Microsoft starts playing hardball (1 Viewer)

[MikeAlletto]

http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1103-861947.html
Ya know...no one had a problem in the past with Sony and playstations. And I bet Microsoft was there then also. But now that Microsoft has a competing product they whine till they get their way. Company fighting like this really annoys me.

 

[Camp]

oh...E3 is gonna be fun. Sony will strike back.

I used to go to CES when gaming companies were there and amused by the creativity of the practical jokes played upon the competition. -especially "attacks" on the parties.

 

[Masood Ali]

Microsoft's behavior reminds me of a frightened animal backed into a corner. What are they so scared of

 

[Dave F]

Microsoft's behavior reminds me of a frightened animal backed into a corner

The same can be said about many of Sony's actions though, except that MS's actions aren't as shady.

-Dave

 

[Masood Ali]

What can be more shady than doing something and denying you did it?

 

[Trevor_J]

I don't see anything wrong with what Microsoft (allegedly) did. If the rules said that they weren't allowed to let the public play the games then clearly Sony is wrong for doing that and MS had a legitimate complaint. If the tables were reversed the headline would say 'Microsoft Stoops To a New Low'.
:rolleyes

 

[Masood Ali]

Hahaha, c'mon, it wasn't an enforced rule because people enjoyed being able to play games while attending the convention, and the convention officials didn't mind. Microsoft could have joined in, and nobody would have objected either (this option would be more beneficial to the public). Instead, MS chose the option more detrimental to the public, which was having Sony remove their machines.

Any action which reduces the amount of fun the public can have is bad, in my book. Maybe MS didn't think the public would be impressed by their demos?

And "if the rules were reversed", Sony would be the ones sucking the fun out of the convention.

 

[Thom B]

Funny that the ZDNet story doesn't include this quote from the BBC-

A spokeswoman for CeBIT told BBC News Online: "We received complaints from many, many exhibitors about Sony, including from Microsoft."

 

[Masood Ali]

While browsing the BBC website, I ran across reader impressions of the Xbox. Check them out here.

 

[Sean Oneil]

Damned if most of those 'quotes' did not sound like they came from the same person I am sure this is not the case, but it seemes that every other person on that list was a skeptic.. and I saw the quote "look what happened to the Dreamcast" VERY often. Still, you can't be supprised if people do not come out in droves, because the Xbox is just so damn expensive over there in Europe.
Oh, thanks for the Link Masood
On the topic of this thread, it is kind of sad that people would complain over something so petty as having playable game systems... it seems like a silly rule to have in the first place. I don't know who, or how many parties complained about Sony, but they probably felt that Sony was getting special treatment in some way. Maybe that is the case, but it seems like a silly point to complain about.

 

[Iain Lambert]

I look at what happened to the Dreamcast, and then I remember that I've had more gaming fun out of my Dreamcast than I ever did with my Playstation. Sure, its a disappointment that the machine is getting few to no new games less than three years after it launched, and Sega haven't done very well financially out of it, but if the X-Box gets as many great games as it did then it won't be a bad investment. Halo and JSRF are a pretty impressive start to that.

 

[Dave Falasco]

So let me get this straight, there is a technology show that expressly prohibits playable video games, Sony sets up 27 playable video games anyway, a bunch of exhibitors complain, including Microsoft, and now the perception is that MS is "whiny" and "acting like a cornered animal"?
Wow.
Here's another quote from the same story on Gamespot:

"We have asked the CeBIT organizers why we aren't allowed to present Xbox while at the same time Sony has 27 demo racks of the PlayStation 2 at its booth," Microsoft Germany's PR manager Boris Schneider-Johne told industry publication MCV

Yeah, MS is the bad guy in this story. :rolleyes

 

[MikeAlletto]

So let me get this straight, there is a technology show that expressly prohibits playable video games, Sony sets up 27 playable video games anyway, a bunch of exhibitors complain, including Microsoft, and now the perception is that MS is "whiny" and "acting like a cornered animal"?

Yeah they are...Sony had shown playable playstations for the past 3 years and no one complained then. But all of a sudden this year Microsoft has a competing product and they didn't setup playable kiosks. So they complain about it. It really smells of a setup on Microsofts part. They saw what Sony had been doing the past 3 years and no one minded. So they purposely didn't setup their own playable kiosks and then showed up pretending to be in good faith. Saw Sony had playable stations and cried foul. And looky looky...who's the only one on the floor showing a major game system now? Rather sneaky way to get rid of the competition if you ask me. Sony even went to them trying to compromise and Microsoft said no way.

 

[Dave Falasco]

If no one minded in the past, why did the organizers receive complaints from "many, many exhibitors", including MS, this year? I suppose Bill Gates paid everyone off?
I think you are letting your perception of MS distort your view of the story, but hey, it's a very small story and I'm not gonna fight you to the death over it.

 

[Trevor_J]

Microsoft could have joined in, and nobody would have objected either (this option would be more beneficial to the public). Instead, MS chose the option more detrimental to the public, which was having Sony remove their machines.

Ok, so if MS showed up at this convention without the proper facilites to allow the attendees to play their games, what would a fair comprimise be in your opinion? In my eyes, having them remove the offending items is the only comprimise. I'm sure that MS has no problems competing side by side with Sony, afterall, they got into the console business with the intention of doing just that!

 

[Thom B]

...She said CeBIT asked Sony to switch the games off but instead the company removed all of its consoles from the fair...

Honestly, Sony vs MS? "Oh my gosh! MegaCorpA is being unfair to MegaCorpB! The bastards!" Whatever. This is almost as silly as election season.

 

[Dave F]

MegaCorpA is being unfair to MegaCorpB

LOL
-Dave