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Sony says if the PS2 flopped, people would be cheering on the PS3
This is more of an interesting piece of Sony-speak than anything. In essence, Sony thinks that expectations of the PS3 are getting built up into the unrealistic zone, thanks in majority to the great success felt by the PS2. SCEA President Jack Tretton went on record saying that if the PS2 flopped and placing Sony in third overall for the console war, "people would have a warm spot in their hearts for the good old days of PlayStation and they'd actually root for us to get back on top. But I don't know if we want to pay the price to get that kind of [love]."Tretton clearly doesn't want the PS3 to fall into third place to get some love in the upcoming generations... like... six years from now. However, he's not all that concerned about such a reality -- he's confident the PS3 is the best system out there (we'll just need some, you know, games to judge that belief) and will remain the market leader in the long term. In the long term, you'll find nothing but complete agreement from us. For another year? We may have to take a few sucker-punches and get comfortable in second place -- we'll get out of third fairly soon. Maybe. Probably. What do you guys think? If the PS2 had failed (and certain genres of games moved to the GameCube, probably thrusting it to the top), would more people think back on the "good old days of PlayStation" and root for the PS3?
Kutaragi gets shoved in Sony reshuffling
You can expect to see more from SCEA's chief Kaz Hirai (of Riiidge Racer fame), as he's moved on up on the corporate ladder. He'll be replacing "you-can-experience-4D" Ken Kutargai, who's been criticized by his rivals as being too "arrogant." There's been speculation that the slow sales of PSP, the disastrously delayed PS3 launch, and the loss of potential PS3 exclusives, like Grand Theft Auto IV and Assassin's Creed, are behind this shuffling.Regardless, Kutaragi will remain in Sony's corporate arms as chairman and group CEO. While this theoretically is a promotion, it will certainly free up Kaz and new SCEA chief Jack Tretton from correcting the mistakes of a potentially senile leader. Hey, it worked for Nintendo when they got rid of even-more-insane Yamauchi.[Via Joystiq]
Sony shuffles PlayStation management, Ken on the outs?
We're still waiting for the dust to settle here, but it looks like the "Father of the PlayStation," Ken Kutaragi, has been bumped out of his top spot as President of Sony Computer Entertainment, to be replaced by Kaz Hirai, the President of CEO of SCE America. Ken will now be Chairman and Group CEO, while Kaz while take on the role of President and Group COO, effective December 1st. While Ken will have oversight of the PlayStation in his new roles, it sounds like he's been largely been removed from the day-to-day operations to make way for the talented Kaz to do his thing. Speculation is rampant as to whether this is a "promotion" for Kutaragi, in order for him to think "big picture" for his console prodigy, or a demotion in response to the numerous PS3 launch foibles -- we're guessing the latter. What we do know that SCEA will, for the first time, be helmed by an American: Jack Tretton, who we're sure to be seeing plenty of over the next few years.[Via Joystiq]Read - SCE Press Release [Warning: PDF file]Read - SCEA Press Release
Surviving Sony Gamer's Day
I set my alarm yesterday morning. I had a date with Sony Gamer's Day, 2006. And yes, Grammar Rodeo champions, that apostrophe means that it was just for me. Also, about 100 to 200 other journalists and analysts showed up, but I let them stay.Sony's annual all-day press event held few surprises. Instead, it was the last big event before the PS3 retail launch, and we reporters got to play more games, eat fancy hors d'oeuvres, and talk to Sony executives. In the late morning, I attended a lunch that was supposed to be with developers but occurred without them; a roundtable discussion had been canceled. Instead, I got to listen to analysts at my table spout lots of semi-confidential numbers off-the-record. Numbers like "40%," and "5,000,000." (Yes, commenters, those are completely out of context; don't start any rumors.) After eating fancy food that may have been prepared entirely by a team of Cell processors -- it was that good -- I headed to San Francisco's Dogpatch neighborhood for the presentations.
Jack Tretton reveals bullish numbers for Sony
An interview with GameDaily BIZ reveals optimism for SCEA Executive VP Jack Tretton. While many find it easy to criticize Sony's moves as of late, there's no denying that press attitudes and reality may differ greatly. For example, according internal sell-through data, the PSP is a much faster success than the original PS1: 18 months after launch of each system, the PSP sold 5.30 million units in America compared to the PS1's 3.48 million."We really feel we carved out new territory [with the PS1] and then we built upon that with the PS2. The parallel that we draw to the PSP is that it is exactly the same to portable gaming to what the PlayStation was to console gaming, that we are carving this new road out and we are selling again to 20-something consumers that were not fans of portable entertainment, were not playing Game Boys because the technology and the software offerings just weren't appealing to them... And now because of the technology in PSP and the game offerings it appeals to them and that same consumer we carved out with the PlayStation is now being carved out with the PSP at an even much greater rate than we did with the original PlayStation"The executive rightly questions whether or not Nintendo is truly "expanding" the market. He suggests that most DS owners have owned a Game Boy Advance in the past. The PSP can appeal to a wider demographic, considering how gamers are getting older and demand more mature games and multimedia functions out of their handhelds. He questions that older gamers would want Brain Age over a PSP: "I would tell you for a fact that there are much more people in their 50s and 60s playing PlayStation platforms in terms of console, than there are playing Nintendo platforms."[Via Joystiq]
Sony: We don't need no stinkin' GTA
Sony is so confident that their next-gen console is going to be such a smash hit, that the loss of exclusivity of their huge PS2 and PSP top-seller, Grand Theft Auto, will be no skin off their bones. In an interview with TheStreet.com, Jack Tretton, executive vice president of Sony Computer Entertainment America, was asked if the loss of GTA as an exclusive franchise would hurt the PS3. His response: "There's no question that having the Grand Theft Auto franchise helped us a lot and helped us sell some units, but I don't think the battle would be any different with or without Grand Theft Auto."Completely dumbfounded by Tretton's response, TheStreet asked one more time, just to be sure. "No, I don't think it hurts us. No, I really don't," Tretton said. Whatever the execs at Sony are smokin', please let me know because I would love some of that. Exclusivity is pretty much the one thing that Sony really has going for it. To dismiss the true effectiveness of holding titles in your hands like Grand Theft Auto, Final Fantasy or God of War is just complete ignorance. I don't believe for one second, however, that Tretton or any Sony exec truly doesn't care about losing GTA. Whether they want to admit it or not, it hurts.[via Team Xbox]
