Xbox Live different league to PSN

Microsoft Game Studios' Shane Kim has attacked the ambitious PlayStation Home service, stating that he doubts Sony can create a top-notch virtual world, GamesIndustry.biz is reporting.

He went on to claim that Sony's PlayStation Network wasn't in the same league as Xbox Live.

"I doubt [Sony's] ability to implement it and execute it in a really rich and compelling way," Kim told Shack News.

"PlayStation Network is not Xbox Live, it's not even close. To think about layering [Home] on top of that - wow. The hardest part is not even creating the system, it regulating the behaviour and all of that too. That's a massive investment in infrastructure."

Kim also said that Microsoft has no plans to produce a similar virtual world for Live, as it would require too much work for gamers that don't necessarily want it.

"I don't think we need anything like that. I've spent some time with the Linden Lab guys [developer of Second Life]. To try to build Second Life on Xbox Live - or YouTube, Facebook, any of those big social networking services - it's a lot of work," Kim added.

"I actually believe that most gamers will always find more value in what we have on Xbox Live and now Games for Windows Live and how we're building that out. That's what I think is a much better approach, and that's what our approach is going to be."