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Sony's Shuhei Yoshida talks Remote Play ubiquity on PlayStation 4, not bundling the Eye with the console
With the PlayStation 4, unlike the PlayStation 3 before it, Remote Play functionality on Vita is handled on a system level. Though Sony's asking developers to take into account the Vita's different button setup and additional input mechanisms that the portable console has, the actual act of enabling Remote Play is handled by the PlayStation 4 itself. "On PlayStation4 , it just happens. You just make a PS4 game, it supports Remote Play," Sony Worldwide Studios head Shuhei Yoshida told us in an interview at E3. We'd asked whether Sony's "mandating" Remote Play functionality from developers, and Yoshida first explained how it worked on the PlayStation 3 to offer some context. "The single biggest issue, why there are not many PlayStation 3 games that support Remote Play, was that it was optional -- the system didn't do much. The game has to set aside some memory or CPU to be able to do that, and usually, memory is the most precious resource that [development] teams fight amongst each other for. So when it comes down to the priorities, these are features that are very easy to drop," he told us. The idea with PS4 is that, by offloading responsibility for Remote Play support to the console itself, developers are freed up to make the control tweaks necessary for a comfy experience playing a PS4 game remotely on Vita. "Please make sure that when you play your games on Vita, the control is good. That's the minimum thing we're asking them to do," he added. All that said, not every single PlayStation 4 game will work with Remote Play -- "Maybe not Just Dance," Yoshida offered with a laugh when we asked. That's a pretty reasonable exception if you ask us, and it sounds like only games that require the PS4 Eye or Move (or some other such input method that's impossible to emulate on Vita) are on that excepted list.
PlayStation 4's Shuhei Yoshida on Oculus Rift: We have dev kits, 'I love it'
Sony Computer Entertainment head of Worldwide Studios Shuhei Yoshida is a big Oculus Rift fan, it turns out. "We've got a couple of the development kits, and I tried it out and I love it," he told us in an interview this morning at E3 2013. Whether the PlayStation 4 will support it is another question. "No, it doesn't," Yoshida told us. Not yet, that is.When we asked whether the company's planning on offering support in the future, he only offered a "No comment" with a big smile. The picture of the retail Oculus Rift is potentially a bit clearer now, especially given this week's addition of an HD version of the headset. We'll be sure to keep on Sony about Oculus support on the PlayStation 4 as the year goes on.
Sony's Yoshida confirms all PlayStation 4 games work with Vita via Remote Play (with minor exceptions)
Sony's PlayStation Vita is getting a major content boost when the PlayStation 4 launches later this year, as all PlayStation 4 games will run on the Vita via Remote Play. The only exceptions offered by Sony Worldwide Studios head Shuhei Yoshida were, "unless the game requires specific hardware like the camera [PS4 Eye]." It also stands to reason that PlayStation Move-specific titles won't run via Remote Play, nor anything else that requires peripheral hardware (the Buzz! series, for example). The PlayStation 4's Remote Play functionality with the Vita is said to be far more robust than its previous PlayStation 3 / PlayStation Portable iteration. Developers can even put Vita-specific controls in their PS4 games, enabling Wii U-esque second screen functionality, Yoshida told us earlier this year. We'll have our Vitas on-hand at E3 in a few weeks when we expect Sony will offer first hands-on with its next gaming console.
The DualShock 4 is 'near final' hardware, Remote Play is more than an afterthought, and other notes from Shuhei Yoshida
The only hardware shown on-stage during Sony's PlayStation 4 event was the retooled DualShock controller, the DualShock 4. No box. No PS4 Eye. No new version of Move. As for the console itself, its absence makes some sense in light of today's news from SCEA prez Jack Tretton that the console's internals are "still in development in terms of final specs and design." So, how final is the only piece of hardware Sony was willing to trot out? "It's near final. It's just gonna be small tweaks being done," Sony Worldwide Studios head Shuhei Yoshida told us in an interview this morning. Sadly, he also admitted we won't be able to touch any of it anytime soon. "By E3, I think" was the best he could offer. He blamed Sony's hardware folks for not allowing access, despite him pleading with PR to give hands-on time. "I was just asking our PR team can we just let you touch this stuff. Our hardware guys don't want you to find out some detail that ..." he said, trailing off. "Some dirty secret?" we asked. "Of course," he responded with a smile. Moving on to Vita and the Remote Play functionality on PS4 (which allows you to play any PS4 game on your Vita, via streaming), Yoshida said that -- unlike with the PlayStation 3's Remote Play functionality -- Sony's asking devs to try their game via Remote Play on Vita before submitting final code for publishing. He also said that, using Remote Play, developers could implement Vita-specific controls. "Some PS Vita games make use of the edge of the screen to add contextual buttons -- that works really well, I think, and it's easy to see. So that kind of thing I'd like to see developers do on PS Vita over Remote Play," Yoshida explained. He also apologized for not showing the final box, getting out ahead of the inevitable question from the room full of journalists. But hey, we sympathize -- Sony's gotta save something for E3, right? PlayStation Plus on PlayStation 4 may also be on that list; when we asked Yoshida about its presence on the next Sony game console, he coyly answered, "I know the answer, but we're not talking about it. I'm a subscriber, so I'd like to see it." Us too!
Used games will function on PlayStation 4, but there's a mysterious caveat
Sony head of Worldwide Studios Shuhei Yoshida is a gregarious, smart, talkative interviewee. And that's exactly why it was so weird that he fully waffled when we asked him to address whether or not the newly unveiled PlayStation 4 will play used games. "That's my expectation, that PS4 games will work on [the] hardware. That's my expectation," he told us in an interview this morning. When we pushed to clarify what he meant, Yoshida stuttered. "Ummm ... yeah. We have to really name our system services to explain more about it," he added. That's a similar answer to what he told Eurogamer last night at Sony's big PlayStation 4 announcement event, vagueness and all. Yes, used games "can play on PS4," but does it require a license repurchase? Perhaps you have to belong to an as-yet-unidentified PS4 online network? It's not entirely clear, but there seems to be a caveat to the statement, "Used games work on PS4." Sony, however, isn't saying what that caveat is just yet. Of course, current-gen consoles all support buying any used, physical copies of games and playing them on their corresponding game consoles Yoshida also confirmed that games will launch at retail as well as digital, but, well, you probably already guessed that from the included Blu-ray disc drive.
Sony isn't cutting the Vita price in North America due to international exchange rates
Despite the PlayStation Vita getting a recent price cut in its home country of Japan, Sony says it isn't getting a similar price adjustment in North America. The Vita recently dropped from 30,000 yen (3G) and 25,000 yen (WiFi-only) to 19,980 yen, but Sony Worldwide Studios president Shuhei Yoshida tells Joystiq that that same price drop won't happen in the US. He cited exchange rates as the primary reason -- Japanese Yen has dropped in value to (currently) 0.93 cents to every US dollar, meaning Sony actually loses money in exchange on products sold outside of its home territory. The Vita launched in February 2012 and has suffered from poor sales throughout the past year -- Sony's hoping to revitalize that a bit with PlayStation 4 connectivity. Via Remote Play, Sony hopes to ensure that nearly all PlayStation 4 games are streamable on Vita. Whether that'll be a feature that consumers use is another question altogether; Remote Play exists on PlayStation 3 already, and it's not what we'd call a great experience.
The PlayStation 4 can output in 4K, but not games
Yes, the PlayStation 4 is capable of pushing out a 4K video signal. Sony president of Worldwide Studios Shuhei Yoshida confirmed as much to Joystiq in an interview this morning, where he said that the PlayStation 4 will play video that was recorded in the super high-def resolution, but the games currently being made for it aren't in 4K. Sony made a big 4K push at CES 2013 -- it was all Sony president Kaz Hirai would talk about in our interview, and Sony's booth reflected the company's 4K initiative. It seems that the company's not getting too far ahead of itself, however, recognizing that few consumers buying a PS4 this holiday will own the still-nascent TV tech.
Sony reveals how the PlayStation 4 Eye works
Sony's Shuhei Yoshida has dished the dirt on how the company's latest camera accessory will work. The PlayStation 4 Eye comes with a pair of 1,280 x 800 cameras, four microphones and an 85-degree field of view. The two lenses are designed to be used in a variety of ways, including triangulating the 3D space, gesture recognition, Kinect-style body tracking, and in conjunction with accessories like the Wonderbook or DualShock 4 controller. "It's not just a way to identify your player number, it also works like a PS Move," Yoshida said of the new DualShock's light bar. "It's an extension of the PS Move technology that we incorporated into the DualShock so that the camera can see where it is." The Sony Studios chief used a PS Eye-style AR game as an example, saying that with the original camera, one lens had to do everything. With the new unit, one camera will concentrate on capturing the action and ensuring good picture quality, while the other is dedicated to motion tracking. Another reason that the Move functionality was incorporated into the DualShock is to enable the console know where you're sitting in relation to the TV (and your on-screen character). The company is also aiming to enable users to take 3D pictures and video and store it on the console. As for the microphones in the new Eye and how that'll impact interaction with the PlayStation 4 on a system level, Yoshida wasn't giving up any details. Though he said it'll be incorporated into games (a la Kinect voice commands on Xbox 360 games), he wouldn't give up whether you could use your voice to control the PlayStation 4 on a system level. Ben Gilbert contributed to this report.
Sony's Yoshida: 'used games can play on a PS4'
In news that should keep parties going until the early morning at Gamestops everywhere, Sony Worldwide Studios boss Shuhei Yoshida tells Eurogamer that used games will still play on the PlayStation 4. Despite some issues with the translation, he stated clearly that "used games can play on a PS4." That appears to clearly put the issue to bed, despite rumors or patent misinterpretations passed around the internet recently. Now, we wait for our own chance to ask a few questions of Sony about its upcoming console like "what does it look like?", and the competition over at Microsoft goes on the hot seat with secondhand-loving gamers.
Sony rules out PS Vita price cut in 2012, works to lower the price later
It's time to get realistic about the prospects of a PlayStation Vita price drop. Sony Worldwide Studios' head Shuhei Yoshida dampened the fires of speculation at GamesCom this week by telling Eurogamer that it was simply "too early" to slash the price on the gaming handheld -- it was only just launched this year for every active region beyond Japan, after all. That's not to say Sony is determined to keep the PS Vita at $249 forever. Much like what it did for the PS3, the company is working to bring down the price by streamlining part costs. The cuts might be necessary given the mismatch between the warm reception to the quad-core, OLED-packing hardware and the actual sales; Sony would "like to see more uptake" than what's been seen to date, according to Yoshida. In the meantime, we'll have to be content with bundles like the European LittleBigPlanet combo if we want to eke out a little more value at the game store counter.
PS Vita to pack 512MB of RAM, support cross-game voice chat
What's the difference between Sony's PlayStation Vita and the PS3? About 256MB of RAM, apparently. In a recent interview with Eurogamer, Sony Worldwide Studios president Shuhei Yoshida confirmed that the forthcoming handheld will boast a full 512MB of RAM (compared to the PS3's 256MB), allowing the Vita to support cross-game voice chat via its Party feature. Yoshida's confirmation effectively debunks earlier rumors that Sony would be halving the Vita's RAM, in order to compete with the 3DS' lower price, though the console does feature comparatively less V-RAM (just 128MB, versus the PS3's 256MB). According to the executive, however, that disparity won't make too much of a difference on the gaming experience, due to changes in the Vita's display resolution. "The resolution on the PS Vita screen is much lower," Yoshida said. "Even though it's four times the resolution of PSP, compared to the console, the amount of data you have to push is much smaller." The proof, of course, is in the pudding, but unfortunately, we probably won't be tasting it for a while.
Sony's Shuhei Yoshida drops some NGP knowledge: PSP sticking around, PS3 games easy to port
Details about Sony's next-gen portable Playstation, the NGP, have been scarce since we spoke with SCEA President-CEO Jack Tretton about the new device. However, in an interview in the forthcoming issue of Edge, Shuhei Yoshida --who happens to be president of SCEA Worldwide Studios -- revealed a few more tidbits about Sony's NGP strategy (alas, still no official price). Apparently, the PSP will stick around even after NGP's release because of high demand for the older handheld, not to mention a lower price. For those of you concerned about a dearth of titles upon the NGP's debut -- a la the PS3 -- fear not, as Yoshida stated that porting PS3 games was a goal from the very beginning and the process will be simple (relatively speaking, of course). Combine that with a push to make the NGP's development environment "as easy as possible," and we'll hopefully see plenty of available titles upon the device's release. Oh yeah, Yoshida-san also said that NGP is just the console's codename, and the real name will be announced later this year -- PSP2 just rolls off the tongue, now doesn't it?
Sony says NGP will be 'affordable,' won't cost $599, WiFi-only version also coming
We had quite the interview with Sony's Jack Tretton, but we certainly didn't corner the market on hot new NGP details -- Eurogamer and Game Informer quizzed the company's Andrew House and Shuhei Yoshida, respectively, and came out with some important tidbits about the quad-core gaming handheld, particularly regarding pricing. Though Tretton seemed to suggest we'll see a price somewhere northward of the Nintendo 3DS's $250, Yoshida was quoted as saying "It's not going to be $599," laughing off the idea that the system would cost as much as the PlayStation 3's infamous appraisal at launch, and House said that Sony "will shoot for an affordable price that's appropriate for the handheld gaming space." While none were willing to cough up a real ballpark estimate, the SCEE president revealed one way that the cost might come down: pushing out a lesser model, a strategy we've seen before. House said that while all devices come with WiFi, "a separate SKU will have 3G," making us wonder which of the handheld's other groundbreaking features might carry a premium. After all, OLED screens don't come cheap. Find the rest of Eurogamer's excellent interview (including a bit about how Sony will prioritize downloadable content over physical media) at our source link.
Sony's Yoshida says PS3 is now turning a profit, no plans for a price cut
We'd already seen some evidence that Sony was lowering the manufacturing costs of the PlayStation 3, and it looks like that's now finally starting to pay off -- Sony exec Shuhei Yoshida has confirmed to IGN that the console is at long last actually turning a profit. Of course, that profit is apparently still a fairly small one (and might just be breaking even), with Yoshida only saying that "this year is the first time that we are able to cover the cost of the PlayStation 3," and that "we aren't making huge money from hardware, but we aren't bleeding like we used to." That also unsurprisingly means that Sony still isn't planning a price cut anytime in the near future, with Yoshida instead saying that Sony will focus on more bundles like Move / Sports Champions package announced at E3.
Sony said to have seriously considered second analog nub for PSP Go
It's no secret that a second analog nub was one of the biggest demands for what's now known as the PSP Go and, according to Sony exec Shuhei Yoshida, those requests were heard loud and clear during the Go's development. Speaking with Game Informer, Yoshida said that Sony had some "very serious discussion" about adding a second analog nub to the PSP Go, but ultimately decided against it to avoid splitting the PSP market in two. He further elaborated that the PSP Go is "designed to be perfectly compatible with the PSP-3000 and all the games that released before that," adding that "we are talking about the mid-life cycle of this platform" (referring to Sony's ten-year life cycle plan for all of its consoles). In other words, don't bet on one showing up on the inevitable PSP Go Slim 6000 either.[Via Joystiq]
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.