VIDEO GAME WARS:

   Two of the business world's fastest movers, Sony and Microsoft, are 1)vying for the 2)supremacy of the 3)booming video games industry. The game's market is a cultural phenomenon. As a form of entertainment, it's been vastly 4)underrated and yet in terms of sales, it's bigger than movies, bigger than videos and fast catching 1 up with the music business. And as current market leaders, Sony are in pole position. The new 5)console is Sony's most important product ever. At its peak, the original Play Station accounted for 40% of Sony's profits. The first Play Station still dominates the 20 billion dollar global games market. The new console has to deliver this and more, so far so good.

   Sony aren't the only players in the game's market, two other Japanese companies Sega and Nintendo are also in the business. But they have sold mainly to children. So in claiming the cash of mostly male 20 something like Paul, Sony have left the rest for dead in the adult games market until now. Play Station's grip on this grown up market is about to be challenged by the richest kid on the block. In just over 25 years, Microsoft have risen to the top of the personal computer business. 90% of the world's computers use their software and they have a stock market worth of over 300 billion dollars. Now the world's most valuable company want to conquer the games machine business and they don't like losing. And this 6)prototype is what Microsoft's image of fun currently looks like, the big sell, is that it will be three times more powerful than Play Station 2. The Xbox is Microsoft's biggest ever project.

Robbie Bach (Chief Officer Xbox): If you compare it to something like Windows 95, this will be dramatically bigger than that, in terms of our focus, our efforts and our intent to be successful. Obviously Windows 95 at the time was a big event. But when you look at what we are trying to do, we are trying to reach consumers around the world with a new message, and a new product, that's gonna take a scale and a commitment of effort that Microsoft's never done before.

   Over the short life-time of the video game's industry, the technical capacity of the machine has improved rapidly. Year on year consoles have provided clearer 7)graphics, better audio and more exciting experiences for the player. Games technology, and which company bodes  the best, is a key battle ground for both Sony and Microsoft.

    Play Station 2 has a built-in DVD player and you can link up other devices through it.

Alan Welsman (Marketing Director, Play Station): You will be able to connect your 8)camcorder to it, or a digital camera or any home recording 2 device, a mini-disc something like that. You can connect all of these so if you wanted to record yourself and put yourself into a game or use some software on Play Station 2, that allows you to 9)compile home videos whatever, you can do that through the Play Station 2.

     But much more than this Play Station 2 will have Internet access. Information and entertainment can be downloaded from the web and experienced by the once humble 3 game's console.

Alan Welsman: Play Station 2 is probably the key 10)component of this strategy to build into this network entertainment world. The world where you can download the movies of your choice and the music of your choice. It's vitally important for that, as if you like as a Trojan horse in a living room to provide that to consumers.

    Microsoft are more 11)circumspect about their long term plans for the Xbox, sticking to the line that it's really just a machine to play games on, they say Sony are 12)barking up the wrong tree.

Robbie Bach: I actually would argue that the console market isn't drifting that way. I think there's a phrase we use where we say technologies 13)converged but the devices don't. And in fact in the technology, that's going on in the states, things are converging 4. In fact, our Xbox is based very much on a very traditional PC architecture design. So that technology is converging, and that's good. But the device itself, the box has to be very dedicated 5 to what you want to have happen in a game, because otherwise you get what I call the toaster telephone, which is an interesting device, that technically 6 you can produce, but the consumers don't really want. They want a great toaster and a great telephone; not some bad mix of the two.

    Right now this appears to be a clear difference between the two giants, but it will surely disappear if the games console sitting under your T.V. does indeed become the nerve center of home entertainment, because in this new battle, the potential rewards could be immense.

电子游戏争霸战硝烟四起

   商界行动最快的两家公司--索尼和微软--正在兴起的电玩业内争夺霸主地位。电玩市场是种文化现象。作为一种消遣方式，它的影响力给大大地低估了，但它的销售额高于影碟和录像带，并正飞速赶上音乐唱片。索尼作为当今的市场前锋，占据着一席重要之地。新的一项产品是索尼历来最重要的产品。第一代PS机在全盛期内，销售额占去全公司利润收入的40%。第一代的PS机如今雄霸着总价值200亿美元的全球电玩市场。新一代的产品看来走势会更好，至今一切尚好。

   不过索尼并非推出游戏机的唯一商家，另两家日本公司世嘉和任天堂也是它的同行竞争对手，只是他们的主要顾客为儿童，至于像保罗这样20来岁的男性，成人游戏市场则是索尼雄据的天下，但索尼眼前的好景就要受到一家财大气粗公司的挑战了。微软公司只在短短25年内便发展为个人电脑业的佼佼者。全世界90%的电脑都在使用他们的软件，他们的市值高达3000亿美元。现在这家世界最富有的公司想要进军电玩业，他们可不喜欢败下阵来。Xbox即微软所描绘的好玩之物，这可是个大买卖，销量会比PS机多出三倍呢。它可是微软公司历来最大型的项目。

罗比·巴赫（Xbox主要工作人员）：如果拿它与视窗95做比较，这计划的规模可大多了。我们专心致志，誓要成功。 显然当年推出视窗95时曾轰动一时。但如果你注意到的话，这次我们试着要向全球消费者推出的是全新的概念和全新的产品，微软投入的决心和精力是空前的。

   在电玩业短短的历史中，技术水平的改进速度是突飞迅猛的，每年都创出更清晰的游戏图面、更好的声响，以及为玩家提供更刺激的乐趣体验。索尼和微软都声称掌握了最好的游戏技术，在战场上各不相让。

   第二代的PS机配有内置数码影碟机，你能用它连接驳其他设置。

阿兰·威士曼（PS机销售部主任）：可接驳便携式录像机、数码照相机、以及MD机等任何家庭录音器材。如果你想自录或把自己置于游戏中，或使用第二代PS机的其他软件的话，你可以用第二代PS机来连接所有的这些器材，自制家庭录影带等等，都能通过第二代PS机来实现。

   不止如此，第二代PS机还可以用于上网，直接从网上下载娱乐资讯，一切乐趣尽在这部外型简单的游戏机里。

阿兰·威士曼：第二代PS机也许正是建立网络娱乐世界的必需之物。你可以把你所喜欢的电影和音乐下载到这里面去。这是极端重要的，提供给消费者的就好像是一部家庭万能装置。

   微软对Xbox的长远发展计划持更为慎重的态度，他们坚信该产品的通途只是供人游戏，并说索尼是功夫用错了地方。

罗比·巴赫：我对此持有异议，因为游戏机市场不是朝那方向发展的。我们常说：科技能汇聚，器材却不能。事实上目前科技正是如此在汇聚着。我们的Xbox其实沿用了十分传统的个人电脑构造设计，所以科技汇聚是好事。但设备本身却应该只供游戏用途，否则就会出现类似于电话烤炉这样的东西，这样的设备很有趣味，技术上你可以生产出来，但消费者却不会去买。他们想要的是一个好的烤炉和一架好的电话，却不是糟糕的两者合一。

   如今在产品概念上两大阵营的分歧很大，但等电子游戏机装在家庭电视机旁，成了家庭娱乐的指挥中枢后，以上的分歧就会消失。因为在这一场新战役中，胜出的一方将会收到无与伦比的丰厚奖赏。

1) vie  v. 竞争

2) supremacy   n. 至高无上，霸权

3) booming   a. 急速发展的

4) underrate   v. 低估，看轻

5) console  n. 安慰，托架，控制台

6) prototype   n. 原型

7) graphics  n. 图画，图形

8) camcorder  n. 可携式录像机

9) compile   v. 编译，编写

10) component   n. 成分，因素

11) circumspect   a. 慎重的，周到的

12) bark up the wrong tree 攻错了目标

13) converge   v. 会聚