KAZ HIRAI SLAMS MICROSOFT

QJ.Net is reporting that in a recent interview with Playstation Magazine, Sony’s Kaz Hirai slammed Microsoft for “copying” everything Sony does – which is kind of surprising given the direction Sony has taken with the Playstation 3 and the features it incorporates;

“Every time we go down a path, we look behind and they’re right there – we just can’t shake these guys. I wish that they would come up with some strategies of their own, but they seem to be going down the path of everything we do. If you look at their strategy in other business areas as well, they tend to do that.” -Kaz Hirai

I don’t know about you, but that quote kind of cracks me up given how Sony is aping Microsoft’s Xbox Live service, Nintendo‘s controller designs and the like and more. To be fair though, as PSM showed us all recently, the technology being used by the Playstation 3 controller is nothing new for Sony.

Hirai apparently followed those comments with a dig about the external Xbox 360 HD-DVD drive and the confusion it could generate for consumers;

“And the other thing is, you take a look at, for example, the fact that we incorporate the Blu-ray drive from day one. You’re not going to be asking me, ‘So, talk to me about this Blu-ray add-on that you have. Does it work for games? Is it just for movies?’ That’s exactly the kind of pitfall you fall into if you launch something that’s too early, too premature…” -Kaz Hirai

At least on that end, depending on how you look at it, Hirai has a valid point. While I and many people I know prefer the idea of deciding if we want to pay the added expense of a HD-DVD drive with the 360, there are very few questions regarding how Sony can use the Blu-ray player. I’m sure there are people out there who prefer the idea of having everything built in from day one… I’m just saying I haven’t met many of them yet.

You can check out the QJ.Net story here for more details and the “current” issue of PSM for the full story.