killeryoshis on 29 August 2017
While searching the web I discovered a very old article on the state of the industry back in 2005. Here is the important details I grabbed.
Moore's War
FOR MICROSOFT, THE NEW XBOX IS THE BIGGEST LAUNCH SINCE WINDOWS 95. FOR THE MAN LEADING THE CHARGE, IT'S ALSO A CHANCE FOR REVENGE AGAINST SONY'S PLAYSTATION MASTERMIND.
- Peter Moore is the top marketing executive for Microsoft's next-generation console, the Xbox 360; Kutaragi, the legendary Sony PlayStation CEO, is his archnemesis. The two shook hands, and Kutaragi invited Moore to the Sony booth "to check out the PlayStation 3 videos." Videos? Yes. The PlayStation 3 is not due out until April, and all Sony had to demo in Tokyo were noninteractive computer graphics. The Xbox 360, which launches in the United States on Nov. 22, did not have the same problem. "Thank you, Ken," Moore said with a toothy grin. "But come by our booth if you want to play actual videogames."
-Xbox 360 was to go beyond geeks and reach gamers that even the Playstation couldn't reach
-The stakes are enormous. If Moore's attack makes significant inroads into PlayStation's market share, he will have almost single-handedly realized Gates's vision of Microsoft as a home entertainment powerhouse. But if Kutaragi has the last laugh, then Microsoft--already scrambling for a looming war with Google over the desktop--may have an even greater rival on its hands. It's no secret that Kutaragi expects the PlayStation to one day replace the PC. "For Peter," says Xbox executive J. Allard, "this time it's personal."
-Peter Moore ,who worked for Sega during the Dreamcast era, wanted to take down Playstation as he had wanted revenge over what Playstation did to Sega
-Ken Kutaragi who is considered the father of the Playstation said in 1994 that the biggest threat to Playstation was not Nintendo but Microsoft. Ken Kutaragi also said he will kill Microsoft.
-Moore did extensive consumer research to prove that this wasn't the case with the original Xbox. In one case study, Xbox and PS2 loyalists were asked to argue in front of a judge why their systems were better. The Xbox gamers based their arguments on technology: "I have 7.1 surround sound. I'm immersed in this sound, this color, this beautiful world," one said. PS2 owners, meanwhile, were more laid-back: "It plays games, it's simple, it works," said one, slouched in his seat. Moore believes that the ardent fervor for Xbox actually put up barriers to growth. "We had the hard-core but nothing else," he says.
-Moore is undaunted. "We are not going to be Dreamcasted," he insisted in a rousing speech to Xbox employees in September 2004. "I will not let that happen again." Standing in front of a giant picture of Winston Churchill, quoting from the war leader's speeches, Moore recalled the pain of losing once to Kutaragi.
-If he does win the battle against Kutaragi, Moore knows that his war will be about more than just videogames. The team that Microsoft has assembled for the 360--a tightly interwoven marketing and product design group--could help the company solve problems in its other divisions, most notably digital music. Ballmer doesn't rule out the idea of the Xbox team creating a design for a digital-music player and integrating it with better player software. There's already talk that Moore could head up Microsoft's broader entertainment strategy. First Ken Kutaragi, then Steve Jobs? "[Our team] has a lot of passion to extend beyond games," Allard hints. "Listen, we're not going to keep our design guys waiting around for five years with nothing to do." Xpod, anyone?
I highly reccommend to read the rest of the article if you found the points I listed interesting.
Here is the Source
Here is the Source
