Phil Harrison blames Sony Japan for underestimating social gaming
At last year's GDC, Phil Harrison made a platform-saving keynote entitled "Game 3.0." The PS3 was under a serious amount of scrutiny, but surprise announcements of Home and LittleBigPlanet recaptured the hearts and imaginations of gamers worldwide. Harrison envisioned a world of collaborative, social gaming, and admits that Sony Japan had been very reluctant to pursue that vision.
Speaking to GI.biz, Harrison lamented: "And our Japanese colleagues said that there is no such thing as social gaming in Japan – people do not play games on the same sofa together in each other's homes. It will never happen. And then out comes the Wii."
Harrison, who hailed from SCEE before taking over the PlayStation group at large, noted that social gaming is something he tried to promote heavily in Europe. "It's a very interesting and frustrating thing for me to experience because I have been banging the drum about social gaming for a long time, with SingStar, EyeToy and Buzz." Perhaps if Sony Japan had been a bit more understanding, it would meet much greater success than it has faced so far with this current generation of games. Thankfully, things are turning around.
