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To coincide with the start of E3 2010, the president of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe discusses the state of PlayStation with eu.playstation.com.
What have been the most interesting changes and areas of growth for PlayStation in the last year?
The high point has been the tremendous positive impact on the PlayStation business of the new PlayStation 3 system at the new price point, which had a phenomenal impact across every one of our major markets. Looking at the most recent figures coming into E3, PS3 is the only home format that's showing growth year on year.
In what ways does PlayStation Network continue to expand on PlayStation 3 and PSP?
The story on PlayStation Network is really one of breadth and depth, with well over 40 million accounts worldwide, 20 million of which here in the SCEE territory and an ever expanding range of services. These vary from pure gaming activities right through to MUBI, a curated, art house cinema offering that is unique to PS3. Last year also saw the launch of the PlayStation Store Video Store, which offers the broadest range of Hollywood and local content of any of the major platforms.
PlayStation Network is at the heart of what we do and we're constantly reinventing and adding to it. One of our key announcements at E3 this year is to offer a premium service for those who really want to get maximum benefit out of PlayStation Network. With PlayStation Plus, we're offering a subscription that allows game trials, a range of free content delivered every month, as well as the opportunity to take part in other activities reserved for those premium users.
How will the products shown at E3 2010 offer new and diverse ways to have fun for PlayStation owners?
A personal favourite is LittleBigPlanet 2. It takes an idea that was born on PlayStation and opens that playing field quite dramatically.
Secondly, with Killzone 3 we've seen a real benchmark of the kinds of experience that stereoscopic 3D gaming can deliver in terms of the sheer sense of immersion and added realism.
Can you tell us a little about the decision to reveal key titles such as LittleBigPlanet 2, MotorStorm Apocalypse and Killzone 3 prior to E3?
There is a sense in which the show becomes very crowded, it becomes really full of news. So with titles of this importance and with this amount of expectation, we wanted to announce them beforehand and then have people at the show actually experience them.
As well as games, what content are you most excited about seeing more of on PlayStation?
I'm really looking forward to the arrival of stereoscopic 3D, not just in games but in movies as well. The fact that PlayStation 3 will be the first mass market device to let people see movies in 3D is something that's tremendously powerful, and something that I'm looking forward to experiencing as well.
How important is it for PlayStation to offer a wide range of experiences, from games to music, films and more?
We're in a world where people are looking for devices to be multifunctional. Movies are a core part of what most people would consider their entertainment experience and we've seen tremendous usage in countries where we've offered catch-up TV services. So, clearly our consumers are interested in many forms of entertainment and the key is to offer them access to that with high quality visuals and maximum flexibility via the network. That's the combination that we always said would work for PlayStation 3 and we think now this is being proved in the market place.
How have developers responded to PlayStation helping to change the videogame landscape with initiatives such as PlayStation Move?
Looking back at EyeToy and SingStar, we feel that we have a very strong heritage on PlayStation with social gaming and different forms of interaction other than with conventional controllers. With PlayStation Move, we're able to offer a social experience with a degree of accuracy and immersion that we've not seen before combined with a tremendous enhancement of the experience for the already committed gamer. That is something that our publishing and development partners have picked up on very quickly and they've seen that this is a major step forward for PS3.
Will PlayStation Move titles be available to download from PlayStation Store?
That is definitely part of the plan. Delivering games via PlayStation Network is a core part of our business, giving us an opportunity to provide a variety of experiences as well as letting us try some things which are more innovative in advance of then turning them into full disc releases.
What are your plans for PlayStation Home?
Our goal is to develop some of the newer areas which PS Home consumers have already told us are compelling and interesting to them. You will see us doing more events, introducing a broader range of partners and investing in delivering a much wider range of items that are available for purchase to really differentiate and customise their PS Home experience.
Can you tell us a bit about what's in store for PSP over the coming year?
Although the landscape for handheld gaming devices is quite challenging at the moment, our goal is to continue offering one of the best portable gaming experiences. We've had some really great PSP releases, including new franchises such as ModNation Racers and well known franchises such as God of War: Ghost of Sparta and we want to continue to offer great content, especially to our younger audience. PSP Essentials is a range of really good, well vetted content with a family audience in mind at an entry level price and we will continue supporting minis titles, which have had good response so far, having already sold over half a million games throughout the SCEE territory. We also have a new promotion for PSPgo, which offers 10 free games upon the purchase of PSPgo. This is a great opportunity for PSP fans who are looking to upgrade from their existing PSP system to do so and get a pre-built library of content ready to go.
What is the thinking behind introducing PlayStation Plus at this time?
We've been aware for some time that there is an appetite for people to have the most privileged access to PlayStation Network and a willingness perhaps to pay a membership to join that club. Our answer to that impulse is the launch of PlayStation Plus. All the things that people have come to expect from PSN will continue to be there and will continue to be free of charge. PlayStation Plus gives the consumer an opportunity to access something more. Some of it will be around access based on time, being the first in line to get certain content, some of it will be the opportunity to get more stuff for free and some of it will be an opportunity to access some our more innovative initiatives. All of these we think are benefits for which people will see value and for which they will sign up and which will build its own smaller community within that of the existing PlayStation Network.
What excites you most about the introduction of stereoscopic 3D games for PlayStation 3?
Stereoscopic 3D is for PlayStation and for Sony the next big wave in consumer entertainment. As an organisation, Sony is really well placed to take advantage of this as we are the only company that services the 3D market from the production of 3D content all the way through to delivery into your home via PS3 and 3D BRAVIA TVs. So this is really a very exciting start of a new era.
Our commitment to 3D is firm. We've started with the release of 3D gaming experiences which can be downloaded as a free patch by consumers who already own those games, as a purchase from PlayStation Store or for free as part of the BRAVIA TV bundle. Looking further ahead, Killzone 3 will offer a fuller 3D experience and if we start to consider combining PlayStation Move with 3D, the possibilities really are endless.
How has the Sony make.believe initiative influenced the way that PlayStation consumers enjoy content on their device?
At its best, make.believe is about giving the tools to our consumers to allow them to unlock and harness their own creativity. The start of that on PS3 was LittleBigPlanet, now vastly expanded with LittleBigPlanet 2; we've also seen it with ModNation Racers. If the make.believe style of gaming is Play.Create.Share then Share becomes one of the most important aspects of that and a great example of the spirit of make.believe carried into a PlayStation product.
| Publish date: | 15/06/10 |
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| Category: | News |
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