Joystiq http://www.joystiq.com Joystiq http://www.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif Joystiq http://www.joystiq.com en-us Copyright 2008 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/PlayStation boss: making PS3 non-exclusives more 'exclusive'http://www.joystiq.com/2008/06/03/playstation-boss-making-ps3-non-exclusives-more-exclusive/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/06/03/playstation-boss-making-ps3-non-exclusives-more-exclusive/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/06/03/playstation-boss-making-ps3-non-exclusives-more-exclusive/#commentsFiled under: ,

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]

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]]>blu-raykazhiraiplaystation3ps3Randy Nelson2008-06-03T18:25:00+00:00Sony pushes Home open beta out until fall '08, closed beta extendedhttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/04/22/sony-pushes-home-open-beta-out-until-fall-08-closed-beta-exte/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/04/22/sony-pushes-home-open-beta-out-until-fall-08-closed-beta-exte/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/04/22/sony-pushes-home-open-beta-out-until-fall-08-closed-beta-exte/#commentsFiled under: , , ,


Sony's promise of a true open-world experience with Home has been a continual dot on the horizon for PlayStation 3 owners since it was first announced during former Sony-exec Phil Harrison's GDC keynote last year. This continues to be the case this evening, as Sony just sent word that it plans to extend the service's closed beta phase through the summer season, pushing the eventual open beta launch until sometime in the fall.

According to Sony, the move will allow the company to invite more PS3 users into the closed beta, perhaps to iron out some of the social MMO's failings we heard so much about late last year. Says SCEI president and group CEO Kaz Hirai, the delay will let Sony "refine the service to ensure a more focused gaming entertainment experience than what it is today," which is business speak for telling us that we'll have to wait a few more months before we can know the joy of throwing virtual televisions down equally virtual stairs.

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]]>breaking-newsbreakingnewshomekaz-hiraikazhiraisceisonyJason Dobson2008-04-22T01:56:00+00:00SOE to report directly to Kaz Hirai, SCEIhttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/03/13/soe-to-report-directly-to-kaz-hirai-scei/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/03/13/soe-to-report-directly-to-kaz-hirai-scei/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/03/13/soe-to-report-directly-to-kaz-hirai-scei/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

Sony has announced a change in the relationship between two of its, err, Sonys, namely Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. and Sony Online Entertainment. If we understand the press release correctly -- the pop-up pictures were an immense help -- SOE will be reporting directly to SCEI president and group CEO, Kaz Hirai, as of April 1, 2008. The structural change is "designed to mutually benefit both companies by further accelerating the PlayStation business through SOE's strong online gaming expertise," which ultimately boils down to more "exciting entertainment offerings" to consumers.

SOE will continue to develop said exciting entertainment offerings for the PlayStation 3 and PC, with company president John Smedley reporting to Hirai and making sure he says things like, "We are thrilled to become a part of the incredible team that has made PLAYSTATION 3 the premier platform for next generation online gaming."

SOE is currently hard at work on The Agency, a promising spy-themed MMO shooter for PC and PS3.

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]]>Kaz-HiraiKazHiraiSCEISOEThe-AgencyTheAgencyLudwig Kietzmann2008-03-13T16:30:00+00:00Kaz Hirai: PS3 could be profitable next fiscal yearhttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/01/08/kaz-hirai-ps3-could-be-profitable-next-fiscal-year/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/01/08/kaz-hirai-ps3-could-be-profitable-next-fiscal-year/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/01/08/kaz-hirai-ps3-could-be-profitable-next-fiscal-year/#commentsFiled under: ,

Sony bigwig Kaz Hirai is hoping that this next fiscal year, which begins in April, will mark a point where the PlayStation 3 loses its money sink status and becomes profitable. Said the president of SCE at the Consumer Electronics Show (via Reuters), "We want to get to the positive side of the equation as quickly as possible," later adding that the company is "going through the budgets right now. That (profitability) is not a definite commitment, but that is what I would like to try to shoot for."

Hirai cites the dropping costs of components used to make the PS3, as well as the removal of chips related to backwards compatibility, as examples of how the console is becoming cheaper to produce (and therefore less of a detriment to the company's bottom line). Hirai noted that the declining cost is "in line with what the company had expected." Not explicitly stated but certainly important are the titles expected next fiscal year: LittleBigPlanet, Home, Final Fantasy XIII, and the still-exclusive Metal Gear Solid 4.

Previously, Sony stated that it had sold 1.2 million PS3s since Black Friday -- NPD figures for December should reveal how that measures up to competitors. Microsoft recently stated its belief that the Xbox 360 is "on track to register the biggest year in video game history," while the Consumer Entertainment Association predicted industry growth to continue, albeit at a slower pace than last year.

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]]>backwards-compatibilitybackwards-compatiblebckaz-hiraikazhirailoss-leadersceRoss Miller2008-01-08T14:30:00+00:00Kaz Hirai 'not satisfied' with current version of Homehttp://www.joystiq.com/2007/11/07/kaz-hirai-not-satisfied-with-current-version-of-home/http://www.joystiq.com/2007/11/07/kaz-hirai-not-satisfied-with-current-version-of-home/http://www.joystiq.com/2007/11/07/kaz-hirai-not-satisfied-with-current-version-of-home/#commentsFiled under:

1UP got their mitts on the latest issue of Famitsu Weekly, in which they interviewed Sony's man with the plan, Kaz Hirai. Since we don't have our copy handy just now and our Japanese translator is out sick with a terrible case of invisibility, we'll just have to settle for 1UP's highlight reel, notable for some particularly refreshing bouts of candor from PlayStation's top dog.

When asked about the delay of Home announced at the Tokyo Game Show, Kaz responds, "I personally am not satisfied with the current version of Home. This is a very big project for the PS3 and we want to make sure that we deliver to our hearts content." It should come as no surprise that Kaz isn't happy with where Home's at; otherwise, they wouldn't have made the hard decision to push it back past the holidays.

Also covered is the 40GB model and its absence of backwards compatibility, PS3 price drops, Monster Hunter III, the sale of the Cell processor manufacturing facilities, and the company's plans for the holiday. Most interesting is Kaz's response to the last question: "Returning to Japan, I have done my best in the given limited amount of time. Not everything I envision has turned out 100% but we as a company have worked together towards our goals." How's that for candor?

[Via GameDaily]

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]]>FamitsuKazHiraiSCEIChristopher Grant2007-11-07T21:31:00+00:00TGS07: PlayStation Store coming to PChttp://www.joystiq.com/2007/09/20/tgs07-playstation-store-coming-to-pc/http://www.joystiq.com/2007/09/20/tgs07-playstation-store-coming-to-pc/http://www.joystiq.com/2007/09/20/tgs07-playstation-store-coming-to-pc/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

In addition to becoming the PlayStation 3's power button of choice, the PSP has made relations with the PC. At the Tokyo Game Show press conference, Kaz Hirai announced that the PS Store will soon be accessible via the computer.

According to Hirai, you will be able to purchase and download PSP content without using the PS3 as a middle-man. The service is reportedly available now in Japan; no word on when it will be coming elsewhere.

[Via Engadget]

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]]>breakingnewskazhirairemoteplaysonytgs07Ross Miller2007-09-20T00:15:00+00:00Hirai says more Sixaxis iterations on the wayhttp://www.joystiq.com/2007/07/20/hirai-says-more-sixaxis-itterations-on-the-way/http://www.joystiq.com/2007/07/20/hirai-says-more-sixaxis-itterations-on-the-way/http://www.joystiq.com/2007/07/20/hirai-says-more-sixaxis-itterations-on-the-way/#commentsFiled under: , ,


In an interview with Kikizo, Sony global president Kaz Hirai alludes to future iterations of the Sixaxis controller. Hirai says that they're "obviously looking" at what do do with the Sixaxis now that they've come to an agreement with Immersion. He says they're actually looking at a variety of things they can put into the controller and they'll say something when they're ready to.

Hirai points out about the controller, "I mean, as you know, that's also an evolving peripheral, if you will, in that we started out with the original PS1 controller with no analogue, and it's come all the way to this point, so obviously, as we go forward, it's not the final model for a PS3 controller, so we'll see what comes down the road." It is impressive to think that the same controller, with minor tweaks every few years, has been a staple of the PlayStation going on 15 years. So, when will we finally hear about what's going into the next Sixaxis? There's still plenty of conventions left this year.

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]]>hiraiitterationkazhiraips3rumblesixaxisAlexander Sliwinski2007-07-20T15:20:00+00:00TGS07: Kaz Hirai to headline Tokyo Game Showhttp://www.joystiq.com/2007/07/19/tgs07-kaz-hirai-to-headline-tokyo-game-show/http://www.joystiq.com/2007/07/19/tgs07-kaz-hirai-to-headline-tokyo-game-show/http://www.joystiq.com/2007/07/19/tgs07-kaz-hirai-to-headline-tokyo-game-show/#commentsFiled under: ,

Now that all that pesky E3 business is behind us we can start talking Tokyo Game Show! The newly lengthened TGS has just announced the keynote speaker ... none other than Ken Kutaragi's successor, Kaz Hirai. Of course, Kutaragi delivered last year's (baffling) TGS keynote, so it's only fitting that Kaz take the baton this year.

Let's just hope he doesn't go all E3 '06 on us, with dry charts and boring numbers; we'd love to see some sex appeal from the new Pres of SCEI. Now, what's the name of his speech? "The Expanding PlayStation World, Business Strategy For New Growth." Well, charts are cool we suppose ...

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]]>JapanKazHiraiSCEITGS07Christopher Grant2007-07-19T13:20:00+00:00Engadget & Joystiq interview: Kaz Hirai and Jack Tretton, Presidents, Sony Computer Entertainment, Inc., and Americahttp://www.joystiq.com/2007/07/13/engadget-and-joystiq-interview-kaz-hirai-and-jack-tretton-presid/http://www.joystiq.com/2007/07/13/engadget-and-joystiq-interview-kaz-hirai-and-jack-tretton-presid/http://www.joystiq.com/2007/07/13/engadget-and-joystiq-interview-kaz-hirai-and-jack-tretton-presid/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,


We got a rare chance to sit down and talk shop with recently-named Sony Computer Entertainment, Inc. President Kaz Hirai, and his US successor, Jack Tretton. These two had a lot to say, and we were more than happy to let them talk about where the PS3's going in terms of hardware, software, and services, why Sony's E3 presence this year is so radically different than last year, even a little bit about how things have been at PlayStation HQ post-Kutaragi -- check it out!

So out of all the three press conferences we've been writing up, we're giving each one a grade based on a new highly scientific Mega Man ranking system. Sony is our last one, but chronologically so we haven't gotten there yet. But this press conference had a much different tone then let's say last year's E3 press conference. How much did you guys look at last year's, how should we say, performance, and decide that you needed to do something different? What kind of decision making process was that?

Jack: Well obviously I was not as intimately involved in planning last year's press conference as I was in this one, but it's funny now that you look at that perspective and you see some of the other press conferences and how people are conducting themselves. I think companies are very proud of their success and they want to tell everybody how successful you are. But what you realize is that everybody already knows that and no one really cares. They want to know how you are going to be successful going forward. And so we've certainly taken our fair share of heat about, you know, the performance of PlayStation 3 in the first six to eight months, and I guess we wanted to focus our message on really telling you why PlayStation 3 is going to be successful going forward.

And its all about content, its about games, and I think going through that experience, you know, the light bulb goes off, and you go oh, wait a minute, its really all about the content and what we're going to do going forward to keep our platforms relevant. Its not about what we did 10 years ago, its not about how many units we've sold here or there. So clearly I think for points of reference and perspective we wanted to point some things out that we really wanted that press conference geared towards why people are going to want to buy games and buy our platforms and that was kind of the theme and the central message. I give Dave [Karraker, Senior Director, Corporate Communications, SCEA] a lot of credit for building off of that theme and coordinating tremendous amounts of presentations and content through the whole thing. But hopefully we've stayed on message and we've gotten the point across.

So why no word about rumble?

Jack: Well, I guess at this point the SIXAXIS controller is something that we're comfortable with and we've certainly settled our differences with Immersion. Is it something that can happen down the road? Absolutely. But the bottom line is we haven't made that decision and we didn't have anything to announce or introduce. Will we down the road? Possibly, but it's unbeknownst to me if we have a rumble controller coming out.

Oh I think you'd know before anyone!

[laughter] Well, you'd be surprised! It's a big company...


There is some discussion, I think by [redacted], about something to the effect that the timed exclusive for Unreal Tournament wasn't an arranged thing, but just a matter of fact that they hadn't got the chance to get the 360 version done in time. You know, your exclusive strategy seems to be one almost similar to Nintendo's, where you are focusing on first party exclusives...

[Kaz Hirai, President, Sony Computer Entertainment, Inc., enters the room.]

Jack: Yeah, you guys know Kaz I hope.

Kaz: I heard you guys were here and Jack was sending me an SOS email... [laughter]. Sorry to interrupt.

Jack: If I heard your question correctly, I think and would tend to agree with you that we felt and that you can never control or anticipate what another company is going to do. That's their business and they run it as they see fit. So the best way to ensure that you have content that differentiates your platform from the next and showcases the technology is to create it yourself. That's why we've invested so heavily in our internal development over the years. I think we kinda look at exclusive opportunities a little more organically. Most of the time the publishers approached us and said, this is what we have to offer and this is what we're looking for -- whether its some development help or some co-marketing -- but you know we would look at that the same way we would look at our strategy behind developing a first party game.

Is this something that is going to showcase the technology and is this something that is gonna differentiate our platform from the next? Because an exclusive, just because it's not on any other platforms does nothing for you. If its exclusive and its actually a game people want to buy and want to play you know that helps you. So, you know we get a lot more exclusive offers and / or games that have come out on our platform than I think we would -- you know, I don't think you can assume that every time there is an exclusive, "Oh, they must have paid for that or they must have co-marketed." Its the ones that we say yeah, we're going to help drive the message on that game because that's going to help us drive the message on our hardware.

So I hope that answered your question and wasn't too windy, but yes I think first party development is what we saw as the key. I didn't hear Mark's comment to that effect, but you know whether that's true or not I'd be disappointed to hear that. But again I guess this is a perfect example of you can't control what other people say and they run their business as they see fit. I guess that the net-net of the whole thing is that it will only be available on our platform this year and hopefully that is a good thing for PlayStation 3 consumers.

So to what would you attribute the sales figure that we're hearing now that the Wii is outselling the PS3 6 to 1 -- at least in some markets. But all markets that the Wii is out, the Wii is vastly outselling the PS3.

David Karraker: I think that at least you are referring to Japan, the 6 to 1 margin so that I might actually be a better question for Kaz.

Well, in the US the Wii is still outselling the PS3 as well.

Jack: You know, all credit to the Wii for the success they've had. I think we're talking about 8 months into a product life-cycle and we don't want to be outsold for a day, but if we're outsold in the first 8 months, its much less of a concern than to be outsold for the first 8 years. The other thing that we have going for us is the perspective that we're looking at a 10 year product life-cycle. I'm not saying that our competitors aren't, but the thing our competitors don't have is two viable product platforms in the market. So we get to add up the revenue and the sales that we've sold on the PlayStation 2 with the revenue and the sales that we've sold on the PlayStation 3, and while I'd like think that [users] buy a PlayStation 2 today and they buy a PlayStation 3 tomorrow -- we know that people we're selling PlayStation 2s to are probably not going to buy a PlayStation 3 this year -- they are probably going to migrate somewhere down the road.

But we really believe in bringing interest in the category is good for everybody and while I'd like them to buy a PS3 today, if they buy a Wii and they buy a PS2 and they buy an Xbox 360, I think in time we'll be able to convert everybody and anybody who hasn't bought a PS3 to the PS3 if we deliver on the promise of the technology and the gaming content. I don't think its a matter of when you get them, but its a question of if you get them. If we're sitting in this competitive position 10 years from now I'll be very disappointed, but quite frankly as far as the company is concerned, if we are well accepted by consumers and we deliver profit contributions, how you sold relative to the competition is somewhat irrelevant. Because what they sell and don't sell doesn't pay any bills for Sony.

Its about how your platform is doing in terms of consumer acceptance. And I think if you look at the PS3 right now is is a little bit softer than we would have ideally liked? Yes. Is that a tremendous surprise? Not really, we knew that it was a tall order to get millions consumers to pony up $599 in the first 6 to 8 months. That's a lot of money and its a lot more money then they've been used to paying for hardware. And I think in time they'll understand the technology, and if we deliver the promise on the software that we'll get where we want to be.

Do you think any of that has to do with the phenomenal success of the PS2 as a platform? Because you guys didn't go scorched-earth with Microsoft and with the Xbox, so there is less incentive for people to upgrade in some respects. And you also have the massive price difference between the two systems.

Jack: I don't think there is any question about that. We had the same question on the PlayStation 1 and the PlayStation 2. I mean, again, we're dealing from a position of strength, we're not talking about the first 6 months. I mean, if you're starting from a zero base and, you know, you said it yourself, scorched-earth, those platforms are abandoned. So now you're trying to decide your first unit with your new platform and you're in a position where the last generation you didn't fare too well competitively, so its all about year one. Maybe, we're a bit overconfident, but the PlayStation 2 remains incredibly viable -- great contributions to the bottom line and great software for the consumer -- so I think we felt like we could have a little more patience in terms of getting to where we needed to get to.

I guess that the question that I've said a bunch of times -- maybe it's a good question for Kaz -- is the decision that Sony could have made a couple of years ago is to say, you know, we've really got this PlayStation 2 thing nailed, and we've sold 118 million units. What do you think about doing a PlayStation 2.5? We'll add some bells and whistles to it, we can put it out at $199 or $249. I bet we could sell a bunch of them in the next couple of years -- and I think we clearly could. Could we sell a bunch for the next 10 years? No. So I think we'd have been looking at introducing a newer platform that didn't have the staying power that the PlayStation 3 does. We elected to do the quantum leap. The 10 year life-cycle because that's what did so well for us in PlayStation 1 and PlayStation 2, and if you have a strategy that's worked, you tend to stick with it. I don't know how you feel about...

Kaz: Just to add to what Jack said, or to add some more color. We're obviously a part of Sony and we do take a very long-term perspective on the business as a whole, and I'd always say, well instead of focusing on the first 6 months, I think the better perspective and great example to really see where things stand is really with the PS2. Where you look back, you know 7 or 8 years into the life-cycle and to say, ok, how much have we accomplished in terms of business volume for Sony for publishers and for the retailers on this platform that is 7 or 8 years old (depending on which territory you're talking about), and after 118 million units worldwide, then you look back and say how does that compare with the business volume of, say, Sega, which was able to generate the Dreamcast (because were talking about the same generation), and how much business and volume Microsoft was able to deliver with the Xbox, and how much business volume were we able to deliver on the PS2.

I don't think the same kind of comparison is really viable had we had this same conversation back in the Spring of 2000 or even in 2001, because again we were only a year in a half or two years into the life-cycle of that product. The hand really hasn't really played itself out to the extent that we have the perspective now of looking back where we are with the PlayStation 2. So I know we all get focused on the here and now, and I have a tendency of doing that as does everybody else, but I think we need to make sure that we look at here and now, but also understand that there is a wider business implication that we need to look at from the Sony perspective over the 10 year life-cycle that Jack was talking about as well.

So Kaz, specifically for you, how do you feel that the business has changed within Sony within the games division with the departure of Kurtagi-san?

Kaz: I think that you know, many subtle changes have already come about, in that I kind of bring a different perspective in that I was in Jack's position for 11 to 12 years on the regional headquarters side, where you know, we got a lot of different strategic input from Japan on a lot of issues that would pertain to the North American market. So I was on the receiving end and Japan was on the transmission end. There were times where I said, you know what, perhaps that's a great idea for the Japanese market or the European market, doesn't know if that really works here in the US. Snd other times I think the Europeans felt great about strategies for North America, but it doesn't really work in Europe, et cetera.

So one of the things that I've tried to start changing is giving more autonomy, more decision-making power and therefore more responsibility, if you will -- as well as more credit, if everything works out -- to the RHQs (regional headquarters). We're starting out with small things, like, for example, this time around Jack was talking about the PSP. We've got the black obviously, we've got the silver and the white, and as opposed to Tokyo saying you do this color or that color, or here are the five colors we can choose from -- none of them really work for the US but which one would you like? The process was more like, Jack, tell me which colors you need and I'll make it happen. Small things like that I'm really starting to implement, but bigger issues down the road as well. Again more autonomy for regional headquarters.

When it comes to basic fundamental strategies where the hardware needs to go or worldwide implications such as where a phone needs to go, those kinds of things -- that's obviously something that needs to be decided at the Tokyo level, but in conjunction or in concert with a lot of discussions we would have with the RHQ heads to make sure their issues and their points of view are taken into consideration when we come to decisions at the Tokyo level (that have these global implications). Having said all that, its not like it was a one-way street before, but perhaps it was 6 lanes coming this way [from Japan to US] and 2 lanes [from US] going to Tokyo, we're making sure that the freeway now has 3 ways either side in terms of information flow and exchange of opinion, and also making sure that those kinds of opinions actually get reflected in decisions that I need to make in Tokyo.

I thought that one of the most interesting parts of the keynote was when Phil pulled out a Sony Ericsson phone that had some integration with PlayStation Home. Historically Sony has had a lot of trouble integrating, they've been a very vertically integrated company and I know that one of the things that Howard was brought in to do was to try and make the company more horizontal. I'm just wondering going forward what things are we going to see in terms of the company being more horizontally integrated and being more cross platform in respects to things like mobile devices. We've been hearing hints of a Sony Ericsson mobile phone with PSP capabilities and things like that...

Kaz: Sure, you know this is one of these things where there's always room for improvement and quite honestly it's something Sony can do a lot better job at doing just as a group, but having said that I'll try to respond to your specific point before I do that I do want to point out to basically the PS3 where if we were completely siloed and only vertically integrated we probably wouldn't have a PS3 because we wouldn't be able to design it we wouldn't be able to source key parts for it like the CELL chip, because that's coming from Sony; we wouldn't be able to manufacture it because it's being manufactured, portions anyway at Sony EMS, and so, Howard talks about Sony, and I was actually at a management conference where I did a presentation on business at Sony united, and I said if you want Sony united look at the PS3. where necessary and especially at the real operation level of the organization, there's a lot of back and forth that happens, with or without Howard saying Sony united or not.

Now, as I said before there's always room for improvement and I think the smaller territories where there are smaller numbers of people within SCE and within Sony there's a lot more integration that happens, and a prime example of that is the relationship that Sony Computer Entertainment Canada has with Sony Electronics Canada because they're actually very close and they work together on a variety of different promotional activities and what have you. When it comes to Japan it's the hardest because there are so many people and so many different businesses involved. But I think just overall, with Howard making a call for Sony united just at every level of the organization, you know for example I engage with Howard literally on a weekly basis, you know he'll call me, I'll call him... I spend some time with Dr. Chubachi who is the President and Electronics CEO over at Sony. I also speak to Mr. Nakagawa and Ihara, who are right below Dr. Chubachi, and we just talk about technology trends, we talk about marketing issues, we talk about the possibility of what can we do ... for example, what can Sony Ericsson and Sony Computer Entertainment do, what can we do in conjunction with Sony Pictures in Japan or in the US, so there's a lot more, again, talking about the two lane versus six lane highway, there's a lot more information flow that happens at the management level as well, and I think that going forward, whether it's in products or in marketing activities, or in sales activities in certain instances, you're going to see a lot more collaboration between the Sony organizations.

But I think the most important thing though is - we'll do that, if it makes sense, not for the sake of doing it, and that's a trap that we don't want to fall into, we meaning not just us, but everybody in the Sony group. I think some of the things that made sense, that manifested itself would be, for example the Talladega Nights pack-in, and you know, people look at it and say, well that's just a pack-in of product. Yes, but you also need to realize we got it, what was it, a week or ten days before the launch. And you know, Sony Pictures pulled some strings, and they made it happen for us. You know, that kind of stuff you can only do when you have a video game company as well as a motion picture company within the same group, and that's a prime example of the kind of things that you can expect to see going forward and even more, given the kind of dialogue, improved dialogue that we are having with the Sony companies at the senior management level.

Can you talk just a bit about the integration with Sony Ericsson going forward, and the stuff on the...

Kaz: I can definitely tell you we are having some conversations.

Are you thinking more on the device level or just on the software integration level?

Kaz: I can tell you that we're having some conversations. [laughter]

Let me ask this then, why was the Home integration announced on the Sony Ericsson mobile devices, and not within the PSP? The Home demo was on a Sony Ericsson phone, but not on a PSP.

Kaz: I think you know was just a, I don't want to belittle the Sony Ericsson guys, because it's not meant to be that way, but you know, basically Phil wanted to demonstrate a technology where you could take a picture on your cellphone and then, you know, have it come back on Home, and it just happened to be that, obviously if we're going to demonstrate something on a cell phone, that we would much rather use a Sony Ericsson phone, than a Motorola phone, so it was a technology demonstration, and you know I don't think that we want to read too much into that at this point in time.

David: Yeah and that was actually, he sent it via a phone network.

Via MMS?

David: Yeah.

Okay, I was just surprised that it was on a Sony Ericsson phone and it wasn't also shown on a PSP in addition to the phone. So speaking about working horizontally and the Talladega Nights example, I think a lot of people were disappointed that we didn't find out more about any kind of video on demand service, or an IPTV service, for the PlayStation 3. That seems to be one of the areas where there was a lot of opportunity for corporate synergy, to use a corporate term, and we still haven't seen it. There had been promises of things like that on PlayStation 2, and here we have the PlayStation 3 -- which seems kind of ideally suited to provide that service -- and we still haven't heard much about it.

Kaz: A couple perspectives. One, is, and we've said this before and it still holds true, is that we are looking at a variety of ways of bringing a video download service and a music download service to the PlayStation 3, as well as the PSP (obviously), and it's something that we're actively looking at doing and actively working on as well. Having said that, whether we like it or not there are some other companies that have that as their core competency in that music download space. One of the things that we have to look at this point in time is, okay, if for example, I think had we done something like a straightforward music download service for the PlayStation Network Store, your quesion would have been, "What differentiates your store from downloading music from the iTunes store?" And I want to make sure that we are able to put a unique, PlayStation-esque way of presenting the music content, for example, to the PlayStation 3 users .Otherwise, we're just one of them.

We have the assets obviously, but it's not like Sony Pictures or Sony BMG for music download doesn't license the music to anybody else -- obviously they license to everybody, which is the way they should be doing their business, so they have access to the content as well as we would so what differentiates their service? So one of the things as an example of what im trying to get at is Phil demoed Singstar and obviously there's a music download component there's also a video download component there primarily for promotional videos, obviously because its a music application, but you can see that the music download is an integral part of and is in addition to just downloading music listening to it -- and okay you're happy.

But its a part of the overall Singstar experience that you're downloading the music that so that is a kind of different experience than you would have for downloading music that's specific to the PS3 experience that you can't get anywhere else. That's the kind of thing i'm talking about, and therefore, in conjunction with Singstar, there is going to be music download obviously because we find something that's very PlayStation-esque. So I want to try to come up with something that has the same kind of different PlayStation experience for music downloads, if we're going to expand it to the PlayStation Network Store≤ and also for video downloads as well -- so that you won't be asking me, "What separates your service from everybody else's?"

Well I think there's still a general demand for digitally distributed things like TV shows or movies regardless of how unique the experience is. I think people like the experience of being able to rent a movie at home directly. Right now you have the Xbox 360 maybe at some point in the future Apple will enable it in the Apple TV, but Sony seems peculiarly able to do this, not only because you guys own movies, but also in terms of the hardware you have available...

Kaz: Not only that, we also have the infrastructure in place as well. So the technology [road]blocks if you will, and the client side -- its all there, but you know again, we may ultimately decide a straight solo store is the best way to go, because, you know, we may have a lot of internal discussions on this between your recording -- maybe there is still a lot of demand for just a straightforward download service and we may end up doing that ultimately. So again, it's not something that we decide we're just not gonna do, it's something we want to do, but we want to do it right, and if the right answer means we just do a straightforward download [service] that may be the solution, so that's kind of where we're at. Are we planning something? Absolutely. When I say, "I'm planning something" and you say, "When's that gonna launch?", well it's up for discussion.

It seems pretty obvious that this should have happened a very long time ago. Now thinking a few steps ahead it just seems like there's just too much of a reliance on physical media -- what's the point of having downloadable 1080p movies for PS3 if you have Blu-ray discs, what's the point of having downloadable movies for PSP if there's UMD? So it seems like you keep on saying, "It's happening, it's happening," but to me it just seems like, "No, get it on one of our physical medias."

Kaz: As I said before, exactly your point, that's exactly the kind of discussions we're having internally, we may ultimately decide that that's the right answer and in which case the ingredients are in place, but you need to come to the determination that we're embarking on the right strategy, so that as I said before jokingly, that Jack is not asked next year, "What is so unique [about your service]? Everybody can download to 1080p."

Thanks for your time!

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]]>interviewjack trettonJackTrettonjoystiqfeatureskaz hiraiKazHiraisonyRyan Block2007-07-13T11:34:00+00:00Sony clarifies 380 PS3 games comment; 145 for UShttp://www.joystiq.com/2007/06/22/sony-clarifies-380-ps3-games-comment-145-for-us/http://www.joystiq.com/2007/06/22/sony-clarifies-380-ps3-games-comment-145-for-us/http://www.joystiq.com/2007/06/22/sony-clarifies-380-ps3-games-comment-145-for-us/#commentsFiled under: ,


After yesterday's announcement that 380 new games would be available for the PlayStation 3 this fiscal year, more than a few of us quickly ran out of fingers trying to make the math work out. Lucky for us, the fine folks at Sony stopped GamesIndustry.biz before they got their shoes off (it was too late for us), explaining that Sony's Kaz Hirai was "citing international figures" and that "at least 145 titles are on the way to the US," with 105 of those being retail offerings. That makes a lot more sense ... but we're still left wondering one thing. Does Warhawk count as both a retail and PlayStation Network title?

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]]>clarificationKazHiraimoargamesSonyChristopher Grant2007-06-22T13:55:00+00:00Gran Turismo HD goes free as focus shifts to GT5http://www.joystiq.com/2006/12/01/gran-turismo-hd-goes-free-as-focus-shifts-to-gt5/http://www.joystiq.com/2006/12/01/gran-turismo-hd-goes-free-as-focus-shifts-to-gt5/http://www.joystiq.com/2006/12/01/gran-turismo-hd-goes-free-as-focus-shifts-to-gt5/#commentsFiled under: ,


Gran Turismo HD on the PlayStation 3 is no more. The game, which was due for release in Japan this month, has officially been cancelled, leaving developer Polyphony Digital to focus its energy on the completion of Gran Turismo 5. All is not lost, however, as what was Gran Turismo HD will now be offered through the PlayStation Store as Gran Turismo HD Concept -- essentially a playable preview of Gran Turismo 5.

GTHD Concept will be free to download and becomes available in Japan on December 24. There is currently no confirmation of a worldwide release date (what a nice holiday treat though!). This free business has us wondering what happened to that dubious rumor about Gran Turismo's excessive microtransactioning?

It appears that there will be no online elements in GTHD Concept (apart from the very act of downloading it), with SCEI's new Mr. Big, Kaz Hirai, explaining in an open letter released this morning: "For the genuine implementation of 'Online Car Life Simulation', please wait for Gran Turismo 5."

That we will do.

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]]>Gran TurismoGranTurismoGT ConceptGtConceptHDKaz HiraiKazHiraiJonti Davies2006-12-01T09:05:00+00:00Journalist's kid gets a PS3, Sony boss's kid doesn'thttp://www.joystiq.com/2006/11/06/journalists-kid-gets-a-ps3-sony-bosss-kid-doesnt/http://www.joystiq.com/2006/11/06/journalists-kid-gets-a-ps3-sony-bosss-kid-doesnt/http://www.joystiq.com/2006/11/06/journalists-kid-gets-a-ps3-sony-bosss-kid-doesnt/#commentsFiled under: ,


File this one in the delicious irony department: the same day Kotaku's Brian Crecente posts a video of his son playing a brand new demo unit of the PS3, SCEA boss Kaz Hirai tells the Associated Press that his 12-year-old son doesn't yet have a system. Despite the younger Hirai's begging, Kaz said that his son "hasn't touched one and he hasn't seen one ... that's only fair for everybody."

Can this possibly true? Do members of the press now rank higher in the battle for new Sony hardware than the president of the company? Or was Hirai's quote a Steve-Ballmer-style "I feel your pain" PR feint designed to mollify gamers hurt by expected shortages? We report ... you decide.

[AP story via VideoGamesBlogger]

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]]>hiraiKaz hiraiKazHiraiPS3riiiidgeracerKyle Orland2006-11-06T11:25:00+00:00Surviving Sony Gamer's Dayhttp://www.joystiq.com/2006/10/20/surviving-sony-gamers-day/http://www.joystiq.com/2006/10/20/surviving-sony-gamers-day/http://www.joystiq.com/2006/10/20/surviving-sony-gamers-day/#commentsFiled under: , ,

I set my alarm yesterday morning. I had a date with Sony Gamer's Day, 2006. And yes, Grammar Rodeo champions, that apostrophe means that it was just for me. Also, about 100 to 200 other journalists and analysts showed up, but I let them stay.

Sony's annual all-day press event held few surprises. Instead, it was the last big event before the PS3 retail launch, and we reporters got to play more games, eat fancy hors d'oeuvres, and talk to Sony executives.

In the late morning, I attended a lunch that was supposed to be with developers but occurred without them; a roundtable discussion had been canceled. Instead, I got to listen to analysts at my table spout lots of semi-confidential numbers off-the-record. Numbers like "40%," and "5,000,000." (Yes, commenters, those are completely out of context; don't start any rumors.) After eating fancy food that may have been prepared entirely by a team of Cell processors -- it was that good -- I headed to San Francisco's Dogpatch neighborhood for the presentations.
The main event was housed in a warehouse-turned-loft, with a curved ceiling over the main stage. The room evoked an airplane hangar full of Sixaxis dreams, or maybe my thoughts were just wandering through subliminal control. I regained my skepticism next to the rest of the cold journalists.

An authoritative voice warned us not to shoot photos or video, and then the presentation began with an introductory PS3 video. Kaz Hirai, President of Sony Computer Entertainment America, strode on stage. He was self-deprecating at times, showing the infamous YouTube Ridge Racer video to demo the PS3 web browser.

Other times, he and the other execs were, well, let's just call them confident. Kaz said that the PS3 will sport the "most robust lineup of any console launch," and the system will have "no [power] brick ... [unlike] some of our competition." Executive VP Jack Tretton took another dig at an unnamed console (cough: Xbox 360), saying Sony would ship "two fully-featured devices," adding, "We do not have a stripped-down core [system]."

(Aside: Sony, we gamers want you to succeed; we want all consoles to succeed. Just know that you look better staying above the insult fray, letting your products speak for themselves. We like a company that laughs at itself; you handled the Ridge Racer joke with style.)

After a few more demos and with other execs and developers, Sony sent us upstairs to the second and third floors, full of PS3s and games.



About 25 HDTVs and PS3s showcased most launch titles; I played a handful of the games after pushing through the crowd. Few titles stood out from the rest. Mostly, the games seemed like safe bets, which I can understand for a system launch. Most also looked good, just not innovative. I saw the futuristic shooter, the Tony Hawk game, racing games, and EA Sports games. The rain in one of the racing games looked real, sheeting off the windshield and sprayed by other cars, but it was just rain.



Some of the smaller titles were the most interesting, like Criminal CrackDown -- shown only in the main presentation -- and other downloadable games. I'm sure the PS3 will find its own Katamari, Okami, and Shadow of the Colossus. They just don't seem like they'll launch with the system.

Late in the day, someone literally turned the power off a game I was about to play; they were trying to herd us downstairs for more festivities, although there must have been a better way to move us along.



The chairs from earlier in the day had been carted out, and the main room had been converted into a dimly-lit club full of grimy gamers. While eating a few snacks and talking about the day, I began noticing some women dressed to the 9-8-9s. One had a Michael Jackson Moonwalker-style hat and business suit that incorporated mesh panels. PR reps are known for fashion sense and looking good, but I've never seen one with mesh panels. The fashionistas' presence made sense after Ludacris, the surprise musical guest, bounded on stage; they danced right in front, probably planted there by the hip-hop star.



I maintained my skepticism through Gamer's Day, but a few of the PS3 features and games made me more interested in the system. The PS3 is a competent platform, but I'll have to decide how it holds up when playing at home, away from marketers. As I try to shake Luda's infectious grooves out of my pounding head, I'll collect more thoughts about specific games and news tidbits that haven't gotten much press.

See also:
First 500K PS3s get Blu-ray Talladega Nights
PlayStation 3 launch window titles announced
PS3 peripherals priced: $50 for a Sixaxis

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]]>Gamer's DayGamer'sDayGamers DayGamersDayJack TrettonJackTrettonKaz HiraiKazHiraiLudacrisPS3 launchPs3LaunchRidge RacerRidgeRacerSCEAZack Stern2006-10-20T14:20:00+00:00Sony says no, Immersion says yeshttp://www.joystiq.com/2006/10/05/sony-says-no-immersion-says-yes/http://www.joystiq.com/2006/10/05/sony-says-no-immersion-says-yes/http://www.joystiq.com/2006/10/05/sony-says-no-immersion-says-yes/#commentsFiled under: , ,

Our colleagues at GameDaily BIZ spoke with Victor Viegas, CEO of force feedback patent holder Immersion, about Sony VP Kaz Hirai's recent comments on the PS3 controller's lack of rumble. Hirai told Kikizo in a taped interview, "If we have to come up with technology ... to isolate the vibration from the sensing, but if that means that the controllers are going to be so expensive, then we're doing the consumer a huge disservice by coming up with a controller that is not very affordable."

Viegas responded that his company "knew how to technically solve their problems" and they now "know how to do it without adding any incremental cost." He even cited a third party PS2 controller, the G-Pad Pro, that "incorporates both motion sensing and vibration and goes for the retail price of just $29.95." That's only $5 more than a Dual Shock.

We can't help but be shaken, rumbled even, by the irony of proclaiming cost sensitivity as the purported rationale for excising the controller's force feedback functionality when the console it will wirelessly communicate with has been criticized, by most everyone below the 35% tax bracket, for being extravagantly expensive. Note to Sony: We're pretty sure anyone ponying up $500-$600 for a PS3 would be more than willing to shell out an extra $5 for force feedback.

With Nintendo's rumbling, motion-sensing controller combo going for a princely $60, and Microsoft's rumbling, motion-free 360 gamepad going for a steep $50, how should Sony price their lightweight, rumble-free Sixaxis? They've already said it's got to be affordable.

Other peripheral pricing:
PS3: Dual Shake is dead, long live Sixaxis

Read - Hirai: No Rumble in PS3 Controller Due to Cost
Read - Immersion CEO: Rumble + Motion Not Cost Prohibitive

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]]>Force FeedbackForceFeedbackImmersionKaz HiraiKazHiraiRumbleSixaxisSonyVictor ViegasVictorViegasChristopher Grant2006-10-05T14:28:00+00:00Kaz says Blu-ray is the best choice for gamershttp://www.joystiq.com/2006/08/29/kaz-says-blu-ray-is-the-best-choice-for-gamers/http://www.joystiq.com/2006/08/29/kaz-says-blu-ray-is-the-best-choice-for-gamers/http://www.joystiq.com/2006/08/29/kaz-says-blu-ray-is-the-best-choice-for-gamers/#commentsFiled under: , , , , ,

In a rather bland interview with Cnet, Sony's Kaz Hirai proclaims that the Blu-ray format is the best choice for gamers when compared to the capacity in its fiercest competitor, the Xbox 360. He told Cnet:

Our decision to include the Blu-ray player ... in all of our PlayStation 3s was the right decision. Look at the massive amounts of data that's required to provide a truly immersive gaming experience in true HD. If you only have a DVD ROM drive, which can only go up to about 9GB or so, you're going to end up with a game that's going to have two or possibly even three discs. And then you're going to have to ask consumers to swap discs out or cache all the game onto the hard drive which I think is an inconvenience -- not to mention the fact that you're going to fill up a 20GB hard drive very quickly with some of these games. So trying to go without a Blu-ray drive in the PlayStation 3 really is a nonstarter.

Pretty much a diss to the 360 and its capabilities, Hirai believes that the Blu-ray is key to the PS3's ultimate success. Considering how massive a game like Oblivion is on one disc, does the extra storage capability of the Blu-ray disc even matter?

On a another note, Kaz still says that production of the PS3 has yet to start.

[Thanks, KingOfGods]

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]]>Kaz HiraiKazHiraiJoystiq Staff2006-08-29T11:25:00+00:00Catching up with Kaz and the PS3 [update 1]http://www.joystiq.com/2006/08/19/catching-up-with-kaz-and-the-ps3/http://www.joystiq.com/2006/08/19/catching-up-with-kaz-and-the-ps3/http://www.joystiq.com/2006/08/19/catching-up-with-kaz-and-the-ps3/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,


GameSpot recently had a chat with Sony Computer Entertainment American President Kaz Hirai and the status of the PlayStation 3 as it nears launch three months from now. While Kaz didn't necessarily come out and say anything that wasn't already known, there were a few interesting notes to be taken away from the piece. Here are the golden nuggets, so to speak, of the long-winded interview:
  • My plan basically is to make sure that we keep at least as much market share as we have had with the PS1 and the PS2.
  • ... I'd like to think that our market share will be as good -- if not better -- than what we've accomplished with the PS2 in the same kind of time frame since launch.
  • ... we're internally really getting geared up to go to market with this beautiful console in three months' time, and at this point in time all signs are good to go.
  • ... we've always talked about shipping 2 million units worldwide within the calendar year. Since we're going with three territories, we haven't really come up with an allocation just yet.
  • ... I think it's going to be very much of a challenge to be able to meet every single unit demand that's out there in the market.
  • We haven't started manufacturing yet.
  • I think it's too early to say at this point in time which games definitively are going to be launch titles, and I certainly can't speak for the third parties.
  • We definitely plan, and will leverage a lot -- if not most -- of the entertainment content that Sony brings. Having said that though, we want to make sure that we're not just suddenly becoming a vehicle for delivering Sony entertainment content only.
  • Between PlayStation, PS2 and PSP, the PSP happens to be the fastest-growing product we've ever launched. I think we cleared 20 million units worldwide within the first what, about 18 months or so. And in the US, we've already cleared 5.2 million.
  • Again, [there are] no adjustments on the horizon as far as PSP [pricing] goes. We're happy with the pricing, we're happy with the value proposition ...

Even after all the bad press and poor E3 showing, Kaz and Sony still feel very comfortable with what direction the PS3 will be going. What is your ultimate (non-fanboy) prediction now that we're three months away from launch?

[Update: SCEA contacted us to let us know that Kaz's statements were "misunderstood." They issued the following statement:

"Unfortunately Kaz Hirai's comments in the recent GameSpot interview regarding PLAYSTATION 3 production were misunderstood. We are still on schedule to ship 2 million units for our mid-November 2006 launch and additional 2 million units by the end of the year for a total of 4 million units."

Damage control? Perhaps (we're still having trouble rectifying how his statements regarding "2 million units worldwide within the calendar year" could be misunderstood). We don't think anyone (at Sony, Joystiq, or elsewhere) is under the impression there won't be any PS3 shortages, but Sony appears confidant they'll have 4 million of these puppies out the door by end of year.]

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]]>Kaz HiraiKazHiraiJoystiq Staff2006-08-19T14:10:00+00:00Kaz sez: "MS copies Sony!"http://www.joystiq.com/2006/06/29/kaz-sez-ms-copies-sony/http://www.joystiq.com/2006/06/29/kaz-sez-ms-copies-sony/http://www.joystiq.com/2006/06/29/kaz-sez-ms-copies-sony/#commentsFiled under: ,

Sony's Kaz Hirai has let his inner stroppiness out in an interview with PlayStation Magazine, where he moans at Microsoft for copying Sony's strategies and disses Microsoft's plan for an HD-DVD add-on whilst simultaneously bigging up his own company's Blu-ray plan.

In a response to the interviewer's leading question/statement "Sony and Microsoft seem to be taking the exact same path...", Kaz responds by saying that "Every time we go down a path, we look behind and they're right there - we just can't shake these guys. I wish that they would come up with some strategies of their own..." It's possible that we'd be more likely to agree with this statement if we knew exactly what he meant, because as it stands this is the PR equivalent of trash talk.

This childish display of "Miss! That kid's copying me!" reminds me of one of my favorite poems as a child called Please Mrs Butler by Allan Ahlberg, summmarized thusly: moan all you want, but don't expect sympathy from anyone. Especially when your complaint sits on very shaky ground.

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]]>Boxing matchBoxingMatchKaz HiraiKazHiraiMarketingMiyamotoNext GenerationNextGenerationPeter MoorePeterMoorePlaystationPRPS3Smack talkSmackTalktrash talkTrashTalkConrad Quilty-Harper2006-06-29T16:55:00+00:00Up to 7,000 PSOne-to-PSP titles by 2007, reports UK PSP Magazinehttp://www.joystiq.com/2006/06/28/up-to-7-000-psone-to-psp-titles-by-2007-reports-uk-psp-magazine/http://www.joystiq.com/2006/06/28/up-to-7-000-psone-to-psp-titles-by-2007-reports-uk-psp-magazine/http://www.joystiq.com/2006/06/28/up-to-7-000-psone-to-psp-titles-by-2007-reports-uk-psp-magazine/#commentsFiled under: , , , , ,

PlayStation emulation (PSP)
"Riiiiiidge Raaaaacer!" Kaz Hirai's famous declaration at Sony's E3 media breifing might not have garnered much applause, but, according to UK PSP Magazine, there are plenty of other emulated PlayStation titles (for the PSP) that will. These five AAA titles should be available when the emulation service launches:
  • Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
  • Final Fantasy VII
  • Final Fantasy VIII
  • Silent Hill
  • Tomb Raider
In addition, UK PSP Magazine reports that up to 7,000 PlayStation titles will be available for download by the end of 2007. Say what?! 7,000! Yes folks, it's possible -- Wikipedia: "As of March 2005, there were 7,743 software titles available (this figure counts games released in multiple regions as separate titles)."

Forget PSOne, the PSP has officially become the first, truly portable PlayStation. We knew the thing would find its calling sooner or later...

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]]>CastlevaniaE3emulationFinal FantasyFinalFantasyKaz HiraiKazHiraiPlayStationPSOneSilent HillSilentHillTomb RaiderTombRaiderJames Ransom-Wiley2006-06-28T12:55:00+00:00Phil Harrison's media Q&A video from GDChttp://www.joystiq.com/2006/04/03/phil-harrisons-media-qanda-video-from-gdc/http://www.joystiq.com/2006/04/03/phil-harrisons-media-qanda-video-from-gdc/http://www.joystiq.com/2006/04/03/phil-harrisons-media-qanda-video-from-gdc/#commentsFiled under: , , , , ,


Can't get enough Phil Harrison in your life? Check out this video from the media Q&A following his GDC keynote for 20 minutes of Phil-y love (and maybe a few furtive glances from Kaz Hirai sitting in the background).

We just love how Phil "swerve[d] a couple of the questions" regarding the hard drive and other hardware-related issues, but we also like how he managed to clarify those questions regarding "content offerings" that will be charged at a "premium," though he did say that there were "no plans to charge for [multiplayer gaming] at the moment."

But, yeah, Mr. Harrison wasn't as combative in his answers as some media outlets portrayed him, which is another great step for platform executives who tend to make rather grandiose statements and fiery claims. If you want to see as well as hear the Phil handle all comers, this is one of your best chances yet. We'd love to hear it all clearly in English at E3, too.

[Thanks, Fan; video courtesy of Jean-Baptiste Su of Citizen Valley]

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]]>combativecontent offeringsContentOfferingsE3EnglishexecutivesGDC keynoteGdcKeynotehard driveHardDriveKaz HiraiKazHiraimultiplayerPhil HarrisonPhilHarrisonpremiumswerveDan Choi2006-04-03T16:27:00+00:00