I think the original price-point was the right price-point, evidenced by the issues we had at launch when we couldn't supply enough units to consumers in the Japanese market and the North American market, and it was a huge challenge to try and meet that demand because of all the production issues we had. It wasn't a pricing issue, it was a supply issue.

...I think he's gotten to the point where he wants to try out other ideas beyond the PlayStation business. He told me the other day, 'I'm not getting any younger'... He's our honorary chairman, he swings by the office once in a while — if I ask him for advice, he'll give it to me. He's not engaged every day anymore but if I ask him to be engaged, he will be, and in the meantime he's pursuing his other passions and dreams...he hasn't really shared them with me just yet, but I think he'll share them with the world when he's ready to do so.

Hirai Interview [Spong]

Michael Pachter, Wedbush Morgan Securities analyst, doesn't really see Ken Kutaragi's promotion as a way to remove him from the game, but rather as a way to prepare him for heading up the entire company.

Speaking to GameDaily BIZ about the management shuffle, Wedbush Morgan Securities analyst Michael Pachter said, "I think it's prudent succession planning. Kutaragi is the visionary, and his work on PS3 was done at launch. They need to groom him to replace Stringer. The rest of the guys are competent, experienced, and loyal. I think each of the other moves made sense. In time, I think you will see Kutaragi given responsibility for other functions, like Blu-ray."

As Sony President Ryoji Chubachi explained it to the Nikkei, "Mr. Kutaragi's strength is his knowledge of technology. His position is, of course, chief executive, but this means he will especially be looking closely at the area of technological development."

I've come to realize that Sony uses the volcano school of management, heat from bad decisions and poor management builds until a key person involved in the decision-making process is pushed up and up and up and finally ejected entirely from the company.

I'm going to patent that shit, Brian's School of Volcano Management.

Kutaragi Being Groomed to Replace Stringer - Pachter [Game Daily]

The last generation, Sony kicked ass and took names thanks to a whole slew of exclusives. This time around, blah! Sony Computer Entertainment czar Ken Kutaragi took his sweet time finalizing business terms with third party developers, leaving the door open for Microsoft.

According to Newsweek, Take-Two and Rockstar were interested in continuing their exclusive relationship with Sony. Ubisoft, too, hoped to make Assassin's Creed a PS3 exclusive. But neither company could get a green light from Kutaragi, who was probably busy comparing the PS3 to a super computer. Says SCEA VP, Jack "Flying Breakfast Car" Tretton:

We really feel like we're well positioned to contribute platform-defining games from a first-party standpoint, and we're not dependent on third-party community to the degree that a Microsoft would be. That being said, you would be crazy to say that you would never entertain or not welcome exclusives. It's just a question of how deep into your pockets do you have to reach to secure that? Desperation breeds deep pockets. Confidence breeds the opposite. When it makes sense, you do the deal. When it doesn't, you pass.

Actually confidence breeds arrogance. And what does arrogance breed, Jack? Brian Ashcraft

Jack Tretton Smack Talks Again [Newsweek, Thanks Que!]

Ribbon cutting, line waiting, and Sony's Ken Kutaragi talking. A lot. Here's how TGS gets its warm-up on. Do note: Before the keynote, we were given a flier that said we could only show 15 seconds of footage from Kutaragi's speech. I asked an event organizer why? Her reply: My boss told me too. Well, we are no match for that kind of logic. Brian Ashcraft

For anyone who's ever had to the burning urge to fill notebooks with Nintendo President Satoru doodles, game site Go Nintendo points out how. Neat, but does anyone know how to draw Sony Computer Entertainment honcho Ken Kutaragi? Brian Ashcraft

More Here [Go Nintendo]

The PlayStation 3, like hacky sack, has its good points and its bad points. Just ask Florian. Whenever he asks any of us for a round of "footbag," he carefully lays out the pluses and minuses on a delicate paper, before Eliza and Crecente roll their eyes and walk off. I, out of pity, humor the boy.

Likewise, News site Associated Content, known as the "the people's media company" (pinko bastards), has drawn up a list of PS3 pros and cons.

PROS

1. The technical power of the Cell
2. Blu-ray: more space (52G) is only a good thing
3. PlayStation is still the leader in the gaming industry
4. PSX, PS2 backwards compatibility (huge library of games)
5. Strong 3rd-party support
6. Controller: motion-sensing addition only a good thing
7. Online play (though still lackluster)
8. Standard harddrives
9. 1080p high definition gaming
10. Web browsing, just like the PSP
11. Connection to the PSP to enhance gameplay

Hit the jump for the cons.

CONS

1. Cost: we've said it a million times
2. Blue-Ray: too expensive storage medium
3. Size: the thing is big
4. High game prices
5. Architecture: Cell is too unique and could cause developer problems
6. No rumble
7. Even with redundancy, PS3 might have high defects at launch
8. Despite its strengths, the PS3 will only be marginally better than its competitors
9. Ken Kutaragi (will ruin the PS3?)

So with 11 pros and 9 cons, we can confirm it: The PlayStation 3 is an overwhelming success! Endless hacky sack matches all around! Brian Ashcraft

More Here [I4U]

Microsoft of late hasn't been kicking a dog when it's down. No, the company's been stomping the pooch's head in. In an interview with game site Spong, Microsoft's Senior Regional Director Neil Thompson talks trash regarding Sony's PlayStation 3. Thompson, the company's outspoken European Xbox honcho, says:

The PlayStation 3 is obviously a significant factor in terms of what is going to happen in the market. But the interesting thing about this week is that they have really positioned themselves as a Blu-ray player. And I think they've missed the ball, in that it's not really a next-generation games player - it's a next-generation DVD player. For us, that's great news, because we think we make the next-generation games console.

Thompson then points out that Sony was the company that brought us Betamax, MiniDisc and UMD. He adds that Msoft is neither forcing technology on anyone nor relying strictly on brand loyalty. To add insult to injury, the exec doubts that Sony will launch with "anything that's dramatic", doesn't see where the PlayStation is really headed, is puzzled as to why there is a Blu-ray player without HDMI and says Sony is not a software company. "They are offering a truck engine in a truck," Thompson even snapped.

Kutaragi-san, would you like to retort? Brian Ashcraft

More Here [Spong]

Florian called it, and Kutaragi said it. Game news site Next-Gen has kindly translated the Japanese interview with fearless PlayStation leader Ken Kutaragi. His quotes talk for themselves:

Speaking about the PS3, we never said we will release a game console. It is radically different from the previous PlayStation. It is clearly a computer. Indeed, with a game console, you need to take out any unnecessary elements inside the console in order to decrease its cost. ... This will of course apply to the PS3 as well.

...and...

However, the PS3 is a computer. Lowering costs is important but more important is its capacity to evolve. I think the HDD will gain in capacity. If a new technology gets into mainstream PCs, the PS3 will have to adopt it as well. Maybe the Blu-ray drive will become writable. Well, maybe not at this point.

...as well as...

I think a year from the launch we could indeed extend the configuration of the PS3. Why not! Okay, this is may be joke or a personal opinion. I mean we have no such plan at this very moment. However, companies like Dell or Apple have such programs. In the PC world, specifications rarely last more than two years. You need to update them. I believe the PC is always evolving. I think that the time may come that the 60GB HDD would become too small or the RAM to low. Such issues are numerous.

...also...

It is strange to think that games are more difficult to develop with increasing processor performance. On PC, I don't find anyone complaining about improved clock, memory or HDD. On the computer named PS3, I would like the top guns of programming to express themselves.

...and finally...

I think that if this can make the market and the industry more dynamic, why not? If we we're all doing the same thing, the market would transform into a killing arena—that's not really good, in my opinion.

But, I already have a computer. I just wanted a PlayStation 3. *sigh* Brian Ashcraft

More Here [Next-Gen]

The PlayStation news conference has just ended in Tokyo, and a load of updates and brand new info has been released on the future of Sony's gaming plans.

The industrious folks over at the Gaming-Age forums have been keeping a good running summary of all the news that's out there, and more as it's clarified (some aspects have differed in translation, like if the HDD wil be included in PS3).

Here's their summary so far for anyone who wants to catch up:

PS3:
- GLOBAL RELEASE NOVEMBER 11th
- 60GB HDD 2.5" with pre-installed Linux OS will be included?
- Dev kit specs fix as of today
- Final PS3 development kits will be sent to developers in June
- 10.000.000 BD-ROMS manufacturing capability per month @ cost around same as 2-layer DVD
- Every PS3 game will be on a Blu Ray Disc, in an attempt to prevent piracy
- Price will not be less than 50.000YEN (~$425USD)
- PS3 will have HDMI support from launch
- Sony plans to produce 1 million PS3s a month; 6 million PS3s for FY2006 (by the end of March 07)
- Basic online service free, no details yet (could be XBLS for PS3)
- Full backwards compatibility, hi-res and texture filtering for all titles (akin to what the Xbox 360 does to Halo)
- The online service will be working off of GameSpy technology

PSP:
- Videophone in autumn
- MinGol GPS
- Eyetoy
- Flash support with next update
- Mem.Stick boot support in autumn
- First-gen PS1 official emulator
- Buy/download games from net
- 199 CORE PACK PSP being released in USA/Europe by end of March (March 22nd for Europe)
- 19,800 yen Ceramic White PSP CORE PACK from 15 April in Japan

Conference Summary[updating GAF thread]

Images from the conference are also at the ever reliable Game Watch.

Up and down, up and down. The see-saw of information about the Sony's next-gen hardware is on the upswing today. GameSpot reports that Sony Computer Entertainment president Ken Kutaragi expects games to run at 120 frames per second. Your television can't even refresh the screen 120 times per second, but maybe the television you'll buy in 2008 will. Sony's always thinking ahead.

PS3 to Run at 120 FPS? [GameSpot]
Are Developers Unhappy With PS3