PeterDille
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Sony's Peter Dille thinks the PSP could use a cellular data connection, iPhone gamers 'aren't satisfied'
Peter Dille -- Sony's Senior Vice President of marketing at SCEA -- sat down for a "fireside chat" with CNN, and made some interesting comments regarding the PlayStation Phone. Despite kinda / sorta sticking to the company's policy of refusing to discuss rumors, Dille allegedly said that the lack of a cellular data component in current PSP devices could be holding the line back. "The PSP is a Wi-Fi device," he said. "People are used to having always-connected devices." Dille also noted that current smartphone platforms don't give users a hardcore experience, instead providing "Time-killers," which "gamers aren't satisfied with." While the CNN article certainly includes some healthy speculation, Dille (and a company spokeswoman who told the publication that Sony "has relationships with Google") was pretty talkative when it came to the PSP and more specifically the PlayStation Network. Apparently, Dille alluded to the fact that the current PSP doesn't fulfill Sony's goal for creating a content delivery hub that's always accessible, saying "I don't think we fully realize that vision with a Wi-Fi device... If it's not connected [to a cell network] then it does sort of limit people." Of course, we're not taking this as any kind of confirmation from the company, but Sony seems awfully talkative about a device that they won't comment on.
Sony VP promises in-game XMB, NA video download service, PlayStation Cards in '08
It doesn't seem like those Sony firmware engineers will be a getting a break any time soon. With the PlayStation 3's v2.30 firmware and its DTS-HD MA / PS store upgrades barely settled Sony Senior VP Peter Dille jumped on the official PlayStation blog to let us know what the rest of 2008 has in store. In-game XMB? On the way this year, along with a video service that "separates the service from others you've seen or used...to give you the TV, movies and gaming content you want," and expanded community features. Also in store are PlayStation Cards (in $20 and $50 denominations) for the credit card-less among us. The four pillars of Sony's plan (community, free online gaming, digital media download services, and original content) hint towards the reasons we won't let the shiny beast get quite as dusty this year.[Via PS3 Fanboy]
WarHawk final formats finally figured out
In a lengthy interview with Game Informer, Senior VP of Marketing Peter Dille came out with many fantastic bits of information regarding PlayStation Home, multiple games and other nagging questions we've been wondering about. From the "Hall of Fame" (PlayStation's take on achievements) to E3 to WarHawk, a lot of issues were addressed but we've got to admit the WarHawk info really made us nod.Here's what Dille said about the final formatting decision on WarHawk: "Warhawk will be available as a download from the PlayStation Network, but we'll also have a retail SKU. There will be differences between the two. The game will be the same, but in the retail SKU we're able to take advantage of that Blu-ray disc and pack that disc with behind-the-scenes information, developer interviews, demos of other games and again, if you've got Blu-ray why not take advantage of that. On top of that, we'll have a Bluetooth wireless headset so that you can jump into the fray on day one and start trash-talking."So for the cost of $60 in North America, you get WarHawk, oodles of extras and a Bluetooth headset? Sounds like a deal and/or bargain. For those who don't yet have a headset of any kind, this is a fantastic deal. While he didn't comment on the pricing of the PSN download version, we'd estimate they'd keep it at $20-$30 because it is just online and headsets aren't cheap. Especially bluetooth. If you want to learn anything else, check out the complete interview with Dille.
Peter Dille wants to go camping with you!
Not exactly. He wants to be more open and let people inside the workings of Sony... so, sorry. No camping yet. Anyway, a large review of Sony's and the PlayStation 3's performance was posted a few days ago. It's interesting, but most of the fresh meat comes from the last few paragraphs. Everything else is, admittedly, recap of what we as gamers have seen and experienced. Feel free to read it from the beginning. We'll work from the end.Will Sony engage in negative advertising -- attacking the competition (like saying you have over 100 titles right before a new console launches)? Peter Dille: "Our position hasn't changed. You generally see the number 2 guy be negative. But when you're the market leader, with 110 million PS2s sold, you act differently. People will come onto PS3 in their own time; that's not something people talk about, but we have a large rabid fan base. We'll communicate with gamers in a way that doesn't talk down to them by speaking to gamers' expertise." Have you noticed all the Sony-hatred out there in the past year? Peter Dille: "We're not blind to some of the tonal things out there. It's an ongoing education effort. We need to have people understand the value of the console with the technology that will drive the product for 10 years. We believe that we approach the product a little bit differently. We need to not be defensive about analysts or press reports, because they might not understand the business or where we're coming from." You guys at Sony used to be pretty closed to the public. Tell us about your changing ways! Tha' Dille: "For 10 years, we engaged the outside world in a certain way. There are some new faces in the management team; I left and came back, but I've brought a new approach to PR. We want to be more open, we want to share more, let them inside the tent and challenge us, and that didn't always happen. We kind of made our own bed. It can't be done overnight, but we want to tell the story. I think we've tried to change. We weren't always open, so it reflects a shift." Great! What do you guys think, will the PS3 successfully market a decent comeback over the next year, or will they remain in a negative light? Will anyone want to get inside the tent with them? We'd like to think Dille is onto something... so we'll stroke our beards and mutter incomprehensible babble as we wait and see.
Peter Dille talks about the PS3, generally
After Peter Dille gave his presentation at the Consumer Electronics Show, Game Informer managed to squeeze an interview out of him. We'll make a list of what was covered, because those are always awesome. We know how the Doerrman stands with lists -- he's always open to them (get it? Like a door... come on, I had to think of that one for all of twenty seconds!). The big announcement at CES for Mr. Dille was the official "1 million PS3's sold" -- not shipped, sold. You see, retailers have to buy the units, so to Sony, the units are sold. This is of course referring only to the US... Japan's numbers will be announced soon. Some spin on the 10 million 360 numbers was mentioned, but since it's so blatantly competitive, we're not going to transcribe the spin. You can read it if you want to, but if you're not a Sony fanboy, you're likely to get agitated. Sony is actively working on PlayStation Network updates (likely to be finished up before the European launch). These include: download speeds, background downloads (or multitasking) and other patches (maybe to start fixing those PS2 game jaggies... if that can be fixed). As far as the bluetooth controller connection drops, Sony shrugs it off as an issue with all the different crap "proliferation of devices" you have on your desktop. Personally, I've nothing else (wireless, bluetooth or otherwise) around my PS3 and get perfect connections every time. There will be a firmware upgrade making the downloadable titles currently playable only on the PSP able to be played on the PS3 -- that's very good. Tekken is coming to the PS-Store for the US soon. We're told to "stay tuned" to the store. About exclusive games, Dille says that soon third-party developers will want to "start at the highest system and work your way down" -- the reason many are multi-platform right now, he attests, is the 360 has been out for a year and most developers are familiar with the platform as a good starting point. Which is true. But, will this change? Or will all games begin development on the 360 and be "ported down" (he was implying this) to the PS3? Whew! He certainly had a lot to say. Unless you really have an agenda against Sony, this guy really made it seem like he's excited about the PS3 and pretty much sold the excitement to you, too. Good stuff.
Sony CES keynote reveals PSP importance
Did you know that Sony launched a new system in 2006? Yeah, I know. Crazy. Sony's hyping up the PLAYSTATION 3 machine, but it's nice to know that the PSP will not be ignored in 2007. In fact, the PSP continues to be an integral part of Sony's plan for world domination. Peter Dille teased PSP fans with the following tidbits: PSP has sold over 20 million units worldwide. This ain't no Game Gear, folks. Remote Play hype: "So if you want to access Spider-Man the Movie in Milan from your PS3 in Milwauke... it's possible." Expanded "online community" for PSP (pictured). Portable gaming is increasingly important to the consumer: Sony obviously wants a large cut of the market. Feel free to read Engadget's continuing coverage of CES, or check out GameSpot's archival video of Dille's keynote.
Sony marketing asks you to "Find Me"
I've been looking for days to find a direct-feed version of Sony's new commercial, entitled "Find Me." Unfortunately, I couldn't. "Find Me" is part of Sony's newly revamped PSP marketing plan. It tells the touching story of a man who must find a girl through a Memory Stick loaded with clues in photo and video form. A hard-to-get girl that plays with a PSP must be worth the effort of running around the city. The ad can be seen on shows like Family Guy, The Daily Show, and Sports Center."The PSP system has already been established as a popular gaming handheld, but it was designed to do so much more -- from playing music and videos to sharing photos and accessing the Internet," said Peter Dille, senior vice president of marketing, SCEA. "These marketing initiatives deliver the broader PSP brand message and offer PSP owners the entertainment experience they're thirsting for from a content perspective."[Via GameDaily]
3.0 manual online; confirms PS3 necessary for downloadable games!
Our reader Matt T. sent in a very hot tip. It appears that the online manual for PSP version 3.0 is up and running. Thankfully, it doesn't have any features removed. However, it confirms our fears that a PS3 is necessary to download games to the PSP. Here's the proof:"Play PLAYSTATION®Network titles downloaded from (PLAYSTATION®Store). A PLAYSTATION®3 system is required to use this feature."What??? Didn't Peter Dille confirm that you didn't need a PS3 to download games to the system? Sony's got a lot of explaining to do...
Peter Dille calls DS for kids in Engadget interview
Dave Karraker isn't the only Sony executive to face the mic in the past day. Our sister site, Engadget, went face to face against Peter Dille, about PLAYSTATION 3 and PSP. Just like Karraker, Dille says that the PSP does not compete directly with the DS:We're not focused on competing with the DS head to head against the consumer they're going after. If we were, you'd see a very different top-down strategy. You'd see a very different technology that would deliver to games geared towards kids. Which is for the most part what they're doing. And so when people talk about how we're doing vis-a-vis the Nintendo DS, again, it's not the whole story. We're selling a device to guys our age, who are using it to play games, to play movies, to access video on the net, music, etc. And it's a very different product than Nintendo DS... You can look at the software that they sell. All their licensed kid stuff. So, what we're doing with the PlayStation Portable is really establishing a new marketplace, and establishing, frankly, a new beachhead. And that takes time. Having said that, it's the fastest selling platform we've launched to date. We're up to 20 million units worldwide, and that's off to a great start. So, we just need to sort of set people's expectations based on what we're trying to do, not compete against a kid machine.Ouch. Calling the Nintendo DS exclusively a kid's machine sounds like something a fanboy would do. Didn't Mr. Dille get the memo? The DS is for old people too! Regardless, he makes a very good point about how the DS and PSP are targetting different consumers: they are different devices, and there's no need to directly compare the two. It's similar to how Nintendo keeps saying the Wii doesn't compete with PLAYSTATION 3: they focus on different markets, and do very different things.Other highlights of the interview include Dille apologizing about how they didn't focus the UMD's library correctly (but they still plan on trying to expand the UMD market. Uh...). Check out the rest of the interview at Engadget to see Dille avoid some crucial PS3 info, and fail to apologize for Kutargai's insanity.
The Engadget Interview: Peter Dille, Sony Computer Entertainment's SVP of Marketing
Last week, between extended PS3 sessions, we got a chance to sit down with Sony Computer Entertainment America's Senior Vice President of Marketing, Peter Dille, who chatted candidly with us about Sony's ambitions (and failures) in the market, design decisions made with the console, and where the PlayStation platform is going both handheld and console.Thanks for meeting with me today. So I think maybe my biggest question right now is the amount of consoles that are coming in to the States and Japan. I mean, they've been getting cut and on launch day and we're now down to 480,000 worldwide?I don't know that there's anything new to talk about there. I'm trying to recall the last public statement about the launch number.Last one, I think, was last week. Japan went down by something like 20,000 units.Yeah, I think that's right. There's not a whole lot to add in terms of the public position there. We've kinda gone on record to say Blu-ray has been a challenge to manufacture. I think Jack [Tretton, co-chief operating officer of Sony Computer Entertainment of America] had some comments about that recently. I think the good news is we'll focus on day one, and then making sure there's a steady flow of hardware in weeks two, three, and four, and consumers don't have any big draws out of stock. So, that's kinda what we'll focus on, and as I said, we're gonna monitor that on a day by day, week by week basis, and steer the production based on each territory. What we know is that demand is going to outstrip the supply for some time.So, it's really -- it's a high class problem, and we'd rather have this than the alternative. But it's still something that we'll have to deal with, and we don't want consumers to be put off by this. It's one of the reasons we're not encouraging retailers to do reservation lists -- because if we did, we'd probably have situations where a consumer couldn't even get a shot or get in with these things for six or eight months, and that's something that we'd like to avoid.
Don't worry: you don't need a PS3 to download PSone games
Sony's Gamer's Day revealed some interesting info about the exciting PSP-PS3 connectivity. But, we were left pondering whether or not we'd need a PS3 to download PSone games to our handhelds. It would be a little silly if Sony tried to force us to buy a $500+ piece of hardware simply to download games, and thankfully, Sony hasn't gone completely mad as we've feared. GameDaily interviewed everyone's pal, Peter Dille, and he confirmed that you do not need a PS3 in order to download PSone games to your PSP: BIZ: I know you guys have previously talked about a PSP emulation service where PS1 titles would be downloaded directly to the PSP (for example, if someone didn't own a PS3). This new PS3 download service of PS1 titles, which involves transferring to the PSP, is not going to replace the previous PSP emulation plan is it? PD: You are correct. We'll still have that. We have the PSP downloads site now, and you're right; these PS1 games will be available either from the PSP downloads site directly, so you don't need a PS3 to get them or if you do happen to be one of the lucky guys that gets a PS3, you can download the games to your PS3 hard drive and then slide it over to your PSP. Both services will be up and running. Whew! That's good to hear. I'm going to pick up a PLAYSTATION 3 one of these days, but I'm sure many of you are very relieved to hear this confirmation.[Via Gamespot]
Interview with Peter Dille [Update 1 - Now with Medal of Honor]
Tech File has an interesting, but not too revealing, interview with Peter Dille, senior vice present of marketing at SCEA. Surprisingly, it's about the PSP (and not the impending PS3). Dille tactfully answered the hardballed questions. On the state of UMD movies, it appears that Sony's not giving up yet. He says: "We are committed to helping the studios better understand our product and our consumer, and will continue to educate them as we evolve and enhance the functionality of the PSP." Apparently, it's the studios' fault for not understanding what consumers want. I'd have to agree: Hitch, anyone? (note: Hitch was released by Columbia, owned by Sony Pictures.)When asked about third party support and getting original games for the PSP, Dille had this to say: "Smart third parties also recognize the great success achieved with games tailored from the ground up for the PSP." Yes, smart publishers understand that we don't want ports. Hopefully, the industry is getting smarter. Finally, on why the DS is getting all the love these days, Dille had this to say: "One key finding in our market research is that many consumers don't understand everything the PSP can do. So starting this summer, we're embarking on a major marketing campaign to educate consumers about the multi-functionality of the PSP beyond gaming." I know that I'm intrigued by what this marketing campaign is going to look like, so stay tuned.Feel free to read more of Dille's wise words here.[Update 1: Those of you that have better reading skills than I do have noticed that Dille announced a PSP version of Medal of Honor. For some reason, I just assumed that we already were getting one.]
