• Posted October 3rd, 2013 at 04:51 EDT by Michael Harradence

The president of Sony Worldwide Studios has touched base on competitor Microsoft’s recent policy changes with the Xbox One, admitting the console maker is ‘smart’ to have done a 180 after recognizing some of its original plans for the system were unpopular with gamers.

Speaking during an interview with GI.biz, Shuhei Yoshida commented: “We know they’re very smart people. It’s great that they were able to quickly realise that some of the things they were doing were not popular, and were able to make really quick decisions to change some of those things – even things that their engineering group must have spent a lot of time preparing before the launch.

“It must have been a very tough time for them. That shows how smart they are, and it shows their dedication to making Xbox One successful. We never took them lightly. Especially in the States, we are the challenger – we’re trying to compete with them. Some of the messaging that they stumbled on just gave us more chances to compete with them in the States.

“Other markets are very different – in Europe, we have a larger market share and in Japan, we have a much longer history of being here. Being consistent and persistent helps; the legacy and people’s associations with the brand, their memories of having a great time before.”

Yoshida-san also said in the same interview that he’s not concerned with catching up to the 3DS in regards to the handheld war, but is keen to expand PlayStation Vita’s user base nonetheless.

PS4 is due for release in the U.S. on November 15 and in Europe and the U.K. on November 29. Xbox One hits stores on November 22 in both territories.

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