LOL... people seem to be able to spin anything these days....

No because sony own bluray not microsoft

Total number of stand alone bluray players in europe is 34,000, HD-DVD is 51,000

However, when you add in PS3 it becomes 3.2 million bluray. But only 2.3 million bluray disks sold.

Not unless they're cheering for Sony. If they are then I guess they won!

While DVD lowers in price, Blu-Ray keeps the cost of disc and movies high. How many times do you wan't to buy the same freaking game because it's scratches?

Microsoft has made it loud and clear that they are targeting people who are connected. This is the age of everything media, delivered with the use of a disc. IPTV, Live, Amazon, NetFlix, Steam, DSL, broadband cable, mobil broadband, video on demand, Divx, MP3, cell and Tivo. There is no more need for a cheap plastic disc, if your "connected". I have two laptops, a PC, Macbook, cable, Tivo, three MP3 players, and two cell phones working in complete harmony with my 2 Xbox 360's. I have absolutly "zero" need for a disc, even DVD is dead to me.

No, HDi is not going to be used anymore in Formats.

hahahahahaaahahhahaahahah.... What a complete joke. Gotta love ol' Bruce... Isn't that Bruce, by the way? That guy kills me. Yeah, it's a huge win for Microsoft... Forget the "Actual" backers of the format. Those guys are all losers.

Blu-Ray is but one of the many Sony victories we will witness this year,
Bruce, you unclean chimp!

MWAH-HA-HA-HA!!!

The only victory here is to the customers. Now they know which format to buy and people can actually start to enjoy the benefits of HD media.

The only thing MS succesfully made me happy was with Windows XP,

Someone here come up with something MS did good ?

In the end, they both win. With Microsoft (one of Sony's greatest rival when it came to the HD format war) now allied with the Blu-Ray format, Microsoft would really help Sony to push the format to the masses.

And wouldn't Sony get some sort of profit with the 360's Blu-Ray player add-on?

Win win situation in my opinion.

wow, that article was retarded (i wouldnt even consider it an article)
what was the point of writing that?
whoever wrote that is obviously a 360 fanboy worried that their beloved console's sales wont top the PS3 like last year....

depends on how you look at it:

because Ken Kutaragi demanded Blu-Ray, M$ was able to do what you talked about Bruce

however the actual notion of Blu-Ray winning is a big loss to M$ since they could have made some pretty big $$$$$$ on their HD-DVD drive venture

and it also majorly benefits their biggest rival in the console war, which is very bad for them

Yeah I remember all of this time MS touted BluRay as the next gen successor to DVD for games and for movies. They also put it inside their system in spite of everyone saying it was a horrible decision and to stick with regular DVDs. They eventually won against HDDVD. ..wait a minute none of this was Microsoft it was all Sony.

No matter how they try to spin this, it's a Sony victory and they succeeded in what they set out to do. Just because people were too short sighted to see it all along doesn't change that. The article also citing very old issues as likely scenarios that will cause them to come in 3rd in this gen.

How is this a win for MS when they still have to create and manufacture the add on, then get it out there to the public. Add that it'll cost at the very least $100 (being nice) as well and the logic in that statement defies me.

EVERY PS3 sold has the drive, and that's more market penetration than an add on will ever achieve.

like a half baked article.nothing completely explained.
very vague and outdated analysis,obviously done to generate
some discussions.never mentioned the other advantages that accrue to sony thanks to its winning format.

One thing is for sure, those who bought the HDDVD add-on are not feeling very victorious right about now.

And no, Microsoft is no where on the list of qualifying as the victor of the blu-ray win. Get a grip. You lost, you should be used to it by now.

The spin you guys apply to everything is so messed up. It is as if you people have built a delusional world where your 360 never breaks, and Microsoft wins everything... somehow. Maybe it is to cope with how you got screwed in every category with your console choice. In 2009 you will all be stating that Microsoft is victorious from the PS3 beating out the 360... somehow.

Just keep rocking back and forth in a fetal position whispering to yourself that the PS3 doesn't have any games, that the Wii is a fad, and that Bill Gates loves you. You know, "the usual".

it rivals the spin on Fox News Channel. How you take a bloody hard fough victory from the Blu-ray camp and the Blu-raycentric PS3 is absolutely ludicrous. Again, it's up to Sony to steer the industry in the 'right' way and show others how to run a game console dynasty.

(Note that the following article comes from a Microsoft employee) March 3, 2006:

-- "After reading Sunday’s New York Times (requires registration), I really wanted to find out a bit more around HD DVD. So I sat down with some folks working on Xbox 360’s upcoming HD DVD drive*, and asked: Why HD DVD? Why not Blu-Ray? (for the purpose of this post, I’ll lovingly call it ‘Beta-ray’)
I found out a few interesting things on why we’re so confident of HD DVD:

Price. One company out there has a $1,800 Beta-ray player (no release date) – one that doesn’t even play CDs! For 1,800, you could get a $500 Toshiba player, and about 40 HD movies.

Industry support: Looks like the pendulum is swinging back in HD-DVD’s favor. As an analyst quoted in the article says: “It's only a matter of time before people start backing out of the Blu-ray camp." If that’s the case, it might be because of. . .

Beta-ray’s own difficulties: Microsoft had serious doubts around the technical feasibility and pricing of Beta-ray for some time and our fears now seem well founded. Sony is hinting PS3 will be delayed because of Beta-ray, and that’s with Sony driving the Beta-ray standards. If even Sony can’t get it to work right, it raises lots of questions. A little reported fact (and one that the New York Times was confused about) is that the first Beta-ray discs will actually hold less: only 25GB compared to HD DVD’s 30GB. That means less room for high definition extras and interactive features, which HD DVD says they fully intend to support." --
http://www.firingsquad.com/...

----------------------------- --------

Just another example of MS's poor decision making and lack of vision for the future. Maybe that's why they are being outsold by a more technologically sound machine in their own back yard. So let me guess: the next machine will have blu-ray, be reliable (allegedly), and will play Blu-ray games? Hmm...sounds like a console sitting on my entertainment center right now. I wonder what elese it will come with? This article is silly to say the least. 8D

Sony have won the format war.
But it has cost them enormously in the console war.
Hence a phyrric victory.

only reason im posting to to say that MS fans are desperate as crap right now. 360 is destined to be the last place console, and with all of thier mistakes they'll have a impossible climb ahead of them.

If you ask me, MS should cut thier losses and stop making consoles.
btw-HD-DVD should have been built inside the 360 not for movies but for gaming purposes, that was thier biggest mistake.

no

Blu-Ray can possibly ruin the PS3 because game developers like to take a closer look at game attatchments to console ratios and if more people get PS3 because for Blu-Ray rather than games then it will make the attatchment ratio fall A LOT.

I think it is true that 360 owners buy more games in general than PS3 owners due to less PS3 in households than 360 and due to a much smaller games library compared to 360's. While Sony' PS3 did help Blu_ray to win this war, it may have done the opposite with PS3 in the gaming market.

The fact that HD DVD is in trouble simply means microsoft made the right choice... the xbox 360 would probably be in deep trouble if it had an HD DVD since people would look at it as an HD DVD player...

Sony took a big risk and they were fortunate that it turn this way for them... do you know the damage this would of cause the PS3 if HD DVD would win the format war? PS3 = Blu-ray player... so if blu-ray becomes obsolete than so is the PS3 in the eyes of many people. blu-ray is one of the biggest selling point for the PS3... HD DVD is not for the xbox 360.

Also, anyone suggesting that the xbox 360 should of release an HD player know nothing about business.... why?

first, you would know that HD DVD and blu-ray weren't completely finalized.

2nd, microsoft didn't have enough marketshare to be able to compete against the PS3 if there were to be launch during the sametime because Microsoft had wait 1 year for HD DVD and blu-ray to be finalized. Microsoft success up to this point is due to the xbox 360 early release.

3rd, microsoft is NOT a hardware manufacturer, do not own assembly lines and all their hardware is outsource to other companies; which means it cost microsoft more to make hardware than it does to Sony.

4th, Microsoft do not own HD DVD nor blu-ray so they would have to pay royalties no matter which way they go.. .and since they don't own HD DVD or blu-ray it would cost microsoft more than it would cost Sony.... also, Sony have lots of interest in the movie side of things... since they would make royalties from movie studios... microsoft have no interest in this... so, it's understandable why Sony would want to subsidize the cost of the blu-ray player inside of the PS3... but why would microsoft want to do this? They make royalties on games... and DVD9 is doing the justice.... no royalties to pay to toshiba or Sony...

You have to be an idiot to sudgest that people would choose the xbox 360 over the PS3 if the xbox 360 at launch if both consoles are released at the sametime and the xbox 360 cost $649-$799 while the PS3 cost $600.... right.... lol...

did microsoft make a mistake? how come the xbox 360 has the larger installbase 2 years after the PS3 launch? how come more games are sold on the xbox 360? mmmm.. that's a nice mistake to make with minumun risk... don't you think?

The headline itself is the biggest load of SH!T i'll read all day

And thats all i gotta say about That !!

Well:

360 is still 8 to 9 mln. units further in sales then the PS3. So actually yes it was a smart move to market earlier and have games run on DVD better/faster (without 22 minutes installation of 5GB a game (DMC4, Lost Planet, that Golf game and how many more will follow because of a slow BluRay drive?)

And even if people buy the PS3 because they want to use it as a cheap BluRay player... It won't drive game sales!

360: about 7 games average sold per unit
PS3 about 3.8 games average sold per unit

And yes. The 360 could get BluRay in a add-on

HD-DVD addon - dead due to dead format
HDi Software - dead due to dead format
Attempt at sabotage against the HD media in general by making the format war last longer - failed due to format war ending early

That does not add up to a victory afaik. But the rabid HD-DVD fanboys switched to be rabid DD fanboys all of a sudden .. it is rather sad ...

That has to be the most oxymoronic title ever

No, not even close since when is losing winning.
MS is just a short term money making company they a lot with a product quit it then continue on to the next.
1.)Computers: They make 1 new computer every year so you'll never keep up and start spending even more money.
2.)Zune: Just desperation to compete against the Ipod.
3.)Xbox 360: Probably the best money scamming the company has ever done. 30-40% failure rate w/ over heating consoles is not a good way to sale consoles. They charge you everything from optional parts to add ons so in the end you end up spending double that of the PS3 to get some of it's performance. Not to mention they release a new SKU every single year + (no 2008 line up.)
4.) HD DVD: Just a quick way to make a quick profit in the movie industry. MS really bombed and lost a lot of money.
As far as I'm considered they should stick to making what they are good at and that's making programs because from a hardware stand point they need work.
Every single console war is just a joke for MS I bet you every generation starting w/ the PS3 everyone will doubt Sony and every time they'll just prove the world that Playstation is the future every time.
I also believe the only reason why Sony didn't get it's momentum on it's release date is because they were fighting 3 battles when they started.
2006: Getting Blu-ray to be the main format in Hollywood.
This was where are the negativity came from saying the PS3 was only a media player.
2007: Trying to boost PSP sales up and make it more connective w/ the PS3 back and forth.(Despite this Sony still outsold the 360 by 2 million worldwide.)
2008 and B3YOND: All about games strictly for that purpose. Time for Sony to bring fire and proof to the world once again that Sony is the true future.
It doesn't matter what people throw at Sony they will always come up at number 1 every single time in the end.
3 Generations Playstation has been around and every time they were number 1.

Spinning the news, it's not just for politics.

it's so retarded.i had to do a double take to see if it was bloodmask.

sony won.end of discussion.sony and it's backers blew away the competition in "one" year on the market at a higher price.and the poster of this article,who typed this article,needs to step back and think.

hd-dvd is on life support.but there will still be buyers of this great but "inferior" format.but bluray held more content,was upgradeable and would eventually match any feature hd-dvd had.and was back by more studios.including sony.there was no way hd-dvd was going to win.and mediums don't die off soon.people still buy VHS,still buy VCDs and will still buy dvds.they will still buy bluray if and when DD takes over.tangible mediums don't die.

what i find funny is how these hd-dvd backers,who also seem to be 360 backers,continue to jump to the next thing when sony busts your @sses and nukes your town.

you seem to always go running to the next thing.while bluray and sony backers held true since the beginning.except for that 2 faced guy lightning.not that we cared about him anyway.from 1080p,to hdmi,to larger hard drives,etc.YOUR BACKPEDDLING IS RIDICULOUS.

digital downloading IS the future.no one disagrees with that.but we sony fans disagree that it will take over anytime soon.you fools assume two things:

*that everyone will be able to download this content from every point of the globe.every rural town,every low income family,etc.how stupid are some of you?

*and second,you assume that customers will buy a 360 TO GET IT!!!(digital downloads.)

no one is going to buy a game console like 360,that is susseptable to breaking down,to download movies.not at all.not unless it was given away for free.

next,you assume that sony will not offer the same things as microsoft online.this is where you guys fail again.sony has MORE content to offer,and the biggest movies to download or put on disc.

THIS IS HOW SONY WON THE BLURAY BATTLE.they offered more content for you to choose,and MADE their own content without needing third parties to support them.microsoft doesn't make ANY content and RELIES on third parties to give them movies.when sony gets it's online downloading service going,you fanboys had better watch out.

because the sky will be falling again.the nukes cometh again.un freakin real man...........

megaton.................

Blue ray may have beaten off HD DVD but it has a long way to go before it beats dvd9

Just like Sony pays MS to put their OS on every Sony computer. And you can BET MS is making more $ off of Sony than Sony will EVER make off of MS.

Blue ray has sold what, about 10 to 12 million units thus far, how many standard dvd players are there, i bet were talking hundreds of millions

Seeing as during the year where games such as Halo 3, Mass Effect, Gears of War were released, and where the Playstation 3 STILL outsold the XBOX 360, how is that a victory? On top of that, add the hardware fiasco by Microsoft.

No. And you know it.

Indeed the Sony BR victory is clear cut. but this has NOTHING to do with a MS victory. The PS3 has only been out a year and already on track to take its rightful spot and it aint 3rd.

BruceonDrugs

Big win for Sony, not for X-Box, people weren't buying the HDDVD add on for the 360 even when the format was healthy, they're not going to buy a BD add on. 360 lost, I'm just going to sit back and watch it bleed to death.

That is words from a Xbox 360 fan / Microsoft fan. And he is blind. That is simply a SONY victory. That's it. Accept it.

why do they always say PS3 had problems??? it never had problems and sold better than xbox3shitty in its first year...

This is not a Microsoft win LMAO how on earth could it be a win FFS.
All this talk of digital downloads makes me laugh though..DRM as it is just sucks and everyone I know like to have something for there money, not just the right to watch a film on thier own kit..... People share end of! If I buy a film on bluray, dvd whatever in 3 years I might Ebay it and get some money back, how do I do that with downloads?
I do believe though that there is a market for both digital and hard copies :)

I see the MS damage limitation is kicking into gear!

This is a new low for Microsoft supporters. Frankly, it's pathetic. Their hd dvd is a massive failure. MASSIVE. Sore losers. And bruceongames is clearly delusional too.

go f*ck yourself, old fart.

Lets face the facts here boys and girls, an blu-ray add-on for the 360 will probably still be lacking like the blu-ray capabilites of the PS3. If you want full capability then a stand-alone unit is the only way to go.

EDIT: Here we go again, to the disagree: so you are telling me that a PS3 can bitstream TrueHD and DTS HD to my onkyo receiver? Oh yeah thats right it can't, and it can't even proceses DTS HD and output it as multi channel PCM. Stop being an idiot, it can't do what some stand-alone players can do.

it was a very big gamble for ps to go with blue ray - I'm glad that they did I am so happy with my system, I wish that they would come out with games a lil quicker though. I've read a story about Xbox a min ago and it was saying that that they are going to offer the blue ray player soon! well that didnt take them long at all- looks like they want to steal sales from sony HUH.

So PS3 outsells the XB360, MS takes a Billion hit for all the repairs, more losses as they have to retail dump the HD-DVD add-on which did not sell very good anyway, and Sony in a good position to cash in on BR as it is poised to take over from DVD. And all this translates into MS winning? The media is just funny sometimes. This is spin doctoring at its best.

digital distribution?

hell no i only watch streaming movies theres no point in trying to downlaod a movie that will take hours to download, remember not every one in the world have got a fast PC or laptop so not everyone will be downloading a movie from the net. the only things i download from the net r naruto and bleach ones a week.

Article full of garbage. Sony sell more in 2007 than MS.

This.

And it's about time for Major Nelson to jump in, isn't it?

Some HD-DVD loyalist is going on a disagree rampage!

this is not a victory to MS and not really a loss either.

That is the nice thing about having your hardware in a format nuetral position. Yes, MS supported HD-DVD because at the time of the 360 launch it was a finished spec with superior features/quality. MS always wanted to get a head start on Sony because Sony is the market leader in console gaming. MS is the new guy and they need every advantage to gain more market share and it worked. That is why the 360 is sitting right up their with the Wii when it comes to install base and Sony is some 7 million consoles out(is that a win so far? YES)

The reason I say not really a loss to MS is because they do lose a bit in unsold HD-DVD add-ons and the market perception the PS3 has because it includes a Br drive. MS needs to distance themselves price wise from the PS3 now because they cannot compete at the same price while lacking a Br drive(even with the superior library and online service). I do believe MS is going to make these moves in the coming months.

WTF?

absolutely no, microsoft has a lost a battle, but not the war

releasing a console that is prone to breakdowns due to a push to release a year before the competition, which result in the loss of 1 *BILLION dollars to cover warranty extensions and replacements, and gaining a "lead" that has slowly, but surely been eaten away by the very same competitors they were trying to beat with a rushed launch is gaining a "victory" for MS, then sure. good job.

this guy *REEEEEAAALY had to dig deep for this story.

i mean, seriously now.

the Playstation 3 sold 10 million units during it's *FIRST YEAR on the market.

the X Box 360 sold about the same, or maybe 9 million.

sure, on the software side, the pickings were slim on the PS3, and it was hampered with sh*tty ports from developers, but that didn't stop the PS3 from selling, and selling well.

the victory of Blu Ray is just going to make a lot more customers confident in picking up a Playstation 3 in the future. even Playstation fans weren't sure if Sony putting Blu Ray in the PS3 was a good idea, and now that Blu Ray curb-stomped HD DVD (thanks in large part to early adopting Playstation 3 fans), those fans are cool with spending $400 on a Blu Ray player. i mean, really, it's like they're essentially getting a Blu Ray player for *FREE when they buy a 40gig PS3.

this guy is acting as if the Playstation 3 is still $600. there's a $400 unit, and a $500 unit. functionality differences are minimal, and ultimately, unimportant, as both models have built in Wi Fi, an HDD, and a Blu Ray drive, the latter 2 being the most important features to play Playstation 3 games.

for $400, even $500, the Playstation 3 is still a bargain. i won't list the software lineup in this post, but the heavy hitters coming this year will also be hard to ignore.

Microsoft has gained nothing from the Blu Ray victory, but they have not lost anything either.

this story should be about how Sony's incredibly risky gamble paid off. in business, often times, the bigger the risk brings you bigger gains. Sony risked a *LOT with this gamble; it's electronics division, it's Playstation division, and they came out on top.

now that HD DVD is dead and buried (or at least on the autopsy table), you'd be foolish to think that now Sony isn't going to turn their attention on regaining any ground they lost with their Blu Ray tactic, and reclaiming their first place spot. will they succeed? hell if i know, but it's going to be fun to watch (not to mention, as a gamer, beneficial, as now Sony is *REALLY going to bring out their A game, as if the 2008 PS3 exclusive software lineup wasn't great enough as it is...).

You guys are stupid arguying a fanboy is a fanboy no mather what you say you will never make him not believe his own lies.

What stupid article this is. How does trash like this get on N4G?!?!?

I think that other than people who already have a 360, even if MS came out with a BD add-on, if someone is looking for a BD enabled system they would still go with the PS3.

The PS3 would be cheaper and the BD capabilities would be built in from the start. I don't know but for me add-ons are not slick at all.

Come to think of it, depending on the price, this add on would nullify any advantage in price the 360 had. You buy an Elite for $350 to $400 and add another $200 then your at pre price drop PS3 prices. Naturally, any consumer who did their homework would realize that the PS3 was a better deal.

More likely MS should just stick to the premise that movie playback is not needed and that is why they don't provide that option. I think a few people would fall for that.

I don't believe he meant that MS "Won" but I think he means because Sony had to 'fight' to win with the Blu-Ray so with all the money they spent trying to push the Blu-Ray, I think he meant, that the PS3 was more of an experiment/test or something like that. Cause if Sony lost the format war the PS3 would have been sent to the 'scrapheap' but for MS either format winning would not affect MS as bad as it would have Sony.. But, Iuno. However, congrats Sony.

At least sony is going to make money off the blu-ray format while microsoft has a neutral approach and neither gains, nor loses money. However, the new format leaves ps3 games with plenty of disc space in the future, while developers were beginning to complain about running out of space on a dvd even before the 360 came. So while it was a smart move to remain neutral rather then form an alliance with an inevitable competitor, this tactic will eventually stunt the life-cycle of the 360 in the long run, in my opinion.

blue ray won the format war, there s a blue ray player in every ps3 how did ms win ? this guy should go back to the old folks home!!!!

Lol this is the most pathetic thing I've ever heard. It sounds like an excuse a 16 year old Gamespot System wars Xbot regular would give.

First blu is doom when it came out because of price and it's not finalize. When Blu was on the verge of winning they say its a Sony loss as DD is the future and now when blu wins it's MS victory?. Gotta love these fanboys in denial.

Yes MS is didn'tinclude HD-DVD or blu-ray as they wanted to
1. Be first on the market.
2. Have a price advantage with the non inclusion of a next gen format.

but...

Here are the results so far.
1. x360 is perhaps the most unreliable electronics device ever built with 1 billion set aside for warranty.
2. despite its early launch and it major exclusive being released it was still outsold by the PS3 in 2007.

Honestly guys. How can anyone consider this a win?

PS3 is the only console with in-built blu-player. PS3 is the cheapest and arguably the best blu-ray player on the market.With blu winning. Expect a fair chunk of the DVD userbase to look at the PS3 this coming year as a Blu-player also.

People are not stupid. People knew that the PS3 was built to last. Sony customers are to reap the benefits of Sony's long term vision and sacrifice initially. We knew this from past experience with the PS1 and PS2. MS on the other hand just thinks about benefits NOW!! but never did look further down the road. Now they are rumored to include a blu-ray drive into the x360.

To those that say that Sony lost market share like this guy. When a new gen starts everyone starts from scratch i.e. Sony will not carry forward their 80% market share from the PS2 era into the PS3. It dosen't work that way people.

Its about time some of you just accept that Sony was smart and they won this format war and is a win for Sony and has put the PS3 in a much better position than before. You guys should just accept it and move on. Stop trying to spin this because its making you guys look stupid.

Ok what the hell? How do you even begin to spin this?

LOL at the title...I didnt even bother reading it. The real question is...Was WWII a German victory?

I've never trusted anyone with the name Bruce.

This article seems so freakin pointless. Cuz if the PS3 was still struggling in sales then this article would make a lot more sense. What morons put this out there. PS3 has cost themselves by inserting blueray drives into their PS3? PS3 is the main reason why blueray beat hd dvd. If M$ was smart enough to include the HD DVD player in the 360 at launch. This format war would have been far from over. Especially with that years head start.

PS3 has nothing and I mean nothing on the Xbox360. Graphics might be the only slight and I mean very slight advantage. But Microsoft has the right formula with their online service and games. Its a beautiful thing.

Did you guys actually read the article? It's not a fanboy article at all. It's a fact that Blu-Ray hurt PS3 sales A LOT. in that sense it is a microsoft victory as far as games are concerned.

Remember that PS2 was the far and away winner last gen, and it's currently in last by almost half as much as the next closest console.

Here's a few facts you people need to get right anyway.

1.) Blu-Ray won't affect game sales that much, it just won't. It's a media format first and foremost.
2.) The console war only has 2-3 more years left, PS3 is going to be a loss compared to last gen regardless of how well it does in the next 3 years.
3.) Developers have a very hard time developing for the PS3, it's split memory architecture just hurts the system and a ton of developers complain about it. Developers follow ease of use, and more importantly game sales, that goes to 360 right now.
4.) PS3 didn't outsell 360 in 2007. PS3 out shipped 360 in 2007. Sony and M$ both only report units shipped to distributers. Normally unimportant, except M$ overshipped by 2 million units in 2006, which were still on store shelves in 07, but counted as sales towards 06. Look at NPD or another retail report, and 360 outsold PS3.
5.) A hard drive not being standard doesn't make digital distribution impossible, it hampers games more than anything. It just means consumers have the choice. If you're planning on downloading stuff, chances are you'll buy one with a hard drive.

You call him a fanboy because he tried to look at this from a different angle, a very legitimate angle, and you jump down his throat for it. If that's not irony, I don't know what is.

why is n4g letting this guy post his articles from bruceongames.com? no offense, perhaps he wasn't thinking when he wrote the articles

Did you guys actually read the article? It's not a fanboy article at all. It's a fact that Blu-Ray hurt PS3 sales A LOT. in that sense it is a microsoft victory as far as games are concerned.

Remember that PS2 was the far and away winner last gen, and it's currently in last by almost half as much as the next closest console.

Here's a few facts you people need to get right anyway.

1.) Blu-Ray won't affect game sales that much, it just won't. It's a media format first and foremost.
2.) The console war only has 2-3 more years left, PS3 is going to be a loss compared to last gen regardless of how well it does in the next 3 years.
3.) Developers have a very hard time developing for the PS3, it's split memory architecture just hurts the system and a ton of developers complain about it. Developers follow ease of use, and more importantly game sales, that goes to 360 right now.
4.) PS3 didn't outsell 360 in 2007. PS3 out shipped 360 in 2007. Sony and M$ both only report units shipped to distributers. Normally unimportant, except M$ overshipped by 2 million units in 2006, which were still on store shelves in 07, but counted as sales towards 06. Look at NPD or another retail report, and 360 outsold PS3.
5.) A hard drive not being standard doesn't make digital distribution impossible, it hampers games more than anything. It just means consumers have the choice. If you're planning on downloading stuff, chances are you'll buy one with a hard drive.

You call him a fanboy because he tried to look at this from a different angle, a very legitimate angle, and you jump down his throat for it. If that's not irony, I don't know what is.

Sony owns the format. Anyone, which is everyone, will use the format, possibly including future Nintendo and Xbox consoles, and Sony gets royalty or propriety fees, however that works, whatever it is called. Microsoft wins how by not owning the next propriety format? They don't.

I know what I'm talking about just as much as everyone here.

No, Blu-ray isn't a Microsoft victory. Blu-ray is a Microsoft _failure_. I firmly believe Microsoft sided with the HD-DVD Consortium specifically to inflict as much damage as possible on Sony's competing format. The fact that they weren't able to is laughable. The fact that Microsoft will not try to eschew optical media completely and fail to deliver a compelling digital download alternative will be even MORE laughable.

Face it, Microsoft's nickel and diming folks like crazy with Xbox Live Marketplace and IMO Xbox Live Video Marketplace... you're getting 720p content at prices you could rent Blu-ray discs for... where's the incentive here? You get an equal or higher price than traditional rental, you get a smaller viewing window, you can't transport the movie to another room or friend's house if you want, there are no extras (alternate endings, alternate languages, bloopers, interactive segments, etc.), XBLVM's videos are 720p instead of 1080p like Blu-ray's.

In 2-3 years Microsoft may have something in the digital download arena that could counter traditional optical HD offerings but broadband penetration and bandwidth aren't properly lined up for Microsoft to be successful at this point. Don't get me wrong... I FULLY expect them to try, I just don't think it'll work. Later this year I expect Sony to launch their service (offering true 1080p content and a cubic crapton of Sony-owned IPs). They own thousands of movies and TV shows.

I realize that was an awful lot of words, but let me summarize here nice and concisely.

No.

Sony had the foresight to implement Blu-Ray in PS3, and the will to see it through. It will benefit them in the long run.

MS clearly has no grand scheme, unless you count squeezing every dime out of their customers as one.

The net simply can't cope with massive HD downloads at this time, so this won't break the disc formats for some time yet.

ms should stick to comps... lol they tried to compete with the ipod with there zune... lmao serious does anyone have one.... i can say they have done better with there xbox. but it seems they just jump on the bang wagon. sony has blu ray ms wants it. apple makes mp3 ms makes zune. lmao....

Did any of you actually read his argument? He never said Blu-Ray winning was a format victory for M$. He said Sony's concentration on the format war helped M$ in the console war, and it did.

People should read the whole article, not just the headline, before posting.

Now that Jim Ryan is gone just need to remove Herman Hulst from his position! And maybe give Shuhei the position he deserved.

This gen hasn't been the best for games, last gen consoles are still out there and now there's been talk of the PS6 and Xbox Two for a year or so. Many games this gen will be ported to next gen and the cycle will continue. The re-release of the Neo Geo AES+, games on cartridge for £70 ($95), gaming is going back in time. Gaming has gone pricing mad with the high cost of games, consoles and controllers. The men and women at the top are clueless.

It’s always interesting to hear behind-the-scenes stories like this, especially involving veterans like Shuhei Yoshida and leadership figures like Jim Ryan. That said, there are usually multiple sides to decisions at that level. It could be less about not “listening” and more about differences in long-term vision for PlayStation. Yoshida played a huge role in shaping the brand, so whatever the reason, his impact is undeniable.

If true, and I'm inclined to believe it is, it goes to show that Sony lost their way when they became more western/didn't respect the PlayStation origin story. Andrew House and Jack Tretton did great work, but they also didn't try to fundamentally change the PlayStation DNA. Ryan oversaw the death of Japan Studio and a live service direction.

I already figured this, good lord imagine if Shuhei took over instead, would've been a platinum era 😩

I miss the first three generations of PlayStation. The way they turned PS3 around, we knew they meant business. We were all worried for a bit there around launch. Eventually from 2008 they started shifting slowly. But since Yoshida was fired, it's never been the same. Still enjoy my PS5 daily. I got a backlog dating back to PS2 lol So I'm fine but new games aren't as appealing anymore.