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Steinberg, Dyer leave Sony's Playstation team
We don't get it, PlayStation. Did you get a new haircut? What is it that you've changed recently that's driving away all of your top execs? Earlier this year, it was Peter Dille (again) and now Scott Steinberg and Rob Dyer. Steinberg, who was VP of marketing since 2007, and Dyer, senior VP of public relations since 2008, are out as of today, a spokesperson confirmed with Industry Gamers. An IG source claims that Steinberg was escorted out by security -- "let go" as it were -- while it's rumored Dyer has resigned from his post for a new spot at Zynga. Both have quite the history in the gaming industry: Steinberg has served at Sega of America, Eidos and Crystal Interactive; Dyer also served at Eidos and Crystal Interactive prior to his jaunt at Sony. We've followed up with Sony for confirmation on both fronts. In the meanwhile, we'll be tearing up some TPS Reports in the office shredder in honor of our fallen homeboys. Update: A Sony representative has confirmed the departure of the two. "We thank them for their considerable contributions to the PlayStation business and wish them all the best for the future," the representative added.
Sony's Steinberg says 2009 lineup is 'relentless, AAA-quality'
Speaking with David Radd at GameDaily, VP of Product Marketing at SCEA, Scott Steinberg, wants you to know that, if you were under the impression Sony had "punched itself out," you're mistaken! Citing Killzone 2 as the beginning of, "a great lineup [that is] relentless and AAA-quality," Steinberg names MLB 09: The Show and this summer's inFamous as two titles that are, "going to arrest the momentum from competitors." That's without mentioning the Heavy Rains and Uncharted 2s of the world, we might add. And though Steinberg's remarks are filled with marketing speak (that's the technical term, folks), we can't help but agree that the company's 2009 lineup seems a lot more fleshed out three months into the year than its competitors. Maybe next week's Game Developer's Conference will change some of that. We'll just have to wait and see.
SXSW 2009: Games By the People, For the People
So you enjoy playing video games, right? That's what probably brought you to Joystiq in the first place. But have you ever thought about making your own? Right now you're probably thinking, "But, Kevin... doesn't that take millions of dollars and a huge development team?" Well you happen to be in luck, because the answer is no. You can pretty much do it all on your own for pennies. But what's the secret to making it awesome? 5 out of 5 panelists agree: you need to have a good story, or a really interesting idea. Simple, right? Start thinking, and find out more after the break.
Scott Steinberg: The PS3 will 'separate from the herd'
Scott Steinberg gets a little feisty in a blog entry for Edge Online -- he outlines the advantages of the PS3 and issues a big warning to its rivals. "I've got bad news for you because we've got some absolute blockbusters that are in the works ... that we're building specifically for the PS3 ... our competitors are going to have a tougher road now then even in 2008.""Choice" is the central theme of the piece. According to the Steinberg, the PS3 owner has the freedom of choice: between Blu-ray and downloadable movies or between "blockbusters" titles and games from "creative little garage companies." Other more abstract notions of that idea include the wide selection of games and movies on the PSN without requiring a subscription. Even the hardware itself -- "the technology, the Cell processor, the horsepower under that hood" -- was listed as an asset developers can choose to take advantage of, even years down the road.Steinberg promises that in a few years, the PS3 will "separate from the herd." He boasts that Sony has the "development resources to showcase on a global basis the diversity and the creativity of a development team that's a thousand strong." Some strong words there, sir! To read the entire keynote, head over to Edge Online.
Sony: We don't want the senior citizen gamers
Sony's Scott Steinberg is not impressed by Nintendo's current success. In fact, he thinks his own company shouldn't adopt a similar strategy and try to obtain some share of the mass market. When asked about the Wii, and it's controller, in a recent interview, he commented that the "notion of that controller is a non-trivial point that you've brought up, that control and that familiarity is like comfort food - from my perspective, we lead, we don't follow." Steinberg further went on to say that "as a brand, Nintendo's got their thing, and we're not trying to get the senior citizen group to get into gaming, we're looking to convert the PS2 owners and the tens of millions of installed base that were playing DVDs and playing games on their PS2, to now play Blu-ray movies and Blu-ray games with their PS3." Wait, was that a Sony representative saying they don't want more money? We thought the whole point of being a company was to earn money, so we're not sure why Sony would turn down a certain segment of the market, one Nintendo has proven are receptive to gaming and financially lucrative.
Scott Steinberg answers some tasty interview questions
Since Scott Steinberg sat down with GamesIndustry.biz for a long, long time, they split their interview into two chewable parts for us to digest and the second part has been released. We'll truncate the important bits, but there's plenty of information for you if you care to read the entire interview.Steinberg says it's just as important to get the PS2 safety foods (we're hungry) like SOCOM and Gran Turismo as it is to bring in more exotic and fresh cuisine like LittleBigPlanet and many of the PlayStation Network downloadable titles. In fact, Steinberg thinks "the reality is that we will win hands-down if we convert the PS2 owners to PS3 ... we salivate at the notion of converting our existing PS2 universe." This said, he says Sony isn't attempting to sway the senior citizen market like Nintendo, just the PS2 users. What do you guys think? Will most PS2 users eventually jump onto the PS3, or are the consoles different enough to swap brands?
Steinberg hints at a few upcoming PS3 features
Scott Steinberg seems to be in a PR overhaul lately, popping up in several interviews. This latest installment has what some would call a challenge to the competition, but we won't focus on that flamebait comment. He talks about how Sony hasn't had a big keynote speech this year yet -- he feels the Blu-ray victory is good enough for now. We're personally expecting a big one at E3. He hints also that movie and music download services may be coming soon -- perhaps also to be covered at our expected E3 speech?Big name titles, he says, will keep momentum going for the PS3 this year, but he also mentions the possibility of more downloadable PS-One and PS2 games on the PlayStation Store. Steinberg says there are "on-going sessions" to get more third-party titles up on the store, so who knows, before the end of the year we might have a much more impressive library than we do now. Maybe it'll almost rival the insane selection available on the Japanese store. Speaking of games, there's no open Home beta now because Sony has set the bar so very high, they don't want any more people to see it until it meets their standards to get into the public eye. We'd like to see more PS-One and PS2 games on the store, and an open beta for Home would be nice. We'll see what happens this year!
Sony underestimated 80GB demand, admits Steinberg
In an interview with GameDaily, SCEA's Scott Steinberg talked about the various SKUs on the marketplace. The 40GB model was a big focus for Sony's holiday season, as the $399 price point was something they hoped would appeal to the mass market. With NPD numbers for 2008 so far, the plan has worked. However, Steinberg admits that they underestimated the appeal of the 80GB model: "Reality is the price wasn't that big of a deal and $499 sold a lot more than we thought."Gamers, at least those in America, are willing to pay a premium to get the "complete" experience associated with the brand. For example, many Xbox gamers opt for the Premium model, as opposed to the cheaper (but HDD-less) Arcade model. Many new PS3 owners most likely want PS2 backwards compatibility, something that the 80GB offers (but the 40GB model does not)."You'll see us replenish these in the marketplace," Steinberg said. In fact, we hope that they'll make a lot of 80GB systems. The upcoming 80GB Metal Gear Solid bundle will certainly have a mass market appeal -- even with its pricey $500 price tag.
SCEA's Steinberg: Sony will lead the way
Scott Steinberg, SCEA VP of product marketing, had a lot of aggressively frank comments to say in an interview with Next Generation. In fact, he comes off quite arrogant, taking pundit jabs at his company's competitors; however, we actually love this no-holds-barred, non-political, cocky confidence that he displays. It's refreshing to hear such unabashed statements such as "[Our] focus and dedication is unparalleled with any other first party company. Our first-party games will lead the way."It appears that Steinberg's confidence stems from the PS3's strong holiday sales, and then the ending of the format wars. He says now that the "Berlin Wall" of HD-DVD is torn down, they can focus on one less front and work on pushing the company's 2008 line-up of new IP and "comfort food IP." Yes, he actually used the terms "Berlin Wall" and "comfort food IP."He no doubt symbolizes SCEA's high spirit and rightfully so as he brings out some very good points. Take this one for example, "In the years ahead our games will begin to distance themselves from other next-gen games ... you'll see games begin to tip the scale at thirty gigs, forty gigs, fifty gigs. You can't possibly fit that on HD-DVD unless you want to do the old floppy disk swaps of years past." This is especially a good point since the PS3 will stick in the game for the long run with plans to last ten years. "The pendulum is swinging," he said referring to developers who once worked on the Xbox 360 and ported to the PS3; he believes there is going to be a huge reversal of this dev ritual. In the end, he believes consumers will naturally see the PS3's advantages and will make the right choice when he says, "Once Grand Theft Auto ships on the platform I think you'll see those folks on the side line saying 'I don't want to get stuck with the wrong one. I'm a PlayStation fan. I waited out the HD-DVD thing and I listened to a lot of misinformation. Now I don't need to wait.' There are lots of reasons to jump in, and PS3's by far the strongest choice."
Strong PS3 sales might mean more consistent price level
Now that the latest PS3 price drop has finally kick-started the system's position in the sales race, Sony seems to have come to the logical conclusion that further price drops probably aren't an immediate necessity.Talking to Reuters, SCEA VP of Marketing Scott Steinberg said Sony was surprised to see a rough parity between sales of the $500 and $400 PS3 models since the November price drops. According the Steinberg, that suggests "the hard-core gamer is not afraid to throw another $100 at the PlayStation 3," and that the pricing pressure many analysts predicted has not materialized. While Steinberg said the company was "studying what this means for the potential roadmap for the year," the clear implication seems to be that the company is happy with the system's current pricing ... at least for the time beingSteinberg also seems bullish on the PS3's future in light of the success of Blu-ray in the HD movie format wars. "The year of the PlayStation 3 started in fall 2007," he said. "I think it will be an extended year, we are feeling positive momentum."
PS3 price drop unlikely due to 'momentum'
We know there are still a lot of you out there just on the edge of buying a PS3, but it's still a difficult expenditure to rationalize. It is a lot of money, after all. It was more a year ago, and it could be less in another year, right? According to SCEA's product marketing VP, Scott Steinberg, a price drop in 2008 may not be as likely as once thought. The reasoning behind this notion is the fact the console has been selling so well this year. He said, "we're seeing that the hard-core gamer is not afraid to throw another $100 at the PlayStation 3 because the value proposition is so rich." It does have a great value proposition, but it'd be an even better one if the price were a bit lower, right?Sure, sure, economics, marketing, and business aside, Steinberg is saying that due to the PS3's momentum, a price drop doesn't appear to be necessary yet. If people are planning to buy it at the current price, why lower it even further? Steinberg feels the momentum should continue through the blockbuster titles coming in the next several months. We say we'll still see a price drop in 2008. Just near the end of 2008.
Steinberg discusses the new PS3 ad campaign's success
As you guys are probably aware, the PS3 has gone through some rapid shifts in advertising lately -- shortly after their latest test with the ads highlighting important game titles among its other uses, Sony dropped their ad company and enlisted a new one. But how did those new ads work out? Scott Steinberg, VP of Marketing at SCEA, lets us know what's up with that campaign. In a nutshell, he says, "It's exceeded all our expectations. We've had great comments from analysts and our business partners that it's really elevating the PS3 business." Then let's bust out the champagne, right? Even the band in the commercial, Saliva, has felt some success from the ad campaign.Retailers have also helped by bundling in Blu-ray movies after the ads aired and as Steinberg explains, this helps explain "why it's being promoted in stores so aggressively. It's no doubt that it's a big part of our value proposition [for the PS3] and we feel we have done a great part of emphasizing on the merchandising half of things; it's paying dividends."Steinberg took a minute to talk about his move from the Sega Genesis days to his time now at Sony. Since we've got a soft spot for the ol' Sega boys, we'll give you the skinny. "There is so much passion around the technology and the products, and a lot of that at Sony reminds me of the 'halcyon' days when 16-bit was just taking off ... There's nothing like the technology and entertainment businesses; we've merged them both and it's an addictive cocktail." We hope he continues to spearhead such effective ad campaigns in the future and remind us why the Genesis rocked so hard and how the PS3 will, too. Assuming you thought the Genesis rocked hard. It did. It had Phantasy Star.
*Update* Scott Steinberg [doesn't] replace Karraker as Sony PR head
*Update*Sony contacted us and clarified that Scott Steinberg is not Karraker's replacement, but instead heading up SCEA's hardware, software, and channel marketing division. So that means Karraker's position as "Senior Director of Corporate Communications" is still open -- any takers?*Original Post*If you've been a fan of Sega's for a while, you'll have heard the name of Scott Steinberg. He was the former Marketing VP of Sega in its heyday and will now replace Dave Karraker as head of Sony PR. He'll report to Peter Dille and be responsible for all PlayStation hardware, software, and channel marketing as of October 1st. Steinberg, in addition to Sega, has worked for multiple different companies including Roxio/Napster, Liquid Audio, Eidos Interactive and Crystal Dynamics. He worked with Sega during the Genesis days, evaluating development and licensed properties. Peter Dille released his thoughts on the new hire, saying "We are thrilled to have Scott join our team as he brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the PlayStation marketing staff and the management group here at SCEA. Scott has an ideal blend of experience in digital entertainment and content delivery as well as a proven track record for strategic innovation and implementation within this industry. He will be a critical component for the success of our marketing efforts across the PlayStation brand moving forward." We'd also like to welcome Scott on board. Welcome, Scott! Do us fanboys proud!
*Update* Sega's Scott Steinberg joins with Sony's Marketing Division
*Update*Sony contacted us and clarified that Scott Steinberg is not Karraker's replacement, but instead heading up SCEA's hardware, software, and channel marketing division. So that means Karraker's position as "Senior Director of Corporate Communications" is still open -- any takers?*Original Post*If you've been a fan of Sega's for a while, you'll have heard the name of Scott Steinberg. He was the former Marketing VP of Sega in its heyday and will now replace Dave Karraker as head of Sony PR. He'll report to Peter Dille and be responsible for all PlayStation hardware, software, and channel marketing as of October 1st. Steinberg, in addition to Sega, has worked for multiple different companies including Roxio/Napster, Liquid Audio, Eidos Interactive and Crystal Dynamics. He worked with Sega during the Genesis days, evaluating development and licensed properties. Peter Dille released his thoughts on the new hire, saying "We are thrilled to have Scott join our team as he brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the PlayStation marketing staff and the management group here at SCEA. Scott has an ideal blend of experience in digital entertainment and content delivery as well as a proven track record for strategic innovation and implementation within this industry. He will be a critical component for the success of our marketing efforts across the PlayStation brand moving forward." We'd also like to welcome Scott on board. Welcome, Scott! Do us fanboys proud!
Sega believes in the eventual success of the PS3
In a recent interview with Reuters, Sega Sammy VP of Marketing Scott Steinberg spoke about the Wii and his hypothesis that the PS3 will emerge victorious. He admitted to being "a little concerned about the creative depth of the Wii pool ... The Wii will start to look really dated in a couple years when developers get more value from the 360 and learn more and more about the PlayStation 3." It is a good question -- how much more will developers get out of the Wiimote in five years that isn't derivative of something else that's already been done? The same could be said of the Sixaxis. However, Steinberg insists that "We know the PS3 pool is pretty deep. There's a lot to exploit there." Which is also rooted in truth. As Factor 5 said, the potential is limitless. It will just take some exploratory surgery time, so to speak. Steinberg also predicts the PlayStation 3 growing into the ultimate winner this console generation due not only to graphical prowess and hidden potential, but the inclusion of Blu-ray will be a great addition in the coming years. Time to sound off your own thoughts to his words. Can the PS3 really last the 10 years claimed by Sony?[via Gamasutra]
Interview: Sega plans big for movie-IP games
GameDaily interviews Scott Steinberg, Sega's VP of Entertainment Marketing, about established IP and its importance to games. With Sega licensing Alien IP, will we see the company shift to games based on movies?Stenberg says that while Sega will continue to create original games, it sees how important licenses are to other companies; movie tie-ins sell. Sega won't describe the intended balance between its licensed IP titles and original content; Steinberg only says that other publishers release about half of each, letting us speculate that Sega will follow that trend.Basing a game on a movie or TV show is a difficult proposition, unless a publisher is just trying to shovel a quick cash-in onto the shelves. The mediums are inherently different; we hope that Sega plans games based around an IP universe instead of trying to shoehorn a movie plot into a videogame.
Sega speaks (Sonic in March?)
Scott Steinberg, VP of Sega's marketing division, recently spoke to GameDaily about the next generation of consoles. There was a good amount of Wii-speak, including a reaffirmation of Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz at launch and a tentative release date of March for Sonic Wildfire. From the interview: "There's a bit of a design, creative learning curve on how to fully exploit the nunchuks and Sega is already thinking about its second generation software. So if they're not already here, they probably weren't on board at the beginning and the companies are going to have a harder time thinking about ways to innovate and Sega's already thinking second generation." Sega's quite a supporter of the Wii, but Scott does comment that he hasn't seen a metric ton of Wii games in development from third parties, contrary to the raving Nintendo fanboys. Hopefully, games like Banana Blitz and Wildfire can create a large enough install base to make those third-party games worthwhile for developers. More delicious interview in the link.
