I’m getting pretty sick of Microsoft and their “choice” bullshit. In a recent interview with EGM the question of choice was brought up with the HD-DVD add-on for the 360. If Microsoft wants to give users choices, why not make a Blu-ray add-on as well? Here’s the exchange:

EGM: in regards to HD-DVD as an optinal add-on, you said in the past, “We’re not forcing movie technology on game players, but instead are letting them choose how to personalize their experiences.” If this is true, why not sell a Blu-ray player as well?

Perter Moore: Well, because… when we look at HD-DVD, we’re looking at a superior format. Microsoft is a backer of HD-DVD for a number of reasons, and I don’t see any reason why we should support something that we don’t believe in. We believe in HD-DVD.

EGM: Why not give customers the choice, though?

Peter Moore: Because the consumer’s choosing HD-DVD. [Laughs all around] Look… we’re not going to get embroiled in a movie-playback war. We’re very clear on this. If you’ve already got your 360, $199 put you in the high-def movie playback scenario, but i’m not burdening the box with it as our competitor’s done. This is about games. It’s not about movies.

EGM: Does that mean you wouldn’t include a built-in HD-DVD player in future iterations of the Xbox 360?

Peter Moore: No, no, it’s about choice. We’re absolutely focused on consumers that want to play games, and if they’re fortunate enough to be the small minority right now that have the equipment to take advantage of the new generation of high-definition movie playback, then at their choice they can buy an HD-DVD player for $199.

Later on in the same interview Peter Moore was asked about why they didn’t include a hard drive with the Core unit. Again, the answer was “choice.” Recently they’ve given users another “choice”, 512MB of flash for $50. Totally great for users, right? Pure bullshit.

Sony hasn’t done many things right with the Playstation 3, but the things they have done right are to the total benefit of users and provide real choices. For example, with the PS3, you can…

- Choose to upgrade your own hard drive.
- Choose to use any popular memory card format (MS, CF, SD).
- Choose to use any external storage you want.
- Choose to use any Bluetooth headset.

The PS3 costs more than a 360, i’m well aware, but with that initially high cost you get real choices on how to expand the system - saving you a fair amount of money along the way - instead of being tied down to overpriced, proprietary tech. Thirty dollars for 8MB of flash may have been the way to go last generation, but now it’s just greedy. Hell, even Nintendo isn’t going with proprietary storage anymore, that tells you something.