The whole PlayStation vs Xbox thing took on a surreal tinge today as two senior Xbox execs slammed Sony for dumping new, unproven technology onto consumers in the form of the Blu-ray-based PlayStation 3 console.

Neil Thompson, head of Xbox UK, in an interview with Eurogamer TV likened Blu-ray to Sony's unsuccessful Betamax video players, saying people were being pushed into purchasing an emerging technology that may not be the next generation video standard. Xbox Europe supremo, Chris Lewis, meanwhile felt that Sony was "forcing" punters into making purchasing decisions, thanks to PS3's high cost, which is expected to be more than NZ$1,000 for the basic model.

To be honest, we don't really have a lot to say about that - frankly we're too flabbergasted. But just to clarify, Xbox executives are attacking Sony for forcing new, unproven technology on consumers. Xbox is made by Microsoft. Oh, the irony...

Laugh at the Chris Lewis, Neil Thompson interview here (video)