Neil Thompson, Microsoft's regional director of Xbox in the UK, has emphasized the need for the videogame industry to impress upon parents that consoles and videogames have grown far beyond what they were in the past.

 Following the government decision to uphold PEGI as the sole and official ratings board in UK, the BBFC has sent their well-wishes, albeit still with that restrained barb. BBFC Director David Cooke insisted that the BBFC would have been the better choice. Meanwhile, top industry heads are giving their praises for the government's pick. Read all about it after the jump.

Remember those news bits about the Wii and DS being used as educational tools in classrooms around the world? What about those educational games like Brain Training and the like? Those sound like great ways to make the non-gaming masses more open to video games, right? Well, Microsoft's Neil Thompson thinks otherwise.

Another Microsoft UK officer has something to say about the delay of the PlayStation Home service. Microsoft's senior regional director in the UK and Ireland, Neil Thompson, said that Home was something that Sony's customers wanted, and that it's a mistake to not give them what they expect. Thompson continued:

I think one of the disappointing/interesting things I heard from them at the Tokyo Game Show was that they just delayed the [Home] online service delivery again. That's more interesting, because I think they underestimated how challenging it is to deliver this sort of service, and to deliver the elements of the service that consumers really want.

Thompson is also skeptical about how the finished product would look like. He said that Sony managed to stir up a high level of interest for the Home service, and is wondering if Sony will live up to the PS3 gamer's expectations.

Sony's Ray Maguire, and Microsoft's Neil Thompson were recently interviewed in the latest edition of the Eurogamer TV Show. Both executives of course, were quick to note the value involved with their respective product, and criticised (however slightly) the competition.

Microsoft's Neil Thompson had a whole lot to fire in Sony's direction. In response to Sony's announcement of PlayStation Home and Maguire's promise of user freedom, user generated content on the PlayStation Network, and why Sony's claims being more of a "show not tell" type of company when it comes to their products and services, Thompson said:

We passionately believe that online gaming, and having an identity within the online gaming community, is what's core to what you need to offer - a service that can transcend different titles where you can communicate with your gaming friends no matter what platform you're on and what game you're playing.

I don't see how Sony can really deliver that, and they're certainly not delivering that in a compelling way today. ...I think what Sony's talking about has compelling aspects to it, but I don't think there's anything there that... We're going to be afraid of competing with, because we will certainly evolve our service as we move forward.

More after the jump!

Neil Thompson, UK Microsoft Xbox boss, refuses to acknowledge hints that the Playstation 3's built-in Blu-ray drive gives the machine tactical advantage over the Xbox 360. Whilst the PS3 is a big, heavy truck requiring a big, heavy engine, the Xbox remains a much more nimble box that uses its architecture in a much more nimble way, according to him.

Possibly igniting fanboy spats everywhere, Thompson wonders of the PS3,

Do I want to make people pay £ 200 extra for a machine with discs that have storage space I don’t need? My answer’s no, I don’t need to do that today. And I don’t think I’m going to need to do that for quite a while.

Thompson says that the nimble Xbox 360 could adapt to anything that the PS3 has in its arsenal. He says that he's not sure that the market has evolved to high definition movies yet, a reference to the PS3's Blu-ray drive. But when market finally adapts to high-definition movies, the Xbox 360 has means to go with whichever way the market wants.

The PS3's Blu-ray drive has been cited as one of the reasons for the system's heavy price tag. The Xbox 360 is less expensive than the PS3, but could not play next-gen movies. Then again, Thompson says that the Xbox 360 has been developed to deliver HD gaming - not to drive really complicated engines to get Blu-ray players into the market.

"The biggest threat that Sony has for us is the brand that’s been established around it," says Neil Thompson, Microsoft's regional head of entertainment for the United Kingdom and Ireland.

The Microsoft bigwig may not be the most level-headed person to voice out his opinion on Sony's PS3 console but he still dished out a mouthful regarding Sony's freshly released (at least for the PAL regions) game machine. He explained that the biggest and most important advantages in the console war are on the Xbox 360's side: A great online gaming experience and a bigger game library.

At the same time, he criticized the Sony online model, describing the PlayStation Home network as "a virtual world where you can do everything except gaming."

Thompson, however, did admit that the PS3 has the advantage in terms of graphics because of its now-famous high-definition visuals, but hinted that Xbox's advantages would outweigh that edge.

"In the technology and gaming there’s really little in the PS3 where I can say, ‘Gosh, I wish we had that’," concludes Thompson.

 

Next Generation informs that in a BBC report, Xbox UK boss, Neil Thompson noted "Whatever format wins it is highly likely we will offer a solution."

WoW. Apparently, Microsoft isn't anti-Sony enough that it wouldn't offer a Blu-ray solution for their Xbox 360 if the format happens to beat HD-DVD. Well, consumer choice has been Microsoft's marketing game-plan in the last few months, so it only makes sense. It can be noted that Microsoft's enjoyed downplaying Sony's Blu-ray movie playback, and they've emphasized that unlike Sony they're not forcing gamers to pay for a feature they might not want.

Of course, if Blu-ray is ultimately what folks wants, it seems that Microsoft is willing to adapt.

The benefits of having high-definition movie playback optional for your console? You can come up with a peripheral for the format that wins.

I'd quote some eloquent and awe-inspiring line from the Lord of the Rings right now. It goes along the lines of "I'd take you on anytime, buddy", but all my Tolkien knowledge eludes me at the moment, so let's just skip that. Long story made short, in an interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Microsoft's Neil Thompson says that the Xbox 360 is ready, waiting, and eager for the challenge which is the Playstation 3.

Out to prove that their sales last year wasn't solely due to the fact that they were the only next-gen console around at the time, Thompson deems it better that the masses would finally be able to make actual side-by-side comparisons of the two machines, instead of basing all opinions solely on news reports and hear-says about the PS3's power. As Thompson puts it, "Sometimes it's worse when you're fighting a myth, than when you're fighting reality." Hoping to go head-to-head on issues which include high-def gaming content, online services, and DVD platforms, Microsoft is gunning to show that bigger (and Blu-Ray) isn't necessarily better.

With all this attention turned towards the PS3 though, he was also asked on how he thinks the Wii will affect their business, and he replied that the Wii would not be competing with them at all as it is "an innovative, low-definition product", and that "People will make a clear decision as to whether they want that sort of product – a kids toy – or they want high-definition gaming and entertainment and all that it brings."

So, will the Xbox 360 achieve what it has set out to prove? Will the PS3 be the one console to rule them all? Or will the Wii prove to be the quiet, happy-faced contender who comes out on top while the other two are busy fighting? Hmm...

In the words of UFC's Big John, "Let's get it ON!"