You've all read about David Karraker's rather crackling statements on Microsoft's Xbox 360 Elite. The Sony official said a lot of things, and even taunted MS by saying that they treat every single PS3 consumer as an "elite." Microsoft Xbox UK top official Neil Thompson gave an interview today and defended their company's move.

Thompson reiterated that what they are currently doing is offering their user base options. The Core version of the console is the most basic while the newly announced Elite has advanced features including a 120GB space and HDMI capabilities. The official said that in this way, people can decide if they just need the basics or if they want something more. Then he continued,

We could do two things. One, we could offer consumer choice, so they could come in whenever they wanted to, and decide to add onto it. But also, that gives us some flexibility, in that we can make offerings that we can change and move within the context of the Core system. So over the next two or three years I think, yes, we're in an evolutionary stage.

But more than the hardware itself, Neil Thompson reminded Xbox 360 users to put more emphasis on the software and services they are offering. He said that through these things, the console is in fact evolving without the need to change its hardware specifications. He explained,

The definition of the 360 is about the fact that we can make the machine you bought today different in a year's time through the software and the services that we can deliver, and change what that machine can do and enhance it and make it better.

Lastly, Thompson assured fans that the Core version will continue to become available and that it is, in fact, doing better than ever.

When Sony announced the PlayStation Home service for the PlayStation 3, Microsoft was rather quick to bash it, saying that it's not even game-centric. So after confirming the long-rumored Xbox 360 Elite, MS should expect the same from its rival company. This time, the guns were fired by David Karraker, Senior Director of Corporate Communications for Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA).

The official said that this move will not, in any way, increase MS' market share. If anything, releasing a third SKU will diminish it as it will ultimately eliminate existing Core consumers. Karraker even said that Microsoft should focus on expanding its demographic outside its 10 million-strong user base. And then Karraker explained,

We're focused on reaching out to the mass market beyond the hardcore gamer, through things like LittleBigPlanet, through Home, through the network. We view every single PlayStation consumer as an elite consumer. Meaning no one is going to get shortchanged at the end of the day, whether they bought one on day one or just yesterday.

It should be remembered that Microsoft remained quiet for so long about this upgraded version of the Xbox 360. At one point, some of its officials were even quoted saying that the HDMI feature is not necessary and that a 20GB space is enough to handle several downloadable content.

Karraker then discussed how the Core version of Xbox 360 is related to PlayStation 2 (PS2). According to him, introducing a new SKU will not allow MS to dip into the existing PS2 consumers. Lastly, he mentioned that when one really thinks about it, the PlayStation 3 (PS3) is just an upgraded version of the PS2. Karraker remarked,

It's the value proposition. When you do the inflation figure for the US$ 299 PlayStation 2, and include the hard drive price in that, it'd be about the same price as a PlayStation 3. The onus is on us to educate the consumer on the value of a console that is going to last for 10 years.

When the Xbox Live Video Marketplace was announced the other day, it sure did shake everyone's foundations. A lot of people were wowed, and a lot of the feedback was positive. Over on the blue corner though (ding-ding-ding!), Sony Computer Entertainment America PR chief David Karraker had something rather sour to say.

He had criticized Microsoft as, in a sense, alienating their lower-end customers (those with the US $ 299 system) with: "I think they are doing a disservice to their consumer base because they are ignoring all those people who bought the Core system." In this Core system, there isn't any HD attachment that could support the massive downloads that they're offering. He also mentioned that given a 20GB capacity in the system, 7GB of this is already taken up with pre-loaded content. Strange thing though is that he didn't point out the fact that 4GB of this 7GB can be deleted.

Anyways, he defends his statement by saying that the PS3 will have the hard drives built-in in the US $ 499 and US $ 599 units. "We would never segregate or shut out any of our consumers from our entertainment experience because they didn't buy the top of the line system," he continues. Their units will be available in two models: a 20GB and a 60 (we knew that). But how much of that is pre-loaded content (OS, shells, firmwares, etc.), he did not say.

Do we smell another flame war coming? [looks at smoke detectors]

Hmmm... it seems that Sony is getting itself in another lawsuit. This time, Sony may soon make another court appearance thanks to its "Next-generation Console Comparison Fact Sheet". The controversial sheet concluded that the Xbox 360 is actually more expensive than the PS3 if you factor in the required add-ons.

Eventually, Sony's David Karraker clarified that "required" add-ons are not actually required. Huh? "If you want to attempt to come close to the performance of the US$ 499 PlayStation 3 by using your Xbox 360, Core or Premium, you could only do that through expensive add-ons -- that is what our chart is demonstrating." Oh!

Needless to say, Microsoft didn't find Sony's doublespeak amusing. The bottomline: Microsoft is preparing legal action against Sony. It's a good time to be a lawyer on both sides of the next-gen console war.

---

UPDATE: It has been pointed out to us that the original source link that we have placed which leads to UNScleric.com is, for some reason, no longer working. So that our readers can know more about this topic, we have replaced the link with one that leads to the Xbox forums instead.

And Sony remains to be intriguingly controversial as ever. With blow after blow coming its way, the company stands its ground and proves itself resilient against whatever negative news that may come its way.

Recently, criticisms came out regarding a released comparison fact sheet from Sony, which critics claimed to be a "slanted, heavily-spun size-up" comparison of the next-gen consoles. In the fact sheet, the US$499 20 GB hard drive-equipped PS3 is pitted against the US$ 299 Xbox 360 core unit, and the US$ 249 Nintendo Wii. At first blush, the immediate conclusion is that the PS3 clearly is the most expensive console.

Or is it, really?

According to the fact sheet, not necessarily so. The implication of the fact sheet is that the Xbox 360, after purchasing all the "necessary" add-ons, would actually amount to US$ 698. The breakdown is as follows: US$ 100 hard drive; US$ 199 HD DVD drive; US$ 150 wireless controller; US$ 50 12-month Xbox Live Gold Subscription. On the other hand, the 20 GB PS3 and Nintendo Wii sit comfortably at their respective MSRPs of US$ 499 and US$ 249, with all the comparable expenses already accounted for.

Well, the Xbox 360 comparison did raise a lot of eyebrows. However, SCEA senior director of corporate communications David Karraker was quick to clarify that when they say "required" add-ons, it didn't necessarily mean everything had to be purchased before you can make your console work. Instead, what it actually meant was that, "If you want to attempt to come close to the performance of the US$ 499 PlayStation 3 by using your Xbox 360, Core or Premium, you could only do that through expensive add-ons -- that is what our chart is demonstrating."

Now don't that give you a lot to think about?