Phil Harrison not that concerned about Wii
Phil Harrison sat down for an interview with GameSpot prior to the Kaz Hirai keynote and, in addition to dodging some questions we've got answers to, he talked about all the media comparisons of the Nintendo Wii against the PlayStation 3. It's not flamebait, really, just his thoughts on the whole ordeal of overcoming bad press from an awkward angle.
When asked if Phil was concerned over the "Wii outsells competition 3:1 or 5:1" comments, he said, "I'm not worried about it, no. Obviously I would like it to be the other way round, but it's not really fair to compare two products that serve different markets and are at different price points." He agreed that it was unfair to compare the two systems, but refused to mar the statement with an unreasonable analogy.
Phil talked about Sony's plan to innovate and widen the market as the Wii had done, also. He cited the new EyeToy, SingStar, and Buzz! as examples of more light-hearted games moving onto the PS3.
He doesn't think focusing just on the hardcore market is a good idea. Looking at the trends, "your initial audience is very different to the audience you have buying into the console seven, eight, or nine years later. So, we try to make software which is slightly ahead of that trend, software that enables younger users or new users to come in."
We are glad that Sony is in the process of moving some of the less-hardcore titles from the PS2 onto the PS3. While the price may keep the less-hardcore at bay for a while longer, it is true that a few years from now, different types of consumers will be adopting the machine. It's just how the world works. About not making an analogy, though, we'll leave that up to you guys. You can be unreasonable if you like, just don't be too profane. Like, "it's sort of like comparing selling more Micro Machines than actual Porches" or something. It's all in good fun, Wii fanboys, so you can make your own counter-analogy also.
