Game over for Microsoft Xbox?

Microsoft will be in-console-able come Christmas, claims Sony boss...

The father of the PlayStation claims Microsoft's Xbox is "finished" before it hits the stores this Christmas. Ken Kutaragi, president of Sony Computer Entertainment, reportedly said: "Microsoft was finished before it even got started. They have no games. Microsoft does not understand the entertainment business. "The processing speed of their console is not fast enough and the graphics were rough." Kutaragi's statement crystallised growing pessimism amongst analysts about the software giant's chances of a successful crack at the $20bn games industry. Shunji Yamashina, games analyst for Societe General, reportedly said the 16 games Microsoft had shown publicly so far were inadequate. He said: "All the games were just extensions of PC games. Nobody needs to buy an Xbox." Kutaragi also said that US retailers were pessimistic about the Xbox. He said: "Retailers told me that on a dollar base, they expect 70 per cent of their sales will come from PlayStation. The next generation belongs to Sony and Nintendo." Nintendo is due to launch its GameCube in the US in November at a price of $199. Microsoft will launch Xbox three days later, on November 8, at a price of $299.