Hirai: We're the "official" industry leader Comments by Robert Purchese

is that official like the US sports World Series?

excuse me sir...head-arse-out

Good point Raz

"You have to give the guy credit for putting a positive spin (or trying) on the obvious fact that they are losing the console war"

Yes that is his job... but his positive spin is just MADNESS!!!

/kicks Hirai into pit of death

I didn't say it wasn't madness. I was just pointing out that if he can find good in all the crap Sony hs been through then he either has really good eyesight or is used to living in a sewer.

They're a different world, and we operate in our world - that's the kind of way I look at things

Posititve thinking is what we need, a true visionary leader... very optimistic. I want to live in his world, where can I sign up? HOME?

Oh my word - this is almost like a complete joke.

They make their hardware purposefully difficult to program for!?

The fact that Hirai is blatantly living in cuckoo-land worries me somewhat for the future of SCE

It's not so much positive spin, as it is him lying to himself. "We're the winners!" but you're not. "We're the winners!" No.

He has to be on the MS payroll to say such stupid things, or at least a wager with another person. Possibly Kojima.

>He has to be on the MS payroll

Maybe MS replaced him with a evil robot self? The real Hirai is now trapped inside Redmont trying to shoot his way out.

r o f l

Seriously fucking laughed. And he's their boss.......................omg-.-

I would love to interview this guy.

People really need to stop taking these kind of comments seriously (and personally).

Wow. MS offers up some strange characters for interviews, but nothing quite so bizarre as this guy. Nearly every paragraph is a study in delusion.

We meant to completely alienate developers LOL. And we're officially the leaders even though we're not leading!

As it happens I'm an official rock star, even though I'm actually a middle aged, overweight database analyst. And I have a difficult personality, but that only means you might find something to like about me in the next nine and a half years!

PR has its place in a world, which is totally acceptable.
Which is odd however, is getting facts from the past of Microsoft (Xbox's "lifespan"), and using it incorrectly.
I just cant see the 10 year lifespan of a PlayStation machine. Was the original even supported around 2004? Will new and relevant PlayStation 2 games come around 2010? (Hell,what will come this year?).

So it is okay stating that 360 will not have the lifespan of a PlayStation 3, but once this statement proves false, it will hurt a lot .

Can't beat Kaz for optimism.

Guys, guys... please consider the possibility that the interview might be faked. Cause then, things would make sense. Can we confirm his?

I bet that Hirai's blue bus has the cleanest windows in the world

Hahahah sony, only in your world does third place mean first

I used to find it sad sony expected people to believe this stuff, only to realise some of them do.

so now I just laugh at sony and the morons who believe it. what tools.

And some of you wonder why some of us hate sony so much.

'easy to program for' means that anybody will be able to take advantage of pretty much what the hardware can do, so then the question is what do you do for the rest of the nine-and-a-half years?

you spend that time on content and gameplay instead of spending the first three years of the console on engine development.
i would fire this guy on the spot!

"It's difficult to talk about Nintendo, because we don't look at their console as being a competitor. They're a different world, and we operate in our world - that's the kind of way I look at things.

This is so funny , the guy is a joke.
Not really a competitor..hahahahaha!

Seppuku for you Kaz.

@segnit

The article states the comments were taken from Official PlayStation Magazine. Yes, I very much can see them faking an interview to make Kaz look dumb.

Mmm, reading the article properly is good, ja?

Is this some kind of bodysnatchers thing, and Kaz has been replaced by some kind of Microsoft pod-person whose mission it is to destroy Sony from the inside out? That's the only logical reason that comments so monumentally stupid and guaranteed to piss off developers (y'know, the guys that you kind of depend on to make your console viable, Kaz) could possibly have been made.

I do, however, think we have a winner for most ridiculous comment this console generation, even more so than the Ken K 'two jobs' fiasco!

Priceless. It's been far too long since a Sony exec last had a turn in public.

Maybe he said all this taking into account PS2 user base. But then surely Wii would be a competitor there, wouldn't it?

I bet that Hirai's blue bus has the cleanest windows in the world

Love it!

Seriously he's like that Saddam lackey (can't remember his name, wasn't it something like Comical Ali?) who claimed there was no problems in Iraq as the tanks rolled past.

And to think my opinion of the PlayStation hardware had improved after the preview of Flower earlier.

I'm curious to know if the original interview was conducted in English, as I kind of get what he's trying to say, but it's come across as incredibly arrogant. Could well be some 'arty' translating going on there just to make Sony look bad and create a story where there is none.

"They really should have thought about developers when making the console."

And they should have thought about the potential buyer when they set out with a design spec and decided on price. The PS3 is a great product for someone who wants or needs a gaming system and a hi-def theater set up and has the disposable income to be comfortable buying all of this in one go. But Sony cut themselves right out of the market of non-millionaire gamers who just wanted a new console. MS happily obliged that market... and then to top it all off the world economy collapsed... and still Sony is optimistic about their $500 video game! "One size fits all" was a big mistake for Sony.

"Not really a competitor..hahahahaha!"

Actually, his comment re: Nintendo is comes closest to having some basis in reality as I see it. The Wii is a brilliant win for Nintendo in terms of cost vs. sale price and salabililty, but from a consumer's perspective, it's essentially an apple where XBox/PS3 are oranges. A lot of Wii owners don't know as much, but that doesn't mean its not true. Just try trading in your XBox for a Wii for a week; one doesn't cover for the other.

I want some of the drugs he's on.
Sound like "beer goggles"+1.

He almost makes it sound like making it hard to program for is a feature because we all clearly like to blow 300 quid on a console for the games to look half as good as they could be for the first 3 years of ownership :p

Why write decent devlopment tools when we can have folk slog on for 5 years until they get the hang of it, and just as they are getting to grips with the whole thing we release the PS4!

@Dizzy and Redneon
Seriously, have you guys been living in a cave? This is the future!

The Wii is a brilliant win for Nintendo in terms of cost vs. sale price and salabililty, but from a consumer's perspective, it's essentially an apple where XBox/PS3 are oranges. A lot of Wii owners don't know as much, but that doesn't mean its not true. Just try trading in your XBox for a Wii for a week; one doesn't cover for the other.

And yet, I can think of half a dozen people off the top of my head who, when they wanted a new games console, looked at all the options and the bought a Wii to the exclusion of them buying a PS3 or an Xbox360.

Almost as if, to the casual consumer, a games machine is a games machine and they are all, you know, kind of in competition with each other.

People who post in the comments threads of specialist video games websites might see the massive distinction between the PS3/X360 and the Wii, but believe me, a lot of consumers who buy one thing or the other don't. And they are the ones that count.

And that's even without talking about software sales. I don't buy every game that comes out. When I go and buy Sam and Max or No More Heroes for my Wii, that means less money for PS3 or 360 or PC games. I don't know about anyone else on here, but I count playing Wii games as being in the same passtime bracket as playing PS3, PS2, X360 or PC games...

in his world he's the industry leader. in our world..

Properly retarded. Kaz loses the plot.

But more importantly is vinegar really better than cilit bang?

[quote]PR has its place in a world, which is totally acceptable.
Which is odd however, is getting facts from the past of Microsoft (Xbox's "lifespan"), and using it incorrectly.
I just cant see the 10 year lifespan of a PlayStation machine. Was the original even supported around 2004? Will new and relevant PlayStation 2 games come around 2010? (Hell,what will come this year?).

So it is okay stating that 360 will not have the lifespan of a PlayStation 3, but once this statement proves false, it will hurt a lot .
[/quote]

I just want to point out that, as someone who's been doing tech and games PR for nearly 10 years, when people like Kaz Hirai talk out of their arses, it's not the fault of PR people.

I don't think the PS3 hardware really offers that much headroom. Even if the programmers manage to take better advantage of the Cell processor, they'll still be limited by the GPU. I mean, look at multiplatform games for example: it is very common that the Xbox360 counterpart is running at a higher native resolution than it's PS3 equivalent. Framerate also appears to be better on the Xbox360 in 9 cases out of 10.

I own both systems by the way, so I don't consider myself a fanboy.

Oh Kaz with your crazy talk you are surely spoiling us

That is... wow. I mean, we know Sony PR has been bad in the last few years but this explores all new depths of ridiculous. The Ps3 will likely have the same lifespan of the 360 I think, I do agree this cycle will be longer - primarily because technology is capping off for a bit and costs at this time in the economy are just unfeasable - but when it comes down to it, both consoles will go far. As will the Wii, though I assume Nintendo may have a trick or two up its sleeve.

The main catch in this was the blatant disrespect for developers. All they want is a good, clear platform to experiment with. You should never make a console intentionally hard to make titles for - the Sega Saturn springs to mind here as that was meant to be a right pig, and we know what happened to that. But even then that wasn't SEGA doing it intentionally. How little must you think of developers, or how much hate must you feel, to give them a machine that you intend to make it difficult for them for many years?

I'm just... wow. Really. I lost my job that I was damned good at and here's an asswipe of monumental proportions managing to keep his after speaking the most pure undiluted horseshit ever concieved. There is no justice in the bloody world.

DUMBEST OFFICIAL COMMENT EVER-

SoOfficialyStupidYes!!!

thats a whole lot of bullshit.

'whats the point in making devs life easy'

and fucking arrogant too.

In his defence a can see a PS3 console lasting 10 yrs unlike my 2 previous 360s which barely managed 10 months before breaking. Don't hate me someone was bound to say it : )

Hirai: This is madness! No one harms a Sony Executive or threatens them...

The World: THIS. IS. SPARTAAA!!!

He can say what he likes- that's his right, but as the saying goes, "what goes on toast stays on toast" and one day I fear he may live to regret this rash rhetoric.

Hey at least he didnt mention the Blu-rays!

That has got to be one of the most deluded interviews ever.

I love it

Interview Kaz every week please :)

And they dumped Ken for this?

I wonder whether Howard Stringer's had a heart attack yet; or if it'll be after he's spent an hour shouting down the phone at Hirai.

I can only imagine PS3 devs are spitting blood atm...

"And to think my opinion of the PlayStation hardware had improved after the preview of Flower earlier. "

Well to be fair, your opinion of any inanimate object shouldn't be influenced by the tw@/s in charge of marketing it, more by how well it executes its primary function/s. :)

I think it only fair that someone plays devil's advocate here so I'll give it go on the three main points.

1. Nintendo isn't a competitor.
Of course Nintendo isn't a competitor, for there to be competitors there needs to be a competition. Clearly there is no competition between Sony and Nintendo (Nintendo won ages ago) so he is in fact correct.

2. PS3 will be winning at the end of it's life span.
It clearly doesn't matter when, or how many new consoles come out the PS3 will outsell the 360 and the Wii combined if Sony don't release the PS4 til 2047 so again he's correct.

3. Deliberatly making the console a bitch to program for.
Er... er... well he's right... and this is a good thing... because?... because... Er anyone want to give me a hand here?

In his defence, he’s no Barry Scott. That man could sell me anything just by dunking it in a reddish coloured liquid.

On your own there Rex, sorry mate.

What else do you expect him to say? Of course he is going to spin things in favour of the company he works for. Doesn't matter that he is talking out his arse. If this were someone from Microsoft, he/she would spin things in MS's favour.

It's all just hot air anyway.

That being said, this was a monumental display of stupidity. Why can't these corporate jerks learn to keep their traps shut (am referring to both Sony and MS people here)?

I fully endorse this man!

He is a mighty and truly visionary leader!

I truly believe that he is leading the Playstation empire in a sane and profitable direction!

I...

Oh crap, this Ketamine is wearing off...