Tretton: 'Not appropriate' for publishers to suggest hardware price cuts
Jack Tretton thinks publishers should be a tad more considerate before they start suggesting console price cuts all willy nilly. Last month, Activision CEO Bobby Kotick envisioned $199 price tags for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, labeling it a necessary step for both manufacturers' march across the mainstream moat. "Well, I think from an unrealistic standpoint, I'm never surprised by that, because a software manufacturer may not be concerned whether a hardware manufacturer is successful or whether they're profitable," said the CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment America. "But I think they should be, because without the hardware manufacturer, the software manufacturer has nothing to publish on."
Tretton went on to tell The Mercury News that he would never "suggest what software publishers should price their software at," thinking it equally inappropriate for them to put a price on hardware. The point is certainly valid, but it misses the fact that both parties require each other to be successful. It's a nasty Catch-22 the PS3 currently and very visibly finds itself in: Software publishers need an audience to purchase their multi-million dollar games, and hardware manufacturers need said multi-million dollar games to attract hardware buyers. Until the situation finds better balance, you can expect more shoddy PS3 ports and fewer Uncharted gems.
Though Bobby Kotick's heart was in the right place (his wallet), Tretton thinks a change in perspective would do him some good. "I don't know, maybe he should design a platform." Hey now, let's not give the Activision Blizzard behemoth any crazy ideas!
[Via GamesIndustry.biz]
