GameSpot talked with Aaron Greenberg about Sony's solution to see what Microsoft plans to do to combat the free online service that is arriving in the next few months.
GameSpot: What are your impressions of Sony's online initiative? What do you think it offers that Xbox Live doesn't, and vice versa?
Aaron Greenberg: We welcomed the same approach from Sony four years ago. We're proud that we've created a smash hit service that has prevailed over four years by growing to 4 million members during that time. And we're flattered that we've created a service that is breeding yet another knockoff. That said, it's still hard to comment in much depth around their online announcement since there are still a lot of details that haven't been made clear and there are a lot of unanswered questions. Is this a fully connected service with one identity across your entire gameplay experience? Is every game online with voice chat integration? Do they have Achievements and Gamerscore? How are they handling safety, security, hacking, viruses, and parental controls? While competition is always great, we feel confident in our leadership position in online, especially given our four-year and 4-million-member head start.
What is clear from Greenberg's response: he's not worried. There should be, of course, some fear of the unknown. Microsoft seems to be spinning the negatives of the Sony solution rather easily but the fact remains, they do not know all the details to the system. Just as we don't know all the details with the Nintendo Wii network model we also have many un-answered questions on the Sony service.
The only thing that we know for a fact: Microsoft's solution is a yearly fee while the other solutions are free. Will this impact a gamers choice for a console this holiday? Doubtful with all the other driving reasons to like or dislike the competing consoles.
The only other "sure thing" being Microsoft's obvious success with the Xbox Live Service.
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