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Sony's David Reeves Interview
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It's been almost a year since we had a proper chat with SCEE boss David Reeves, and a lot's gone on. PS3 has apparently overtaken Xbox 360 in Europe ("We know what the figures are," says Reeves, no doubt aware of Microsoft's response), and just prior to our discussion at E3 Reeves announced that the 80GB PS3 would launch in Europe on 27th August for GBP 299 / EUR 399.
However, the intervening period has also seen the cancellation of Eight Days and The Getaway, repeated delays for the ambitious multi-user Sony-world of PlayStation Home, the exit of Phil Harrison as head of Worldwide Studios, and Microsoft declaring it will win the entire console war - something it believes is backed up by its success with Xbox Live, Grand Theft Auto IV and key third-party exclusives.
Naturally then, we asked Reeves about much of that as we stood by a pool in Santa Monica sipping Sony beer. Read on to find out what Sony is doing for European gamers, what aeroplanes and swords have to do with the console war, and why Reeves says Microsoft should stick LittleBigPlanet in Powerpoint.
Eurogamer: Why do the 80GB PS3 in Europe now?
David Reeves: I think the honest answer is that the 80GB hard drive hit a price - a procurement price - at a point where we said "yes, we'll take it now". Hard drives are commodities not just for PlayStations but for Vaios and everything else, and you hit that thing where they say, "okay, 80GB - we'll give it to you at the same price as you can for a 40GB" and that's what's happening right now. It's just fortuitous.
They're already being produced. In fact, most of the European ones have already been produced and are on the boat. We'd probably go a little bit earlier but we just want to build up a bit of stock so we don't have shortages in the European markets.
Exactly the same.
Eurogamer: How does the console war look from your perspective in Europe?
David Reeves: We actually don't think about it too much. I think we've only made one - I would say - controversial announcement and that was to say that we have a higher installed base than Xbox 360 and we stand by that. We know what the figures are.
But I think - and I keep repeating this - that the more important thing is the growth in the marketplace is just absolutely phenomenal. Not just in Europe either. I was just talking to a guy from New Zealand - in Australia the videogames business is now worth 1.5 billion dollars and five years ago it was like 200,000. The same thing is happening in Europe. I'm talking here about an extended Europe - in Russia and Poland, people are moving from PC gaming to consoles.
I prefer to talk about the fact that, yeah, we're competitors, but the competition really has made people so much sharper, and if I can use this analogy, if you're fighting in a war that's, say, Boeing versus Airbus, it's almost like battleship against battleship and you're fighting from 15 miles away; if you're fighting in the car war, it might be that you're fighting in tanks and you're one kilometre away; in the videogame industry, if there's a war, if there's competition, it's almost like hand-to-hand fighting, but it makes you sharper. You want to have a sharper sword, you want to have a sword that feels just about right, and everyone is very sharp, and what they're doing is they're looking for high ground, low ground where they can get an advantage.
The winner is the consumer, and I think that's great. That's why we are not going to slag off Microsoft or Nintendo at all, because again it's rather like the trainer market: one year it's Reebok, next year it's Nike, and then suddenly it's Adidas; it's cyclical, but in the end everyone wins in five to ten years.
I think we should just celebrate the fact that the videogame industry is growing. I don't say it's recession-proof - it's not - but it's close to that.
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"We'd probably go a little bit earlier but we just want to build up a bit of stock so we don't have shortages in the European markets."
LOL...he wishes. "We actually don't think about it too much." Your telling me... "but if we did that then our colleagues in Italy and France and Germany and Spain would not be very happy" So..who gives a shit, its their fault if they choose to still speak obscure languages.
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most recently on 22/07/08 @ 13:50
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he came across as mostly alight there, until the last few paragraphs where some of the truths of Home came out- so, what, you won't be able to launch third party games through it unless the developers support it? What kind of backwards thinking is that?
And with the PSN thing, why not hold back *all* regions launches until they're ready? Then no region gets a raw deal... |
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"he came across as mostly alight there, until the last few paragraphs where some of the truths of Home came out- so, what, you won't be able to launch third party games through it unless the developers support it? What kind of backwards thinking is that?"
I assume they mean launching directly into a game - there was a demo video somewhere, showing a bunch of people in Home, and then the next moment the countdown for the start of a Motorstorm race was ticking down. You can't get that kind of interaction between Home and a game if support isn't built into a game, and I assume that's what he's referring to here. |
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he came across as mostly alight there, until the last few paragraphs where some of the truths of Home came out- so, what, you won't be able to launch third party games through it unless the developers support it? What kind of backwards thinking is that?
I'm not sure it's backwards thinking - from what I understand of the integration they want, you'd need to design it to hook into Home. Admittedly, i've not paid much attention to it, but my understanding is that Home isn't replacing any existing UI but trying to add a sort of seperate virtual world with some sort of 'bonus features' above simply launching the game. I mean, you have to integrate any 360 game to support MS' Live (etc) code to have it registering achievements, don't you? (I think one of the things that Ms have done this generation is have vastly superior developer support, right from the off, for this sort of thing. Sony are very much playing catchup in terms of dev tools etc as fas as I'm aware, which was a legacy - Kuturagis? - of concentrating on hardware over software) |
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Interesting read that.
I suppose the 40gig & 80gig thing makes sense. Be interesting to know how much they do in fact buy the HDD for. I paid £70 for my 320gig drive, so they must be getting these 80gig drives for next to nothing? Really worried Home is going to be a load of arse, hopefully the time its taking to finish really does sort it out. Also, johnnybrn your such a stupid little idiot |
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alimokrane
22/07/08 @ 13:03
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@evilfoxhound
in stock at play.com in stock at shopto.net in stock at amazon.co.uk etc etc etc .... get your facts straight! |
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Waffleaber
22/07/08 @ 13:12
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I agree, he comes across rather well. His response to the last question in particular made me smile.
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@Evilfoxhound "Have you tried buying PS3 in the UK latley? There is a massive shortage and nowhere has them until Sony make a large shipment on the 28th. They didn't see the recent sales surge coming. Don't believe me? Make some phonecalls and check for yourself."
Well I just popped downstairs to Gamestation and they have loads as does Amazon. |
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"The winner is the consumer, and I think that's great. That's why we are not going to slag off Microsoft or Nintendo at all, because again it's rather like the trainer market: one year it's Reebok, next year it's Nike, and then suddenly it's Adidas; it's cyclical, but in the end everyone wins in five to ten years."
What? Sony have been slagging off the competition just days/hours ago! What with Kaz and his "10 year plan" etc. And let's not forget all the claims of Xbox 1.5 and the dismissive "The Next Generation doesn't start until we say so!" claims. Good lord, does he really believe we've all got memories of a goldfish? It's not a bad interview though, noticable for no reference to Blu-ray! throughout - at last a gaming executive talking about gaming! However, little is actually said. And considering how low disc drives were (we all know about the crappy exchange rates) and how much of a premium we were being asked to pay for European PS3s, the explaination about "why now" for 80GB drives doesn't hold much water. The real reason of course if because Sony Europe will soon be selling and renting movies online - trust me, otherwise Sony would have been happy to keep giving us 40GB drives. |
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el_pollo_diablo
22/07/08 @ 13:15
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Why were all the questions about Microsoft?
I mean, with interviews like this is it any suprise the comments threads are full of pointless platform bickering. edit: re-reading that, maybe that was a bit harsh. But you get my point.
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most recently on 22/07/08 @ 14:17
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@ GChris / Aldo14
I know what you're saying, but this pretty much implies that older games (especially 3rd party ones) won't be launchable through Home, so... what? You'll have to drop back to the dashboard, leave the group of friends you've just formed, and launch the game from there? It seems rather contradictory to the idea of Home being such a social, media and gaming hub. The real blinder MS pulled with the 360 was having things like achievements, LIVE and gamertags integrated into the system from the start. Sony's addition of trophies was welcome, but with a total count of about 1 game currently supporting them they feel rather pointless and meaningless. If Sony don't get the integration with Home right, it could end up the same way,... |
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On the PS3 stock shortages, the three branches of GAME in Birmingham city centre have been out of stock (barring occasional shipments of one or two units) for a number of weeks now. I was having a chat with one of the guys who works in the store about it, and he said demand was pretty high at the moment.
If stocks of the 40GB run down between now and August 27th, there's likely to be a fair bit of pent up demand once the 80GB launches, so it makes sense for Sony to make sure they can cater for that on day one of the new SKU. The comments about delays for localised versions of games is a very important one - I really don't see why Sony can't put the UK, Australia and New Zealand into the "English language" grouping along with the US. It's not like we get Queen's English localisations anyway ("Medal of Honor" anyone?) so the wait doesn't add value to those markets. I sympathise with German / French / Spanish / etc speaking gamers, but chances are, some of those people would be happy to play a game in English anyway. |
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Any reasonably well written piece of software will be able to interpret command parameters - console games are no different. It will be a simple enough patch to any game to launch straight into a multiplayer game and connect to a specified server.
What he's talking about is presumably a tighter integration of the game itself into the Home environment - it's failry obvious that this would need specific support by the developer. |
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Eurogamer: Why do the 80GB PS3 in Europe now?
David Reeves: I think the honest answer is that the 80GB hard drive hit a price - a procurement price - at a point where we said "yes, we'll take it now". And no doubt the increase in developers' reliance on 2-5 GB HDD installs to bypass the slow access speeds of the Blu-ray drive also has something to do with this decision? ;) |
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"It's a way to do it, isn't it? You never know. It's the kind of crazy thing that Microsoft might say, "Yeah okay Sony, we'll do that." Considering how much we pay for all the stuff we put onto Vaios for them."
Com'on old man. It us, the consumers, who pay for that stuff you put onto your extra-expensive computers. |
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MuppetThumper
22/07/08 @ 13:45
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@Brokenkey - he was making an analogy to the competition between Airbus & Boeing
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Kenshin001
22/07/08 @ 13:47
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"David Reeves: In an ideal world I think you're right, that we've got to get more to day-and-date. When the US launch, we could launch in Australia and we could launch in New Zealand and the UK, but if we did that then our colleagues in Italy and France and Germany and Spain would not be very happy, so we've chosen to stick to the strategy of doing it pan-European and pan-Australia and New Zealand."
That is silly Sony logic. Can't see how it would be any different to the unhappiness now knowing US owners are getting it before everyone else. So punish everyone instead instead of rewarding the few. |
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Has anyone found any solid information on whether this is just a larger 80gb HDD, or does this new model come with the 65nm RSX chip.
I've €200 worth of HMV vouchers burning a hole in my pocket and I'm seriously thinking of getting a 2nd PS3 80Gb Premium. Don't want too much wear and tear on my 60gb (upgraded to 320b) launch day Elite. |
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Moonprince
22/07/08 @ 13:52
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Kenshin001 - it takes 5 mins to set up a USA account and you seem to be able to speak / read English sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
ooooooooooooooooooo.... MAYBE MAYBE Sign up for.... No, forget it. |
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alimokrane
22/07/08 @ 13:56
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@evilfoxhound
Keep that advice to yourself. So in your view, shortages at retail stores qualify as shortages everywhere ?? How dumb and fanboy blind is that. |
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He seems like a worthy successor to Phil, although I like the Sony execs more who make the wacky comments.
I think in a few years time, Phil Harrisson shall be remembered for the great push towards the casual market and the huge growth of the industry. He's a great visionary but that won't make me buy the Atari games ;-) |
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Darren wrote: "And no doubt the increase in developers' reliance on 2-5 GB HDD installs to bypass the slow access speeds of the Blu-ray drive also has something to do with this decision? ;)"
For your reference: Keith Stuart (from Guardian blogs) wrote: "Good point, but not 100% technically accurate. There are ways developers can ensure data can be adequately streamed form Blu-ray disc without dumping the whole thing on the hard drive. Some duplicate data around the disc, others cache relevant chunks on the fly while the game is running (Wheelman and Fallout 3 both do this). I've just written a feature on this very subject and spoke to lots of developers about it." I've asked him for the feature but he refuses to respond. Link: http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/games/archiv... Like I continue to say, lazy devs are making the hardware accountable when that isn't the case.
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most recently on 22/07/08 @ 15:04
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asphaltcowboy
22/07/08 @ 14:06
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He seems like a worthy successor to Phil
He isn't Phil's successor... |
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blig_merk, With all due respect, Criterion, Infinty Ward, Bethesda and Codemaster's are all thrid party devs and neither have needed to resort to HDD installs to make their games work to the equivalent of their 360 counterparts, so I have a little sympathy but not a lot.
Having said that, with Insomniac not ruling out HDD installs for R2, maybe we should wait and see a little longer before squarely pointing the blame.
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most recently on 22/07/08 @ 15:22
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I know what you're saying, but this pretty much implies that older games (especially 3rd party ones) won't be launchable through Home, so... what? You'll have to drop back to the dashboard, leave the group of friends you've just formed, and launch the game from there? It seems rather contradictory to the idea of Home being such a social, media and gaming hub.
Well, surely (for lack of a better term) the game would need to support Homes (or sonys) matchmaking code to group you and your friends together when it launches, anyways? Assuming that's what you mean (i.e. 'pre-grouping'). I'd think it's pretty much trivial to add a 'button' that launches the current game (in the drive - maybe more complicated for DLC) from within Home, but it's not really adding anything - it's just another way of leaving the 'hub' unless there's that integration to group together in multiplayer (etc). My reading of what he (Reeves) said was that he was linking the Trophy system, etc, into the definition of 'launching' though, anyways, rather than merely starting the game. Of course, it could also be a deliberate strategy to 'encourage' developers to support Home integration. |
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Rash' - Hang on... Bethesda's PS3 port of Oblivion used a 4.4 GB "stealth" install to the HDD... I know because I have the game. Sure, you don't have to wait 10 minutes for it to install (which is nice) but that's not really the point I was making... I was referring to how so many PS3 games use valuable HDD space seemingly unnecessarily not the length of time needed to install data.
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farticusmaximus
22/07/08 @ 14:36
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"When you can buy a 200GB HDD for the price of a game, it's not what I would call "valuable" space."
Fucking awful argument. Badly designed hardware causes excessively slow loading speeds causes excessive space to be used on the HDD and you are perfectly happy with 'buy a new HDD' What about all the stuff you had stored on the HDD you replace? Redownload it, copy it in a PC... both time consuming and out of reach for your average non-nerd gamer. It's a balls-up, end of story, and there is no apologising for it. |
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@farticusmaximus
3 things; Have you ever heard a 360 in full flow? Sounds like a fuckin tank. That should be justification in itself of using a hdd install. 80GB = at least 10 installs (probably closer to 20) how many people play 10 games concurrently? Im guessing none. Its not a limitation of the hardware, there are many games that can stream data off blu-ray intelligently . Dev's consider it easier to just install it to the hdd. |
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SeesThroughAll
22/07/08 @ 14:43
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Fucking awful argument. Badly designed hardware causes excessively slow loading speeds causes excessive space to be used on the HDD and you are perfectly happy with 'buy a new HDD'
What about all the stuff you had stored on the HDD you replace? Redownload it, copy it in a PC... both time consuming and out of reach for your average non-nerd gamer. Fucking awful argument. Badly designed hardware causes excessive heat and RROD, cheap DVD drives cause excessive noise leading to the new option to rip games ISOs to the HDD to come in a future firmware and you are perfectly happy with 'buy a new overpriced proprietary HDD'? |
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farticusmaximus
22/07/08 @ 14:45
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"80GB = at least 10 installs (probably closer to 20) how many people play 10 games concurrently? Im guessing none. "
On the PS3 you are quite correct. There arent 10 games worth playing on it. I however, get through more than 10 games per week, most of them on Friday nights when the lads come round for Xbox night. I would not put up with forced installs, and I cant believe the PS3 owning populace do. Maybe when the PS3 gets a games catalog that situation will change. |
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sanctusmortis
22/07/08 @ 14:45
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@evilfoxhound: Never been out of stock in Newcastle. That's a very big city.
He doesn't seem too bad there; acceptable, even. I think he's dreaming if he thinks the business is cyclical, though; it peaks and troughs with big releases, or in Nintendo's case hardware stock availability, but normal sales will usually stay constant bar price change hiccups. |
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farticusmaximus
22/07/08 @ 14:47
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@SeesThroughAll
Nice try to derail the argument, however you have not addressed the point at hand. Try again. |
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ThePissartist
22/07/08 @ 14:49
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Is this guy English? He seems to have a degree of modesty about him - very odd for PR.
Either he's British, or he's playing to British sensibilities. |
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