If the PS2 was the "best console evah", why is the original Xbox featured more in other mediums?

[Bob_McMillan]

You know how the PS2 is like everyone's favorite console? I loved my PS2, which I received from my uncle. I also had an Xbox, also from my uncle (they were his). Between the two, I think the PS2 was much better, in terms of games, design, and controller. But why then do movies and books during that gaming generation always mention the Xbox? In that movie that every film critic blew their loads over, Boyhood I think, the kid owns a Xbox. In this book I read when I was younger, Alex Rider: Eagle Strike, the premise was that an incredible new console was made, except they used real people for the player movements and even deaths. In the launch of this console, the main antagonist said that it would knock the Xbox and the Gamecube out of the competition. What? What about the PS2, the best selling console in history?

Was the Xbox somehow bigger in the States or something, or is what I'm talking about completely unfounded. I have a feeling it is. I just thought of it now.

 

[CrazyBlaze]

Microsoft. The answer is Mircosoft sponsored shows and movies to have their product featured. Its the same thing with things like Pepsi and Coke. One will pay to have advertising in a movie so when characters drink or coke products show up its always very clear as to who payed for it and why its in there.

 

[Lufia Erim]

SONY is a japanese company. We all know how NA feels about foreign anything. AMERICA FUCK YEAH! Amirite?

 

[Lilani]

Microsoft is an American company which wanted to get their console as much exposure as possible, so they sought a lot of sponsorships and were very welcoming to any film or TV show which wanted to feature a name-brand console. Basically like how Apple allows lots of films and shows to feature Apple products without a lot of fuss.

Sony is a Japanese company, which makes seeking permission to use their products more complicated. And since Sony wasn't struggling to promote their product they generally were a tougher sell than Mircosoft.

 

[NoDamnNames]

the above commenters hit the nail on the head with microsoft and the usa. if you lived in japan you would see a much different picture.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Like everybody has said, Microsoft = Amuricah, Sony = Japan.
I think if you want to make a case for spoiled brattish gaming culture, as is the case with most media, "Xbox" sounds better.

 

[Parasondox]

To echo others. Microsoft. Have you seen the latest crime dramas and shows on network TV?

"Oh hey, let me show you the evidence"

*opens Surface with Windows 8 Tile page clearly in view*

"Oh wait, let me contact our MD"

*opens up Skype clearly showing the logo*

TV shows are guilty of this and it's because Microsoft pays for more exposure.

 

[laggyteabag]

PRODUCT PLACEMENT! Isn't money fun?

Otherwise, I guess it might be because the original Xbox was more powerful than the PS2, so they wanted to show that they got the best of the best.

 

[Hairless Mammoth]

Besides Microsoft taking up slots for the product placement for its console, Sony was too busy whoring out its other products in other media, especially media it produces. Look at anything made by Sony Pictures or Columbia/Tristar in the past 15 years. The computers are Vaios. People are taking on Sony Erickson phones. TVs are the latest Bravias. The video game systems aren't not Xboxes or Nintendos. I'd bet there's flashes of Walkmans/Discmans in some old movies.

We're talking about Hollywood anyways. They way they depict reality can lead to people believing some completely made up crap is true, or worse, make people think something is safe that's dangerous in the real world. If fact aren't there still instances of someone playing a video game who looks like a complete tool, like the director just told the actor "mash random buttons with your palm, sway back and forth, and shake the controller around, like you're really into the game" (and then he has the sound editor add in some stock 8bit sound effects in post, despite the actor holding an obvious xbox 360 controller and a quick shot of the TV shows a 3D game from the N64).

 

[Phoenixmgs_v1legacy]

Product placement like everyone has said. If you just went based off what you see in movies and shows, you'd think more people used Apple computers than Windows.

 

[Sniper Team 4]

MICROSOFT! (Smacks with a heavy hammer)

Er, sorry...I thought I saw it move.

But yeah, everyone else has beat the point to death. Microsoft is a U.S. company, and therefore its stuff gets featured more here in the U.S.

I think it would be interesting to see how it plays out in Europe though. Which one seems to appear more often over there? PS2 or Xbox?

 

[SoreWristed]

I think it would be interesting to see how it plays out in Europe though. Which one seems to appear more often over there? PS2 or Xbox?

Sadly, Xbox. Why? Because local television and film industry simply do not do product placement. I feel the UK is starting to slowly succumb to the soul sucking entity that is advertisement, as seen in about any episode of Sherlock where they all very clearly use APPLE products and Lestrade is seen driving his MERCEDES car while Watson is seen making a video call with Sherlock on his APPLE laptop.

But Belgian television is thankfully relatively free of product placement. There are sponsored deals ofcourse, but they're not too intrusive.
And since all the rest of our pop culture is a straight import from 'Muricah, it's Xbox all round.

 

[lepito]

I remember an episode of CSI name-dropping Playstation here or there. Whenever you see games depicted in other media it's more often than not shoehorned it, and its very presence apparently needs some sort of introduction. People in the States know Microsoft and they've heard of Xbox even if only from their stock broker. Microsoft themselves have put every effort into making their brand more instantly recognizable to Americans. I don't know about what it's like outside of the USA. I do know that Microsoft seems to pay for product placement more often, and I see far fewer television ads for Playstation despite the PS4 being the current-gen bestseller.

Might also have to do with demographics. I remember back when I was a kid watching cartoons I used to see a lot more Nintendo commercials and product placement. All that seems different now since the posterchild for those products has shifted towards modern brands such as Angry Birds.

 

[Bizzaro Stormy]

Say Xbox. Now say Playstation 2. Now say PS2. Xbox roles off the tongue more easily. I'm not saying it's the only reason but it's the one that jumped into my mind first. If you're trying to make something accessible to a mainstream audience it's something to consider.

 

[DrOswald]

Sony was busy making the best console ever. Microsoft was busy pretending they made the best console ever.

The pretender has to work harder to convince people. The king just sits back and lets the praise come.