Phil Harrison 1UP.com Interview

[American Ninja]

Phil Harrison: Our Competitors Don't Determine Our Lineup

The future is now for PlayStation 3.

By Luke Smith, 02/14/2007

With a console that's been branded future proof numerous times, it's vital to Sony's succes that PlayStation 3 continues to evolve (both via software and firmware revisions). Speaking to 1UP last week at DICE, Phil Harrison, President, Worldwide Studios, Sony Computer Entertainment, discussed how the platform would evolve, if the PlayStation Network can catch up with Microsoft's Xbox Live and reminded us that Sony is in the videogame industry to make money.

1UP: Digital distribution appears to be the future of PlayStation 3. We've already seen Gran Turismo HD, Tekken's coming out, we've heard rumblings from other big name games that are going to be digital only. Is this Sony trying to get rid of the used game market, trying to get rid of retail -- where is this going?

Phil Harrison: Well, let's talk about the trend first of all. I completely agree that the ability to deliver content into somebody's home through broadband network is not just the future it's the reality of now. Look at the way that people are consuming music, the way people are consuming television shows -- games clearly are going to be the next that trend. But this is not to replace Blu-ray disc. This is to operate beside Blu-ray disc and the games that you buy on Blu-ray disc may actually end up being a key that takes you into a dynamic content-lead experience where you meet other people, you see other people's content.

It's not just about digital distribution of the game itself, but it's about re-distribution of the experience after you've bought into that particular game. It's got nothing to do with any plan that we have to eliminate retail. That's just ridiculous. I mean clearly the cheapest and most efficient way of getting 50GBs of stuff into somebody's home is to put it on a Blu-ray disc and to sell it in a store. But we think there are opportunities to engage users and players in very meaningful ways after they buy that game, either through commercial or non-commercial means.

1UP: Do you feel that these digital downloads like Gran Turismo HD aren't getting the word out to the public because there's no point of purchase. If you go to a store, you don't now that GTHD exists and there is no commercial for it. Do you feel Sony's maybe missing the opportunity in terms of informing the consumers about these downloads?

PH: Well I think we're just starting out with what the PlayStation network means and how people engage with the PlayStation network, but to correct you, we did run a TV commercial. We ran it in Japan only.

But we did do a call to action in Japan to say that the PlayStation network is there, you can download game, and you can experience all this richer world of content through your broadband connection. But the attachment ratio of the broadband network for the PlayStation 3 is phenomenal. So, people who are online, they are downloading this content. Obviously this is part of a plan to get as many connected consoles as we can for the future of our business.

1UP: And do you think the fact that PS3 has larger downloadable games -- that aren't mini-games, they're not Xbox Live Arcade titles -- gives you an edge that your competitors don't have?

PH: Well we made a very conscious decision in putting a hard drive in every machine and a minimum of 20GB, 60GB and who knows in the future, maybe that will rise -- you know, that tends to be a trend.

The decision we made to put a hard drive in every PlayStation 3 was because we saw the long term benefit. The ten year plan of allowing people to download all kinds of digital content to their PlayStation 3 -- not just games but movies, music, HD, standard definition TV, you name it. And that was a significant investment, but it was absolutely the right thing to do.

1UP: Microsoft's Video Marketplace has been a successful feature for them. Considering Sony is a media company, will the PlayStation Network see downloadable TV and movies soon, or is that a bit further off?

PH: I think it's incredibly important that we establish what PlayStation 3 stands for. And I think PlayStation 3 needs to stand for gaming and digital entertainment in the living room pushing the envelope of high definition, pushing the envelope of broadband, and of course that includes more than just games. We don't have the announcements that you're probably looking for today, but it is digital data. We have a hard drive, we have a commerce engine, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out we will have that on the network very shortly.

1UP: With Microsoft readying their biggest guns for 2007, does Sony need a big showing at something like GDC next month? Sony needs to compete with Microsoft this holiday season, are March and GDC going to be Sony's coming out party where we see some firm plans for the rest of the year.

PH: Well, I'm not, unfortunately, going to enlighten you on my plans for GDC although we have some interesting announcements to make. I think it's no secret that we're going to make a couple of exclusive announcements there. But it's important to understand from our point of view, we are not focused on one competitor, trying to adjust or change our strategy because of what one competitor is doing in the market. We have our strategy, we're here to grow the market, we're here to build out the PlayStation brand and experience on a worldwide basis, building on the success that we have and we're continuing to do that. We're not going to slate our lineup just because of competitive activity. We'll continue to plow our own furrow.

1UP: Is the extended lifecycle of the PlayStation 2 part of the strategy to combat potentially slow adoption rates for PlayStation 3 because of the barriers to entry the system faces (price point, availability)?

PH: Yeah, I think that's fair. I think we have that tremendous advantage of having those loyal consumers who were enjoying PlayStation brand in whatever incarnation that might be and different consumers buy into new technology at different times at different price points when different kinds of games are available. This has been the tradition of the industry and therefore no surprise to us now. But what we're seeing with PlayStation 2 is not just the kind of demographic reach changing -- we're getting to a really really wide section of the population -- we're also seeing the geographic reach of the console expanding as well. We're seeing a market evolving really rapidly in Eastern Europe and Russia which never existed before, and this will keep the economics of the business going strongly for developers and publishers for a long time to come.

1UP: Recently, Takao Yuhara indicated that price drops are a part of Sony's plan to expand the market when the timing is right. Is it damaging, this early in the console's lifecycle and just ahead of the system's launch in Europe to already be talking about price drops?

PH: Well, do you know what he said was, cost reduction, not price drop, and there's a big difference between cost reduction and price drop. So, that I believe is where the confusion came from. Obviously, we are investing our money in making PlayStation 3s cheaper to manufacture -- that's part of our business plan.

1UP: You're not going to pass the savings along?

PH: When we can, when there are savings to pass along to the consumer, we would obviously choose to do that. That's the business model.

1UP: Wait? You guys are doing this to make money? Really?

PH: That's videogame hardware 101.

Source: http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3157212

Awesome interview :) Can't wait till GDC :)

[spenser.d]

1UP: Wait? You guys are doing this to make money? Really?

PH: That's videogame hardware 101.

Ya know, I don't usually care for what Sony says, but Harrison actually made me lol there (and not in a way that's against Sony for any reason).

-Spenser

[Novaoblivion]

That was a good article, I think great things are coming for the PS3 :yes:.

[TDQuiksilver]

Very, very promising. Can't wait!

[Dijital]

I too think great things will come for the PS3. I mean look at the X360 and it's XBOX live service, compare it to what it started out as and what it has become. And that has been around for what nearly 5 years now? I'm very excited to see what the PSN will become!

[spacer]

I am not mentioning this to start a flame war, but being able to downlaod an entire game sounds kind of dumb.

Trying to download 25 gigabytes to a 20g or 60g HDD isn't really a space-saving activity. Not to mention that even on a decent broadband connection (400-800kb/s) it would still take you the better part of a day to get the whole "disks worth" of the videogame, when you could just as easily go to the store and buy it. And thats assuming your d/l rate is consistant, the network isn't swamped, your connection is maintained, and the files don't get corrupted. Additionally, once your HDD is full, if you want to get more videos or games, you'd have to delete something, which means if you wanted to view or play one of those games again, you'd have to re-download it.

I realize the HDD space issue is solved with a modding of your PS3 to accept other, bigger HDDs; however, that requires the consumer to be both willing and able to mod their PS3. I think the idea of downloadable content is a great idea. But the whole system Sony expects to become mainstream just seems a little "under-planned" to me.

[TDQuiksilver]

Doesn't sound too dumb to me. I guess it's a hard concept to grasp for some. I have loved being able to nab games off of the PSN and hope that many more full games become available to purchase. They want you on the console playing & downloading.. more so than running around town to pick up a game or software. The March release is supposed to have the multitasking feature implemented.. so if you can download while playing a game, I say go for it. With the more consistent rate that broadband is becoming available and speed increases rising also, I can't see why this would even be considered "dumb?" I would hardly call replacing the HDD as "modding" because of how easy it actually is to do on the Playstation 3.

[Vault Boy]

Bad idea... I really agree with spacer on this.

Its really badly thought out. Not happy about this now that I own a PS3

[Nightz]

It's not just about digital distribution of the game itself, but it's about re-distribution of the experience after you've bought into that particular game. It's got nothing to do with any plan that we have to eliminate retail. That's just ridiculous. I mean clearly the cheapest and most efficient way of getting 50GBs of stuff into somebody's home is to put it on a Blu-ray disc and to sell it in a store. But we think there are opportunities to engage users and players in very meaningful ways after they buy that game, either through commercial or non-commercial means.

they're not gonna eliminate disc media altogether and start forcing everyone to download all the games online. it seems they will be using the playstation network to enhance the experience of the games that you buy. i'm sure there will be games that will be downloadable (such as tekken 5: dark resurrection), but i don't think they'll be completely heading in that direction.

my 2 cents.

[troist]

well, they've done the UK launch wrong if they have big HDDs for downloading games... with a max of low speed broadband in most places here they sure are hopeful with 60GB HDDs :p

i would consider downloading a game anywhere around 5GB... but any bigger than that and it'd be just annoying. not to mention ISP caps...

[Bhav]

LOL they would never expect people to download 20GB games that's just silly :laugh:

[Guest]

LOL they would never expect people to download 20GB games that's just silly :laugh:

Not nearly next gen then...

[Bhav]

Not nearly next gen then...

What? :s

[goji]

Not nearly next gen then...

Not really a great way to dispense that much data. 20 gig is allot of data thats being transmitted here folks, though neat and trendy is very impractical.

Which would cost more, pressing discs or maintaining servers that could be hit by huge demands?

I may not know the answer on that, but in all honesty I will take a piece of software that I can hold on a disc over one that could disappear via HD failure etc.

[FreqFace]

Doesn't sound too dumb to me. I guess it's a hard concept to grasp for some. I have loved being able to nab games off of the PSN and hope that many more full games become available to purchase. They want you on the console playing & downloading.. more so than running around town to pick up a game or software. The March release is supposed to have the multitasking feature implemented.. so if you can download while playing a game, I say go for it. With the more consistent rate that broadband is becoming available and speed increases rising also, I can't see why this would even be considered "dumb?" I would hardly call replacing the HDD as "modding" because of how easy it actually is to do on the Playstation 3.

You pretty much love anything Sony comes up with. ANYTHING. Downloading a full game is not a good idea. Demos, Mini-games? Yes. Full games? No. I'd much rather have the physical disk rather than wait hours, possibly days for a game, which let's face it, I may not even like. And what if it corrupts? Or your HDD breaks. Yay! Imagine how much you'd have to redownload. And how many people are actually ever gonna change their PS3 HDD? A very small percentage of PS3 users, I would guess.

Not only that, I'm sure it's gonna cost Sony alot more to make a 20+gig file available to millions of people AND keep the downloads speeds high, than to print it on a cheap plastic disk.

[soniqstylz]

You pretty much love anything Sony comes up with. ANYTHING. Downloading a full game is not a good idea. Demos, Mini-games? Yes. Full games? No. I'd much rather have the physical disk rather than wait hours, possibly days for a game, which let's face it, I may not even like. And what if it corrupts? Or your HDD breaks. Yay! Imagine how much you'd have to redownload. And how many people are actually ever gonna change their PS3 HDD? A very small percentage of PS3 users, I would guess.

Not only that, I'm sure it's gonna cost Sony alot more to make a 20+gig file available to millions of people AND keep the downloads speeds high, than to print it on a cheap plastic disk.

Ever used Steam? Same thing. EA is either now or soon allowing downloadable games. This isn't something radical and new.

[FreqFace]

Ever used Steam? Same thing. EA is either now or soon allowing downloadable games. This isn't something radical and new.

Oh come on, Steam games arent Blu-ray disc sized are they? Not only that, you can burn downloaded games via Steam to DVD I believe.

I'm not putting down PS3, just this particular 'feature'. If they did this on 360, I'd be saying the same.

[soniqstylz]

http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=12733

http://kotaku.com/gaming/ea/ea-launches-ne...vice-212168.php

And I'm sure the downloaded games won't have the full 25 GB of data used, especially if the rumors of using the space for redundant data are true.

[Bhav]

WHY are people saying Sony will be releasing 20GB games on the PlayStation Network?! Phil Harrison didn't say anything like that.

[FreqFace]

To be fair, it doesn't specifically say 20GB, but it does say "larger" games. I actually don't think Sony would be stupid enough to put ridiculously big downloads on PSN.

[forster]

Demos, yes. Updates, yes. PSP games via the store, sure. PS2 games? Possibly. But even 360 games weigh in at usually 6-8gig which is just too much, the trend with ISPs these days is to cap, rather than not, their downloads.

The argument later will be that you can download while you play, which is great on the 360, but you are rarely looking at more than a gig or two of data, and this is data that you cant get in stores. Plus, you are going to have to pay for the PS3 games, and even via digital download its only going to be a few pounds / dollars cheaper.

Remember you still have to pay for these downloadable 'larger' games, which will be around retail prices. As the broadband market picks up (in the UK at least, evidenced by the BBC websites news report) over the next year or two hopefully it will become more the norm to download larger quantaties of data.

And well, hey, you are neglecting the official Sony BluRay Burner addon drive that will probably make an appearance, and a probable third party, easy to use cable/app combo that will let you export your data to your PC for 'easy storage'.

Its really early days, all you can really say is that its something (even if you are dreading it) to look forward to.

[TDQuiksilver]

That add-on would be oh so sweet!