Recap: Xbox 360 crashes PS3 launch fun

by Dustin Burg { Mar 24th 2007 at 10:30AM }

Microsoft had one goal in mind for the European Playstation 3 launch ... be annoying. The Xbox marketing team did everything in their power to humiliate, taunt, and make fun of Sony's launch, all with a smile and a devilish whit. We mentioned France's love boat and the Foster's beer delivery, but there were a few more incidents we didn't acknowledge.

During the PS3 launch in France, the Xbox team sent out text messages to anyone who'd accept them wishing everyone great night.
More beer was delivered.
If you were a waiting in line for a PS3 in the UK, the Xbox team handed out chairs to sit on with a URL on the back. The website, toolate, taunts the PS3 by saying "Xbox welcomes PS3 to the next generation. Sony ... you're late! Let the games begin."
There were also reports that Microsoft employees were standing on nearby rooftops blowing whistles to drown out Sony's press conference talk.

Whether you find these acts hilarious, creative, immature, or evil there's no doubt Microsoft stirred up some negative PR for Sony's European launch. This is the time when we ask ... can't we all just get along?

Tags: europe, europe launch, EuropeLaunch, playstation 3, Playstation3, ps3, xbox, xbox 360, Xbox360

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Gemini Ace @ Mar 24th 2007 10:59AM

Can't we all get along? It's not a console quilting bee, it's a console war.

zourskittles @ Mar 24th 2007 10:59AM

i think if the whistles part is true, that is the funniest thing i have ever heard. Imagine Bill Gates and Major Nelson streaking past a PS3 Press Conference.

Microsoft, you've done it again!

a ham sandwich @ Mar 24th 2007 11:06AM

i think its awesome. id do it to if i were in ms's position!

HEADsoldier07 @ Mar 24th 2007 11:06AM

GO MICROSOFT! they should have used fog horns though...

I Like Corn @ Mar 24th 2007 11:35AM

If the whistle part is true, THAT was just immature. But the rest is too genius to not laugh at. =P

jimhuf @ Mar 24th 2007 11:40AM

if there wasnt any rivalry then we would all be screwed. games would be on single platform so say for halo you have to buy xbox the gears of war on ps3 and so on. console prices wouldnt drop and probably most importantly fan boys heads wouldnt be able to cope with the thought of two equals and their brains would explode and they would be limited to play with a nintendo wii

Matthew Mac @ Mar 24th 2007 10:13PM

I think its great, and Sony should fire back somehow. I'd love to see a real prank rivalry spring up, as long as it stays in good taste.

daniel @ Mar 24th 2007 12:00PM

i love my 360, and will never get a PS3, but i think this stuff is lame. it reminds me of those smarmy apple, get a mac commercials, and i think that ultimately it will backfire.

i mean, MS is the largest company in the world and they're pulling stuff like this? what ever happened to honor in competition?

sports analogy: if you score a goal/home-run/touchdown, act like you've been there before, and you were supposed to do it in the first place. celebrate your victories as a team, and get back to work.

i definitely think it appeals to gamer culture, however. the 360 was supposed to be designed after Bruce Lee... well, what would Bruce Lee do?

Miguel @ Mar 24th 2007 12:13PM

this the funniest and coolest thing microsoft has done! i love them!

A0 @ Mar 24th 2007 12:14PM

#7

If Bruce Lee got dirt thrown in his face (Sony telling lies at E3 saying 360 was an inferior product). Then he would kick some ass...

No questions asked. Plus it's not like this is the first time this has happened. Xbox 360 marketing has been buying PS3 ad space and putting ads for top selling games in their official magazines. It's annoying it's just good marketing.

What Apple does with Macs is dumb because they're telling half truths...

Joe @ Mar 24th 2007 12:18PM

LOL, MS = Evil Genius

Hello @ Mar 24th 2007 12:40PM

haha, Microsoft is awesome

Aaron @ Mar 24th 2007 12:48PM

The mighty SONY ship sinks even more!

jsn @ Mar 24th 2007 2:04PM

the whistles were a little childish, but had there actually been people out there trying to buy ps3's, it wouldn't have been as noticed as it was. Microsoft is outworking Sony on every front and I'm glad for them. MS catches a lot of flak, but they've done well with the 360 and should be commended. It's not a perfect product, but such a thing doesn't exist. From their easy to use development tools to their online network to their media center fuctions, Microsoft innovated and expanded the market. Sony on the other hand, entered the market as if it were the same one they ruled before and most definitely is not.

ChiTownRuler23 @ Mar 24th 2007 2:50PM

better late then ever

Ashley @ Mar 24th 2007 2:57PM

Micro-crap.........I am officaly replacing the "crap" with "soft"

You will now be called Microsoft by me, finaly, after all these years - you are great again!

Vista = RULEZ!
Xbox 360 = RULEZ!
Bill Gates = Kinda RULEZ in his own geeky way!
Xbox team = SUPER RULEZ!!!!!!!!!

evil_eddie @ Mar 24th 2007 3:25PM

I dont like Microsoft for different reasons (thats another story), but with the Xbox they did _everything_ right. Unless you are a diehard Sony fanboy with lots of zits in your face you can do nothing but love the Xbox team for dissing Sony in a mean but very humoristic way.

After all, they are not making fun of their customers by telling them lies like Sony did.

Brent @ Mar 24th 2007 3:56PM

This is sad and truly shows the immaturity of most gamers. I play video games for fun and enjoyment, it seems most people feed off of bashing another system, you people are pathetic and prove that fanboy's are retards.

Bill Gates IV @ Mar 24th 2007 4:34PM

.. lame ... and by the way Vista sucks !

stewis @ Mar 24th 2007 6:07PM

I think MS wasted some money there as every store in the town i live in has tonnes of PS3's and they are advertising in the windows we have them in stock...

Seems like PS3's are too expensive and Sony are doing a pretty good job of making sure they dont sell...

Maybe MS should have spent there money they wasted on this to give me one of those 120gb hard drives that are supposed to be released soon.

BTW i am from Leamington Spa in the UK.

sracer @ Mar 24th 2007 6:50PM

Lame. Lame on all fronts. Rather than take childish potshots at Sony (which does absolutely nothing for us current 360 owners) they should be keeping the pressure on.

Keep the pressure on by producing larger harddrives. More games that take advantage of the vision camera. Loosen their grip a bit with what a/v codecs are supported.

Poking fun at Sony is easy... and it's cheap.
I'd rather see MS push the envelope.

RogueStorm @ Mar 24th 2007 8:25PM

Guerilla marketing like this spreads like wildfire. Not a bad tactic, even if it does appear childish. Perhaps Microsoft is taking a page out of the Nintendo playbook and realizing that gaming is supposed to be fun, not some kind of high-end, profession as Sony seems to be trumping up with the PS3.

On the other hand, I actually heard a few guys looking at an Xbox 360 in the store the other day and they actually kicked the stack lightly and remarked that the Xbox was "crap" and that the PS3 was a million times better. I barely contained myself, but followed along with one of my favorite sayings of all time.

"Don't argue with a moron, they'll only bring you down to their level and beat you with experience."

k0llateral @ Mar 24th 2007 10:26PM

This is pretty stupid...

And don't even act like, if MS and Sony were on opposite ends, you all wouldn't be jeering Sony for being "immature and desperate"

IMO the 360 is the better all-around console atm, so I don't see why they need to do stupid sh*t like this to take away attention.

AL7AIR @ Mar 24th 2007 10:38PM

Microsoft must be real confident in their little machine if they have to bribe people with beer and persuade them at the last minute before they are buying somebodies else hardware.

thehunter1320 @ Mar 25th 2007 12:03AM

#22: When Sony is involved, I highly doubt it would be in good taste. Their PR people are TERRIBLE! Especially in the UK. (This is living? Living where? An asylum?)

Toph @ Mar 25th 2007 12:27AM

I tell you, this was a brilliant move. Maybe not something worth doing in the future, but still brilliant at the present time.

Bullet points I take away from this whole thing:

* MS knew this wouldn't sell 360's; that wasn't the point. It simply was a big message to customers that MS knows what's going on and will always pay attension to Sony like a hawk and continue to outdo them in this generation.

* The messages MS sent didn't hamper PS3 sales; it didn't need that assistance and MS knew it..the PS3 is selling even worse in Europe than it did here over it's launch weekend. Even with 3 free games and a Blu-ray movie PLUS 10% student sales, lines aren't forming many places on it's own lack of steam.

* This was nothing but an expression of fun for MS and didn't hurt anything. If it irked Sony and made 360 fans laugh, it served it's purpose.

Welcome to the party, Sony! Hope there's a chair left open for you!

Qube @ Mar 25th 2007 4:15AM

If you compare the destructive nature of the German PS3 launch - where gamers were encouraged to throw their Xbox 360 off a cliff (indoor) to score a free PS3 - Microsoft are light years ahead.

They've turned gifts (beer for the press and chairs for weary Sony fanboys) and positive vibes (Xbox 360 Loves You) into some clever marketing... as underhanded as that might be. That, in my opinion, is way more respectable than asking consumers to destroy the competition's hardware.

Bri Deezy @ Mar 25th 2007 2:58PM

I guess the move by Microsoft wasn't too bad. Brings me back to the days when Nintendo and Sega were bickering with one another. Remember those "Nintendon't" ads by Sega :) Or those clever Crash Bandicoot TV ads with the guy in the costume with a bullhorn yelling "Hey Plumber boy!" at Nintendo's headquarters. Classic!