Iedereen weet nou langzamerhand dat Microsoft nogal aggre ief is qua marketing. En natuurlijk ook op de games markt, oftewel de console markt. Opeens zijn er de afgelopen maand heel veel nieuwtjes over de Xbox uitgelekt, zoals specs, controllers etc. Zelfs de development kit is opeens naar alle developers gestuurd. Volgens Robert X. Cringely maakt dit allemaal deel uit van Microsoft's strategy tegen de Playstation 2:Now we are three weeks away from the PlayStation 2 U.S. rollout, and suddenly there are technical details of X-Box available to write stories and columns about. Microsoft pretends it is upset that this confidential information has been leaked, but the truth is it's intentional. A little X-Box buzz right now can only hurt PlayStation 2, which Microsoft has correctly labeled as a threat.

Why release the information now rather than on the eve of Sony's August 31 intro? Because now is a quiet time when stories are more likely to be written. Sony plans to spend $1 billion to promote PlayStation 2 in the U.S. market. Compare that to the $400 million Microsoft spent to introduce Windows 98. By the end of the month there will be so much PlayStation 2 hype that any competing tech stories will be buried. This doesn't bode well for poor Sega, which has an announcement of its own coming at about the same time.

Damn, Sony gaat dus 2 keer zoveel geld in reklame steken (Microsoft $500 miljoen). Een wonder dat Microsoft nog niet heeft aangekondigd dat te gaan overtreffen