PlayStation boss: making PS3 non-exclusives more 'exclusive'

by Randy Nelson on Jun 3rd 2008 6:25PM

The UK's "semi-official" PlayStation blog, ThreeSpeech, has posted up an interview with SCEI head honcho Kaz Hirai, covering a range of topics including those little things that make a console stand out to consumers: exclusive games.

Hirai says it's no longer a question of paying publishers for exclusives, but rather whether third-parties can afford to release a game on only one platform, period. Sony's role, according to Hirai, is to work with publishers to make the PS3 releases of their games "more compelling for the consumers than any other version." Hirai says that Blu-ray Disc is the key to this, since its capacity for huge amounts of data makes it perfectly suited for movie-style bonus features and "maybe additional levels."

With third-parties "going wide" with their biggest releases, Hirari believes that internal dev teams will play a pivotal role in defining the overall PlayStation experience with "envelope-pushing, genre-defining content." Bring it on, Kaz.

[Via The Escapist]

Source

Tags: blu-ray, kazhirai, playstation3, ps3

Reader Comments (61)

I really wish games would stop going multi-platform. It's a complete shame the PS3 has to be stunted by the 360s use of DVDs.

Don't forget guaranteed HDD.

Though I bet a lot of 3rd parties would love to nix PS3 development and bask in the glory that is a solid MS Development Environment.

It's a bit of a double edged sword.

I think the unified memory of the 360 is a much larger developement concern than the PS3 BD storage space.

I tire of Blu-ray being over-praised.

It hasn't proved to be anything worthwhile for me, and I've had the PS3 for over a year. Not a single movie or game has justified the purchase (yet).

Resistance had a lot of levels...too many in fact. The game droned on far too long. More space doesn't equate to a better experience.

My guess is MGS4 and FFXIII will be the first to actually make use of the space. 90 minute cutscenes sounds EXTREMELY excessive, however.

From a dev's point of view 360 would be the only system to development. But publishers know that going multiplatform and releasing a poor 360 port to PS3 will make them extra money then an exclusive game.

I don't mean to troll, but the extra capacity of blu ray seems wasted if you have to install the game anyway. The alternative of down loadable levels seems better by comparison.

My point is, what good is the extra capacity if you need to move some of it to the hdd anyway?

Because the two are in no way related?

They're only put on the HDD for read speed. Sony might tout the high capacity of Blu-Ray, but because some of the disk regions are slow as hell for access, it poses a problem and the HDD is required. Fortunately, all PS3s have a HDD and will continue to because of BD-Live.

Really it's a matter of developers using the high capacity Blu-Ray and a guaranteed HDD, but mentioning the HDD hurts Kaz's argument a bit.

The guaranteed HDD is in my opinion more important than blu ray.

The problem with blu ray is that it was made for movies, not games. Otherwise read speed wouldn't have been an issue. Even Hirai says it himself "movie style extra features." But we all know games!=movies, so who knows if that strategy will work.

So far, blu ray is like bringing an 18 wheeler to carry your TV set. Sure, it fits, but with little effort you could have used your honda (DVD) instead.

It's like bring a tank to nascar.

The tank may do good in the battlefield, but on the racing strip IT IS SLOW AS HELL.

When games need to install as much data as a single layer DVD would hold - just to run on the PS3 - I don't see how the magic of blu is helping.

Well even so, the Xbox 360 doesn't have the luxury of having an hdd as a standard for every system. They're stuck on the standard dvd because of the core system. Even if the ps3 runs out of hdd space it can always be replaced. [That can be a pain for most people, but it's could be worse].

So for ps3 owners installs are only a minor setback. Xbox 360 it could be a major or minor setback depending on how the developers work around the lack of space for the core system owners.

Sounds a bit like they are reaching, knowing it is taking longer for PS3 games to reach market maybe? Or maybe he just played Haze? And said Exclusive what???!!!

sounds good sony u we need more exclusives!

Looking at the PS3 so far, you should be asking for quality games. Exclusives are nice for bragging rights (which is 90% of the reason to own one console, of course), but you're better off having games on par or better in quality when compared to the 360 version.

Kaz, I'm not buying it:

- If the developer goes out of their way to make a substantial amount of extra content, they are going to want to have it as part of both platform's release.

- If there truly is a storage-related limitation to the extra content (almost never the case), they can always use a multi-disc release for X360, or provide the rest of the game as DLC. For instance, the "Collector's Edition" of many games for X360 contains an extra DVD with additional/exclusive content. Blue Dragon/Lost Odyssey also use multi Discs, and that's fine. But really, Sony already knew this since Final Fantasy VII came on 3 CDs for the PS1, and it didn't keep it from being an amazing game.

- Extra content dramatically increases development time, which in turn dramatically increases development costs. With "Now Gen" development costs already spiraling out of sight compared to the previous gen, studios are not about to start producing gobs of exclusive content just because the PS3 has Blu Ray.

It is true that Blu Ray is one of the key defining differences between the X360 and PS3, which otherwise deliver extremely comparable gaming experiences, but it is NOT the case that this storage difference creates a drastically different end user experience. Developers have NEVER been limited by the storage capacity of DVD9, because they can just chuck in another DVD, or 3, and it will still costs less than developing for Blu-Ray currently.

Doh! I started typing my comment while yours wasn't posted yet. I'm glad to see that others are as confused by his comments as I am.

Atually, PGR4 was missing some features due to DVD9.

@Vidikron:

http://www.bizarrecreations.com/article.php?article_id=5257

I'll choose Bizarre's word over your ill-informed ramblings, thanks.

@Sinister Rouge

haha... that's called "damage control". If you buy that... WOW.

Extra costs can be offset by buying exclusivity for the extra content, ala GTA4. The game still goes multiplatform, but Sony flexes their wallet for exclusive add-ons. Remember he said it's not feasible to pay for exclusive games, but that doesn't mean you can't still whip out your checkbook.

"I'll choose Bizarre's word over your ill-informed ramblings, thanks."

My comprehension is ass, what point are they trying to get across there?

"My comprehension is ass, what point are they trying to get across there?"

Basically, one of their staff memebers said this on their forums:

"You won't see different times of day per city because this involves recreating all the textures again (one for day and one for night). Whilst this wasn't a problem for our dev team, it was a problem fitting all this data onto a single DVD."

Of course, the internet exploded and I'm sure MS quickly contacted them to put out the fire. So they basically responded by saying (I'm summarizing here), "We don't have day and night tracks, but we do have various weather coniditions that make the tracks look different". Look, I love PGR4. It's one of my favorite racing series. But that is 100% damage control. The fact is they were limited by the size of a DVD, but MS got unhappy when they said so.

Now think about this for a moment. He indirectly states that development costs make it almost necessary for developers to publish on multiple consoles. Then he basically says that developers should spend extra time and money on creating bonus levels for the PS3. That doesn't compute. You see, that's the whole problem! Games aren't as cheap to create as they once were and in order to recover those costs, they are going multi-platform. It doesn't matter if you have more space on the PS3, it's not a good financial move to spend the extra time and cash on creating additional content for a niche group. GTAIV did it because Microsoft paid for it. I doubt many developers are going to go to all the hassle in creating more content if they are not really compensated for it. I'm sorry for the long post, but Kaz isn't making sense.

He's making sense. He knows that devs will make games for multiple consoles. It's a matter of "working with publishers" (aka incentives, kickbacks, cash) to make use of the PS3 and have it be the platform of choice.

Adding random bonus features like "the making of" could be cool, or anything else. Collectors editions wouldn't need to span multiple discs, even though that doesn't matter to some. It's just a matter of throwing in a little extra because they can.

A good example of a non-game bonus feature I can think of is the Special Edition of Stranglehold for the PS3. It contained the HD version of the movie Hard Boiled on the disc... the only HD version of the movie available. Sure, it's not a high profile game, but that's a pretty nice bonus. Much better than crap you get with most "special edition" games.

The one thing that really kills this effort is the fact that 360 is still the dominant lead development platform

Get that switched around, and you will see the trend of "better" 360 multiplatform titles reversed (disregarding anything beyond the purely technical features of both consoles, of course)

I am not sure its the better development form as much as it is the easier and more traditional dev platform ... I guess thats better to the dev team because it is easier to make

I agree with you that if Sony can streamline its development process and make it the lead platform that will mean better multiplats on the PS3 ... I do not know anything about the progress of the phrye engine or the nocturnal project but I do know those were efforts to reach out to developers with cross platform games ...

Everything about the PS3 in terms of gaming is new ... New architecture (with some benefits and some disadvantages), new disc standard among other things that are unique to the PS3 (features like Remote Play compatibility, HDD installs, Keyboard and mouse support, Six Axis implementation, Playstation network and the lack of online integration that is available in Live).

The Hardboiled movie is a feature that can be exclusive to the PS3 because of the extra Blu-Ray space. Maybe Sony was to forward thinking with the PS3. I firmly believe that Digital Downloads as the only media standard is at a minimum 10 years away. HD DVD is officially dead so thats a no go. I don't think multiple disc's like Blue Dragon and Lost odyssey is the wave of the future. Holographic media is still to expensive for mass consumption and unproven as well. Looking forward I think all of the next gen consoles will be on Blu-Ray.

'Success is planning for our developers to sell fewer overall games.' Ya, good luck with that.

Exclusives are all... CHEAP. MARKETING. PLOYS. Plan and simple.

m

Unrelated: http://www.weezerjonas.com/CDA5240F87574D8387EBDE8FEC733210/tracklink.asp?guid=9338E08DB4AC447A9F28C553C5A3D6B2

Sony cannot get it thru their head it's not about space its about processing. The 360 is based on the x86 user friendly system that PC makers and game designers can quickly release a game for. Just like the PS2 the PS3 is a pain in the ass to develop for and it costs more, they even use a doss type memory management that limits it to 256mb greatly reducing its ability to rendure in Hi-Def with a steady frame rate and such.

But what do you expect them to say at this point? I mean, of course they are going to keep touting BR even if it's not really a major factor. They're stuck with what they've got.

No it isn't. The Xbox 360 is based on PowerPC, as are the Wii and PS3. This has nothing to to with x86.

Basically KAz says 3rd party devlopers are taking AAA titles Sony wants as Exclsuive and taking them "Cross platform" only he used the term "Going Wide" which means the same thing.

Hmmm.....I wonder what major 3rd Party AAA title is important enought to cause a shift is Sony corporate policy?

And this News now so close to MGS4 launch date? Hmmmm.

Can Konami walk away from a 360 MGS4 version which would make them double or tripple the profits the PS3 will. Konami CAN NOT leave all that money on the table and walk away.

MGS4 on PS3 will basically cause Konami to break even with devlopement costs.

Either Kaz is lamenting having to pay off Konami extra to he is lamenting the fact that they lost MGS4 Exclusivity?

I gurantee by this time next year or so MGS4 will be on 360. The Huge cutscenes will be lower quality movies but squeezed onto 1 or 2 DVD's

If Konami released a 360 version of MGS4 it wouldn't make double or tripple what the PS3 would make. In fact, I'd be amazed if it even sold half as many copies as the PS3 version.

I doubt they'd make much money from a 360 version at all too. I wouldn't be *too* suprised if they actually lost a little money.

My reasoning: porting the game over to the 360 would be a very costly and time consuming venture. To get it running as well as the PS3 version, much of the game would have to be redone from scratch (although, of course, many elements could be reused too).

Furthermore, sales would be poor due to a lack of consumer interest: the majority of MGS fans would have already bought it on the PS3 by that point, and the lack of hype (as it would be an old game by then) would mean few new-comers would pick it up in lieu of new, hyped titles that would be releasing at the same time.

well done Kaz.

Now when? Sony should have been thinking about this at launch, not 18 months later. Does this mean waiting another year before this content starts to drip slowly into games?

It's bit late to start thinking about turning the PS3 blu-ray player into a gaming console. Based on the past 18 months the only thing the Blu-Ray drive is good for is movies.

Like the majority of things announced at launch, disk capacity is one of those bullet points that still hasn't been reached. Right next to Home, 1080p gaming, Sixaxis gameplay and other game specific features.

We've got Sixaxis gameplay. Heavenly Sword, Warhawk, Motorstorm and R&C all make pretty good use of it, Warhawk and HS in particular. I'm also personally quite fond of the 'grenade aim' in Uncharted.

we've got sixaxis features not gameplay.

Most of them are just substitutes for analog controls and tacked on like a last resort. In most cases people would rather use analog anyway. The only game that really was going to define sixaxis was Lair and look how that turned out.

How many games are built around sixaxis control? Rub-a-dub-dub? Flow? ... not genre defining blockbusters.

Are you saying that a game is *only* allowed to offer tilt controls (no analog) for you to consider it 'gameplay'?

I disagree.

R&C used the sixaxis in a number of ways, and I don't believe there's an option to turn it off. It's integral to the gameplay.

Also, the tilt function was heavily marketed for Warhawk. True, there's an analog option too, but you can see the game was built with the sixaxis in mind as using the tilt allows you to aim (as the analog sticks are free), something you cannot do as well without it.

Motorstorm was also well known for it use of tilt controls. It was the first game that used it well, and it was on Motorstorm that most people first experienced the sixais's tilt.

He's saying it doesn't make sense to "pay" for games because he knows that despite Sony's size and financial position, Microsoft could turn Sony's lights out in a spending war.

Quantity does not equal quality.

Other than ps3 owners mocking 360 owners, is there even an incentive for devs to do this?
Why add more content when your still selling it at the same price? If your not selling at the same price, then isn't the cheaper 360 and 360 version more appealing that way?

I don't get it.

So the hype machine and Sony's PR just keep on rolling I see. Blu-Ray and HDD have done little for PS3 thus far. But wait for this title.... (poor reviews).... ok... wait for that title now and you'll see (poor reviews). It's the same old song and dance and Sony fan boys eat it up with a big spoon EVERY time!! Blu-Ray is good for one thing.... movies. Hell.. that's all the PS3 is good for. Why do you think we've seen a bump in sales ONLY after the format war. It's a movie player. Software sales and titles still suck. I'm so excited to get one now that HAZE has finally been released!!!! (sarcasm) If you love video games.. 360 is the way to go. If you want HD movies get a PS3!!

Did you just *seriously* say that the HDD has done nothing for the PS3? Are you unaware of all the mandatory installs? They aren't just there for the hell of them, y'know; without them, the games wouldn't run as well. HDD is a real asset to the PS3: it helps makes the games better.

And a bump in sales ONLY after the format war? Again, are you serious? The biggest bump in sales came after the 40GB was released, not after the format war was won.

And your claim that the PS3 has no good software is another reason to ask if you're being serious or not. No good games my arse. This was indeed true a year ago, but no longer.

Dissapointingly, I suspect were indeed serious on all three of these points.

OMG! Where were you when I bought my PS3! Only if you were there to advice me how bad of decision it was! Here I was, thinking I can play Resistance, Uncharted, Ratchet, God of War, future team ICO game, Final Fantasy, MGS, Little Big Planet etc. only on PS3, and as a bonus can watch high-def movies; and now you tell me it's got no games, just Blu-ray. I've been screwed, man! Now I'm going to have to buy a Xbox, Sony ripped me off!

You have a valid point. I owned a (4) 360's and I now have a PS3. Apart from Uncharted, it's all been a bit so-so on the exclusives. I'm sure things will pick up, then I thought that would start with Haze. Looking at the 360 exclusives, PS3 has nothing in the same league as Gears of War (2), PGR4 (and prologue is not as good people), Forza (I don't like it) or Mass effect. As yet it doesn't even have a shooter to match Halo3 (not a big ask, more reputation than exceptional game). I seriously miss the 360, not the breaking down bit because that was crap, but the times when they were working. Good times.

Bring 360 games like Tales of Vesperia to the PS3 with extra additional content, maybe utilize Six-Axis controls, etc. These Japanese RPGs will see a better home on PS3, especially in terms of Japanese sales.

You're absolutely right. And despite what many think because of all the console war media hype, the PS3 is NOT doing well in Japan. Yes, it's beating the 360, but according VGChartz, it's only selling about 8,000 units a week lately. That ain't good for Sony. The 360 is back to consistently outselling the PS3 in North America. So you could say that the 360's strong market is NA, the PS3's strong market is Europe, and neither of them are especially strong in Japan.

People are going to flame me for that, but it's the truth. The Japanese are not buying into the PS3 quite yet. And recent numbers have shown GTAIV causing a big increase in 360 sales in Europe too. So maybe 2008 won't be the death of the 360 as the fanboys would have you believe.

Obviously this guy isn't fooling anybody with a brain (read not Sony Fans).

I has a brain. :(

| 1 | 2 | Most Recent | Next 50 Comments

PlayStation boss: making PS3 non-exclusives more 'exclusive'

Reader Comments (61)

Posted: Jun 3rd 2008 6:31PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Jun 3rd 2008 6:34PM SoulBlade said

Posted: Jun 3rd 2008 6:58PM kinshadow said

Posted: Jun 3rd 2008 7:34PM SuicideNinja said

Posted: Jun 3rd 2008 8:08PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Jun 3rd 2008 6:33PM south said

Posted: Jun 3rd 2008 6:49PM Vidikron said

Posted: Jun 3rd 2008 6:56PM SoulBlade said

Posted: Jun 3rd 2008 7:13PM south said

Posted: Jun 3rd 2008 10:07PM Tiptup300 said

Posted: Jun 3rd 2008 6:34PM Ordeith said

Posted: Jun 3rd 2008 7:08PM Deadpool said

Posted: Jun 3rd 2008 6:38PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Jun 3rd 2008 6:40PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Jun 3rd 2008 6:47PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Jun 3rd 2008 6:44PM ludwigk said

Posted: Jun 3rd 2008 6:49PM Sloar said

Posted: Jun 3rd 2008 6:53PM Vidikron said

Posted: Jun 3rd 2008 7:10PM AGBear said

Posted: Jun 3rd 2008 7:12PM Vidikron said

Posted: Jun 3rd 2008 7:14PM tuaamin13 said

Posted: Jun 3rd 2008 7:21PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Jun 3rd 2008 7:26PM Vidikron said

Posted: Jun 3rd 2008 6:47PM Sloar said

Posted: Jun 3rd 2008 7:00PM SoulBlade said

Posted: Jun 3rd 2008 7:10PM Vidikron said

Posted: Jun 3rd 2008 6:56PM Mr Khan said

Posted: Jun 3rd 2008 9:58PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Jun 3rd 2008 7:01PM Keithustus said

Posted: Jun 3rd 2008 7:02PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Jun 3rd 2008 7:14PM bigd7387 said

Posted: Jun 3rd 2008 7:18PM Vidikron said

Posted: Jun 3rd 2008 8:06PM Goity said

Posted: Jun 3rd 2008 7:23PM Ice Cold said

Posted: Jun 3rd 2008 7:40PM Hyams said

Posted: Jun 3rd 2008 7:36PM arkweld said

Posted: Jun 3rd 2008 7:43PM Hyams said

Posted: Jun 3rd 2008 8:02PM arkweld said

Posted: Jun 3rd 2008 8:42PM Hyams said

Posted: Jun 3rd 2008 7:45PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Jun 3rd 2008 7:46PM EJ A said

Posted: Jun 3rd 2008 7:56PM Premature ejaculation man said

Posted: Jun 3rd 2008 8:27PM Gamer X said

Posted: Jun 3rd 2008 8:48PM Hyams said

Posted: Jun 3rd 2008 8:49PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Jun 4th 2008 2:50PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Jun 3rd 2008 9:56PM RKN said

Posted: Jun 3rd 2008 11:56PM Domicinator said

Posted: Jun 3rd 2008 10:00PM kyzur said

Posted: Jun 4th 2008 8:34AM Hyams said

Info

Description

MSRP

Release Date

Genre

Developer

Publisher

Rating

Breaking News

WB conjures up Harry Potter for Kinect this fall

Featured Stories

Silver Lining: I Am Alive's unfeeling world

Game Of Thrones and the paradoxes of adaptation

Super Joystiq Podcast 004: 38 Studios meltdown, Gravity Rush, Civilization 5: Gods & Kings, Dragon's Dogma

Engadget

TUAW

Massively

WoW