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Sony's Andrew House

Euro boss talks E3, 3DS, Other OS and PS Plus. Also, where's Last Guardian?

EurogamerIf you're so convinced that there's this huge demand for 3D, why not introduce a 3D handheld?
Andrew House

For me, 3D in the portable space is far less tested and there is far less of that content ecosystem that I talked about earlier. All of the elements I mentioned are in place for the home content. It remains to be seen whether they're going to come into play. 3D without glasses, on a portable device, is an intriguing idea, but it's one that needs to have a lot more road testing before we'd want to jump in there.

EurogamerHere's another question from a reader - well, more of a slightly aggressive statement really - from @MairusuPawa: "Other OS. I paid for it, I want it back."
Andrew House

We are obviously a company that takes decisions like that very seriously. I think we had good reasons for making the change we did. It's regrettable that we can't please everyone. There is an audience that obviously found value in that feature, but overall we have to take decisions for the vast majority of the audience and the good of the platform.

EurogamerBut what benefit did withdrawing the feature really have for the audience? Wasn't it really about preventing piracy?
Andrew House

I think that's important for the good of the platform overall. Sustaining a good platform with good, secure content means that down the line, you continue to have great games from great content manufacturers, and that's good for the audience overall.

Sony famously made gaming cool with PlayStation. This peripheral may not be part of that timeline.
EurogamerLet's move on to the Move controller, which has just been priced at £34.99 for the Move and £24.99 for the nunchuk. Yours is already the most expensive console on the market, and now you're asking consumers to pay even more for Move, never mind 3D tellies and glasses... Do you think they will?
Andrew House

That question implies there's some sort of pressure or force from us. I think we're offering products that we hope people will see value in and want to pay for. There's no sense of compulsion. The standard PlayStation 3 experience, I think, is still the overall best-value gaming experience out there. Absent Move, absent 3D.

I also think we've done a really good job of layering in more value in the console, certainly than is true of the competition. It comes with a free Blu-ray player - that's still a significant value that sometimes gets overlooked. The fact the device is going to be made 3D-ready at no extra charge is great value that we're passing onto the consumer.

If you look at the price of entry for the controllers, compare them with other controllers out there, they're reasonably priced. We tried very hard to build this to be a really good value for the consumer. We want to build it like a platform as opposed to just a peripheral business. We strove very hard to try and bring the main offering under the price of a game - that was one of our targets, in the hope people would say, 'Yes, OK, when laid alongside a game, this can be employed multiple times across different experiences.' I hope they see sufficient value in that.

EurogamerIt seemed your conference was more hardcore in tone this year, what with the likes of Twisted Metal and Kevin Butler making an appearance... There was no one on stage playing Move Party...
Andrew House

I'm smiling because I've been asked that question the other way a few times today, and also a few times that way. Which actually says to me, not wanting to sound complacent, that we're doing our jobs right. Some people saw it as being hardcore gamer-focused, others said there was a nod to the hardcore but it was really all about the casual market.

EurogamerHmm. I can't really see my Mum getting into Gran Turismo or Killzone.
Out in November and looking mighty fine.
Andrew House

Haha!

EurogamerShe's more into Halo. Anyway, who do you think is going to win E3 2010?
Andrew House

I will wait for folks like your good self to decide.

EurogamerAre you confident Sony is going to win?
Andrew House

I think we put a great set of content and techology in front of the consumer. I think we can be as proud as anyone of the line-up we have for this year. It depends on what your definition of winning the show is. I think our content line-up stands up against anyone.

EurogamerI know our time is very nearly up, so let's finish with one last quick reader question. This one's from @davidmhodgey. Do you prefer space LEGO or cowboy LEGO, or do you mix them together to make space cowboy LEGO?
Andrew House

Gosh, when was the last time I played with LEGO... It's more years than I can remember...

EurogamerYou're just saying that because all your PR executives are listening. I bet you've got a special desk drawer in your office with millions of LEGO in for when no one's around.
Andrew House

I built the Millennium Falcon in LEGO with my son, so that's my LEGO secret.

EurogamerDon't tell me you're not even going to commit on the space cowboy LEGO question, Andrew. This is serious evasion.
Andrew House

I'm not. I just can't commit.

EurogamerThere you have it, readers. I tried.

Andrew House is the president of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe. A top insider source tells Eurogamer he secretly prefers cowboy LEGO, because of the hats.