Microsoft Gives Sony Credit For HD Remakes

Microsoft's Vice President Phil Spencer admits that Sony have done a 'great job' with their HD remakes of classic games.

By Robert Zak /

It's rare to see acts of humility between the two giants of console gaming. Yet Microsoft's Vice President Phil Spencer admitted in an interview with Gameinformer that Sony have done a 'great job' with their HD remakes of classic games. It's not all peace and goodwill though. Despite praising their remakes of games like the God of War titles, Ico and Shadow of the Colossus, and the Tomb Raider trilogy, Spencer dismissed the idea of Microsoft doing something equivalent for the Xbox 360. Talking about Halo: Anniversary Edition, the HD revamp of the original Halo, he described it as 'more of a celebration' than the 'start of an HD remake line.' Spencer went on to say:
"I want to get into a world where people felt like I was just trying to sell them things that they've already played."
This appears to be a bit of a swipe at Sony, implying that the HD remakes are a bit of a cunning cash-in on popular, but ultimately dated, games. This certainly hasn't been the feedback from the PS3 community, which has praised the meticulous HD rendering of the remakes, slick frame-rates, bonus features, and 3D support in certain games. Nevertheless, such statements are often strategic and should be taken at face value. With all the buzz around games like the upcoming Metal Gear Solid HD Collection, to be released for both PS3 and X360, Microsoft may just U-turn sooner on this statement sooner rather than later. Probably a wise move.