Before Phil Harrison left Sony to work for Atari, he cleaned out his desk. But before that, he was inventing stuff. What kind of stuff? Futuristic stuff. A new Sony patent has surfaced for a handheld gizmo that features a touchscreen and "pressure pads" running around its edges. According to the US Patent and Trademark Office, it's a “handheld device with touchscreen and digital tactile pixels” that can also be used to control the touchscreen. There's no specific mention of the PlayStation Portable, but the patent does mention potential uses in phones, gaming devices and portable media players. What's more, it does sound suspiciously like what we heard last year about the rumored PSP2... Hit the jump for images of the patent.

Poor Kaz Had No Idea Phil Was Going To Atari

Seeing as the pair were running the show as far as the PlayStation brand was concerned, you'd think Kaz Hirai and Phil Harrison would have at least discussed Phil's move to Infogrames, yes? No. Turns out big Phil's move was as much a surprise to Kaz as it was the rest of us:

At the time, I didn’t know he was going to Atari. It was obviously a surprise when he told me he was going to move on. But, you know, it’s a small industry and he’s obviously remained in it and from his perspective, it was a great thing to move on to a new challenge.

Oh...oh Kaz. There, there. You're still beautiful, OK? It was him, not you. Him.

Kaz Hirai interview…[Three Speech]

Phil Harrison Talks End of Single Player, Has Friends

Remember when Infogrames/Atari exec Phil Harrison said the company wouldn't be making another big-budge single player game? Sure ya do! Here, Harrison explains a bit better at what he was getting at: "I think the single-player, disconnected console game is probably in its dotage. Now, that doesn’t mean that those games aren’t relevant going forwards, but they will be enhanced by community features being embedded in them, or downloadable content becoming an inherent part of the experience, or some kind of user-generated content will be part of the experience. All of the things we see in other games, the things that we can point to in compelling games." Fair enough! Speaking of single player, has Phil Harrison made an easy transition to Infogrames from Sony? Says Harrison:

I’ve been here two months now and I’m making a whole new group of friends. It’s like changing schools when you’re a kid.

Sounds like he's not eating lunch alone in the company cafeteria. That'd be sad.

Interview: Phil Harrison on Alone in the Dark and life after Sony [videogaming247]

Phil Harrison Talks Alone in the Dark

Atari's recent woes are common knowledge, and out of sympathy, don't bear repeating. Suffice to say, they're in their current pickle thanks to a trail of shitty releases over the past five years or so. So with new Infogrames man Phil Harrison looking to clean up shop, some stock has to be taken, and some changes made. One is an abandonment of big-budget, single-player games.

I don't see that we're going to be making huge-budget, single-player games in the future. Now, that doesn't mean that we won't have ambition to do really incredible games that have high quality, high execution, and high innovation, but they won't be one-player, narrative-driven, start-middle-end games.

Phil Harrison On Why Atari Is Softening Its Hardcore Focus [Gamasutra]

Phil Harrison Talks Teh Future of Atari

I'm making is that I think the game is very relevant to the market, and I think will do very, very well. Can we afford as a company to chase that up, to USD 80 million, without downstream revenue? The answer is no.

The Best Phil Harrison Fan Art Ever

I drew this a long time ago when I was sick and Phil's life still mattered to some people. I was going to ask that you use this instead whenever something dumb he had to say was to be featured on your site, but I guess I figured I'd never see him there again now that he's over at Atari, no doubt heading up the addition of motion controls in time for the 2600's re-release. But, like a bad penny, he just keeps turning up

Phil Harrison, Crecente as Eggs

Infogrames Want To Buy What's Left Of Atari

See, Hear Phil Harrison Call Atari "The Best Opportunity"

The Atari opportunity is the best opportunity that exists in the industry today to redefine, re-focus and re-energize an incredible brand, an incredible group of people towards that networked future. Um, and to do it in a fun way.

In terms of European leaders in the games development industry, I've always wanted to work with Phil... He's going to partner with me to build the future. He'll be the most senior guy responsible for all the content and network-centric material, all the investments that we make in games... I have to say there is a lot of excitement around this mission that we're talking about, the brand and the people we're talking about — there is a bit of a magnet around us.

Well, it's Monday and, right on cue, here's Phil Harrison's new job: President and "Directeur Général Délégué" of Infogrames. He is also a member of the board of directors. Shoot, I was hoping he'd stay in the video game industry.

We kid, because we love you, Phil... and we're a little worried.

Harrison will be overseeing the studios and content development for the group, which owns the Atari brand.

"This is the perfect time to join Infogrames and help shape the future of Atari - one of the industry's legendary brands. As the game business moves rapidly online I believe we have an outstanding opportunity to create amazing network game and community experiences for players the world over. I am especially excited to be working on this challenge together with David, one of the most respected leaders and successful executives in our industry."

I'd imagine that Infogrames would have had to drop quite a bit of coin to lure Harrison away from Sony, though I bet that fancy new title helped. Heck, I'd be Directeur Général Délégué for Infogrames just for the business cards.

It's no secret that we're big fans of almost-former Sony Worldwide Studios head Phil Harrison. In fact, he, J Allard, Peter Moore and Reggie make up our video game exec dream team, a crusading force that we imagine takes to the streets at night to bludgeon criminals to death with their no-nonsense quotes and fierce scowls.

When we heard that Harrison was going the way of Moore and Allard, fleeing from his job to parts unknown, we were genuinely concerned. So concerned, in fact, that Luke made up a missing person flyer and like clockwork Harrison was spotted... by Harrison.

Harrison, Molyneux Agree - Controllers Are Too Complicated

""We don't use half the buttons on the 360 controller," admitted Molyneux, "simply because the whole dream I've got is that someone will sit down to play Fable 2 who has never played a game before and they can play with someone who's played games the whole of their lives.

"You hand somebody a game controller and it's like you've handed them a live gun or a hand grenade with the pin taken out"

Phil Harrison, President of Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide Studios (SCE WWS) will resign on February 29th. Harrison has been with Sony since 1992, when he joined Sony Electronics Publishing. That Sony branch later evolved into Sony Computer Entertainment Europe. Says Harrison:

The past 15 years at Sony Computer Entertainment has been the defining journey of my life so far. I am grateful to all the PlayStation family for their incredible support, guidance and friendship. It has been a privilege to serve as part of the team and be inspired by them on a daily basis. I am so proud of everything PlayStation has achieved and will continue to support its future in every way I can.

Phil Harrison Is Joining Atari?

This. Is. Insane. Rumor has it Phil Harrison is leaving Sony to join, you might want to sit down, Atari. Yes, Atari. That Atari.

...

Apparently, Phil Harrison is joining forces with ex-EA exec and current Atari honcho David Gardner to make the beleaguered company less crappy. Previously, Gardner said: