Sony’s SVP of publisher relations says that Microsoft is stifling creativity in order to protect its “inferior technology.”
Sony executive Rob Dyer says that Microsoft’s content policy, where Microsoft reserves the right not to allow content on the Xbox 360 if it isn’t as good as versions on other systems, is kicking the “living crap” out of publishers.
Dyer said that while Microsoft claimed it was trying to do what was best for its customers, what it was actually doing was protecting an “inferior technology” by making developers think twice about creating special content for the PS3. “If you want to do anything for Blu-Ray, or you have extra content above nine gigs, or you want to do anything of that nature, you’d better sure as heck remember that Microsoft can’t handle that,” Dyer said.
“So from a creativity standpoint and what we are doing to try to make it better for the consumer, our view is Microsoft’s doing everything they can to eliminate that because they have an inferior [console],” he added. “I just wanted to make it clear from Chris Lewis’ comment last week and the fact that he’s saying, ‘Well, this is great for consumers,’ and that they’re going to protect their consumers. I think that that is an admirable stance to take. That being said, while they might be protecting their consumers, what are they protecting them from? And what it looks like they’re protecting them from is the ability to see great content show up on a superior technology.”
Predictably, he said that things were different over on Sony’s side of the fence, where publishers and developers had a lot more freedom. He said that Sony did not require PSN developers to jump through the various hoops that Microsoft had set up for XBLA. He said that Sony wanted to be inclusive rather than restrictive when it came to dealing with publishers and developers, and pointed to its deals with Valve and CCP as examples of how its policy was paying off.
Now, I’d never suggest that Microsoft’s policy doesn’t come across as restrictive, and it’s no secret that Microsoft’s closed strategy for Xbox Live has meant that gamers have lost out on content over the years, but Dyer’s comments read like a slightly more literate version of the PS3 fanboy posts you see on forums all over the internet. Obviously, he’s going to say the PS3 is the best console around, but there’s a world of difference between saying “the PS3 is more open,” and “the PS3 is more open, and Microsoft is deliberately stifling creativity because it’s scared the 360 can’t compete.” Of course, this isn’t the first time Sony has pounced on an opportunity to trash talk the competition in order to make the PS3 look better, which is sad, because the PS3 has more than enough going for it to stand on its own merits.
Source: Industry Gamers
Published: Sep 5, 2011 02:04 pm