Skip to main content

Long read: The beauty and drama of video games and their clouds

"It's a little bit hard to work out without knowing the altitude of that dragon..."

If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy.

Xbox 360 will outperform PS3 in software for years - Mattrick

He jokes Sony must've been on holiday.

Xbox 360 software will outperform PS3 software in the next three years and beyond, according to Microsoft's Don Mattrick.

"I think we're going to outperform them," Mattrick told Eurogamer in an interview published today when we asked whether the Xbox 360 business could stand up to Sony's threat to dominate in the next few years of the PS3 lifecycle.

When we asked to clarify if he meant Xbox 360's next three or four years of software will outperform PS3's, and that PS3 will be unable to make up the ground, he replied: "That's what I said."

Mattrick famously hung the Microsoft's E3 press conference on the claim that Xbox 360 will defeat PS3 worldwide in this generation of consoles and told Eurogamer that he came out and said it because he was fed up of being asked about it.

"I did the math, I did the math a different way, I did the math...there was no equation that I came to where I got a different answer, and I went, 'You know what? This is getting boring,'" he said. "Like, instead of everyone standing on the sidelines trying to hedge, I'm just going to say it."

"We're the first box in this generation to pass 10 million units, we've passed so many thresholds in terms of quality titles," he explained.

"You look at aggregated reviews from around the world - you go onto Metacritic - and count the number of 90-rated titles on our platform, compare that to Wii, compare that to PlayStation 3: there is no comparison."

Microsoft's conference was fast-paced and heavier in terms of news and product demonstrations than its Sony and Nintendo counterparts, and Mattrick praised his team for being able to reveal so much.

"I think our team showed up for work every day, had more than 12 months of productivity, and it kind of feels like the competition took an extended holiday and didn't get as much done as a result," he said.

"I hope the other guys got some great pictures when they were away on vacation," he added a couple of questions later.

See elsewhere on Eurogamer for the full E3 2008 Don Mattrick interview.