SCEA CEO Jack Tretton dishes: DRM is in, backwards compatibility is out, and video UMD lives on
By Ryan Block 
posted July 16th 2008 3:18PM
posted July 16th 2008 3:18PM
We got a chance to sit down with Sony Computer Entertainment of America's CEO Jack Tretton, who gave us the lowdown about a few things we've had on our minds.PS3
On backwards compatibility: Jack explained that Sony looked at how to "not take a greater hit on production cost, without losing PlayStation's heritage ... Hardware / software for backwards compat wasn't all that expensive. ... but we're selling PS2 software to PS2 customers, and selling PS3 software to PS3 consumers." Still, Jack seems to feel like it may have been the wrong move. "I would like to have had it in there, but Sony's collective strategy determined we could afford to lose it. We've now gone down that road, and we're not going back."
On DRM and the video store: As of right now, Tretton is a firm supporter of the need to DRM content on the PlayStation platforms, and Sony believes that "the drm for a song maybe isn't as important for a movie and a game... this is way too hard a business to make money in to allow people to own multiple copies for the price of one." (That's what they all say!) "I'm all for allowing an individual consumer having the freedom to do with their content what they want," but Sony has no intention of opening its video up any more than it has to.
PSP
On drive or flash storage: Sony has "definitely thought about storage on the PSP," and understands the inevitable "march towards digital content delivery device." But in terms of a drive-based PSP, they have "nothing that's imminent." (Read: don't hold your breath.)
On how downloadable video affects the already sad state of UMD: UMD "has struggled, and it wasn't handled effectively from the beginning. ... I firmly believe in a digital model" as they're rolling out, but Sony is "still going to support UMD" as a device for movies.
What's preventing PSP software sales: Three things. Title ports from PS2 games (people don't want to buy the same title twice), and the PSP's media functions. But Jack put the most emphasis on "piracy in the hundreds of thousands of units are preventing software sales. it's a problem that affects our software sales right now."
Home
On what the crap is going on with it: Part of Home's issues thus far have stemmed from "the disconnect of when Sony took Home out of the creative minds and put it the hands of business minds... but I would rather ship it two years from now with a lot of good stuff, than open it as some ghost town. We have to do a good job of populating it." For the record, that doesn't mean Home is coming out in two years -- they just want to make sure to get it right. Of course, it could be argued that the entire concept behind Home is flawed. There, we said it.
Biz
On having Kaz, former head of SCEA, running PlayStation from Tokyo: It's been a favorable situation for Jack and the US team, because Kaz understands the US market and its needs better than Kutaragi did. "He understands the challenges... there's a better understanding for our business than there's ever been. Howard Stringer has also gotten involved in the PlayStation business."
Didn't Stringer get involved because PlayStation was hemohorraging cash? "Most of what we did before didn't have a lot to do with the rest of Sony's business... but we can no longer be an island off the coast of Sony Corp." Which is to say, this time PS3's launch touched many of Sony's businesses and interests across the company.
Also...
"Sony is "still going to support UMD" as a device for movies"
Do what you did with blu-ray- get more support from studios and CEs. UMD is dead dead dead when it's more expensive than DVDs and only usable on a PSP.
--BC: I think you guys are over rating it. I bet most people who think they want BC will maybe use it for 2 months and then never use it again. Trust me, I have a 60GB PS3 from Feb 07 and I rarely use BC. If you really want BC THAT badly, you should simply just stay with you PS2 and wait to get the PS3. Even if you buy a PS3, if you don't buy PS3 games, sony doesn't really care for you.
--DRM: I think at this point, DRM for movie downloads are necessary. Not because I support DRM but right now downloading movies is in its infancy. If people started doing whatever they wanted with it right now, digital distribution would make little money. Once people really start getting using it and get use to paying for downloading, then we could start removing DRM because a lot of people would still buy the movies anyway because of its established install base. (kind of like itunes) Movies have a large casual install base that would not pirate them (unlike games) If psp game pirating had only started 3 years into its life cycle, would it be nearly as rampant as it is now? I don't believe so. (I'm no expert, this is just speculation on my part)
--UMDs: I think UMD's phail, I think they are useless. Sony should simply scrap their current psp and start working on a completely digital distribution version of it. A new psp with a built in 500GB+ HDD (it's possible in the future) I know it would be hard to do overall but it could be pretty revolutionary. And they could prevent leaving gamestop and ebgames out of the picture by putting in store kiosks where you could download your PSP games faster than normal
I wish I had a dollar for every time I heard UMD = phail.
UMD = w1n.
PSP released in 2005. Millions of UMDs sold. To buy anything online is a 'challenge' and a trust issue for many parents buying games for their kids, not to mention teenagers and older folks. Bricks-n-mortar will ALWAYS be an essential part of a successful console. ALWAYS.
Not to say digital distribution is nuts. No. They will complement each other. UMD is essentially a DVD in a small form-factor. It allows very very low cost replication and is PERFECT for the PSP. There is simply NO OTHER LOW-COST solution out there for reliable storage of hundreds of megabytes (up to 1.8 Gigabytes). NO solid-state format comes CLOSE to the cost!
UMDs are nothing if not reliable, and nothing if not LOW cost. Bricks-n-mortar retail will always be IMPORTANT to a successful console. If you ignore bricks-n-mortar retail, you are dead. Yes, even in 2008.
A hard drive is *insanely* unreliable compared to UMDs! Especially in a portable. Also, good luck selling, sharing or swapping those downloads with your friends.
"piracy in the hundreds of thousands of units are preventing software sales. it's a problem that affects our software sales right now."
Bullshit... One of (the most?) successful consoles ever was the PS2 and it was ridiculously easy to crack the system and pirate the games. This is such a crap excuse for more DRM and propriety formats. The average person, no matter how easy it is, won't pirate games for a system. Make a good system/games and people will buy it up even if it is easy to pirate.
How easy to crack? With the psp, any common 10 year old that can use a computer decently can easily crack the psp and put pirated games on it.
the ps2 was really easy to hack. Almost as easy as the dreamcast. (Oh no he didn't!)
the psp is a good system with good games. its not like sony hasnt been trying. they put out a great system and supported and upgraded it. theyve added lots of functionality , it plays mp3s , videos , internet , skype and they have made great games for it. almost all the first party games are great , its just their arent many 3rd party games.
i really think what hurt the psp was the missing analogue stick. all ports , like the shooters and games like mgs are hampered by its absence.
its easy for the game companies to port thier games over because the psp can do the job of playing recognised games , the only problem is it doesnt play those games in the way they are meant to be played.
Hard drives in the PSP?
Sure, if they want heaps of returns complaining about crashed HDs...with all the contents gone. Sony has more sense than this.
Ultra-reliable UMD ftw.
Overpriced memory sticks ftw.
I can't believe they are keeping UMD alive... seriously... there are no movies... in the stores some old movies go very cheap. And I would feel stupid having to buy a DVD and/or Bluray and then a UMD to watch one movie... because who would want to buy some movie and not be abel to watch on your own dvd player etc?
the "only" way to "save" UMD would be to give out UMD movies with bluray movies or enabling a ps3 to recode a movie to be played on a psp (but then that would require you to put it on a memory card, something they, afaik, don't want you to.
Well, I'll stick to Netflix then.
Fine. Whatever. Look at some point, Sony is going to HAVE TO bring back Backwards Compatibility. The PS2 well is going to run dry, then what are they going to do?
...And I use mine ALL THE TIME. So quit with that "I'll never use it", because that's bullshit.
He's WRONG about BC. I never owned a PS2. I jumped straight from PS1 to PS3. But I wanted to enjoy all the PS2 games I'd missed out on, and as a result of buying a PS3, I began buying PS2 software. Then my 60GB died, and my new 80GB supports only some of my PS2 games, but not others (UT for PS2) that are my favorites. Furthermore, I would have bought other PS2 games (Soulcalibur 2 and 3) but will not do so now because they won't run on my machine. Your penny pinching and/or flawed strategy means REDUCED PROFITS, Sony!! So self-defeating for them, so frustrating for me.
As for DRM, seems to me that sticking to UMDs is a smarter way to go than digital distribution. Who has a UMD replicator or burner?
But a digital file is far more easily copied, loaded onto a PC, cracked, and spread around.
Thank you Jack Tretton for saving me money! U can keep your PS3. I sure as hell am not buying one now. I would be willing to spend $800 for a brand new backward compatible PS3 but its your call. I'll just use that money to buy some new PC games and An XBOX 360. I will just wait for the PS4 to have backward compatibility and spend $1,000 on that. Remember Mr Tretton that the customer will pay what ever the price may be to get exactly what they want. Its what I WANT to buy and not what YOU think I should.
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