PS3 Fanboy

The successor to Ken Kutaragi, the man behind the curtain, the Phantom of the Opera, Sony Computer Entertainment Kaz Hirai will be leading the keynote speech at Tokyo Game Show this September. His topic of choice? Flavorful dessert dishes for every season and occasion. Just kidding -- the future of PlayStation, naturally. To be more specific, Hirai has titled the speech "The expanding PlayStation world, business strategy for new growth."

We think that's a comma splice, but it's a title so conventional rules don't exactly apply. What do you guys think he'll discuss? Will he reveal any important bits of PS3 news, or will he lull the audience into a nap with statistics and a business market analysis?

Why is there no video download service yet for PSP and PS3? In a recent interview with Joystiq, Engadget and PS Fanboy, Kaz Hirai noted that they need to provide a unique experience for PlayStation fans to interact with media. "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," he commented.

"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."

Sony is waiting for a "unique" way of providing video downloads, but we adamantly believe that consumers will love to have standard video service, akin to the one available on Xbox Live Marketplace. Isn't providing downloadable 1080p video differentiating enough? We think so. Read our complete interview at Joystiq.

Gamesindustry.biz is reporting that Sony have clarified their "380 game released by March '08" statement. It seems Kaz Hirai was citing international figures, whereas the true number of games released to the US market is to be at least 145 during this fiscal year. That doesn't include games which have already been released since last March.

The number breaks down further to 105+ boxed games and 40 PSN games. It is unclear whether games such as Warhawk, which will be released in both formats, will count as boxed games or not. 15 first party titles are slated for the pre-March window, including Ratchet and Clank Future: Tools of Destruction, Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, Heavenly Sword and Little Big Planet. Most, if not all, of which should be out before the year's end.

There is no word on how many games are to be released to European regions. However with the heavy emphasis on worldwide releases this generation, plus the fact that some of the big games are being developed in Europe, it's fairly safe to say that we can expect a similar number as the Americans.

Reuters is reporting that the president of Sony Computer Entertainment, Kaz Hirai, has stated that by March 2008 the PlayStation 3 will have a total catalgue of 380 games. This will be a solution to the current slump in sales the PS3 is currently seeing worldwide. Apparently Kaz only just realised that having actual games to play might persuade more people to pick up a system.

The current plan is for the release of 200 titles in shops and 180 downloadable from the PlayStation store. Hirai states that there are currently 60 titles in stores and 50 downloadable. If the software library really does almost quadruple in less than a year, then the PS3 will have no problems selling worldwide. The games drought has been hard on early adopters of the console, but with the release of Rainbow Six: Vegas, Ninja Gaiden Sigma, The Darkness and Super Stardust HD all in the next two weeks, the drought looks to be almost over.

So start saving those pennies. Before long there will be so many games vying for your attention, you won't know where to start.

[Via Gameindustry.biz]

The father of the PlayStation, Ken Kutaragi, has officially retired from Sony Computer Entertainment. Previously, following a corporate re-shuffle, Mr. Kutaragi stepped down as CEO of SCE, replaced by Kaz Hirai. Now, Ken Kutaragi is relinquishing his Sony duties further, stepping down as SCE's Chairman and Group Chief Executive while remaining on board with SCE in an advisory role. Perhaps Sir Howard Stringer can assist with Ken Kutaragi's early retirement by quickly issuing restraining orders against him on all things Sony PlayStation-related. After all, earlier reports show "Krazy Ken" Kutaragi clearly doesn't know "when to say when" as he proceeded to inflate the PS3's budget until it exploded in everyone's collective faces, causing fallout from a few layoffs to a huge quarterly loss. Except now without Kutaragi in the limelight, how are we going to get such beautiful mock-ups of the PlayStation grill?

Already being hailed as the anti-Kutaragi (not against-Kutaragi, but antithesis-Kutaragi), Kaz Hirai has some big shoes to fill as the new CEO later this year -- big shoes to take some big steps towards success with the PlayStation 3. We'll highlight some of what's expected from Hirai from this impressively competent article from Business Week.

• He's affable and articulate -- he's expected to shift Sony from a Japanese empire to a global organization.
• He's great at getting ties with distributors, game developers, etc. Hopefully he can score some exclusive titles with his... personality.
  
• Kutaragi demanded to be in complete control, wanted to answer everything himself. Hirai is set up to be a better listener and be more pleasurable to work with.
• Hirai isn't as technologically savvy as Kutaragi and hasn't even dealt with the main Japan office that much. He's a stranger to many at Sony. As Business Week said, "that's both an opportunity and a risk".
• Hirai recently said "that he had separated strategic planning from daily decision-making and had given regional heads more responsibility over console shipments, inventories, and new game titles." Hopefully this will keep people in-touch and not alienate anyone from the PlayStation 3's progress.

Will Kaz be able to bridge the gap between the PS3 and the competition? We'll find out in due time, but as smart and influential as Kutaragi was, it is a different business model nowadays and Hirai seems to more accurately and appropriately reflect that. Let's just hope the world is ready for a new leader behind Sony.

For those of you who think that Sony always rolls with the punches, spins negative into positive, or act like they meant to catch laptops on fire, you may be interested in some of the things Kaz Hirai spoke about at CES 2007. Yeah, most of it is just that, but he did admit that the PS3 has had a bumpy start. Before we go more into that, though, here are some of the flowery things he said:

• "I have heard many people say our competitors' systems are just as powerful as the PS3. That simply is not true. No other next generation entertainment system pushes the envelope on advanced technology like PS3."
• "I have heard people say that a high-capacity game delivery vehicle like Blu-ray isn't necessary in a next generation computer entertainment system. You just can't expect that 9GBs of storage capacity found on today's DVDs are going to have enough space to hold tomorrow's games."

We've actually heard that all before, but words are just words until we see the promises in action -- if a picture is worth a thousand words, think how many words a video game fulfilling a promise is worth! Anyway, Kaz also talked about the launch of the PS3. He admitted it was rough, also saying, "I don't think anyone could have foreseen the difficulties we encountered in the production of the blue laser diode for the PlayStation 3, which ultimately delayed the launch of PlayStation 3." As a final note, he said that if Sony had gone the route of Nintendo, with a mild upgrade in capabilities, the launch would have gone down a lot smoother and a lot sooner. But, he says with his infamous grin, "if we did that every time, we wouldn't be Sony."

Sony has an interesting "strategy": low supply creates high demand. Ah, the wonders of basic economics concerning luxury goods. In any case, Kaz Hirai recently sat down to an interview and discussed the whole PS3 supply/demand issue, among other things. Let's highlight the big points, shall we?

• To compensate for the limited supply, Kaz says that Sony is chartering flights to bring systems to North America faster -- normally, items of PS3 size/weight are sent via boat. Production is ramping up also, but still... chartering flights is way more expensive than boats. Thanks, we guess?
• Shipments would like to be weekly to keep up with demand, but that's up to consumers. As for grabbing one off of a retail shelf casually, that's also up to the demand of consumers and Kaz has no idea when the surplus will kick in.
• Kaz says that Sony does not favor one retailer over another, so if your pre-order falls through due to unit allocation, it's the store's fault... not Sony's.
• No price cut in North America for the 20GB model. Oh well, who wants that one anyway?
• The bottleneck in production came from the blue laser diodes, but that's been fixed. Even so, says Kaz, "you do have a ramp-up period. You suddenly can't go from zero one day to 100,000 units the next day."
• Support for the PS2 will continue for some time -- unlike other console companies who drop an old console overnight.
• Kaz assures us that PS2 and PSOne titles that have compatibility issues will be ironed out with firmware updates. That's the beauty with the PS3!

Overall, it was a good interview. Nothing necessarily groundbreaking was revealed, but it's always nice to be reassured that things are okay, even if they're not. If your dog died, you'd want a hug from your mom and not a silent crying session... or something. The point is, being told nice things is nice. How can you possibly disagree?

Our two favorite people, Ken Kutaragi and Kaz Hirai, Krazy Kaz and Ken if I may, have moved up in the world! Maybe not the world as a whole, but the world of Sony. The two men, who have a tough time not making fools of themselves (a few exceptions, but they elude me), have indeed garnered new seats in Sony. Kutaragi, formerly the President and Group CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc., is now the Chairman and Group CEO. Kaz Hirai was formerly President and CEO of SCE America is now President and COO of SCE Inc. At least he's not in charge of Sony America anymore? Whatever. You can check out other managerial movements if you'd like, but really, it's interesting how people more or less mocked by the public continue to move up in the world.

Sorry guys, no last minute price changes for the North American PS3 release. As you may have heard, Kaz Hirai is "very comfortable with the pricing we have announced." He also claims there has been tremendous support by retailers for their pricing also, which is probably true. What store wouldn't want to guarantee selling out of a $600 machine? Also of note, which we already know but it bears repeating, all 20GB models in all regions have HDMI support -- not just the special price-cut PS3's in Japan. For some reason, a little bit of confusion surrounded that. Hopefully none of our well-read readers had such an issue (we know you're smarter than the average bear). That's really about it. Good luck, everyone! If you're camping out, be sure to take pictures and send them in as tips. We'd love to toss a few of them up in lieu of our generally boring pictures.

Kikizo had the rare opportunity to conduct a video interview with Kaz Hirai, one of the biggest of men at Sony. It's a fairly lengthy one, so we'll give you a teaser of what to expect.

• Sony after E3 -- what changed?
  
• Showing PS3 off to consumers for the first time, reactions
  
• PlayStation profitability - "making huge contributions"
• Losing IP exclusivity on titles like Assassin's Creed
• PS3 as a completely different entertainment experience
  
• Why's all the Rum(ble) gone?
  
• If HD-DVD prevails what will become of Sony and Blu-ray?
• SCEA not concerned with Blu-Ray, but establishing PS3
• Launch supplies and ramping up production for Holidays
• Strategic delay of the European launch
• Strong platform six or seven years from now

That's really about it. Kikizo covered the main points to check out pretty well. All that's left is to download the interview and watch the spin machine on a heavy cycle!

Phil Harrison... Kaz Hirai... Ken Kutaragi... no, they do not comprise the three heads of the mythical Cerberus, but they do comprise the three heads of a real-life corporation that rivals such mythical beasts: Sony. Game|Life got to interview them all in one night and a couple of interesting tidbits came out. Here they are:

• Phil Harrison believes there's no North American price drop because the $599 is a "magic price point". Basically, it's the price people will buy at that gives Sony the greatest marginal profit (or if manufacturing costs are still more than the price, the lowest marginal loss).
• The Playstation 3 is region free for games, but not movies. So you can grab a PS3 from Japan if you really, really want, but you'll have trouble playing local movies. This is also good news for import junkies, especially among fighting game fanatics (less translation to deal with). Oh, this also includes downloadable games.
  
• Kaz Hirai and Ken Kutaragi both leaned towards "no" as to the inclusion of component cables in the box.

Alone, each point is kind of "meh", but add them together and you've got a bevy of PS3 common knowledge. It's surprising how these more common points are overlooked, so while many may have heard these, there will be some who were wondering about these and, well, now they know.

[FYI: if the link to Game|Life doesn't work, just hit refresh. That worked for me!]

This guy is practically the entire Sony marketing division! At least, he's appearing everywhere for interviews the past week or so. While this interview from cNet tells pretty much the same ol' stuff, Kaz does mention the Wii -- the console that doesn't quite get talked about too often on here. First off, the pricing of the Wii.

cNet asked if the price would affect the PS3, to which Kaz responded: "The pricing that we announced for the PlayStation 3 is a price that ultimately offers fantastic value to the consumers." Yeah, but what about in relation to the Wii, Kaz? "I think at $599 we're offering a very good value to the consumers." Darn! Close, but not really answering them, Mr. Hirai. One more chance! "Some consumers will compare features or software offerings and decide that they may want to go with a different console...I don't think price is the only determining factor when consumers make a choice in looking at their console purchase decisions." Good, if only you said that in the first place. It is about software.

It doesn't seem Krazy Kaz is taking the Wii too seriously as competition and that may come back to bite him. Then again, it may not, since Nintendo isn't actively participating in this so-called "war". Nintendo is Nintendo and they'll always make incredibly fun first-party titles. Even so, at least someone interviewing Kaz tried to get his take on the Wii. It's too Sony vs. Microsoft for the most part.

In the past, when Kaz Hirai opened his mouth, eyes would roll. Lately, his comments have been slightly more understandable and subdued. In an interview with Mercury News, Hirai responded to the comparison of the PS3's production to the Xbox 360's production shortage, saying Sony has "tighter control on manufacturing." Hirai also went over a little of their marketing strategy, saying Sony has met with retailers to pitch the value of the PS3. Other divisions of Sony are working together, stringing in digital TV sales with the PS3 console. Or trying to. Sales are tough.

Marketing, schmarketing. What of the Playstation 3? Hirai commented on the size of many of the games that will get shown at the Tokyo Game Show -- many are around 20GB, proof that Blu-ray is doing great things for developers. Hirai said: "You'll see the difference in the game play. In things like the number of levels, the lines of dialogue, the AI." It's nice to see he isn't completely focused on graphics, as AI is a bit more important than particle physics or advanced textures to many gamers.

Overall, cool. Hirai recognizes the criticisms of Sony fans, especially after seeing the posts made on YouTube about Dell computers catching fire and probably a few of Microsoft's creations (in fact, you could probably find any console getting whacked on that site). Let's take a different angle to end on... if your PS3 malfunctioned and you had to toss it (for some odd reason) and you put it on YouTube, what sort of destruction would you wreak on it? Or say what you think could go wrong with the PS3 to make it on there (overheating, red circle of death, whatever). We're not condoning PS3 destruction, but if it had to be put out of its misery, be creative, right?

Recently, Kaz Hirai spoke about the Playstation 3 launch in an interview over at gamespot. It was a really fun read and all, but there were a few foreboding moments. These moments, like shortages of the console upon launch, aren't uncommon, but still need to be addressed. A Sony spokesman had the nerve (and the common sense) to correct Kaz Hirai in regards to his statements in the interview. The spokesman said: "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." Isn't that worse?

With the production (or just assembly) not yet underway, doubling the number as quoted by Kaz is scary! Maybe 4 million units won't sell by years end, but producing that many is a daunting task. Would Sony (not to mention Nintendo and Microsoft as well) do this on purpose? Have shortages? It may lower risk and they won't have a million sitting in a warehouse somewhere, but is it a part of their plan to say "no, we'll definitely have them ready for you" and then... not? Does a shortage really increase demand and boost sales? It's all speculation, but the facts remain the same: Sony is planning on 4 million units by the end of the year. Good luck, Sony.