status.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xbox_360_technical_problems
WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO SAY NOW KEVIN??
HEY!! it looks like the same lawsuit that was filed against Sony for their broken PS2s… meaning?? Sony solved their “broken consoles” issue LAST GENERATION… for them its a thing of the past… for MS its still an issue…
now your gonna use the “360 has more games” to change the topic… I know all your tricks kev… and apparently… I know more about 360s than you do…
till then… you can keep acting like a retard… your just embarrassing yourself… and giving me more fodder…
May 13th, 2008
dwh – FIRST; self ownage for using WIKIPEDIA…fool. lol. SECOND; “seeking class action status” means they have NOT been cleared for a lawsuit…again..fool. hence; “seeking”…. this is too easy. why didn’t you answer the question i asked….?
May 13th, 2008
ps…dwh..that link isn’t even for the 360’s quality but for scratched disks. not the same. you said they were sued, like sony, for faulty hardware. where?
May 13th, 2008
did you even bother to check out the sources underneath the page?? no… which makes you a retard…
and also using the “word” “ownage” prooves how immature you are… go back to bed… its way past your bedtime….
May 13th, 2008
yes, little one, i checked.. and NO mention of judgement or settlement which the outcome of most cases, unless thrown out. so..where’s the judgement or settlement statement?
apparently you think there is such an outcome; i can’t help but wonder why you won’t produce the info.
May 13th, 2008
Xbot is wanted in 7 states for pedophile questioning from authorities. If you see him anywhere please restrain him and use extreme caution….
May 16th, 2008
spideydog – thanks for the complement, I appreciate it. Truth, I do own a 360 and have been happily gaming on it for over two years now, I do not own a PS3 or Wii (yet).
kevin – I would buy your argument if the 360 had been on the market for less time. As it stood, it had been on since Nov 2005, and Peter Moore was still claiming he couldn’t comment on failure rates over a year and a half after launch? Please.
http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3159284
not to mention Todd Holmdahl:
http://blogs.mercurynews.com/aei/2007/06/15/a_qa_with_todd_holmdahl_the_hardware_guy_at_microsoft_about_xbox_360_failures/
May 16th, 2008
kevin,
I would also buy your argument for the hard drive price being fair, except for a few facts:
1. The hard drive was released over a year ago along with the argument that the price was fair:
http://www.next-gen.biz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=5119&Itemid=2
Mr. Greenberg’s original argument was that the price was fair because it was comparable to external hard drive prices, which is no longer the case:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822242003
And Isuppli is the one that analyzed the hard drive, not making profits off it:
http://multiplayerblog.mtv.com/2008/05/06/hardware-analyst-breaks-down-cost-of-xbox-360s-120gb-hard-drive/
May 16th, 2008
kevin,
Once again, I would ask that you please check your facts not only in regards to me, but in your arguments.
I do not “hate” Microsoft, I own a 360 and love playing games on it. I hope it and other consoles succeed to sustain competition and quality.
I am not a “PS3 gamer”, as I do not own a PS3 (yet).
May 17th, 2008
LOL!!!
You just gotta take a look at that picture and u know that, that guy is a perverted idiot.
Look at the way he’s smiling and his bald shiny head.
He’s gotta be a short, stocky, bald man who lives with his parents.
No, wonder MS sux. With idiotic creatures like that on the helm, its not unexpected.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
December 7th, 2008
Actually, it looks like they did quite well this year, despite his looks:)