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Phil Harrison on Rare's decline
On his Newsweek weblog, N'Gai Croal posts a brief exchange with Sony's Phil Harrison from October. The previously unpublished question asks Harrison's thoughts on why Rare has slid into irrelevance. Croal posted the question and answer because of the recent news about Rare's creators leaving the company.Harrison does his best to remain diplomatic about the Microsoft-owned company and avoid the question. However, he alludes to Microsoft executives and corporate culture possibly disrupting Rare's style, although he also wonders if Rare's already secretive nature and inward focus hid industry trends from the company.Is there any hope -- or reason to hope -- that Rare rebuilds itself? Or since its founders have left, should we just dust off our GoldenEye carts and reminisce?
Phil Harrison looks back over the year, says... stuff
The PS3 has been released, so you'd think Sony's Phil Harrison would start to make statements that won't feed the flames, so to speak. For some reason, our buddy Phil spoke with MTV recently (yeah, seriously) and said a couple of things that can easily be misconstrued or taken as wrongly as humanly possible. We'll make a fun list, because they're fun. Due to constant firmware updates and the nearly limitless possibilities available to the SIXAXIS, developers might never be able to exact the full potential of the PS3. In Phil's words, "nobody will ever use 100 percent of its capability." The term "video games" is too constricting. Because, he says, "games are supposed to be fun." He wants people to realize that games can be serious, grim storytelling machines, evoking fear, sadness, comedy, death and other sorts of things you humans call "emotions". Not to mention mature situations (like, er, "drug offenses"? Good example, Phil...). Okay, so the list only had two things on it! No big deal, though. What he's trying to say is that the PS3 is constantly changing, so getting the 100% use of the system will be nigh impossible, with all the different ways to approach a game nowadays. Also, games are supposed to be fun, but they don't have to deal with light-hearted mascot characters parading around doing the same ol' lighthearted "save the princess" routine. Tried and true, yes, but there are other ways to "show" a game. What do you guys think? Flame-bait or valid observation?[note: I couldn't get the MTV link to work, so I used 1up's version of the story]
PS3 will see 'user-created experiences' next year, says Harrison
User-created content, which has long been a fixture in the world of PC gaming, has never managed to gain any real traction on consoles, be that due to technological constraints or a lack of online connectivity. With both of those issues out of the way in modern systems, the time is ripe for users to interact and share their creations and experiences. Sony's Phil Harrison gets behind the idea in a revealing interview with MTV's Stephen Totilo, opining* that gaming needs to move away from presenting "closed experiences." If games are to break free (God knows they want to break free), there needs to be a constant flow of communication between Sony and gamers -- more importantly, Harrison insists that said communication flows in both directions (give us money, here's your money). "Next year you're going to see user-created experiences in a number of interesting ways on PlayStation 3," goes the official and spectacularly vague PR line. A Second Life-styled virtual network has oft been rumored, but Harrison fell victim to "line distortion" before Totilo could get any concrete information about it.So, what entails a "user-created experience?" In the worst case, it's a custom wallpaper and a shared photo between friends. In the best case? Oh, it could be anything, from personalized in-game T-shirts to deadly dungeons designed to foil your friends. Be sure to ask us about it next year. * Basis for an awful pun later in the sentence.Read (and be assaulted by Flash) -- Full interview on MTV News
Sony's Phil Harrison congratulates Nintendo
There's no doubt that the PSP hasn't done as stellar as everyone has hoped. But that doesn't mean it's done poorly, either. MTV News spoke with Sony's Phil Harrison about the performance of the PSP so far. He notes that the PSP is doing a "very good job," distinct from the "great job" that Sony did on PS1 and PS2. He thinks that "most people use their PSP at home," an oddity that he'd like to change. Finally, he praised Nintendo and the DS, stating: "Nintendo should be congratulated... [DS owners] are our customers of tomorrow." Certainly, as Nintendo DS owners get older, they'll most likely look towards products that satisfy a more mature taste. It happened with the transition from Super Nintendo and Nintendo 64 to Playstation and PlayStation 2, and it may happen again.
Loco Roco sequel confirmed
Sony Computer Entertainment President Phil Harrison recently spoke to MTV News, and made a startling revelation about the PSP exclusive LocoRoco. "It was a very successful game for us and we're continuing to evolve the franchise," he said. "We're going to bring 'LocoRoco' back in a couple of new ways with some new friends in the future." LocoRoco and Friends. Sounds like a sequel to me. Considering how many new levels the development team has created for the holidays, it seems like there's still a lot more LocoRoco to come.
PS3 supports homebrew; did you get one?
The PLAYSTATION 3 has just launched in America, and thousands of Sony fanboys have walked home happy. People have been camping out for days, waiting in the cold, and the rain, trying to get Sony's next-gen powerhouse in their homes. PSP fanboys will certainly want to get access to one of the systems, considering its similar XMB capabilities. The PS3 can play music, videos, show photos, and access the internet, just like our beloved handheld.One of the things that the PS3 will have that the PSP won't is official homebrew support. Wha? The PS3 will allow you to install other operating systems, and in a recent interview with GI.biz, Phil Harrison revealed his excitement over user-created content and games: "I'm most excited about at the moment is empowering user-created content. Embedding the user creation tools into the game application and opening it up to a cloud of users." Sounds a lot like Microsoft's XNA, doesn't it?It's strange to see Sony embrace user-developed content for the PS3. Hopefully, that attitude will expand to the PSP one these days. Now, which of you have a PS3 in your house?
Phil Harrison says: PS3 will be well-rounded (and very shiny)
The new, semi-official Sony site Three Speech has lifted up some comments from Sony's Phil Harrison regarding the PS3 and its launch title library -- and B3YOND, er, beyond. What'd Phil say? In response to a question asking about which title Sony is relying on to sell the PS3, he said "a lot of people talked about the 'killer app' and actually it's the killer catalogue you want. It's not about having a single title like a Mario or a Sonic on which you rest the entire platform personality on. It's about having a wide catalogue that satisfies a number of different consumer tastes and styles." Yes, it so is.When asked about what changes the PS3 will spark in the gaming industry (PSX, sorry, PSOne brought 3-D, PS2 brought free-roaming games like GTAIII), Phil actually didn't go the graphics route -- instead, he cited artificial intelligence and physics as well as the whole push to this 1080p HD thing. Asking first about the best use of the SIXAXIS so far and then if rumble is gone forever, Phil didn't cite a "best use" for the SIXAXIS, but said what he liked. As far as rumble is concerned, it's probably gone. Sorry, mates, let's leave that to a third-party mod and software developer support.Interestingly, Phil Harrison said that Sony is working on a way for you to record your own gameplay footage, save it to the hard drive, then upload it onto the web. That's pretty cool, especially if you really like to show off your madd skillz.Firmware updates? Will they be few and far between or a weekly plague like Windows updates (sorry, but I'm sick of that little icon popping up each time I boot up)? Phil says they are focusing on the day one update and will probably have another one in time for the European launch.There are a couple more questions that yield surprising and interesting answers, but you'll have to check out Three Speech for yourself. Or you could get the full interview in the upcoming Official Playstation Magazine, on sale November 15th.[via Three Speech]
Europe isn't "guaranteed" a March release -- Ben Dover, are you there?
Well... are you there? Guess he's a little busy at the moment. Why is he busy? Because the March release date for the PS3 in Europe has been refused to get set in stone -- that is, the release is more "around" March. Phil Harrison gave this smart little speech on the issue: "Given that all of our previous statements about launching in Europe simultaneously with the US and Japan turned out not to be the case, I would not like to make any definitive statements on that. It's not my job to comment on hardware supply issues other than to say some very smart people are working very hard to catch up. In fact, the ramp up is already starting to happen in supply and output, just obviously too late for us to have launched in Europe at the same times as the US." Heh, it's not my job! It isn't, but that's still a funny phrase heard all too often. Let's think about this.Now, if supply and output really is ramped up to a fairly consistent pace, is it entirely unbelievable that the PS3 might launch sooner than expected in Europe? It's an insanely longshot and probably the most optimistic idea I've typed in a long time, but that would be one of the nicest things Sony could do for Europe at this point. But really, March is probably a safe bet. Any later would probably result in torching the Sony embassy. They have one, right? Just kidding. For kicks, let's disperse 100 percentage points across these three options: Pre-March Release, March Release, Post-March Release. My personal ratios? 15%, 65%, 20%, respectively.
Phil Harrison admits -- Blu-ray production was overreached
Remember when we talked about Ridge Racer 7 and putting the entire game onto your PS3 hard drive? Some people took the opportunity to flame about how having the option to do so for this one game rendered the Blu-ray initiative completely and utterly worthless (although if the option were for HD-DVD games (should any exist) or regular DVD, the outcome would be the same. Worthless? No. The more appropriate phrase would be "less effective") and, well, Phil Harrison is going to slightly agree. Not about the hard drive, but about Blu-ray production. It's not even news, really, since we're all going to experience the shortage of PS3's firsthand thanks to Blu-ray production difficulties. In any case, let's talk about what Dr. Phil had to say.The production of the blue laser diodes was the main focus of Phil's non-denial "we have overreached in production of the Blu-Ray component - I can't deny that." Perhaps. He follows that up with the qualifier/excuse: "But that's the price you pay for adopting brand new, leading-edge technologies that will be future proof. We will resolve those issues - we are already catching up." By catching up, Harrison is still promising six million units by the end of March 2007. So, Blu-ray is having a tough time getting started and if all games do allow hard-drive transfer, it will seem less essential but as time goes by and games grow in size (presumably), then Blu-ray will have its chance. Every knight needs a dragon to slay -- sometimes they have to wait for the thing to fly through their kingdom. Or something.
Sony has 40 e-Distribution projects in pipeline, PS3's new focus?
It's on. Sony looks to takeaway Microsoft's edge -- you know, Xbox Live Arcade -- by aggressively pursuing developers who will create downloadable titles that suit PlayStation 3's hardware. Here's Phil Harrison's take on Sony's new strategy:"[What] we've seen on other systems tend to be retro 2D games, and we're pushing the 3D capabilities of the PlayStation 3. Plus, the fact that every PS3 has a hard disk drive means that we're not restricted by the size of the download, and that has a huge impact on the kind of game design that you can do."But is this what our $600 console was built for? Is it too far out to imagine Sony (and Microsoft) slipping into a pattern; buttering us up with little e-Distribution titles all year long, and then releasing a couple big-budget franchise sequels during the holidays? Downloadable games are a nice bonus, but the novelty seems to be attracting a disproportionate amount of our game companies' attentions. How far off is the PS3 Jr., a console with no optical drive, tailored solely for the e-Distribution era?
PS1 catalogue on PS3 not yet playable
Speaking with 1UP, Sony's Phil Harrison detailed plans to make most of the PlayStation (PS1) catalogue available for download on PlayStation 3 -- in addition to PSP. Harrison confirmed that a few titles will be available at launch, including Twisted Metal and Syphon Filter. The catch is you'll have to play them on your PSP, since PS3 currently lacks PS1 emulation software.Once the patch is distributed though -- Harrison hopes by year's end -- each PS1 download will be playable on both PS3 and PSP, allowing us to enjoy treasured classics and rarities on-the-go and on the big screen. Just be warned, PS1 games will not be enhanced for your 1080p display.Note: Actual PS1 discs will be playable at launch.
Phil Harrison defends Blu-ray format, smells like gas
Uh-oh! Phil Harrison is opening his mouth again. Time to put PS3Fanboy on spin cycle! Wait... he's actually pretty believable here. In an interview with ThreeSpeech, Phil said that certain PS3 launch titles are already nearing the point of filling the 25GB capacity of Blu-ray discs. This was in response to the notion that Sony was pushing Blu-ray only as a means to go head-to-head with HD-DVD. Next year, Harrison plans, the discs will be 50GB standard and even then "I'd expect that we'll be getting close to that in the fairly near future as well." Meaning 50GB games! Dang. How's about some compression, man? That's just an assumption, but maybe the large sizes are before any compression is done?Well, what about the claim that other current-gen systems are still using DVD's, Mr. Harrison? "DVD is not sufficient capacity to power the kind of data consumption, or to feed the data consumption needs of Cell and RSX. It's got nothing to do with movies. Just purely as a gameplay device, we need Blu-Ray to supply the kind of data that PS3 games use." Ah, indeed, indeed. That's easy to say, but we'll find out in mid-November if it's true. We'll close with a long, nifty quote. Take it, Phil. "It's not just, as you say, about movies -- it's about 7.1 audio, it's about animation, it's about high resolution textures. If you have a graphics chip capable of displaying the textures in a high enough resolution, the designers would want to exploit that benefit creatively. Don't take my word from it -- there was a great quote from a guy from EA who said that whenever there's a new disc format, you always struggle to think how developers will fill it, but they always do. I suppose that game development is like gas, it expands to fill the available space. Once you have that technical capability, the creative desire to exploit it follows very quickly thereafter." Yes. Game development is like gas.
Hands-on with the PlayStation Network
It's not really fair to judge the PS3's online component before, like, the console is actually released and gamers start putting it through its paces, but it's still interesting hear Eurogamer's take on a pre-launch version of the PlayStation Network, courtesy of some exclusive face time with Sony exec Phil Harrison. From the site's extensive coverage of many aspects of the service, the most noticeable theme is that Sony seems to have been closely watching the successes and failures of Xbox Live, and is serious about its promise to meet or exceed all of Live's capabilities. Therefore, many of features that 360 fans have become accustomed to -- consistent UI, multiple methods of communicating with friends, and downloadable content -- are prominently featured in the Network experience, with other aspects -- namely a full web browser, multitude of game-specific mini-stores, and pricing in real currency as opposed to "points" -- clearly designed to one-up Microsoft's offering. Other nice touches here include the ability to create a master account and regulated "associated" accounts (helpful for parents looking to police their kids' usage), a global "Wallet" with which you make all micro-payments (including those required by third-party publishers), and of course, an upgradable OS that leverages the hard drive on both versions of the PS3. Downsides? Unlike Xbox Live, the first iteration of PlayStation Network doesn't let friends communicate while playing a game; even though you'll get a notification of new messages during gameplay, you have to exit the game in order to read them and respond. Also, it's still not clear if / how Sony will implement player rankings a la Live's leaderboards, which is a feature that naturally-competitive gamers have come to expect. All-in-all, though, it sounds like Sony has put a lot of thought into the usability of this increasingly important aspect of the console experience, and assuming that the company is able to overcome potential shortages, lack of rumble, and other well-known nitpicks, the PlayStation Network looks poised to attract the same fervent following as XBL.[Via PS3 Fanboy and Joystiq]
PS3 Online Service -- the details we've wanted for a year
We just know that everyone's been asking "PS3's online service... how's it work?" among other, less kind statements (but still thinking about the same thing). Well, quite a few people have sent in this tidbit of filet-mignon-quality information. Let's start with more general statements, then we'll attack the actual online service and how it works. Let it be known: "the PS3 is designed from the ground up as an online device - unlike the PS2, which suffered from a number of major problems on that front" (but the PS2 service had more active members than XBox Live! Of course, that was from the sheer number of PS2's out there...). Read on, noble warriors, and see the magic that awaits you in November...
Kutaragi says: "We don't care," masses arch a brow
Kutaragi was recently asked whether rival consoles will hinder the success of the PS3 by MCV. Kutaragi, being a man not only of few words but of well-worded words (this was an excellent example, don't deny it!), he responded "We do not care." Yeah! Awesome. But... we do, don't we? Oh yeah, well, Mr. Kutaragi, how about you explain the difficulty of producing Blu-ray drives! "Right now, it is an issue, because we can't manufacture enough blue laser diodes for our PlayStation 3s. But we will resolve that." Good to know. We're counting on you.Another head of Sony, Phil Harrison, was available to discuss launch titles, since Kutaragi wouldn't divulge any info on them. Phil, take it away. "Resistance: Fall of Man and Genji are definite PS3 launch titles ... We're at a fluid time when games are in final QA but not out of final QA. But we're close." Cool beans. So what does this prove? Sony is unmoved by the competition, have told us (not promised!) that they will resolve the diode issue, and have told us (not promised, though it surely sounds like one) two launch titles fo' sho'. Sounds good, eh?
The three heads of Sony speak -- region free PS3!
Phil Harrison... Kaz Hirai... Ken Kutaragi... no, they do not comprise the three heads of the mythical Cerberus, but they do comprise the three heads of a real-life corporation that rivals such mythical beasts: Sony. Game|Life got to interview them all in one night and a couple of interesting tidbits came out. Here they are: Phil Harrison believes there's no North American price drop because the $599 is a "magic price point". Basically, it's the price people will buy at that gives Sony the greatest marginal profit (or if manufacturing costs are still more than the price, the lowest marginal loss). The Playstation 3 is region free for games, but not movies. So you can grab a PS3 from Japan if you really, really want, but you'll have trouble playing local movies. This is also good news for import junkies, especially among fighting game fanatics (less translation to deal with). Oh, this also includes downloadable games. Kaz Hirai and Ken Kutaragi both leaned towards "no" as to the inclusion of component cables in the box. Alone, each point is kind of "meh", but add them together and you've got a bevy of PS3 common knowledge. It's surprising how these more common points are overlooked, so while many may have heard these, there will be some who were wondering about these and, well, now they know.[FYI: if the link to Game|Life doesn't work, just hit refresh. That worked for me!]
TGS 06: PS3 XMB gets very sexy
We all know the PlayStation 3 will have the same XMB as the PSP. However, there are some very pretty improvements. Phil Harrison demoed the console's photo ability and it is absolutely beautiful. Unlike the PSP, the PS3 can manipulate your photographs and make them appear as physical photos in a 3D environment. With upgradeable firmware, the PS3 will be able to have even more functionality as well.The browser will also have multiple tabs, a la Firefox. The console will also support one universal login for online games (according to the 1UP Show). Hopefully, the improvements made to the XMB on the PlayStation 3 will find their way over to the PSP in a future firmware version.
Yowzer! 100 PS3 titles in development
If you want to get technical, Sony has over 190 titles in the works across all consoles (PS3, PS2, PSP), but Phil Harrison confirmed to Famitsu.com that 100 are for the PS3. While this may seem like Sony has moved on to the next-gen system, we must recall that the PS2 is still getting some massive titles released into next year (Final Fantasy XII, God of War 2). Who would ever completely drop their previous console right after the next-gen edition is released, anyway? Oops! Nevermind.So what does Phil Harrison recommend for us? He didn't actually "recommend" anything so much as recite the obvious: that Resistance: Fall of Man is garnering a lot of attention in the U.S. and European and White Knight Story is gathering steam worldwide. We'll just say those are the games he wants us to watch out for. Lots of gaming, coming our way!
Dubious rumor: Gran Turismo HD to ship without cars or tracks
Clearly, it's the most ridiculous thing you've ever heard of. In fact, the mere suggestion that a premier racing game would be released without vehicles or courses (arguably two of the most important elements in such a game) is so beyond what is defined as "ridiculous", things like tap dancing unicorns and flying kangaroos can actually gaze at said suggestion through a telescope. That reason alone is worth marking this story as a rumor, though it's certainly not the only one. If we're to believe the forum-posted translation of the latest interview in Famitsu, Kazunori Yamauchi has big plans in store for his beloved automotive franchise -- big plans composed of teeny tiny transactions.Gran Turismo HD will supposedly see release in two versions. The first, entitled Gran Turismo HD: Premium, amounts to nothing more than a demo of, you guessed it, Gran Turismo 5. The 30 included cars and two undoubtedly exciting tracks are rendered in pristine PS3 glory and are meant to give you a solid idea of what Yamauchi and friends are putting together for a full release in 2008. Two more tracks and 30 extra cars can be purchased and downloaded for this version. If you prefer purchasing a full game instead of an extended prologue, perhaps Gran Turismo HD: Classic would be more your speed. Or perhaps not.Though the Classic moniker may stem from the fact that you're getting a high resolution PS2 game, you may distinctly recall the original game actually giving you hundreds upon hundreds of cars for your $50. Not so with this version. Every car and every track may be purchased and downloaded from Sony's online network. The interview mentions a price of 50-100 yen per vehicle ($0.43 - $0.85) and 200 - 500 yen per track ($1.71 - $4.26). Being generous and sticking to the low end of the scale results in $408 spent if you want all 750 cars and all 50 tracks (roughly what you got in Gran Turismo 4). Moving up on the scale approaches values that surpass what you paid for the PS3 (newsflash: a lot) to begin with.Is any of this true? 1UP's Luke Smith points to a more utopian quote (his version actually gives you one car!) by Sony's Phil Harrison that seems to match up with this story: "Imagine Gran Turismo shipping on a disc with one car and one track. And then you can browse, online, a dynamic circuit of vehicles that's growing every day because either the car manufacturers are adding new vehicles or we're adding new vehicles. And you can see a specific-type car that's being called up and say, 'I think I'll play with that one. Let me download and play it.'" Seems more likely that the quote created the story. Until Sony confirms (unlikely) or denies it later this week, consider this an entertaining vilification of the microtransaction and nothing more.
Sony's Phil Harrison's foot seeks his mouth again, misses
So, all this talk about format wars and console wars has everyone riled up, but what about the next-next-gen wars? We're talking PS4, XBox720, Wiiiii(?)! Maybe we aren't thinking about that yet, but Phil Harrison, the man behind Sony's worldwide studios, definately is. He said that "I'd be amazed if the PlayStation 4 has a physical disc drive," which really makes this console war useless. Who cares about HD-DVD or Blu-ray if in 5 or 10 years (depending on how long the PS3 actually lasts as an upgradeable system), we drop media storage discs entirely?Even if that were true and we got everything we needed over some kind of broadband (movies, games, etc)... that would kind of stink. Download times may be excessive and even the hardest core of gamers and movie watchers will end up needing more hard drive space. Not that buying an external hard drive would be a pain. All of that is fairly moot, though, as one thing will lead this movement: price. Would it be cheaper to download games and movies from a Sony-based PS4 website? By all means, it should. That doesn't mean it will. What does everyone think about the possible move away from discs? Would it bode well, fare poorly, crash the internet as we know it?
