+Audioboxer Subscriber² Posted December 3, 2007 Subscriber² Share Posted December 3, 2007 The last year couldn?t have been easy for Jack Tretton, president and CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment America.The PlayStation 3 launch last Thanksgiving was marred by hardware shortages and bad press over the high price and the lack of exclusive titles. And worse: The PlayStation 3 has consistently finished third to Microsoft?s Xbox 360 and Nintendo?s Wii in monthly sales. But Tretton shrugs off the slew of bad news, saying that Sony is taking the long view with the PlayStation 3. They?ve played this game before, he says, and they?ve taken home the trophy more often t?The first year is important, but it?s the first inning of a nine-inning baseball game,? he says. ?You?re not going to win many baseball games if you panic when you?re down 1-0 in the first inning.?the first inning.? No one can deny that Sony knows what it?s doing when it comes to video games. The first two PlayStation consoles sold a combined 230 million units worldwide. And Tretton says the company will sell more of the seven-year-old PlayStation 2 consoles in 2007 than it did in 2006. There are signs that the beleaguered PS3 may be gaining ground. Sales of the console doubled during the week of Oct. 29, following a $100 price cut. Exclusive, well-reviewed titles such as ?Ratchet and Clank? and ?Uncharted: Drake?s Fortune? are beginning to trickle out to hungry consumers ? although biggies such as ?Final Fantasy XIII? and ?Metal Gear Solid 4? still haven?t launched. I spoke with Tretton before Thanksgiving to find out what?s next for the PlayStation platform, how long they plan to support the PlayStation 2 and what he thinks Sony did right ?A recent report says that the price cut on the PS3 has helped sell over 100,000 consoles in America last week. That?s obviously great news for you guys. Do you think things are starting to turn around a little bit?ink things are starting to turn around a little bit? While I?m thrilled about the price move and the impact that?s had, what I?m more excited about is that we really get our first holiday selling season on the PlayStation 3, and I think that?s lost on a lot of people. It?s the first time that we have the PlayStation 3 in stock, that we have a great software library for it and we?ve got very attractive pricing. So I really feel like we?re able to go into the holiday season with a fully loaded weapon as compared to last year. Exclusive titles can help the momentum that you?ve gained here ? and they can make or break a system. Tell us about some of the titles you?ve got coming over the next couple of months. We?ve got 19 exclusives, and again, I think that?s something that?s a pretty amazing feat in the first year of a platform?s lifecycle. And they?re not just games that are exclusive for the sake of exclusivity, they?re games that are built and differentiated for the PlayStation 3 and just couldn?t be done on any other platform. Some of the bigger titles, ?Metal Gear,? ?Final Fantasy,? aren?t due out for a bit longer. That?s got to be a nail-biter for you guys because those are huge titles. The beauty of this business is that it isn?t all about one day, it isn?t all about one title, or one month. I think there?s a tremendous amount of software for the holiday season ? 160 games coming out on PS3 alone for this holiday, on top of the 200 games that have already been out there, so there?s more than enough great software for consumers to sink their teeth in for the holidays. And as you pointed out, there?s some absolute blockbusters coming post-Christmas. So, hopefully, a lot people go out and buy the hardware and enjoy the great software that?s available forloggers, reporters and analysts have not been terribly kind to Sony or the PlayStation 3 this year. Were there missteps on Sony?s part, or do you think that the criticisms have been unfair?<yStation 3 this year. Were there missteps on Sony?s part, or do you think that the criticisms have been unfair? I don?t think there?s any question that there were missteps, but I don?t think anybody is being honest with you if they say that the first year of any platform goes perfectly according to plan. I think the biggest miss for us was the launch, in that we had easily a million consumers in North America alone that wanted to get their hands on a PlayStation 3 ? and we had roughly 200,000 units to take advantage of that demand. ? I think that that was probably the biggest disappointment for the first year. The reason why we don?t end up on window ledges, where other people might not have the perspective, is we?ve been through this many, many times, and we?re the only company that?s gone out and had 10-year product lifecycles and sold over 100 million units ? and we haven?t done it once, we?ve done it twice. Fair enough. But I think the early quotes that I was seeing prior to launch were things like ?this system will sell itself? because of the fans of the previous iterations. This couldn?t have been the year that you?d hoped for. I think it fell short of what we?d ideally like. But if you put it into perspective, we?re not taking the safe route. We didn?t take the PlayStation 2 and add a few bells and whistles to it. ? What we?re trying to do here is ? refocus the game industry towards high-definition gaming, a real state-of-the-art, future-proof machine for the next decade. I look at it very much like we looked at the business when we entered back in 1995. You?ve got two very formidable competitors, and we debut the original PlayStation ? which is a complete departure from what our competition is doing ? and we sold a million and a half units in the first year. Well, we exceeded that with PS2, and I see this as the dawn of a new genhe PS2 is still selling extremely well, as are, of course, the Wii and the DS ? and those are much graphically weaker systems than the PS3 or the Xbox 360. Do you think you and Microsoft jumped the gun with these machines? Are consumers ready for broadband and high-def yet?<cally weaker systems than the PS3 or the Xbox 360. Do you think you and Microsoft jumped the gun with these machines? Are consumers ready for broadband and high-def yet? I think in the case of Microsoft, they?d taken the Xbox as far as it could go, and so if they wanted to remain in the business, they had to go back to the drawing board. As for us, we had the luxury of dipping a lot more into the future than maybe our competitors could because of the strength of the PlayStation 2. We realized that not every consumer is going to be ready for what the PlayStation 3 offers in the first year and I don?t know that we expect or need them to be ready for it. We need them to be ready for it over the next decade. And if you look at the PlayStation 2, as you just pointed out, we sold 120 million machines so far ? but we certainly didn?t sell them all in the first year. We really feel like we have the luxury of being a little more forward-thinking with our technology and not coming up with something that?s a little more of a casual game experience. If priHow long will you support that system?<diverse library and they want a more casual gaming experience, the PlayStation 2 is a great machine that addresses all of the above. How long will you support that system? I really don?t think there?s any reason to back away from it, unless the consumer tells us they?re not enjoying the experience and they?re not looking for more software. But the reality is that we?ll sell more PlayStation 2s this year than we sold last year. Our seventh year is bigger than our sixth. More importantly, you?ve got a tremendous software library for it. You?ve got 160 games that are coming out for it this holiday season, we?re going to detting back to last year and the PlayStation 3 launch: What do you think worked for [sony] in the past year?<I don?t see any reason why PlayStation 2 has to end anytime in the near future. Getting back to last year and the PlayStation 3 launch: What do you think worked for [sony] in the past year? I think we have a tremendous amount of PlayStation fans that who have seen innovation from us and seen creativity and seen risk ... I think they get bored with the tried and true. I think there?s a real temptation if you?ve had success in the past to just take the same page out of the book. But I think consumers saw an experience in PS3 that was unlike anything they?d seen before. Another thing that I think really strikes a chord with PS3 consumers is that we?re giving them everything they need, in the box, day one. Our competition talked about the fact that they want to offer ave you learned any lessons from the PS3 launch?<nt that if you really want to have the full gaming experience, you need to go out and invest a lot more money than you originally thought you were. Have you learned any lessons from the PS3 launch? Lessons in that when you?re making claims about when a unit is going to be available, you?d better be crystal-clear on what your manufacturing capacity is. I think we knew there would be pricing sensitivities and I think we?ve certainly seen that. But I think the challenge of educating consumers on the technology is something that ? I don?t know that we underestimated, but it remains a formidable goal. The days of just ?Here it is, here?s what it cost, plug it inony was charged with being arrogant toward its fans. Would you say that ?here it is, plug it in? could be construed as such?<latform to buy, and I think it?s a lot more complicated than it was five, 10, 15 years ago. Sony was charged with being arrogant toward its fans. Would you say that ?here it is, plug it in? could be construed as such? I don?t know that we were ever considered arrogant by consumers. ? I think the arrogant claims came from the press and bloggers more than true consumers. ? I think the arrogance claim comes with a leadership position and being unwilling to admit So, if next-gen was Internet-connected consoles and high-def, how long do you see this generation lasting?< on a soapbox and talk about their failures. If that gets construed as arrogance, then I guess that?s a risk you have to take. So, if next-gen was Internet-connected consoles and high-def, how long do you see this generation lasting? I think it should last for 10 years. I think we?ve got more technology under the hood and more growth potential in terms of what developers can do with the software than we?ve had in previous generations. If you summed up the mission statement for PS3, it?s short-term sacrifices for long-term gains. There was clearly an easier route to go, but we think the route we?re tak(Y) is the one that?s going to pay dividends for years to come. Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22044630/ Long read, but some worthwhile stuff to think about (Y) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicholas-c Veteran Posted December 3, 2007 Veteran Share Posted December 3, 2007 i only read a bit of it, but i really do think the PS3 will win this year, maybe behind the wii depending if people lose interest or if Nintendo get the shortage sorted Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ironman273 Posted December 4, 2007 Share Posted December 4, 2007 Well, the president saying he thinks their product will win is hardly news. Then in reading it he starts saying that it was horrible not to have any units at launch.... did he already forget the pallets of product sitting in stores, the lack of people showing up for the European launch, the famous "I'll give $1,200 if someone can find a PS3"... If the rest of the article was like this, I'm glad I stopped. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
American Ninja Posted December 4, 2007 Share Posted December 4, 2007 Nice interview :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ji@nBing Posted December 4, 2007 Share Posted December 4, 2007 Not likely. They may be able to come close to a tie with the 360 (if it has a truly abysmal year, and it won't), but there is no way in hell they are catching the Wii next year. Best case scenario for them I think is a close 3rd. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Venomous Posted December 4, 2007 Share Posted December 4, 2007 Sony is still being arrogant and aiming high and not producing. Just like this interview just get back to work.bring out Home in Game Xmb and new games damn. This coming from a Ps3 owner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Audioboxer Subscriber² Posted December 4, 2007 Author Subscriber² Share Posted December 4, 2007 Sony is still being arrogant and aiming high and not producing. Just like this interview just get back to work.bring out Home in Game Xmb and new games damn. This coming from a Ps3 owner. You don't want them to aim high? :blink: Even although not all aims are met at times, im much happier for the company backing my purchase to be aiming high/being positive than dwelling on mishaps/slip ups here and there. With the previous success the PS has brought, of course their going to be as determined to reach that level/exceed it. I think the arrogance claim comes with a leadership position and being unwilling to admit that you’re failing. And anybody who’s been through media training or been with the press isn’t going to get on a soapbox and talk about their failures. If that gets construed as arrogance, then I guess that’s a risk you have to take. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spenser.d Posted December 4, 2007 Share Posted December 4, 2007 ^^^Aiming high is fine and well, but I'd rather have my company of choice aim high in a realistic fashion. If they continually aim at things they can't deliver on, I'm just going to get ****ed off. -Spenser Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brandon Live Veteran Posted December 4, 2007 Veteran Share Posted December 4, 2007 Perhaps he meant they are aiming, while high. That would explain a lot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spenser.d Posted December 4, 2007 Share Posted December 4, 2007 Perhaps he meant they are aiming, while high. That would explain a lot. Hahahaha :rofl: Made my night :laugh: -Spenser Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Churma Posted December 4, 2007 Share Posted December 4, 2007 Well I have a PS3, Xbox 360 Elite, and Wii. I don't see Sony getting anywhere near the top of things until they release some decent games. I play 360 and Wii way more than my PS3. The PS3 to me is a cheap blue ray player in which you can play some games and use linux on. Ubuntu for ps3 is acually pretty cool. Just my thoughts.... Mikee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sn00pie Posted December 4, 2007 Share Posted December 4, 2007 Perhaps he meant they are aiming, while high. That would explain a lot. hahahaha :rofl: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joel Posted December 5, 2007 Share Posted December 5, 2007 People wrote the Gamecube off 2 months after it was released, and it didn't exactly break any sales records. It's been more than a year; why does Sony think their luck will SUDDENLY change? :blink: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Audioboxer Subscriber² Posted December 5, 2007 Author Subscriber² Share Posted December 5, 2007 People wrote the Gamecube off 2 months after it was released, and it didn't exactly break any sales records. It's been more than a year; why does Sony think their luck will SUDDENLY change? :blink: They are relying on their PS2 install base to boost PS3 hardware sales. The PS2 didn't hit the ground running at full speed till around 1~2 years, and look where it ended up after 7~8 years. Also the gamecube didn't have a 100+ million (120million now) selling console (PS2) to carry over from. Japanese have always been very loyal to Sony, and I don't think it will be any different once the Japanese market gets more of the games they want (GT5, FF, Any RPG, ect). They probably don't have the rabid fanboy generation we do in the west.... more of a buy w/e you want and enjoy it mindset I'd say - Just my guess anyway ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boz Posted December 5, 2007 Share Posted December 5, 2007 People wrote the Gamecube off 2 months after it was released, and it didn't exactly break any sales records. It's been more than a year; why does Sony think their luck will SUDDENLY change? :blink: Cause they lost over 6 billion dollars and if they said we are screwed their investors would FREAK out :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spartan_X Posted December 5, 2007 Share Posted December 5, 2007 They are relying on their PS2 install base to boost hardware sales.The gamecube didn't have a 100+ million (120million now) selling console to carry over from. three words... Mario, Zelda and Pokemon... :rofl: :p Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Audioboxer Subscriber² Posted December 5, 2007 Author Subscriber² Share Posted December 5, 2007 (edited) three words... Mario, Zelda and Pokemon... :rofl: :p And? Did you not get my point? Joel was saying how the Gamecube failed miserably, and I was pointing out how it had NO previous massively successful console to follow on from, therefore having to attract it's potential install base from scratch. The N64 bombed. If the Wii didn't have the control style it offers it would NOT be selling as well as it is now if you ask me. Mario, Zelda and Pokemon have helped sell the Wii, but ultimately it's down to their capture of the "casual market" with the motion sensing control system. Sony have a large install base out there on the PS brand within the PS2. That's people who enjoy the games the PS2 rolled out enough to buy one. Why wouldn't a good chunk of these people be interested in a PS3 if it hits the right notes with the games it puts out? Every console has it's top selling franchises like "Mario, Zelda and Pokemon". Nintendo have rolled out everyone of theirs. Sony, have not rolled out ANY of theirs yet - MGS, FF, GT... ect. ^ That is why thing's have still to heat up for Sony, and why they feel momentum will pick up. Edited December 5, 2007 by Audioboxer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 5, 2007 Share Posted December 5, 2007 Every console has it's top selling franchises like "Mario, Zelda and Pokemon". Nintendo have rolled out everyone of theirs.Sony, have not rolled out ANY of theirs yet - MGS, FF, GT... ect. ^ That is why thing's have still to heat up for Sony, and why they feel momentum will pick up. Nintendo owns those franchises... Sony do not own MGS, Final Fantasy etc. They have pushed out all the exclusives they own and have control over. Sony now have to wait for their third party exclusives and hope that Microsoft dont steal any more of them. :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Audioboxer Subscriber² Posted December 5, 2007 Author Subscriber² Share Posted December 5, 2007 Nintendo owns those franchises... Sony do not own MGS, Final Fantasy etc.They have pushed out all the exclusives they own and have control over. Sony now have to wait for their third party exclusives and hope that Microsoft dont steal any more of them. :D Uhhh no they haven't :blink: GT5 Prologue/Full release, Killzone 2, Motorstorm 2, LittleBigPlanet, Socom, Singtar, Infamous, Afrika, Buzz!, GoW 3 (if it hits in 2008), The Getaway, Wipeout, Resistance 2. ^ All already established 1st party titles, or new sought after titles rumoured/due in 2008. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Konstanov Posted December 5, 2007 Share Posted December 5, 2007 New IPs aren't bulletproof, like established games are. It's stupid to include them on the list of great first party games because no one knows what the quality of the games will be in the end. Especially a game like Afrika when no one even knows the objective of the game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
(Spork) Posted December 5, 2007 Share Posted December 5, 2007 i recall that comic i blew coffee all over my keyboard . sad part is there is still 40 ps3 system in stock and have been in stock for 9 months where my brother works they just can not sell them even with the last super sale ( free movies ) he said they sold 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Audioboxer Subscriber² Posted December 5, 2007 Author Subscriber² Share Posted December 5, 2007 New IPs aren't bulletproof, like established games are. It's stupid to include them on the list of great first party games because no one knows what the quality of the games will be in the end. Especially a game like Afrika when no one even knows the objective of the game. Fair enough, all I was doing is pointing out Sony's 1st party release list for 2008 is NOT exhausted, or even started really. Afrika and Infamous are the only two we don't really have experience with in some way or other, so cut me some slack ok? i recall that comic i blew coffee all over my keyboard . sad part is there is still 40 ps3 system in stock and have been in stock for 9 months where my brother works they just can not sell them even with the last super sale ( free movies ) he said they sold 2 Great, we've established there isn't a big PS3 fanbase in your town (Y) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 5, 2007 Share Posted December 5, 2007 Uhhh no they haven't :blink: GT5 Prologue/Full release, Killzone 2, Motorstorm 2, LittleBigPlanet, Socom, Singtar, Infamous, Afrika, Buzz!, GoW 3 (if it hits in 2008), The Getaway, Wipeout, Resistance 2. ^ All already established 1st party titles, or new sought after titles rumoured/due in 2008. Resistance and Motorstorm havent even been on sale a year yet... Bit too early to be naming the sequels dont you think. Sony dont own Media Molecule (LittleBigPlanet). The Getaway didnt live up to the hype and never even heard about Infamous or Afrika. Guess your list is a bit shorter now - GT5, Killzone 2, Socom, Singtar, Buzz, GoW 3, Wipeout... Hardly going to distroy the competition. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Audioboxer Subscriber² Posted December 5, 2007 Author Subscriber² Share Posted December 5, 2007 Resistance and Motorstorm havent even been on sale a year yet... Bit too early to be naming the sequels dont you think.Sony dont own Media Molecule (LittleBigPlanet). The Getaway didnt live up to the hype and never even heard about Infamous or Afrika. Guess your list is a bit shorter now - GT5, Killzone 2, Socom, Singtar, Buzz, GoW 3, Wipeout... Hardly going to distroy the competition. That's your opinion. What you said was They have pushed out all the exclusives they own and have control over. My post addressed that, not how good I think these games will be in competition with others. Motorstorm 2 and Resistance 2 are pretty much confirmed 100%. Check IGN game profiles for them both if you want. Also Sony may not own Media Molecule, but LBP isn't going anywhere else other than maybe PSP. As for Infamous and Afrika, not my fault if you haven't read up on them :/ - Both are anticipated titles. Infamous is developed by Sucker Punch who made the Sly Cooper series for the PS2 - http://uk.ps3.ign.com/objects/800/800208.html Guess your list is a bit shorter now - GT5, Killzone 2, Socom, Singtar, Buzz, GoW 3, Wipeout... Yeah it's the 1st party exclusives only... you can't just rule out the 3rd party exclusives, as some of them might as well be 1st party as they aren't going anywhere other than the PS3. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 5, 2007 Share Posted December 5, 2007 Motorstorm 2 and Resistance 2 are pretty much confirmed 100%. Check IGN game profiles for them both if you want. Hmm... IGN has a game profile. Hardly confirmed. Ohh look, they also got a game page for Halo DS and duke nukem forever - Wonder if they know the release date also. Sorry if you took my post to literally, Their main exclusives are out the door... Buzz! wont save them now :p Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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