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Reeves: PS3 is '300,000 units ahead of Xbox 360' in PAL territories
SCEE president David Reeves has revealed that internal Sony numbers indicate the PlayStation 3 is "300,000 units ahead of Xbox 360" in the PAL territories. This is in response to Microsoft claims that the 360 is outselling the PS3 in Europe. Note that both statements can be true: the 360 could be outselling the PS3 in the recent months but the total tally would show that Sony's console is still ahead.Furthermore, Reeves disclosed to MCVUK that there are no price cuts planned for the near future. "No we are not going to go down in price; neither are we going to go down in price on PS3 in spring time either." This echoes what SCEE told Eurogamer late last month. "As soon as we got the manufacturing price down on PSOne we lowered the price. Same with PS2. But we're not doing that on PS3 -- that's not the model, even if people are expecting it." Read his full statement here.
Rumor: Sony Europe planning PS3 price cut in March, details future games
Sony Europe has declined to comment on a rumor that the PS3 will receive a price cut in March 2009. The whole ball got rolling by website D+Pad, which allegedly had a "source" in attendance at the Sony Computer Entertainment Staff Annual Briefing in London. The source claimed: The PS3 will see a price cut in Europe around March of next year. The PSN has generated £150 million in 2008, will receive more investment and is considered a success. LittleBigPlanet and MotorStorm are coming to PSP. Uncharted 2 looks like Uncharted, which isn't a bad thing. God of War 3 was "masterfully shown at the end" and looks really good. (A similar claim made by former GoW honcho David Jaffe.) Now we just wait and see how this "rumour and speculation" pans out.[Via Eurogamer]
Sony's Reeves talking up FFXIII exclusivity in Japan
When we spoke with SCEA president Jack Tretton during E3 about Final Fantasy XIII going multiplatform in the US, he was quite frank about the impact the game's PS3 exclusivity in Japan would (or wouldn't) have for the company. "Seeing as there isn't that big of a [PS3] installed base in Japan, I don't know how big of a coup that is for us," he admitted.Across the Atlantic, Sony Europe boss David Reeves seemingly gets his Japanese PS3 sales figures broken down by individual components. Speaking with VG247 during last week's Leipzig Games Convention, Reeves said, "I think that just as we got a massive blip up with GTA IV – which was not exclusive – we'll get exactly the same blip up with Final Fantasy," adding that, "I know [FFXIII] will look great on PS3 and – it's up to Microsoft to clarify this – it's still exclusive in Japan."While we're still betting on higher sales of the PS3 version over the 360 release domestically, it really seems as if Reeves is living in the mid- to late-1990s, when Japan was still SCEI's most important territory. Times have changed, Sir.[Update: Corrected a Sony exec mix-up. They're all the same to us, you know.]
Sony doubtful about future exclusivity with publishers
PlayStation Europe boss David Reeves is on the verge of extending the long arm of Sony onto the mat and tapping out -- exclusivity is just getting too darned expensive. "I think we have to accept that exclusivity is not a thing of the past, but it is probably with publishers," Reeves told GamesIndustry.biz in a recent interview. Of course, Reeves is only referring to the millions upon millions of cash money papers console manufactures might be expected to fork over to a publisher for exclusivity these days. There is still hope in striking deals with developers that haven't been scooped under a corporate umbrella. (See Quantic Dream, for example.) "[Developers] need a little bit of funding, external development," Reeves explained, "In exchange, it's exclusive -- that works."
Reeves: Exclusives with publishers probably 'a thing of the past'
David Reeves, president of SCEE, discussed his views on exclusives in an interview with GameIndustry.biz. Reeves believes that an enticing software lineup is more important than price in terms of promoting hardware sales. How does he plan to secure this lineup, more specifically exclusives? By "investment in our own intellectual properties -- as particularly Phil Harrison and I tried to do in the last five years with SingStar, or with The Getaway, or with Buzz! ... It's like a patent. We can take them forward."Reeves states that he is aware of the situation where publishers "cannot have exclusives unless they're given millions and millions of dollars not to develop a particular game for one particular platform." Instead, Sony plans to work with developers instead. He cites Quantic Dream's Heavy Rain, which he proclaims a "platform driver," as an example: "a great game, it takes a lot of time to develop, they need a little bit of funding, external development. In exchange, it's exclusive -- that works."The Sony exec doesn't completely discount the possibility of an exclusive with publishers though. "We have to accept that exclusivity is not a thing of the past, but it is probably with publishers. We might do a few things, where we feel that we need a push here or a push there." What are your thoughts? Is it possible to secure exclusives with publishers without the aforementioned "millions of dollars"? Is establishing relationships with developers like Quantic Dream key to the PS3's success?
Sony's PlayTV DVR for PS3 delayed to September 19th
Er, you know that September 10th, €99 (about £78) PlayTV launch announced by David Reeves? Well, turns out that the Sony Europe president jumped the gun or the product's been dragged through a trough of delay. Whatever the case, Sony Europe told Eurogamer that the PS3 TV tuner / DVR add-on will launch on the 19th of September now and cost a bit less at just 70 Quid. It's also said to be HD ready should local DVB-T broadcasters decide to throw that switch. [Via PS3 Fanboy, thanks Jimb]
David Reeves promises an announcement filled Leipzig
So let's be honest. Sony's E3 press conference, whilst exciting for PSP owners, was lacking anything particularly tasty for PS3 owners. Barring MAG, there wasn't anything there were weren't already expecting. Speaking to MCV, Sony Europe boss David Reeves has stated that this was a strategic decision. "We cannot tailor all our announcements to July," he says, adding that utilizing E3, the Leipzig Games Convention and the Tokyo Game Show allows them to spread their big announcements out, building hype as they go.With that said, Reeves promises that the Leipzig Games Convention next month will include some "blockbuster stuff." These announcements won't just be Euro-centric, but will also have a global impact. We already know that Heavy Rain is due to be shown off at the event, but the promise or more announcements has us intrigued. We look forward to finding out more next month.
David Reeves likens PS3 to airplanes, explains 80GB SKU acceptance
Over at Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, a man known as David Reeves is in charge. Since E3 has ended, Eurogamer thought it would be nice to catch up with Reeves and grill him with several questions that many consumers are curious about. We'll go ahead and summarize the interview, but if you'd like to read it in full, you're very welcome to do so.SCEE has only now accepted the 80GB SKU for European territories because it finally reached a price they thought would be acceptable to consumers. This bodes well for the 'console war', but even more importantly, Reeves declares, it can only serve to grow the market even more for everybody. He makes an airplane analogy, too. It's pretty awesome and weaves itself into the rest of the interview. For example, first-party titles are the "landing lights" for the PS3.European launches, like titles for the PlayStation Network, generally don't release at the same time in the UK and, say, Australia. Reeves says they are working on that and some titles coming up will have much closer releases between the European and Australian areas. Things like Home, he said, are coming along nicely now that they have a more realistic and less idealistic view of how the application should play. All in all, he's got faith that the PS3 is going to see a great second half of the year, it seems. Do you?
SCEE: LittleBigPlanet user-generated content 'free at launch'
Those of you who are thinking of using LittleBigPlanet as your ticket to champagne wishes and caviar dreams after reading our last post might want to rethink your plans. "SCEE and Media Molecule can guarantee that all consumer-generated content will be free at launch. We know how important this is to the LBP community and what we want most is for people to enjoy playing, creating and sharing their content," SCEE told Eurogamer after being notified of David Reeves' statements. They emphasized that Reeves "was talking about how user-generated content could potentially evolve in the long term" and that any future direction of LBP "will include the community and focus purely on enhancing the user experience." Adding to the confusion, last month at GDC Paris during a keynote presentation, Media Molecule co-founder Mark Healey said "that's a fantastic idea" in response to a question of whether LBP user-generated content can be sold. We think having the option of selling user-generated content, if implemented correctly, can be positive for the community. So did Reeves reveal something he wasn't suppose to yet? Can we kiss charging for LBP content good-bye? [Thanks, raj!]
LittleBigPlanet allows users to charge for created content
What's a better incentive to create a level in LittleBigPlanet than good, hard cold cash? According to recent comments by David Reeves, president of SCEE, that's what's planned for the upcoming community-driven platformer. "What we're trying to do with LittleBigPlanet is almost iTunes meets eBay in the sense that once an individual or a developer has qualified by producing certain levels or certain add-ons, they will then be able in the future to exchange these and make money out of them," Reeves notes. "Eventually, it's feasible that you might well see the first LittleBigPlanet millionaire!" It appears that how much creators can charge for content is also user-determined. "Even if you charge less than one euro, it doesn't take many downloads if you've got a really strong LittleBigPlanet level for people to be able to make money. It's a great way for people to show others what they can do." This may give aspiring level designers a chance to not only show off their creativity, but turn their skills into profit. [Thanks, Alex H.!]
Sony's PlayTV begins European rollout September 10th in UK
So much for early 2008 or even July for that matter. Sony's David Reeves now confirms that PlayTV -- the €99 PS3 TV tuner / DVR add-on -- will hit the UK on September 10th. The service will then march onto the continent before completing the European rollout in December -- Australia and New Zealand get theirs in January or February. Notably, the service will in fact record television in the background without interrupting your regularly scheduled gaming regimen thanks to the recent 2.41 firmware PS3 update. Phew, for a moment we felt threatened by a lack of manufactured distractions.[Via gamesindustry.biz]
New 80GB PS3 headed to Europe, Australia on August 27
Although Sony announced that the updated 80GB PS3 "Core" configuration would come to the States in September, it looks like other parts of the world will be getting it a little earlier -- Sony Computer Entertainment Europe chief David Reeves told reporters last night that the new SKU would hit Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Australia and New Zealand on August 27th. Worldwide pricing wasn't announced, but Sony confirmed that the new model would cost £299 in Britain and €399 in Europe. Sadly, it doesn't look like the Playstation Store's new video service will be making the trip anytime soon, but Reeves said that Sony is "working on it." That's great -- we're still more interested in a 60GB launch console, though. [Thanks, Matt]
MAG could be available as early as Spring 2009
Eurogamer had a long chat with David Reeves at the SCEE event yesterday, and discussed Europe's "day and date" releases for the PS3's upcoming library for the rest of the year. He also mentions the 2009 lineup, mentioned that "coming in spring will be inFamous and MAG, and God of War [3] will be coming later in 2009," giving a vague indication of when we can expect to see the newly announced MAG. Something that wasn't mentioned at the Sony Press Conference. With inFamous, MAG and God of War 3 all appearing in 2009, the year is shaping up quite nicely. But will they all really make it? And will MAG really launch with such a ridiculous name as Massive Action Game? We'll find out in a year.
SCEE boss promises more 'day and date' releases with SCEA
Click for high-resolution image. Many European gamers have been frustrated by the inexplicable delays of games in Europe. Yes, there are localization issues, but when a title like echochrome, which features very little text, releases weeks after its American counterpart, people seemingly have the right to complain.Grilled at a recent E3 cocktail, SCEE boss David Reeves told Eurogamer that "every relevant title that SCEA announced for America will also be introduced to the PAL territories - most of them day and date." Even newly revealed titles like Ratchet & Clank: The Quest for Booty (pictured, above) will arrive in Europe ... although a Blu-ray version of that game will be available in PAL regions as well.MotorStorm Pacific Rift, LittleBigPlanet, Siren: Blood Curse, Resistance 2 are all promised to show up on European PS3 systems before the end of March 2009.%Gallery-27944%
The 'next generation of SingStar' will debut in Leipzig
Does Microsoft's upcoming Lips (pictured above) scare the SingStar team? Doesn't seem to phase them a bit, it seems. Speaking at a E3 cocktail, SCEE rep David Reeves promised we'd see a "the next generation of SingStar" at the Leipzig Games Convention later this year.What could that possibly mean? Are we seeing a brand new game in the SingStar franchise, or are we going to see a game-expanding patch? For those of us that have spent quite a bit of money in the SingStore, we'd like to see the latter.
PS3 set to beat PS2 lifetime sales says Reeves
It's a bit hard to imagine that the PS3 will eventually beat out the PS2's nearly 130 million units lifetime sales, but SCEE president David Reeves believes this is going to happen. Backing up the claim, Reeves stated: "The PS3 install base is growing faster than the PS2's was at this point in its lifecycle." Currently, the PS3 is around the 13 million mark in worldwide sales after having launched back in late 2006 -- that's ten percent of the PS2's current lifetime sales and six years to play catch up."The next five years are going to be turbulent. But I think it is going to be the most exciting period that we have ever seen in the past ten years of videogames," he added. With a recent big exclusive just released and many more on the way, we're not surprised by Mr. Reeves' confidence. However, that confidence isn't cockiness, "We welcome all competition. Whatever happens, we are all going to do well. We should celebrate the growth of the industry." We're happy to see such optimism and goodwill, and we'd like to see Mr. Reeves' predictions come true. We still think, however, the PS3 has a long way to go in proving itself to its older brother the PS2.
Sony planning new clampdown on PSP piracy
Speaking at Sony's Devstation developer conference in London last week, SCEE president David Reeves affirmed that admitting a problem can be the first step in solving it. "There is a piracy problem on PSP," Reeves told an undoubtedly shocked MCV. "We know about it, we know how it's done." Ah, so they have internet access then.It's not all bad news, however, as Reeves pointed out that piracy "sometimes fuels the growth of hardware sales," even if, "on balance," it makes Sony unhappy. PSP sales have given the manufacturer a lot to smile about, especially in Japan, but piracy takes its greatest toll on software, an equally important source of income. According to Reeves, new plans are already afoot to clamp down on digital swashbucklers, though given how quickly said plans are usually foiled, we imagine new strategies (and firmware updates) are constantly required.
Sony Europe president talks PSP piracy, promises clampdown
Sony Europe president David Reeves has never been one to shy away from making bold statements in the past, and he's now come out and weighed in on another touchy subject, with him flatly telling attendees at the DevStation conference in London that "there is a piracy problem on the PSP." What's more, Reeves went so far as to admit that it "sometimes fuels the growth of hardware sales, but that "on balance", Sony is "not happy about it." To that end, Reeves says that Sony will soon be unveiling new ways to combat piracy on the handheld, although he unsurprisingly isn't getting a whole lot more specific than that at the moment.[Via PSP Fanboy]
Sony Europe boss promises new ways of fighting piracy on PSP
SCEE's David Reeves spoke at the DevStation developer conference last week, admitting to MCV that "there is a piracy problem on PSP." According to MCV, Reeves admits that piracy has fueled hardware sales, and of course "we are not happy about it." He told developers at the conference that Sony will "unveil new ways to combat piracy soon." But exactly how? We're not sure.This is quite possibly the first time a Sony exec has directly addressed the issue of piracy on the platform. Perhaps this is the signal of a more aggressive Sony attempting to reclaim the platform.
Sony's David Reeves admits to PSP drought
It's been a slow time for PSP gamers. After the release of Crisis Core and God of War, things have slowed down quite dramatically for the handheld. Exclusives for the PSP are few and far apart, with releases of Secret Agent Clank and Hot Shots Golf being but a few known titles that will release in the upcoming summer months. SCEE boss David Reeves admitted that software has slowed down on PSP. "Hand on heart, would we like more PSP games? Yes, we would. We really would," Reeves told GI.biz.Where and when will we see new games? It looks like we're going to have to look towards Japan, where PSP has become something of a phenomenon. The success of PSP in Japan has created a resurgence of PSP development -- localized versions of upcoming Japanese games is what we'll have to wait for. "We've seen in the last six months that because of the success of the PSP in Japan many Japanese developers have got some absolutely phenomenal games. They're not Monster Hunter 2G or things like that, but they are in development and we'll see them over here," he added.
