"Because we're in that leadership position, there are a lot of expectations thrust upon us and some of them are a little unrealistic. If we were a distant third in the platform race, people would have a warm spot in their hearts for the good old days of PlayStation and they'd actually root for us to get back on top. But I don't know if we want to pay the price to get that kind of [love]." -- Jack Tretton, CEO and President, Sony Computer Entertainment America President in Issue 213 of Electronic Gaming Monthly
The cover of EGM's March issue boasts a PlayStation 3 stained with the red smear of a tomato that's been lobbed at the console and the word "BattleStation!" -- the article looks at what went wrong when the market leader entered this console cycle, and more importantly, SCEA's Jack Tretton explains Sony's side of the story. In November, due to shortages, Sony sold roughly half as many PlayStation 3's as they'd expected to. But, Sony's PlayStation 3 steadily continued a seemingly uphill climb in the next-gen Gen Now console cycle -- selling 687k units before the end of the calendar year according to NPD figures. Sony has been the market leader for over 10 years. The PlayStation 3's forebears both sold over 100M systems worldwide and the PlayStation 2 was the top-selling gaming machine in December. Yet, the PS3 has faced tremendous amounts of scrutiny, both from mainstream and enthusiast press alike.
Sony's new system has been called a Trojan horse, designed as another way for proprietary technology, like the UMD format or betamax, to infiltrate living rooms and eclipse DVD as the standard disc format.
EGM: Do you believe the PS3 can push the Blu-ray format?
Jack Tretton: I believe we can complement the Blu-ray format. I don't think we can single-handedly drive the Blu-ray format. It's up to the consumer electronics companies; one of the [misconceptions] is that it's Sony's efforts. I don't know that we feel we can or should single-handedly carry Blu-ray on our back. I see it as an asset, though. Blu-ray is a great value for consumers as a movie format, but most importantly [it's of value] to the gamers. Blu-ray does wonderful things for the development community and what they can bring to consumers on Blu-ray & that's something that no other machine offers.
The perceived loss of exclusives (think Assassin's Creed and more recently, Virtua Fighter 5) precludes discussions on the rising costs of development. Can third parties develop exclusively for platforms before the install bases reach a critical mass?
EGM: How do you nurture innovation when the financial risks are greater than ever?
JT: You better be [Resistance developer] Insomniac, and be a very proven entity if you want us to invest upwards of $30 million and give you three years to develop a game for our platform. I don't think that's a realistic opportunity for somebody right out of college, but conversely, we definitely have development opportunities on PS2, PlayStation Portable and online [downloadable] games, where we are absolutely interested in smaller houses or people that are in the early stages of their development careers.
If somebody asked me, "I wanna get into the games industry. What field is the most wide-open?" I'd tell you it's development. That is the biggest investment we've made in employees on a worldwide basis ... because at the end of the day, you need that compelling software to make your hardware relevant.
Is this console cycle a two-horse race? Nintendo's belief that mainstream involves a brand new way of playing games, and Sony and Microsoft reinforcing the type of gaming experiences gamers have enjoyed since the PlayStation-era, who is Sony's competition this cycle?
EGM: How do you view the Xbox 360 as a competitor?
JT: Well, I wish we had no competition, on one hand. On the other hand I think the competition is good because, as we certainly saw in Japan, we had the whole market to ourselves and that put a lot of pressure on the PlayStation brand. There's not only competition within the games industry, there's a lot of competition in entertainment in general that's going to take [consumers] away, so we want to keep people in gaming. If our competitors get people in the aisle, looking at gaming, reading gaming magazines, we feel that's in our best interest -- we've pulled them away from other forms of entertainment.
EGM: But how do you view the 360 specifically as a competitor?
JT: I think we've got a better machine, I think we've got a better business model, and I think we're going to win in the long term. I'm extremely pleased that we're selling more PS2 units than they are [360 units]. That's something that quite frankly surprised me. But while early indicators are not completely irrelevant, you can't completely ignore them, and I'd be a little concerned if I were them. On the other hand, what concerns me is if the Xbox 360 is being rejected, are the consumers on board with [next-generation] technology and is there enough [demand] there.
EGM: Sony CEO Howard Stringer once ... admitted that the price of the PlayStation 3 is very high, but what we're really paying for is potential. Why can't we pay $600 for something that's worth the price right off the bat?
JT: What have you historically paid or would look to pay? Let's say $299 because that's what you paid for the PS2 when it came out or because that's what the low-end 360 costs. OK, if we're asking you to pay $600 for the high-end PS3, I would point out a couple of things. Historically our platforms have staying power. Not three years, not five years, but 10 years. So are you making an investment for the next 45 days, the next year, the next five years, 10 years? Because that would have a little bit of determination as far as the value.
I understand your point about, OK, the potential is there, but what's there day one? I would say that the PS3 has the best gaming experience of any platform that's ever shipped day one. [You're getting] the combination of great gaming, free online play, Blu-ray movie playback, being able to go online and surf the Internet, the ability to download your pictures, download your videos, rip your music to it & and that's all stuff that I as a consumer experienced firsthand. If you want the ultimate gaming experience and you value all of those other experiences, all of a sudden 599 bucks doesn't sound like a whole lot of money.
Read the complete Jack Tretton interview and EGM's cover story "BattleStation!" in the March issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly -- on newsstands Feb. 13. http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3156907
