Folk over at Microsoft are shooting off about just how great the launch lead of their Xbox 360 will have over the Sony PlayStation 3. According to some, Microsoft is confident that PlayStation 3 will slip from its "spring 2006" launch, with some suggesting that, at least in Europe, Sony's machine may not arrive until 200 reports Next Gen Biz

Xbox UK boss Neil Thompson told MCV, "I'd be happy to compete whenever they turn up, but I wouldn't be surprised if that's not until spring '07. If they hit Christmas '06 (in Europe) then maybe it'll be a very thin launch; a launch in name only".

Friday's edition of MCV also quotes a "senior European publisher boss" as saying he "wouldn't be surprised" if PS3 did not arrive in Europe until spring '07, giving Microsoft two Holiday seasons in Europe.

J.Allard said, "There's a big gap between what Sony claims and what they've shown. They'll need an eight hour press conference pretty soon just to give people confidence in that spring '06 date they've mentioned."

"There's a lot of stuff they just don't have in place yet. They make nice movies though."

Xbox's global chief Robbie Bach said, "Whatever they do, they're going to be chasing us for a long, long time."