Microsoft: We've Won the Core Gamer

Xbox 360 group product manager Aaron Greenberg told Next-Gen in a phone interview Thursday following the release of March's NPD sales figures, "I think the battle for the core user is sort of over, if you will. We're heading now well beyond 20 million in console sales.

"I feel we've secured that core buyer, and that gives us quite a bit of an advantage versus PS3, which is late to the game and still at a price disadvantage relative to the Xbox."

Asked if his verdict is being doled out too soon, as big PlayStation 3 titles such as Metal Gear Solid 4, LittleBigPlanet and Gran Turismo 5 loom on the horizon, he asserted that Xbox 360 has indeed outdone PS3 in the core market.

"I think the type of audience that [Sony is] going after with many of those games, frankly, are Xbox 360 owners...They're trying to go after a consumer that has already bought an Xbox 360, which frankly has a much broader lineup with more titles and more exclusives. You could say that [Sony] showed up with too little, too late."

But even Greenberg will admit that on a global scale, the console war battleground is hotly contested, particularly in Europe, where the PlayStation brand, along with sales for Sony's console, remain strong.

"Without a doubt, Sony is a very formidable competitor in Europe, and they have entrenched themselves as an established brand, and we recognize that," he said. "But it's also part of the reason why we say Europe is the battleground territory for us this generation. So we've really double-downed our efforts there in marketing spend and our aggressiveness in that market."

Greenberg said Microsoft is forecasting Xbox 360's installed base in the US to be two- to three-times that of the PS3 by the end of 2008.

In addition, he said in the US and in EMEA territories, the Xbox 360 version of Grand Theft Auto IV has had more pre-orders than the PS3 version by a 2:1 margin. That game launches on April 29.

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Who has won the core gamer, let us know via Comments

I know right? There are so many tactical espionage games on 360 that MGS4 is just a complete ripoff. And the 360 is selling way more than the PS3 in all territories which is why it's totally going to increase its lead. Well, actually it's not because it's quite clearly got supply constraints, but if it wasn't for those it would be super.

I love that fact that both MS and Sony say that Europe is a major battle ground between them, yet they both shaft Europeans with their pricing, late launches, reduced offerings of SKU's etc. etc....
Save your corporate BS for your share holders