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David Reeves retires from SCEE, Andrew House gleefully takes over
The always outspoken and completely outré David Reeves has decided to retire from his post as President, CEO and Co-COO at Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE). During his 14 years with the company, Sir Reeves has provided us with loads to talk about, even finding himself the proud owner of our 37th edition of 'CE-Oh No He Didn't!' The scuttlebutt is that Reeves could be leaving to share his talents with Realtime Worlds, but then again, maybe he's just out to step foot in the 40 remaining countries that he has yet to visit. At any rate, Sony has already selected Andrew House (pictured) to take over on May 1st, with a release noting that he will soon be responsible for "managing the PlayStation business across nearly 100 countries in the Europe / PAL territories, including the company's PlayStation2, PSP and PlayStation 3 platforms as well as PlayStation Network." Oh, and Mr. House -- we're fully expecting a 'CE-Oh No He Didn't!' quip from you within the first hundred days. Make it happen.Read - David Reeves outRead - Andrew House in
David Reeves drops hint of Sony's shift to 45nm PS3s
It's no secret that Sony has been eyeing a shift to 45nm Cell processors in the PS3 sooner or later, but the always talkative David Reeves (Sony Europe's president) has now finally dropped a bit more specificity on the matter, while naturally still leaving the company quite a bit of wiggle room. Speaking to The Guardian newspaper, Reeves said that Sony is "always looking at ways to reduce costs," and that one of those measures is "replacing the current 65 nanometer Cell chip with a 45 nanometer one probably in middle of year." Reeves also expectedly talked up the PS3's multimedia capabilities, which he says will help the PS3 compete better with the Xbox 360 in the short term without the need for drastic price cuts, although he doesn't seem to complete rule out the notion of some increased affordability before the end of the year, saying "it will make progress" in that direction, no doubt with the aid of that aforementioned 45nm Cell processor.[Thanks, Khattab]
Sony to release new handheld sometime in the future
According to Eurogamer, sources close to Sony say that sometime in the future, a new PlayStation Portable will be released. While there's been no official word, the game site is reporting that there could be an update to the current PSP (which might be called the PSP 4000), and in the not-too-distant future (2010 or 2011), Sony will introduce a completely new model, confusingly dubbed the "PSP2." David Reeves, SCEE president has recently been quoted as making vague, suspicious statements such as "there are currently no plans for a PSP2," and "I go to Tokyo quite a lot and no one has referred to it - I think they have their hands full at the moment." Nice try Reeves, but If you keep up these kinds of thinly veiled allusions to a new system, we suspect it's only a matter of years till this cat's out of the bag.[Via Yahoo!]Note: The above post is sarcasm. It also saddens us that we had to add this note.
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]
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]
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's David Reeves says PS3 victory in sight
Apparently Sony has decided to start both hangin' tough and unleashing the fury in the console wars, at least in Europe. According to SCEE president, CEO, and player-hater David Reeves, 2008 will be the year that the PlayStation 3 takes the gloves off and makes a nasty dent in the UK games market, amongst others. While not specifying official sales numbers for the machine, Reeves stated that the company has sold over a million systems in December across PAL territories, and went on to say that in some markets like Switzerland and France, the PS3's installed base outnumbers the Xbox 360's. Of course, it's easy to find small victories like monthly sales figures, but Sony's really going to have to break out the BFGs if it wants to tackle the big boys.[Via Pocket-lint]
PVR planned for early 2008 release
Announced at Leipzig, the incredible new HD PVR accessory for the PS3 looks to hit retailers some time in the beginning of 2008, after the holiday rush. In an interview with GI.biz, SCEE head David Reeves revealed the difficulties of bringing the PVR system to PS3. "The PVR - it looks simple, but within it there's a lot of licences that you have to obtain. Sometimes you're just not sure if you're going to get that licence ... you know what Europe is like - we have to get safety compliance on a thing like a black box from, I don't know, fifteen or sixteen independent bodies."Because of the difficulties facing licensing, Sony wasn't sure if building a system for PS3 was even possible. With all the pieces in place, it appears Sony will release the PVR in Europe early next year, after focusing on their key games this holiday. "We'd build up the installed base to Christmas, and then we'd put it out in January-February, which is what we're going to do, and people would then be able to buy it."
Sony is glad Nintendo broadened the gaming market
David Reeves is up in arms over at Leipzig, issuing statement after statement. This time, Reeves tipped his hat at Nintendo, saying "...We're very happy Nintendo broadened the market to where we have never gone. But Sony is going places where EA and Microsoft have never been. We're very happy about [market expansion]. It keeps growth of the industry going up and up and up instead of just recycling gamers." Reeves also gave an innovative nod at Sony's own EyeToy, SingStar, and Buzz! from the past on the PS2 that actually first broadened the market, but digresses.With Sony's PlayStation Eye coming out and set to innovate the gaming world and broaden the market even further, it's nice to know Reeves can display at least some semblance of humility. Even so, he goes on about price cuts and bundle packs, which we've already learned his position on. Bundles will continue in Europe for a while, but if the US demands another price cut, they'll probably get one in the future. Do you think the PS Eye will draw in some more casual gamers for the PS3? Or is that initial investment too much of a hurdle for the casual crowd?
Hard drive for PSP still a possibility
As with many statements by David Reeves, bigwig of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, we're left with a feeling of slight confusion and bewilderment. Even with the release of the PSP-2000 (or Slim or Lite or whatever you want to call it) on the horizon, Reeves is already implying that a different PSP is still being considered -- one with a hard drive. However, he says, the option hasn't been included yet because "flash memory is simply so cheap - you can get an 8GB Memory Stick for under 100 Euros, and on 8GB you can get a lot of content." The battle between a hard drive and flash memory is sort of like the two initial Xbox 360 SKU's, except the PSP hasn't decided which one to support wholly just yet. Reeves likened the decision to driving a stake into the ground (a vampire's chest would also have been appropriate), claiming the stake that finalized either flash memory or hard drive support had not yet been driven into said ground. Next year, perhaps, we'll hear something, Reeves implied.
David Reeves says no more price cuts, more bundles
According to SCEE head, David Reeves, Sony has no plans to cut the price of the PS3 again anytime soon. Instead, he says, "...we'll probably put out more hard bundles than the Starter Pack ... We're not making any pricing announcements at Games Convention at all. There's none. And we don't have any plans in that regard. We're really happy with the way that things are going for the PAL business. We really are. It's on track." We're glad to hear that and we hope that the bundle packs come with a wide variety of choices, but wouldn't it be easier to let the consumer decide what game or games to get for free with their console? There ought to be a way to do that, too.Sony didn't announce any new games at Leipzig and there's a reason for it, Reeves explained. Sony wants consumers focused on a few games at a time -- they don't want to pull everything out from behind the bushes at once, or else we'd have happy attacks and fall over in a state of euphoric shock, never to awaken. At least, that's what we think would happen. Besides, Reeves said, consumers "don't have huge wallets and they can't go out and buy five games at 59 Euros all the time. So we're trying to do pillar titles every month." That makes sense to us and our wallets thank you.
Sony Europe shooting off "fireworks" at Leipzig
If only Sony were being literal! It's been a while since a lot of us have seen fireworks, so when we heard Sony had some, we squealed a little bit inside. However, the meaning behind the words was more symbolic, proving to us once again that the PS3 has a lot of big announcements coming. SCEE head David Reeves said E3 wasn't where the real announcements started -- Leipzig is the place for Sony Europe to shine: "We prefer to make our big statements in Leipzig, it suits us much better ... There will be absolute fireworks at peak, that I can promise you. We will be doing things no-one has seen yet for both PS3 and PSP."What could there possibly be in store for us? More games? Firmware 2.0? It's anybody's guess at this point -- we're running out of ideas for things the PS3 can do. It can already accomplish quite a bit. Whatever the case, whether it be a European price drop or the announcement of a few new titles for PS3 and PSP, we'll be excited enough to set off fireworks of our own.[via PS3 Forums]
Sony wants to make you cry
In a recent interview with ThreeSpeech, Sony Euro boss David Reeves mentioned that there are at least half a dozen secret titles under development at Sony that will come out by the end of 2008 and are 'absolutely spectacular.'He goes on to explain that one of the main objectives that Phil Harrison has as the head of software development at Sony is to develop games with the emotional depth and complexity that they'll make us cry (and not in the Gundum: Crossfire kind of way). Many games have tried to brag about their emotional impact, but few have managed to really tug on the ol' heart strings. RPGs like Fallout 2, Final Fantasy VII, and Okami have been able to squeeze emotional responses out of us -- but it's hard to think of a non-RPG that has succeeded at that. Have any non-RPG has been able to make you tear up a bit?[Via CVG]
Reeves says Christmas isn't that critical for Sony
A lot of critics are pressuring Sony for a strong showing of not only hardware sales, but powerful software sales as well this holiday season. They're citing it as a critical moment for Sony -- the make or break, if you will. SCEE president David Reeves sees it a little differently, arguing "I think each peak is crucial to maximise what you can do, but I don't think this Christmas is necessarily the most critical one - I think that's going to be Christmas '08."In addition to these claims, Reeves again associates the PS3 with a tsunami -- a force to be reckoned with, indeed. Along with that, he squashes the European price drop rumors with the explanation of July not being a big month for games or gamers in general, so a price drop now would be annoying to consumers. He may be indirectly implying a holiday price drop, but he may not. Reeves concludes by saying this wonderful tidbit: "We're not putting our heads in the sand - we know it's not selling that well, but we know that it's selling according to the targets." We're glad to hear it and we can't wait to hear what's going to get announced at Leipzig!
MCV says Sony readying announcements for Leipzig
We're still patting down the dirt on E3 and here comes the European trade publications telling us to pay attention to the expanded Leipzig conference. MCV, in a move of pure speculation, believes Sony Europe is ready to announce at the conference a price-cut, video-on-demand and Freeview TV features. MCV bases their predictions on -- wait for it -- statements made by David Reeves that there would be "fireworks" in Leipzig. In case you're wondering, Sony Europe has no comment on these "rumours" and speculation.The Leipzig conference should be interesting this year, considering there really wasn't too much breaking news at E3. Much of the information we got was just digging deeper into stuff we already knew. Also, with the death of X07, Microsoft may save a couple things for the European event. This year is very different from July through the holiday season having a clusterfrack of various conventions where anything can happen or be announced. In the US alone there's still E for All and PAX -- don't forget the Tokyo Games Show in Japan either.[Via PS3 Fanboy]
Sony to show off PS3 surprises at Leipzig
MCV, the UK video games trade publication, expects Sony to reveal a number of surprises at the Leipzig game conference at the end of August. While Sony have made no specific announcements about possible revelations, MCV already has a few ideas of what we could be seeing in a month's time. Starting with a continent-wide price cut, Sony will then announce a video-on-demand service and Freeview TV features. All rolling out before Christmas. At the moment this is all just speculation, however. Though David Reeves did say that Leipzig would see the first big peak-season "fireworks", with announcements which will make the PS3 and PSP much more appealing. What surprises are you hoping to see? We've got a whole month to speculate, so get cracking.[Via CVG]
No 80GB PS3 for you Europe, how about 120GB instead?
In an interview with Norway's Dabladet, David Reeves, president of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, reiterated that a move from the 60GB to an 80GB PS3 didn't make sense for Europe. Unlike the US and S.Korea, "going up 20GB is not worth it." We know, that's a bitter pill for our more culturally astute gaming brethren to swallow. Still, take heart as Reeves went on to say that, "if you double it, it's worth it. So maybe you'll see something a bit later." Right, that's 120GB if we take his words literally. Of course, these bumps are inevitable, so some specific timing would certainly be appreciated. In defense of launching the new Starter Pack bundles (a 60GB PS3 with two Sixaxis pads and two first party games) instead of price cuts for Europe, Reeves claims that consumers in PAL territories are more concerned with "added value." Riiiight. Of course, this is the same man who said "the name of the game is not market share" only to predict that the PS3 will be "the winner" by March 08. In other words, anything can happen. [Via The Inquirer]
David Reeves calls PS3 "tsunami", will win console war
A rather lofty quote from David Reeves to open this post: "PlayStation 3, you will see, will be far and away the winner when you look at it by March '08. They really, really will ... It's something that is going to be a slow burner, and suddenly it's like a tsunami; it will just overtake you." This quote goes hand-in-hand with the announcement of the new PS3 bundle package in Europe, which also tells us that the 60GB PS3 model isn't going to be available in the US anymore after July (price cut rendered useless).Will the PS3 win this holiday season with their insane lineup of games that has the PS3 Fanboy staff crying at the abuse their wallets are going to get? We'd like to think so, but every console has some heavy hitters coming out, but by the end of the fiscal year, we do believe the PS3 will have created a much larger install base. Perhaps not enough to render Mr. Reeves' predictions true, but one that will show Sony has no intention of passing off their crown.
SCEE boss predicts 60GBs will be sold out by month's end - After that? No more
Gameindustry.biz has stated that SCEE president David Reeves has clarified that the 60GB PS3's days are numbered. At an E3 event in which Reeves revealed the PlayStation 3 Starter Pack for the European region, he was questioned over whether SCEE should have given Europe a price cut, as has happened in America. Reeves claims that "they aren't really" getting a price cut "because what the US are offering from the 1st of August is a USD 599 version with one game."Reeves went on to say that "all they're doing is taking their stock in trade that they've got at the moment of the 60GB model, marking the price down and it will all be gone by the end of July." When asked whether this was truly the end of the 60GB model, Reeves replied with "in America, yes."We see this as a very strange move on SCEA's part. Why undermine your announcement of a price drop by phasing out the lower end unit? Because the 80GB systems have had their Emotion Engine removed (which means PS2 games will now be software emulated, as in Europe) they are cheaper to build than the current 60GB models. Will we see this saving passed down to the customer with another price cut before the end of the year? This doesn't really bode well for those waiting for it to drop below $500 dollars. Our solution? Drop the 80GB to $500 in a couple of months, in time for the big Christmas releases. Then bring back the 20GB system, without the Emotion Engine, for $400 dollars. Things would make a lot more sense if that were to happen.
