Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments
Search

News for nerds, stuff that matters

Slashdot Log In

Log In

Create Account  |  Retrieve Password

Sony's Harrison on Sony Arrogance

Posted by Zonk on Fri Jul 14, 2006 03:30 PM
from the it-is-opposite-day dept.
Sony Entertainment Games
Joystiq had the chance to exchange a few words with Sony's Phil Harrison at the UK Develop Conference. They asked him some hard questions about the crazy comments that have been coming out of the company since E3. From the article: "There's always going to be a risk when you are market leader for ten years that we start to lose perspective; and we have to make sure that we don't lose perspective. But I don't think we're arrogant, I think we have to recognize that we're in a highly competitive industry and that anything that we say will be eternally editorialized by professionals and consumers alike. So we're always in the spotlight." After the tape was off he snarked that he hadn't been asked very nice questions. Poor guy, having to answer questions that aren't 'How awesome is the PS3 going to be?'
+ -
story

Related Stories

[+] A Chat With Phil Harrison 27 comments
Next Generation sat down with Phil Harrison after the Sony keynote last week, and they discuss the PS3, the PlayStation Network, and Harrison's place in the company. From the article: "Q: Aren't retailers going to be slightly annoyed that they're selling this hardware for next-to-no margin, just so the software can ultimately be sold directly via downloads? A: I completely disagree with that. The software business for PlayStation 3 will continue to grow. PlayStation 2 has more software on it than PlayStation 1 - more units sold in more countries to a wider demographic of consumers. PlayStation 3 will continue to grow the market and will generate a bigger opportunity for everybody - retailers, developers, and publishers alike. So I do not accept your statement that retail is going to be in any way affected by this other than positively."
[+] Jeff Minter on Sony's Arrogance 200 comments
Regular Edge columnist Jeff Minter has lashed out at Sony over what he perceives as incredible arrogance on the console-maker's part. From the BBC article: "Mr Minter, writing in his regular column for Edge, said: 'They seem absolutely certain that even when they say it's going to be considerably more expensive than existing consoles... nevertheless us eager customers will rush out in droves to buy it because it's, hey, a new PlayStation.'"
[+] More PS3 Words From the Horse's Mouth 78 comments
Game|Life had the chance to sit down with Ken Kutaragi, Phil Harrison, and Kaz Hirai; Chris Kohler has some details on things left unsaid at the PS3 conference. From the article: "Q: You're the head of Sony's worldwide development studios. What the hell is up with that Africa game? A: Video games have a function in life, and that is: wish fulfillment. You can become a mercenary, a fighter pilot. On PS3, we can expand the realm of that experience. Africa allows you to experience a very interesting part of the world, a safari in the plains of Africa. The gameplay is entirely non-violent. You don't kill the animals. It emphasizes the positives rather than the negatives. It's about collecting experiences and keeping them for posterity."
[+] Why Sony Needs a 'Major Nelson' 84 comments
Microsoft's 'Major Nelson' and executive Peter Moore have been visible representatives of the 360 console for well over a year now. 'Grandfather of Gaming' Shigeru Miyamoto and asskicking Reggie Fils-Aime have have preached the Wii concept through good writeups and bad name jokes. Sony ... well, Sony has Ken Kutaragi, Phil Harrison, and Kaz Hirai. They say helpful things like 'we don't care', and 'disks won't matter', and (my personal favorite) 'the PS3 is a computer'. RPG Site has a compelling argument stating that Sony needs a Major Nelson to cut through this crazy executive talk, and reconnect the company with real gamers. From the article: "While it's not something that appeals to every group of people that play games - the casual market and kids, for example, the existence of these people allows the part of the market that is most opinionated - the core gamers, those who have a very clear opinion on what they want and what is good and bad - to interact with somebody who can actually bring about change. Hell, on a lesser note, it even gives the fanboys someone to worship."
[+] Sony Defends Rumble Loss 145 comments
Eurogamer reports on comments from Sony defending the loss of rumble in the SIXAXIS controller. "'I think the caveat to that statement always has to be based on the fact that when we make a pad, we're making maybe 150, 200 million of them,' Harrison explains. 'So it has to be done at a price, and it has to be done at a volume that fits our production requirements. I think the decision that we've made to build in the SIXAXIS functionality, and Bluetooth wireless, and great battery life, and all the other functionality that comes with it, far outweighs the chatter that we're getting on vibration. And, it's incredibly light! Just pick it up!'"
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.

Sony's Harrison on Sony Arrogance 50 Comments More /

 Full
 Abbreviated
 Hidden
More
Loading... please wait.

  • Dear Zonk (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 14 2006, @03:33PM (#15721479)
    Dear Zonk,

    You are not a journalist nor a competent editorial writer. Please post your snarky comments (in response to others' snarky comments) in the comments section like I'm doing, so that they may be voted "+5, Taking potshots at the market share leader in a given field."

    • Re:Dear Zonk (Score:5, Insightful)

      by tfurrows (541222) <tfurrows@@@gmail...com> on Friday July 14 2006, @03:38PM (#15721508)
      And yet, in spite of Zonk's apparent lack of writing skills, hundreds of /. readers will take this opportunity to get their energy out concerning yet-another arrogant industry-leader... None of us uses slashot for the quality (or grammar) of the writing, but for the chance to participate in the mele of the comments :)

    • ^^ Phil Harrison (Score:5, Funny)

      by Jakhel (808204) on Friday July 14 2006, @03:49PM (#15721576)
      log in you arrogant bastard

    • Dear Anonymous Fanboi, (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 14 2006, @05:09PM (#15722041)
      > Taking potshots at the market share leader in a given field

      I don't give a damn if they're #1 or #100, frankly I don't like Sony due to all the crap they've been pulling of late like the rootkits.

      And I'm sick of fanbois who act like "oh no, our precious Sony! they gave us the Playstation, you can't criticize them!"

      Face it: Sony sucks. And I don't care how good their games are, or even if the PS3 lives up to the hype. I won't buy it because I won't endorse the things Sony has done. They "promise" not to use the patent that kills our ability to rent (or even loan!) games to others, but don't explain why they hell they bothered to patent it if that's true (umm, yeah, so our competitors can't sue us for infringing upon it when we're not, umm, going to do that! suuuurrre....) or how we can ever trust them again after the rootkit?

  • Not about the PSP, they're not. (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Rachel Lucid (964267) on Friday July 14 2006, @03:36PM (#15721493) Homepage Journal
    Hard to be arrogant when you just shelved your main media distribution [gamespot.com]...
    • And instituted a yet infinitely stupider format in its place. Dropping the UMD in favor of a $60-120 memory stick which will only play one movie (out of a choice of Hitch, S.W.A.T., The Grudge, or XXX: State of the Union) at 240x320 resolution! We can rule out arrogance at this point in that it implies self preservation.
    • I never understood who they thought would buy another copy of a movie at DVD prices just to play on the PS3. The new memory-stick system should fare no better.

      If they were really smart they would have built a transcoder that downsampled DVD's to fit on a memory stick and play on the PSP, then convince the Sony movie studios not to sue themselves. The media division still has a little too much pull to let that happen, I guess.

  • Any answer Sony gives is "wrong."

    "We're not arrogant" yields, "see?! Seeeeee??"

    "Ok, we're arrogant" is just as stupid.

    I can't imagine how joystiq figured that'd be a useful question, except in the context of badgering Sony. Why he'd set out to do that intentionally is clearly up for debate. When you're a hammer, everything looks like a nail, I suppose.

    So, joystiq, "have you stopped badgering Sony?"

    \harv
    -
    no sig today, maybe tomorrow

    • Re:Have you stopped beating your wife? (Score:5, Insightful)

      by oahazmatt (868057) on Friday July 14 2006, @03:51PM (#15721593) Journal
      Any answer Sony gives is "wrong." "We're not arrogant" yields, "see?! Seeeeee??" "Ok, we're arrogant" is just as stupid. I can't imagine how joystiq figured that'd be a useful question, except in the context of badgering Sony. Why he'd set out to do that intentionally is clearly up for debate. When you're a hammer, everything looks like a nail, I suppose. So, joystiq, "have you stopped badgering Sony?
      The question is relating to how he felt regarding comments of Sony's arrogance. The question moved on to how the negative comments are affecting Sony.

      I don't see that as badgering Sony. It is asking relevant questions. Had the question been "Why are you so arrogant" it would have been a different story. The questions were asking for responses to accusations, not accusing in themselves.

    • "Ok, we're arrogant" is just as stupid.

      Well, Sony have given some world class stupid answers lately. I think the ones that did the most damage were.

      • "Rootkit? What rootkit?"
      • "That's not a rootkit"
      • "The customers don't even know what a rootkit is why should they care?"
      • "This program removes the rootkit"
      • "OK, that was a bug. This program really removes the rootkit"

      Now that was arrogance.

      Is it surprising if their other business interests get tarred with the same brush? I know it changed my mind a

    • Re:Have you stopped beating your wife? (Score:5, Interesting)

      by Jeff DeMaagd (2015) on Friday July 14 2006, @04:52PM (#15721935) Homepage Journal
      I don't know, I'd call the CD spyware thing arrogant. Selling portable audio players that required users to convert their entire libraries to ATRAC in order to play them is pretty arrogant. Sony thinking they could sell movie UMDs at nearly the price of the DVD counterparts was pretty arrogant, in my opinion. The DVD "+" writable standard was pretty arrogant, IMO, they didn't get accepted so they joined HP in making it anyway. I don't think the Blu-Ray standard counts as it's not a Sony format, but a format co-developed by at least a half-dozen major companies like Pioneer, Matsushita (Panasonic, JVC), and all the other hardware makers on the DVD consortium save two.

  • One "zonked" tag to go please (Score:3, Interesting)

    by SuperKendall (25149) on Friday July 14 2006, @03:59PM (#15721644)
    And can I get a few comments from the people that think Slashdot has no console bias on the side please?

    • Re:One "zonked" tag to go please (Score:5, Insightful)

      by NonSequor (230139) on Friday July 14 2006, @04:05PM (#15721685) Journal
      What bias? How do you expect him to report anything good about the PS3 when there isn't any good news about it available?
      • No kidding. Delays in the system, delays in the cell, delays in Blu-Ray, the price, last-minute half-features (the controller tilt), feature removal (Ethernet hub, rumbling), cell yields of 10-20%, and low laser diode yield [arstechnica.com]. Sony hasn't had ANY good news. Even at E3 when they were expected to make a killing they didn't show a ton of impressive stuff. Sure it looked good, but they didn't look as good as the target renders and they didn't have a large variety of games. They also didn't have much in the big name department (GTA, just a video of Jak and Daxter).

        Compare that to MS who while not great did show a wide variety of games and had some good announcements (GTA no longer exclusive to PlayStation for one).

        Then there was the "little guy", Nintendo. A fantastic showing of tons of games that got tons of press. People were interested in much of it. Wii Sports, Mario Galaxy, Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, Red Steel, Wario Ware: Smooth Moves, Super Smash Brothers Brawl, and more. Name 7 big upcoming games off the top of your head for either other system.

        I've gotta say, I thought the PS3 would be a scarce but big hit with great graphics. Now I'm starting to get much more interested as it seems the PS3 will be overpriced with great graphics and a fair helping of "what are they doing now."

        • last-minute half-features (the controller tilt)

          Well now that you mention it, there was an interview [ign.com] with the same Warhawk developers that were the ones that stated they got the controllers just a few weeks before E3 - in the interview it said the statement had been misconstrued; Sony in fact had let them know about the tilt feature much earlier but had only delivered physical controllers with the tilt sensors built in a few weeks before E3. The exact words:

          Actually, Incognito has secretly been working with
          • I read that, and I know that it wasn't given to them two weeks before the show or whatever was initially reported. Still, I think it's a rushed half feature because my guess is that while they have been planning the PS3 ever since the PS2 was released, my guess is that the tilt functionality has only had real consideration since the learned what Nintendo was up to (either through a leak or through the press conference that the rest of us learned about it through).
      • What bias? How do you expect him to report anything good about the PS3 when there isn't any good news about it available?

        This isn't a negative story. This isn't a story at all. This is 100% content free. The non-biased thing would be to ignore it.

        And that's my comment on your comment on zonk's bias for posting an article about a Sony exec's comment on joystiq's question about the feeling that there was arrogance percieved in Sony execs' previous comments. Write a blog post about it. It's sooooo relevan
      • And still the PS3 is outselling the XBox360 at a major store in my country.

        That's right - people are already pre-ordering them in droves. And they're happily paying a lot more than $600 for the privelige.

  • $599 is fine (Score:5, Insightful)

    by rsilvergun (571051) on Friday July 14 2006, @04:02PM (#15721664)
    for launch. I don't know why people are surprised. The last 3 console releases (ps2, Xbox and Xbox360) where all scalped on ebay for way more than that. Sony's just responding to that. Expect the price to come down pretty quick as sales drop.

    • On the one hand, you're right. I think MS should have done that. Just put all the console up for bid in one giant eBay auction and let people pay what they are willing to.

      That said, it doesn't have to be that way. I bought TWO PS2s on launch day in a major metro area for the launch price without having to sit in line from 2:00 AM or something. I could have easily done the same for the 360 launch or the XBox launch without any problem.

      But with the PS3 instead of having a choice of trying on my own or payin

    • A correction, the base price that contains everything a gamer would need is $500, not $600. There has been a lot of confusion around this because many people like to pretend the $500 model does not exist even though it offers all the features of the premium 360.

      $500 is also very expensive, no need to raise the figure any to complain about price.

      That said, I totally agree with your point. Pretty much all through December I don't think a 360 sold on eBay (any model) for less than $800 - Sony I think is just
      • The thing that causes the PS3 to be $500 and not $300 is not completely useable at the $500 price. If you want to watch a Blu-Ray movie and be sure you can actually see it in HD, you need to buy the $600 model. If you only wanted needed to play PS3 games, the cost should be $300 or $400 at absolute maximum.

        The problem with the PS3 is not that it is a $600 gaming machine. The problem is that it is a $300 gaming machine that is being sold for $500-600.

        Don't give me any shit about the movie companies not using

    • The last 3 console releases (ps2, Xbox and Xbox360) where all scalped on ebay for way more than that.

      But to how many buyers? 50k? 100k? The Xbox 360 had a pretty weak launch as it was. If Microsoft had sold it at $600 retail, it would have been plain embarrassing.

      The eBay market can give the impression that hardcore gamers are willing to pay a lot for a new toy, but it's not entirely accurate. If money was not a concern to gamers, people would have purchased the $300 360 Core system (which was readily a

    • So recently after its launch, how many of current Xbox 360 owners actually bought theirs at scalper prices on eBay? If it's more than 5% I'll be surprised, and I'm being very generous going that high.

      So Sony is charging more for a console than the vast majority of current console shoppers were willing to pay.
  • They just asked him a few questions and they were all basically, "hey, what's up with your company's attitude these days?" I guess actually asking about anything at all directly related to their products would be too relevant or something?
    • "I guess actually asking about anything at all directly related to their products would be too relevant or something?"

      Directly related to their products? The PS2 and even the PSP don't make for interesting news any more, and we still have months before the PS3 is anything more than vaporware. Beyond that, there are very few questions about the PS3 that wouldn't be answered with either "We already answered that at E3" or "You'll have to wait until $COMPANY_SHOW to find out." The only new things Sony has b
  • He comes across like a General Motors exec from the glory days.
  • This is news, how? This guy would be fired if he said something like, "Sony is in trouble. We really have to get our act together or we will lose lots of market share to Nintendo and Microsoft. BlueRay really worries me too." Reporters ask the questions they do because they know the answers that they will get, but because they need person A to say it so they can quote them in their article or record it on audio or video for their program.

    • And to be fair, he said "'well those were positive questions', in a vaguely sarcastic tone." He was probably hoping to give a mini-interview to help prop sony up, and found himself defending her against rather agressive negative questioning.

      Don't get me wrong, I'm glad people are finally moving away from softballing everyone. But I'd think that in that situation, an emotionally driven comment like "well those were positive questions" is completely understandable.

      There are valid reasons to be upset with So
  • I'm honestly getting a little tired of these fanboy reporters wasting what could have been productive interviews by instead parroting the rantings of a clone-factory also-ran [tri-bit.com]. There's a reason nobody can name a game of Jeff's that isn't a sequel or a ripoff: they don't exist. Why is Sony arrogant for not tipping their hand? They've cornered what was a thoroughly dominated market in under two years and held it for more than a decade. Yes, the price is high, but Sony knows how to handle markets; their seven year old PS2 is outselling Microsoft's brand new XBox360 in every territory, even though the 360 is the only one of the next-gen consoles available, and probably will be so until at least Christmas.

    News flash: Jeff Minter is Nobody [tri-bit.com]. Film at never.

    (His two famous games are a Robotron ripoff and a sequel to someone else's game which is essentially a graphics upgrade and a speed boost. Most people have to look him up online to even come up with another one of his games. C'mon. Arrogant means to exaggerate your own worth in an overbearing manner, and here's some guy who has released 40 games, the sum total of which don't outsell even one game in the Playstation2 Top 100, talking about Sony's full of it because he doesn't like their new price line? Pots and kettles, man.)

  • If they REALLY want to ask tough questions... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by FSWKU (551325) on Friday July 14 2006, @07:04PM (#15722600)
    ...then I've got one that should cause him to sweat a bit.

    Quoth Phil Harrison to Spiegel Online:
    On one level I understand why people say that. But it's a little stupid, if you don't mind me saying so. When we launched Playstation in 1994 we introduced the concept of real-time computer-generated 3-D-graphics for the first time.
    This was part of his response to a question relating to the tilt controller, specifically wanting a response to those who thought they stole the idea. My question is two-fold: First, what are you hiding? It should be easy to relate the design process that ended with having a tilt controller (needing a feature now that they can't have dual-shock would have been more than sufficient). However, you simply called the allegations "stupid" and tried to move on as quickly as possible.

    My second question (and the most pressing): Why are you LYING to the public about Sony's achievements? And before you get upset about the question, let me point out my proof:
    • 1980: Atari releases Battlezone. This game featured real-time, computer-generated 3D graphics, and was also (technically) an FPS.
    • 1992: Sega releases Virtua Racing in the arcades. The game was composed almost entirely of real-time 3D graphicsf.
    • February 23, 1993: Nintendo releases Star Fox for the SNES. The major selling point of the game was real-time, computer-generated 3D graphics.
    • November 22, 1994: Sega debuts the Saturn, which is fully capable of providing real-time, computer-generated 3D graphics. Titles such as Daytona USA sell extremely well among owners of the system. This same year, Virtua Racing is ported to the Genesis, and Virtua Racing Deluxe is released for the 32X.
    • December 3, 1994: Sony releases the Playstation, which was originally to become a CD add-on for the SNES to compete with the SegaCD.
    This clearly shows your assertion that "...we introduced the concept of real-time computer-generated 3-D-graphics for the first time..." to be flat-out wrong. This is all commonly available information, which someone authorized to speak on Sony's behalf should know off the top of their head. So I ask again, why the lying? If it was intentional, then you have only proven the arrogant desperation of your company. If it was a mistake, then you are proving yourself unqualified to speak for an entire company. Unfortunately, I am inclined to believe that it was intentional in light of Kaz Hirai's statement of "...With our original PlayStation, we ushered in the era of the CD-ROM and 3-D..."

    So to conclude, you may not think of yourselves as arrogant, but your words and actions say otherwise.
    • Seriously, Sony, no matter how much you gurella market this thing you will not win over Slashdot. Also stop copy/pasting your own posts.

    • Re:Arrogant? (Score:3, Insightful)

      by Anonymous Coward
      No, Confident is releasing a console at $400 knowing that no successful console in history has ever sold for more than $300; confident is charging $10 more for games knowing that no market leading system has had $70 games in modern times. What Sony is, is beyond words; "stupid and cocky to the level which everyone will take pleasure watching them fail" comes to mind but seems to need a little more.

      The facts are that the best hardware does not lead to the market leading position (something Sony should know

    • Your rival Nintendo has given up trying to compete technologically with you in their next console and is turning to gimmicks like the Wii's pointing device.

      Nintendo hasn't "given up trying to compete technologically", they never did in the first place. Nintendo is about games, not marketing numbers or CPU/GPU power like Microsoft or Sony. Anyone remember the PS2's "emotion engine"?

      As for calling the Wii controller a "gimmick" or even a "pointing device", you don't even know what you're talking about.

    • I'll beleive all those tasty specs when it SHIPS with all those tasty specs.

      Until then...

      Remember the SONY BMG rootkit on CDs. Remember that the PSP is a locked down, closed platform. (For at least the first 72 hours after an OS upgrade is released, that is.)

      Sony is not your friend. Giving Sony your money will not make them your friend.

      It just makes you their bitch.
      • Try playing homebrew games on your Sega, Nintendo, or even xbox systems without cracking something? Give people the option to rip off developers and sony sales and they will. In droves...thats just human nature to most of the population.
            • This is despite my best efforts to drop it onto pavement, into puddles, and so on.

              Best efforts?

              If you try to drop your PS2 onto the ground, and miss, I think it says more about you than the PS2's quality. ;)

    • Pot...Kettle...Black? (Score:5, Informative)

      by DeadMilkman (855027) on Friday July 14 2006, @04:30PM (#15721792) Homepage
      Dear Sony shrill, you forgot:

      60-70% of the Japanese retail find your competitor more interesting/capable.
      65-70% of the Japanese develoupment houses interest rests with your competitors.
      65-75% of Japanese consumer market interested in buying your competitor's product citing the #1 reason as "cost" against your product.

      And in Famijitsu, THE japanese gaming mag...you are pulling 5% more popularity in Japan than the Xbox 360... (* That right there alone should be causing panic!)

      Sources:
      http://www.next-gen.biz/index.php?option=com_conte nt&task=view&id=3403&Itemid=2 [next-gen.biz]
      http://www.next-gen.biz/index.php?option=com_conte nt&task=view&id=3162&Itemid=2 [next-gen.biz]
      • Why did you use the word "competitor" when in each case only "Wii" fits? Why not just say Wii? I can imagine why the Wii polls better right now, it has some really sexy features and looks like great fun. But it's also operating where there's more of a vaccum around PS3 details, which gives the Wii a great upper hand right now.

        As for Famijitsu, it's hard to believe the stated figures when the actual sales results are so low. Polls can be rigged, sales figures are much more concrete and indicitive.
      • the links in this post are very interesting. They help focus the fact that nobody denies the ability of the PS3. The problem is that it does not offer a feature set that much further beyond the XBox 360, nor does it innovate much compared to the Wii. Most importantly, its price is far, far above either console. As a result, consumers do not agree with Sony's assertion that their product is a no-brainer success waiting to happen.

        As I always point out to my friends, perception is an impotant part of the gamin
    • And the Wii's other gimmick... fun games. Shame Sony rarely thinks of that one. (and I bought a PS2 and not a gamecube, yet own 2 games for the PS2 and have spent more time playing gamecube at friends' places)
    • Your rival Nintendo has given up trying to compete technologically with you in their next console and is turning to gimmicks like the Wii's pointing device.

      What, and a seven-way processor isn't a gimmick?

      • I don't think it's a terribly bad idea, and it certainly isn't a gimmick. Sega advertising the Saturn as having 3 CPUs when the PlayStation only had 1 was a gimmick (it may have been true, but the PS was clearly just as powerful).

        As for the 7 processor thing, that is pure business. Each cell has 8 SPUs. By only enabling 7 of them, they can sell all the processors that would otherwise be worthless for the PS3 because a defect killed an SPU. They do it strictly for yield numbers. This is just like Intel sell

        • I was just reading about that, actually. Enabling only 7 of the cores is a great idea from a business perspective - costs are already going to be high enough with the BD-ROM. As well, the marginal benefit of 8 over 7 just isn't that great.

          What I was trying to get at with "gimmick" wasn't really numerological at all, it was just an attack on what I see as a sexy, overengineered solution over pratical computing. I don't doubt that multithreaded applications are the wave of the future and that an engineer wh

        • I'm sorry, I didn't quite understand that. Please restate your response in the form of the source code to a non-trivial 3d game that takes full advantage of 7 processors, or the words, "I am Tim Sweeney." Thank you.

All trademarks and copyrights on this page are owned by their respective owners. Comments are owned by the Poster. The Rest © 1997-2009 Geeknet, Inc.