Phil Harrison
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Three Speech presses Harrison about PS3 porn
We still can't make heads or tails of the anonymous writers at the "semi-official" Sony blog Three Speech. In an interview with Phil Harrison, which took place at GDC, they laid on the porn questions with the Sony bigwig pretty thick. It appears the "semi-official" blog was trying to semi-irritate Harrison.The interviewer asks if Home will allow for "adult content" between the avatars? Harrison dismisses that. Then the interviewer presses by asking if players will be allowed to upload porn and invite people into their private space to watch. Harrison tries to end the line of questioning, "I'm disappointed that you would use those as the first questions. I think Home should be used for a much wider and more beneficial scope than that, but I think that people can express their creativity inside Home in a wide variety of ways and it's not necessarily for us to dictate what that should be. However, if somebody feels uncomfortable about an encounter on Home, it's very easy for them to ban that person from their friends list"Well, the semi-official blog certainly got away with asking some very off-message questions. Although, for all we know, it's some strange twist in Sony's European PS3 marketing to plant the idea of porn in people's minds. We do know that a majority of Three Speech's information is Euro based, but our requests for the name of their editor and a list of their writers have been ignored. We still have no idea who Three Speech is and what they represent. These porn questions would certainly not be the most bizarre tactic we've seen implemented in the European campaign.
How this whole PS-HOME Beta thing will work out
Yeah, ever since the announcement, a lot of the press-related folk and small-time bloggers have all raised their hands and asked in a query-chorus (where we all sing a question in very high-pitched, reverent voices): How will you present to us this Beta, oh Sony, father of PS3? Phil Harrison had his notecards ready and tossed a few super-sized quotes our way.PHarr... hmm, we're going to go with that (pronounced "Fahr"... closer to "Ffahr" though). Anyway, Pharr said: "We haven't announced the specific invite mechanic but it will be a closed deployment with a capped number of users and then we'll extend that through the summer. When we go live with the service we'll actually have gone through a number of betas before we get to final deployment in the fall." What's also interesting to note is that within Sony itself, testing bugs and glitches is pretty easy to manage because when online, one tester can bring another Sony member to the glitch and show them exactly what is wrong. We'll probably be doing that, too, if they miss anything (which everyone always does).Pharr also was ecstatic that everyone else was ecstatic about all the announcements at GDC, but we've been over that already. Can we put this GDC thing behind us now? We'd like to get more info on the Beta, but that'll depend if we get invited or whatnot. Let's move on to bigger things, like... screenshots? May as well.
ThreeSpeech at ThreeRooms... some bits of info here and there
This is basically a big PR move with Sony and ThreeSpeech and this Tom Kiss fellow took a lot of very nice pictures for us to gawk at. What a swanky pad! We'd love to sit around and play games at ThreeRooms. Without further ado, we present the knowledge gained at this event. Phil Harrison took a picture of everyone in a room, popped the memory stick into a PS3, turned on HOME, and in a matter of seconds, he had placed the picture into a frame and it was sitting on a shelf in his personal HOME-space. Pretty neat. In another room, he put up a Bravia TV (figures it's a Bravia, huh?) and made a Casino Royale trailer play on it, with proximity-related audio. Oh, then he picked up the TV and threw it down a set of stairs. Not in real life... that would make Nick angry. Tom Kiss took some video of Phil and three other guys playing LittleBigPlanet. It's still cute. The lobby size of 64 users in HOME is likely to not change, since that's pretty crowded when text bubbles are popping up everywhere. Here's a biggie: Remote Play from any wireless hotspot in the world will be available with the 1.6 firmware update. That means anywhere you go with a wireless connection, you can get any video, music, or photos from your PlayStation 3 right onto your PSP. Oh, that's hot. That's about it. Check out Tom Kiss's (kisses? oh, someone please smirk) article and scope out his pictures and videos
More Phil Harrison jargon to gargle
I'm on Spring Break. I'm in Las Vegas, sitting in the Mirage hotel after enjoying some Craps... what better time to admit to you guys that I'll still be bringing you the news? Albeit... 3 hours earlier. Or later... something. I don't really understand how that will work out -- but the amount of postings will be the same. I love you guys that much. With that in mind, more Phil Harrison stuff!This is actually part two of an interview we covered the first part of yesterday -- where Blu-ray will ensure the PS3's success or some such. We'll make a general compilation of his points and you can check them out in more detail for whatever you're interested in. Phil says that Sony has always concentrated on user-oriented strategies as is being seen with Little Big Planet and user-generated content (what?)... he cites developers taking big risks with projects like Shadow of the Colossus and God of War, Loco Roco, among others. He says that such games wouldn't have come out of a more conservative marketing strategy, or a multi-platform game. Background compatibility: Phil says "calm down". It's all there -- the entire PS-One catalog and an ever-increasing software emulation of PS2 titles. Over 1,000 PS2 titles so far. Phil is very confident that Sony will remain the market leader this console cycle. But if he wasn't confident, that wouldn't reflect on Sony very well, would it? Sony may just stay on top, but by a much thinner margin, if we could place our bet. That's mostly it. Like we said, you can check out the article and read the full interview if you'd like to hear more about any of that, but that's pretty much a superb summation. Anybody have any games I should play for you while I'm here? I'll let you know if I win (or how fast I lose).
Phil Harrison reveals new Home details, including privacy and safety features
MTV News' Stephen Totilo has managed to glean new details from Sony's Phil Harrison on their megaton PlayStation 3 announcement, Home, in a video interview (after the break) and accompanying Multiplayer post (scroll down to yesterday's entry).The initial plan with Home is to start with apartments for users, then go on to outdoors, houses, gardens, neighborhoods. Currently, 16 people will be allowed in one apartment at any given time, although that limit is being tweaked. As for lobbies, which will be "infinitely spawned by the number of users online," 64 will be the limit. A search function will be included to help users find their friends online.As to concerns whether the social aspect of Home will take away from time spent gaming, Harrison sees that as a non-issue. "I think that you shouldn't lose sight that home is all about games and creating social interaction between gamers ... [Home is] a springboard to a deeper gaming experience," he said.Also mentioned was that no collision detection would be implemented, so users will likely just walk through one another. While that should eliminate problems associated with crowds, it also reduces the options for those who wish to use their avatars for naughtier means.%Gallery-1950%
GDC 07: Phil Harrison says it's all about software now...
The challenges of the PS3's first few months are in the past. The age of bashing Sony is coming to an end as they get the ball rolling on the right side of the mountain (the side that, arguably, goes downward... imagine a 2D mountain. The right side is downhill, so it's easier to roll a ball. They've been pushing the ball up the left side... that's hard. Get it?) and start busting out some great ideas and some even greater games. Games are the emphasis now, Phil Harrison said. "It's all about software now, it's not about hardware. It's all about services, it's about the way the industry is changing and the way we hope to be taking a leadership position in that change." Phil also responded to his own fantastic keynote address: "We're taking some pretty giant steps forward... The keynote here at GDC was a very, very significant moment for the evolution of PlayStation 3." He also talked about why he titled his speech "Game 3.0" and what it means for the industry: "It's something that as a platform holder we have a responsibility to grow the market, and to try and push the market. What I wanted to do here at GDC was paint a picture for where this industry should, I believe, move - which is to empower the user with user-created content. That's what I was referring to with the Game 3.0 aspect to my presentation. I hope the industry debates it and challenges it and takes it to another level beyond what we have imagined. We're just trying to kick off the debate; we're not trying to own it or control it."Well said, Philly H. User-created content is going to be huge this console cycle, what with the internet taking over the universe in the guise of SkyNet and Time magazine labeling the collective "You" as person of the year... it's important to be narcissistic this year. What do you guys think? Is this where the industry is headed? Or should they concentrate on making fun toys instead?
GDC 07: Phil Harrison talks more about Home
We've been slowly releasing details from yesterday's bloggers meeting with Phil Harrison. One of the biggest points of discussion (unsurprisingly) was Home. There are still a lot of questions that we had, and Harrison was quite candid about the upcoming "Game 3.0" project: Considering the wild support of Home at GDC, why didn't Sony reveal this information earlier? According to Harrison, the idea might have been "too complex to explain" so close to the PS3 launch. It might have been "misunderstood" during a busy launch period. Also, Home simply didn't have the polish it needed to be shown at the PS3 launch. With that in mind, Harrison would have made "no adjustment on the PS3 launch." The world of Home will never get too big: additional worlds will spawn when a certain one has become too full. Through matchmaking services, Sony will attempt to place you in an environment you're most likely to have fun. Home's arcade games were originally going to be based in Java to make it as easy as possible for indie developers to get content ready. However, they moved away from the language for better performance. When asked, "will this sell PS3s?" Harrison quickly answered: "Yes. It's another reason to play PS3 every day." Like Nintendo, Sony believes this will attract non-gamers. They've attempted to make the interface as easy as possible. Yes, the characters are in a 3D environment, making it "not 100% accessible." Gamers that don't want to use Home are still free to use the XMB for PS3 navigation. "It's still an important interface." Most of the features of Home can still be accessed from the XMB--you simply lose many of the social interaction aspects. Home is nothing like Second Life, according to Harrison. The similarities end at both having 3D characters in 3D environments. The "PlayStation focus" of Home will be what keeps the community together. "PS3 owners all share a love of digital content." Expect the sharing of music, video and game content to be what keeps PS3 owners connected to Home. No touching! Your digital avatars in Home will not be able to touch each other. You will, however, be able to jump on each other in LittleBigPlanet. Like Nintendo Mii, your digital avatar will be available for use in other games. However, it won't be too easy, says Phil Harrison. Not only does the character model have be exported, but the animation system will need to be moved as well. It's clear from the enthusiasm of the individuals in the room that everyone's interested in Home. The public beta is going to be available soon, and those of you with PlayStation Network accounts will want to pay attention to your inbox: you may be getting an invite (they're figuring that out, though).
GDC 07: UK retailers didn't want the 20GB
Some UK residents have felt angered by Sony's pricing scheme in the PAL territories. At £425 (~$820 US), European users are paying quite a lot to get a chance to PLAY B3YOND. One reason for the price hike? The government-imposed VAT, which makes up for up to 20% of the cost. "The money doesn't go to Sony," Harrison reminded.While the availability of a 20GB model would have certainly alleviated some financial pressures on European buyers, it simply wasn't possible: retailers said they only wanted 60GB versions. Considering the numerous retail schemes that have popped up in Europe, color me unsurprised.
GDC 07: Why no GTA exclusivity?
This is an undeniable truth of the gaming industry: it's all about the games. Sony's multimedia approach to PS3 is certainly novel, but many have felt that Sony has neglected its gamers by abandoning high-profile potentially exclusive games, such as Grand Theft Auto IV and Assassin's Creed.Phil Harrison put it quite succinctly: "There wouldn't have been an economic sense in keeping GTA as an exclusive." When exclusive deals are made, someone has to pay for the potential difference in install base and sales. Considering how the PS3 install base won't be as large as the Xbox 360's for a while, the economic ramifications of such a deal would've cost Sony quite a pretty penny--and considering how they're losing money on every PS3 sold, it didn't seem too worthwhile.Sony seems to be taking an approach that's been long-familiar to Nintendo fans. Harrison notes that Sony will have a "greater investment in first party [games] than third." Sony maintains the largest collection of development teams, and certainly it has some truly significant franchises: Ratchet & Clank, God of War, just to name a few.
GDC 07: Less than half of PS3 owners are "connected"
Sony discussed the number of people that were actively interacting with the PlayStation Network services in yesterday's bloggers meeting. According to Sony, there are about 500,000 PSN accounts open in the North America. However, according to recent sales data from VGcharts.org, one can see that there are about 1.3 million PS3 systems out there: shouldn't more PS3s be connected to Sony's Xbox Live alternative?Phil Harrison was quick to point out that the 500,000 figure represents PSN sign-ups only. You can still use the PS3's online capabilities without ever registering for Sony's online service by uploading music to your console, or by using the Internet Browser, or by downloading a firmware upgrade. The goal of Home, however, is to increase PSN sign-ups, and have people become increasingly involved with Sony's robust online services.
GDC 07: "You can buy a better sunset"
Microtransactions are going to be huge in Sony's upcoming Home. The service, which will be included in a future required firmware upgrade, will rake in the dough through three "revenue channels": Object/item sales, such as new furniture. Games/premium items Advertising/B2B: in-game ads and other sponsorships may become common. The revenue from Home will cover the cost of moderation and upkeep of servers, undoubtedly. However, one wonders if the "democratization" of this virtual economy is going too far. Buying a virtual couch is novel in certain ways, but where will the trend stop? Harrison, during the blogger's meeting, noted that "you can buy a better view, you can buy a better sunset."
GDC 07: Home lets you delete people from your world
At Sony's blogger event tonight, Phil Harrison addressed the issue of parental controls in the world of Home. Home will not only utilize the in-system PlayStation Network parental controls, but will offer you the ability to delete users from your view ... instantly. So if some prick is attacking you with flying dongs, you'll be able to have them disappear from your world at a push of a button. "I wish I could have that in real life," Phil Harrison joked.
GDC 07: PSP will realize its potential this year
In tonight's blogger meeting, I had a chance to talk to Sony president Phil Harrison about his keynote and the suspicious absence of the PSP device: "We didn't talk about the PSP because [the keynote] was 45 minutes," he tried to explain.John Koller, the man responsible for the marketing of the PSP, then joined in: "We're absolutely not overlooking the PSP." He hinted that the future of the PSP looks very similar to what has been planned for the PS3. "We could start talking about PSP in the same manner as Phil."Sony recognizes the potential of the system, and promises that in May, they will be revealing some more exciting news. "The promise is there ... [yet] we're well aware of the market realities." What specifically the PSP will be evolving into is still unclear, but it appears as though downloadable media and PS3-style Network features are in the works. From the smiles on their faces, it's clear that some truly exciting things will be happening to the PSP this year.
RUMOR: Phil Harrison's GDC Keynote speech in full detail
Phil hasn't given his speech fo' realz yet, but someone got a hold of a copy of it, or listened in on a rehearsal (do you think they have rehearsals or just wing it?) or something and have compiled a list of key... notes about the speech. Here's what's important: March 8th is the big firmware update. It includes: More refined PS Store frontend PlayStation Network "integrity enhanced" Wallpapers from pictures Ability to change background colors Sony Connect Store for music and movies added to the PS Store. Hundreds of trailers/full films/songs Videos and mp3's available for download. Playstation Card option in PS Store enabled. Playstation Lifestyle- Similar to my space/youtube. User generated content and experiences are the key. + more. Removal of Emotion Engine chips will come stateside and to Japan in April. Upscales certain PS-One and PS2 games to 720p/1080i. Game announcements: Warhawk in June/July, Heavenly Sword delayed, Killzone 2 and Metal Gear Solid 4 in late 2007. New PS-Store stuff being added on the 8th include: Tekken 6 trailer Lair demo & (new?) trailer Rainbow Six Vegas demo EA: Skate trailer Battlefield Bad Company trailer Warhawk demo Virtua Fighter 5 demo Virtua Tennis 3 demo & trailer GRAW 2: trailer Mortal Kombat 2 game Killzone 2 trailer... demo to come in May May we just say one thing? "Superfantabulous!" Sounds like a kickin' keynote address, except for the Heavenly Sword being delayed thing. But that's so all the first-party and semi-first-party games get their own time to shine instead of competing with one another. What do you guys think? Badass or assbad?
PS3 to upscale DVDs, says Phil
Well, sort of. Phil Harrison naturally couldn't just announce the future feature straight out, he had to work it into a clever demonstration of how Sony doesn't usually talk about stuff that's in the pipeline. In a talk with N'Gai Croal, Phil conjectured that to "engender trust in our users, we have to share some things that might be not quite perfect." He continued: "So we could say, 'You know, we're not sure when it's coming, but we're going to have DVD upscaling on PlayStation 3.' There you go. There's a scoop for you." If Phil digs the idea enough to drop some info like that in an interview, we're not sure why he doesn't just go ahead and adopt it as a policy, but we're sure there are powers at Sony that even our shiny-headed little friend here cannot conquer. Of course, this gives us very little knowledge in the way of timing and implementation, but it's nice to know that DVD upscaling -- which Xbox 360 users have been enjoying for a few months already -- is coming to Phil's shiny PS3 boxen all the same. [Via Joystiq]
Casual observation: Phil Harrison poking the press
The pressure of keeping up with all the spin might finally be getting to Sony and their executives. Yesterday's spectacular lapse in judgment by Dave Karakker against Kotaku, which was condemned across the internet, came as Sony's Phil Harrison has been on an awkward press poking bender of his own.Simon Carless of Gamasutra was the first to experience the Harrison press attack, he was called out for quoting improperly. Carless puts up a strong defense and un-spins Harrison's allegations. Next on the chopping block was MTV News' Stephen Totilo, who also went on to defend his work. This all comes after last week's Game Head where Harrison made comments toward Geoff Keighley about negative things said in the press. Timing wise, the Harrison incidents all happened at the exact same time. The Carless and Totilo quotes both come from an N'Gai Croal piece, which was conducted at the D.I.C.E. Summit. The Keighley interview also occurred at the same convention. So, although these incidents are playing out over time, maybe Harrison was just having a bad time at the slots in Vegas. Well, we'll certainly get a better sense of Sony and their views on the press next week at the Game Developers Conference.
Phil Harrison gives respect to the homebrew scene
N'Gai Croal, Newsweek's hard-hitting video game reporter, spoke to Sony's Phil Harrison about a myriad of issues. One of the more pertinent discussions for PSP fans involves his stance on homebrew: "It's always difficult, because officially, we could never condone [homebrew]. Unofficially, I am always very admiring of those people, because they do some really interesting things under very technically complex circumstances. If there was a way to legitimize that--we wouldn't get all of the community, because for some people, the whole dark under the radar element is the appeal. I respect that. I don't like it, but I respect it."Croal then goes on to prod Harrison about potentially using a PS3 as a way to develop for the PSP platform. While it's an interesting idea, it's unlikely to happen. However, with Harrison speaking at GDC about the upcoming "Game 3.0" environment, almost anything is possible.[Via DCEmu]
PS3 will eventually upscale your awful DVDs
In the fourth and final part of N'Gai Croal's epic and quite informative interview with Phil Harrison, the Sony head of worldwide studios discusses his company's cultural approach to marketing in Japan. Mr. Harrison explains that in order to engender trust in Japanese consumers, Sony should start divulging more information and features earlier, even if they aren't quite "perfect" yet. His example? "You know, we're not sure when it's coming, but we're going to have DVD upscaling on Playstation 3." He follows up with, "There you go. There's a scoop for you."Though it's up in the air as to when a PS3 firmware update will enable a feature found in standalone Blu-ray players, it should work as a sufficient stop-gap to those still waiting for Blu-ray versions of Bloodrayne and American Ninja 4: The Annihilation. DVD upscaling might not boast the "wow" factor of pure HD content, but the Algebra of Wows dictates that it should be worth several thousand anti-mehs. At least!
Sony's Harrison on Euro PS3: 1,000 PS2 games at launch
As you can probably imagine, the reaction to Sony's newly-spec'ed European PS3 hasn't been all that warm, so Three Speech decided to hit up big Phil Harrison himself to get responses to the criticism straight from the horse's mouth. Perhaps the biggest relief to nervous Eurogamers will be Harrison's claim that over 1,000 PS2 titles will be available on the PlayStation Network at launch fully software-backwards compatible (despite the Euro PS3's removal of PS2 hardware), a list of which will be made available online on the 23rd or perhaps even sooner. However, it's clear from the way Harrison dodged a question about the importance of backwards compatibility that Sony does not place a lot of weight on the feature, instead hoping that people will go out and spend loot on games and Blu-ray flicks. One possible positive revealed by Harrison was the fact that the PS2 Emotion Engine chips being omitted from European (and possibly all future) models are not the same ones mass-produced for the PS2 itself, but rather, are manufactured specifically for the PS3 -- meaning that Sony will indeed see a significant cost reduction which could theoretically be passed down to the consumer. Want some more potentially good news? How'd you like all those legacy games to utilize the PS3's upscaling ability and add new life to your favorite classics? Well that's exactly what Sony plans to do with a firmware update this summer, claims "Rumor Reporter" Bruce Kelly, whose sources tell him that the company is looking to bring 1080i/720p support to its upcoming emulator. Kelly goes on to say that Sony will add compatibility for select games in batches of ten or so, but hopes to eventually offer support for almost every title on PSN. We'll believe this one when we see it, but if Kelly does turn out to be right, we don't think Sony will be hearing one more word about that discarded Emotion Engine. Read - Harrison interview [Via Joystiq]Read - Upscaling rumor [Via PS3 Fanboy]
Phil Harrison promises 1,000 backwards compatible titles for Europe
This should be the end of the backwards compatibility information. First, we told you about Sony getting rid of a portion of backwards compatibility, then we mused that the decrease in manufacturing costs due to the change may lead to a price drop by the end of the year. Sony recently talked about the issue and RumorReporter said that in addition to this, summer may yield a new firmware update that upscales PS2 and PS-One games to 720p or 1080i. There. Now it's all in front of you. Let's move on to what Phil Harrison said to the semi-official ThreeSpeech in an exclusive interview.Phil Harrison said this about the whole thing: "The situation is changing every day, but on March 23, we expect the list to include over 1,000 PS2 titles." That's about eight times as many as I own. He goes on: "It's very easy to over-react. We're working to introduce a resource on the Web to detail which titles will have backwards compatibility. And as we make firmware upgrades, we will be able to add to that list." There's more to the interview, but it's mostly stuff we've cruised over the past four or five posts about it. Feel free to check out the interview if you want to learn more.
