Shuhei Yoshida
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Sony looking for more online partnerships to provide gamers free content
One of the big differentiating factors between Xbox LIVE and PLAYSTATION Network is the cost. PSN has tried to stand out as the better value, by offering free online gameplay. The Network is trying to expand to other free services, such as Home and the Euro-exclusive VidZone, which offers streaming music videos for free.Of course, that's not the end to Sony's ambitious plans. Shuhei Yoshida explains to GI.biz that Sony alone cannot manage all the experiences it wants to provide. "We can't support all the needs of the consumer," Yoshida admits. However, "there are great companies providing services on the PC already - so we're very open to provide the opportunity to those companies to reach our user base as well."Once again, it looks like unique advertising relationships must be established. By offering advertisers a unique platform to highlight their goods, players will be able to enjoy an expansive lineup of services for free. "We like to provide as many services as possible for free - we already provide our network access for gameplay for free - and the interesting thing about the network side and the Internet business is that there's a variety of revenue sources," he said. "Not necessarily getting people to pay, but with advertising and so on."
EyePet benefited from Eight Days and Getaway cancellations
The adorable debut of EyePet at Leipzig Games Convention was quite possibly the biggest surprise of the show. The innovative use of the PlayStation Eye, coupled with one of fthe most adorable creature designs in recent memory, made it one of the most high-profile titles we showcased on our site during the Convention. Although it's still not planned for a release late next year, it benefited from the controversial cancellations of other SCEE games, such as Eight Days and The Getaway."Yes, there are so many things that we want to do, more than we can do with the resources. So when London Studio was looking at the early work on EyePet and the prototype of Eight Days, they knew they couldn't do all of them - and there are even more things they're working on at early concept stage," Worldwide Studios president Shuhei Yoshida told GI.biz. "So your expertise and ideas are best spent on some titles rather than others."London Studios is arguably best known for their work on SingStar and other PS2/PS3 Eye games. Their experience in casual games developent will undoubtedly help EyePet. "London Studio is really best-placed for showing how these things can be done, because they've worked on games in that space for many years - they know how consumers are going to react, how to make it accessible and fun."%Gallery-30069%
Obvious: Next Team Ico game will be 'really, really good'
We could have told you that, you know. If you don't trust our word, however, how about the one from Sony Worldwide Studios president Shuhei Yoshida? He would know, wouldn't he? Allegedly talking to Official PlayStation Magazine (August issue cited on NeoGAF), Yoshida refers to the team that built ICO and Shadow of the Colossus as the "Olympic Team." Why? Well, because it takes 'em four years to finish a game."They haven't released a PS3 title yet - of course not - they'll take four years!" explains Yoshida. "But they have something really, really good on the way." Is it too early to dole out 2009's Game of the Year Award?[Via Eurogamer]
New Team ICO game impresses Shuhei Yoshida
While there's no real news regarding Fumito Ueda and Team ICO's new game, Shuhei Yoshida made a few comments on it in a recent interview with the Official PlayStation Magazine UK. First off, yes, they are working on a game (this has only been confirmed from one arbitrary, assumed screenshot on their official site), but it's going to be a while until we see anything. Yoshida started work on ICO before moving to the United States, so he's seen how Ueda works -- uncompromising was the word used. Four years is the general time to wait for each game, Yoshida concludes, but this game will be worth it because "they have something really, really good on the way." We look forward to hearing more!
Sony exec admits 'we haven't done enough with third parties' for PS1 downloads
Where are all the PS1 games? We chatted with SCE Worldwide Studios president Shuhei Yoshida about the lack of PS1 downloadable titles in America, and he admitted it frankly: "I'd like to see more games on that as well ... we haven't done enough with third party publishers."In Japan, companies like Square Enix and Konami have supported the PSN by re-releasing treasured PS1 classics onto the PS Store. However, the rest of the world's catalog has been quite lacking. Yoshida explained that these digital downloads don't offer much profit, calling the potential monies "insignificant." He also noted that there are many issues involving licensing, especially with the music found in older games. That usually adds to the difficulty of bringing back PS1 games.While lamenting the lack of PS1 support on the PSN, he did ask us a favor: "Maybe if you can convince the third parties."[Image Source]
Shuhei Yoshida: PSN expansion to PSP is planned
Joystiq and PS Fanboy interviewed Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide Studios president Shuhei Yoshida about a number of hot topics earlier this week. However, one of the big talking points had to be the expansion of the PLAYSTATION Network beyond the PS3. Currently, home console owners can sign in using a single PSN ID, and can access a Friends list, send messages to friends, and play games together online.During the E3 keynote, Sony briefly noted that they wanted to expand the PSN's "universal ID," and we asked Yoshida if that expansion could hit the PSP. We asked if using the same PSN ID from the PS3 can access a universal Friends list on the PSP. His response? "That's the plan."Already, implementing the PLAYSTATION Store directly on the PSP is in the works. It won't be too long before we see even more features of the PS3 popping up on the PSP: Friends lists, messaging and who knows what else ... trophies, perhaps? Stay tuned in the coming days for the full itnerview.
Rat Race is canceled
We teamed up with Joystiq's Chris Grant in a lengthy interview with Sony Worldwide Studios president Shuhei Yoshida (full interview to come later in the week). One of the random details we stumbled upon was the fate of the long-forgotten PSN episodic title, Rat Race. He admitted earnestly: "So, yeah, we stopped it. We really liked the concept; it's like The Office TV series. It was kind of funny but we were not quite happy with how the game was turning out and there was some difficulty in development." Remember the first footage of the game? Well, it wasn't too inspiring. Honestly, this isn't one we're going to regret losing.
Don't laugh now, PSN's Rat Race exterminated
Following a discussion of Siren, we asked Sony Worldwide Studios pres Shuhei Yoshida about development of the not-quite-funny episodic comedy series Rat Race for the PSN. Yoshida laughed, telling Joystiq: "You have good memory. Yeah, maybe I talked about episodic games and that's my fault. So, yeah, we stopped it. We really liked the concept; it's like The Office TV series. It was kind of funny but we were not quite happy with how the game was turning out and there was some difficulty in development." So, for those of you cursed with a penchant for terrible comedy, you'll probably want to dull the pain with yet another episode of Two and a Half Men. The rest of you? Keep an eye out for the remainder of our interview with Yoshida.
Shuhei Yoshida on his relocation, exclusives and future of PS3
Sony's President of Worldwide Studios, Shuhei Yoshida, sat down with ThreeSpeech in an interview to discuss his plans for the PlayStation name. He began by giving some background information about himself and his transition into Phil Harrison's former position, admitting that his predecessor's departure was "unexpected" but he will "continue that drive." The main question on everyone's mind was exclusives, mainly whether Sony will begin paying for them. Yoshida stated that he understands due to the rising cost of development, third-party publishers must recuperate costs, hence the need to go multi-platform. He tells us Sony's strategy is "invest(ing) in our first-party studios; (and) in terms of exclusive titles, our role becomes more important." LittleBigPlanet is the exclusive the President is most looking forward to and further indicated Home should be ready by Christmas. He also addresses canceled games; citing "business situations and priorities" as the reasons why Eight Days and The Getaway, in their pre-production phase, landed on the cutting room floor. Yoshida also confirmed his move from the US back to Japan this year, in order to participate more in the "overall direction-setting of our company and our future platforms" and "to participate in the top management group of SCEI and really achieve the vision that Kaz has in terms of how this company should work going forward." Of course, no Sony executive can go on interview without agreeing with the prediction that the PS3 will remain "a really relevant system for another ten years." For more, read the in-depth interview over at ThreeSpeech.
Sony: First-party games 'more important' this generation
Sony Computer Entertainment's president of worldwide studios, Shuhei Yoshida, isn't blind to the fact that exclusive games are becoming a rarity these days. In an interview with UK blog ThreeSpeech, the man who replaced Phil Harrison says that, given the trend towards multi-platform releases of major titles, first-party studios and games become "more important" – and that Sony is focusing its assets internally. Yoshida echos much of what we've been hearing from Sony over the past few months with regards to exclusives, stating that "in this generation, it costs much more to develop one product." This results in what he says is "pure economic pressure" that has caused "most of the third parties to move from some exclusive titles to more multi-platform titles." "Because we know that is the trend, we, as a company, can invest in our first-party studios," says Yoshida, who is relocating to Japan as his division is set to play an ever more integral role in PlayStation's future success. Collaborating more closely with SCEI prez Kaz Hirai, Yoshida says he'll be working "not only to create games, but to participate in the overall direction-setting of our company and our future platforms." Future platforms? Let's just focus on exclusive, first-party titles for those present platforms of yours for now, 'kay? [Via CVG]
Sony admits struggle in getting third party support
It's a pretty established and unfortunate fact that the PS3 hasn't secured many third-party exclusive games. Multi-platform third-party titles tend to be rough ports or aggravatingly delayed. Shuhei Yoshida has acknowledged this fact and let out a cry to third-party developers: "It's impossible to bring the level of support that we feel is important for the PlayStation 3 platform without the third parties' continued support." He also said that, sometimes, "we struggle to convince them to put more resources into the PS3."While admitting a problem is the first step to resolving it and moving on to your next addiction, we'd love to hear a little more about what Yoshida and Sony plan to do in regards to the third-party developers' fears of putting more of their eggs into the Sony basket. It's the cutest basket, after all. Made of sturdy wicker so it doesn't break ... aesthetically pleasing ... it compliments eggs really well. Do you think Sony should dole out some cash for exclusives, or more dev tools to show these guys and gals that it might not be so hard to program on the PS3 once you get your hands inside its shell?
Sony pres Yoshida: admits third party struggle, promises continued support for PSP
The state of PSP is rather confusing at the moment. On one hand, it is meeting extraordinary sales in Japan, being the top selling system in the territory for the last few months. On the other hand, disparaging software sales in the West have caused major publishers and developers to speak against the platform. New Sony Worldwide Studios president Shuhei Yoshida talked with GI.biz, and although he admits shortcomings, is confident about the platform. "It's too early to make judgments," Yoshida says about the three year old handheld. "We know there's a lot more that we can do, and with the massive growth of the industry we understand that third party publishers have so many choices, many more than they have resources. Sometimes we struggle to convince them to put more resources into the PSP." Yoshida views the DS not as PSP's rival, but as a different kind of product altogether (not unlike comparisons between the PS3 and Wii). "We've always thought that the PSP as a platform is standing on its own - there's no direct competition, although some people think that the DS is its rival simply because it's portable, but the positioning and the main user base are totally different." While Sony may be struggling to convince third parties to work on PSP, Yoshida promises continued support for the handheld. "So we continue to support the platform, and we've been doing really well with first party software, and I hope that more developers and publishers see some of the things that the PSP can uniquely offer to them, and its reach into consumers' lives." See the full interview here.
Next year will be the 'year of differentiation,' claims Yoshida
Shuhei Yoshida isn't wasting any time getting his PR machine in prime condition. As the new head of Sony Worldwide Studios, he's got a lot of responsibility under his belt, but also a lot of knowledge. He admits the first year of the PS3 was riddled with growing pains because developers built their games on the 360's architecture. This was the developers error, since releasing the game on the PS3 involved more effort than thought to take advantage of the multi-core processor -- leading to delays or sub-par ports.This was also Sony's fault, he says, but now that good tools exist to assist developers and many have gotten their hands into the PS3, the trend may change soon. "Moving forward I'm totally confident that developers will start to use more from the PlayStation 3 platform. This year is the year of parity, next year is the year of differentiation in favour of the PS3 platform," he said. With the clear difference in power between PS3-based games like Uncharted and Metal Gear Solid 4, we hope more devs take his advice and start their projects on the PS3 in the coming years. It will prove easier in the long run, since moving PS3 titles to the 360 is supposed to be much simpler.
Lack of online contributed to Eight Days cancellation
To be honest, when we first heard about Shuhei Yoshida – Phil Harrison's replacement as president of Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide Studios – we didn't like him. Sure, he's probably outrageously qualified for the gig, but we feel like we went through hell with Harrison, deep in the trenches on the front lines of a nasty console war. So, basically, we're saying that we haven't bonded with Yoshida. Yet.In an interview with Develop Magazine, Yoshida comes semi-clean on Sony's seemingly swift decision to can Eight Days, one of the two London Studios games cancelled earlier this month (the other was, of course, The Getaway). The main culprit: a "key" corporate focus on "online technology and PlayStation Network" ... sort of. Actually, Yoshida safely says the decision was really about budget and how the game fit into their publishing portfolio, but with the aforementioned focus on the PlayStation Network and games that utilize it (like LittleBigPlanet), Yoshida conceded that a lack of online content in Eight Days "was part of the consideration." See, that was a tough call but we made it through together. We feel closer already.
Sony announces new studio heads for Europe, America
Sony continues to shuffle the upper-level management of their international studios. Gamasutra reports that the company has appointed Michael Denny (pictured) as the new senior vice president of Sony Worldwide Studios Europe, moving him from his former position as Sony Computer Entertainment Europe VP.Sony has also promoted Scott Rohde, former Sony San Diego Studios senior director, to the position of vice president of Worldwide Studios America. Both Rohde and Denny will manage the internal studios for their regions.These promotions follow last month's appointment of Shuhei Yoshida as president of Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide, replacing Phil Harrison. GamesIndustry.biz has posted the first part of an interview with Yoshida, detailing the difficult task of filling Phil's shoes.
Shuhei Yoshida explains Eight Days, Getaway cancellations
Remember when Phil Harrison left Sony Worldwide Studios to join Atari? He was replaced by Shuhei Yoshida, a man who finally steps forth for an interview and, among other things, tells us why games like Eight Days and The Getaway got the axe. He first describes the state of the consoles pretty well: each console is going for a different target market and are actually working together to expand the gaming market as a whole.Online technology and the PlayStation Network are the big pushes, Yoshida says. LittleBigPlanet, SingStar, and Buzz! are all going to push online tech with the PS3 in new ways. This was partly why Eight Days and The Getaway were canceled -- no real online components. There's a shift away from big-budget single-player experiences and more towards online functionality. Not that you can't have both; but only single-player? Unless it's a huge name, it probably won't fly. Yoshida seems to have his head on straight. Let's hope he can help forge a bright future for Sony!
Sony finds Harrison's replacement in Shuhei Yoshida
Sony has finally settled on an executive to fill the shoes of former Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide Studios president (and Infogrames' current Directeur Général Délégué) Phil Harrison, with the company handing the baton over to the US division's senior vice president Shuhei Yoshida. The exec is something of a familiar face around the Sony camp, having first joined the company in 1986 before moving on to SCEI in 1993, where we can thank him for being one of the initial forces behind getting the original PlayStation off the ground. Yoshida was elevated to his most recent role in February 2007, and will begin calling the shots at SCE WWS starting, well, now. His plans for the company at this point remain anyone's guess, with Sony front man Kaz Hirai boasting only that the company "will reinforce our software business by further enhancing coordination among the studios under a new leader." Let us at least hope that part of that plan includes completing the work Harrison started and getting Home out the door someday sooner rather than later.
SCE Worldwide Studios gets new president
Ever since Phil Harrison shocked the games industry by leaving Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE) for Atari, there has been a crucial void in Sony's management. In the interim months, Kazuo Hirai was the acting President of the Worldwide Studios, but effective today, there will be replacement.Shuhei Yoshida has become the new president of the SCE Worldwide Studios. He began his career with SCEI in April 1996 as one of initial members in establishing the PlayStation business. Since then, he moved on to Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA), where he ultimately became Senior VP of the US Studios.In a press release from Tokyo, Kazuo Hirai, President and Group CEO of SCEI commented about the new position. "SCE WWS has been developing global hit titles, sharing resources and know-how within SCE Group since its foundation, and we will reinforce our software business by further enhancing coordination among the studios under a new leader. Under the leadership of Yoshida, who has proven track record in managing creative talent, SCE WWS will accelerate the software development for the PLAYSTATION(R)3 and PSP(R) (PlayStation(R) Portable) platforms and vigorously expand the gaming market."The PS3 and PSP are both trailing behind competing home and portable platforms. It will take refocused leadership on Sony's part if it wants to reclaim its former glory in the games industry. We wish Yoshida the best of luck in his new role at Sony.
