Feb 26 / Ozymandias

Phil Harrison D.I.C.E Interview – Bring your Questions!

Just wanted to point you all to this interview Phil Harrison of Sony did with gamedaily.biz. My personal favorite quote is around the “unprecedented demand” for the PS3:

BIZ: That actually leads into my next question, because a lot of the analysts have been making a big deal out of the fact that retailers seem to continue to sell out of the Wii while PS3s are found in stock at more stores. What do you make of that?
PH: I think you should talk to the people who are running those stores. Talk to the people who run GameStop, talk to the people who run BestBuy, and they’ll tell you that the demand is unprecedented and that they give us kudos for managing to keep a very sophisticated supply chain moving. What our competitors are doing I can’t speak to but I know we are achieving our goals of keeping the market supplied and working closely with retailers to make sure they get informed about when supplies are coming in so that they can match their internal and external communications to store managers and consumers about when to buy a PS3. If that means that for Wednesday through Friday there were a few machines on a shelf in a store in Milwaukee, great!

There are just so many things one could poke holes into in this interview that it’s basically not worth it. I’ll just suggest you go read for yourself and make up your own opinion.

Actually, here’s an interesting angle. Take a read and see what statements he makes that you might actually agree with, and post a question about it in the comments to this post. I’m happy to give my opinions on specific questions you might have, especially if you think a point is credible. Should be a fun conversation.

Feel free to try and ask the hard questions – I’ll answer as best I can as long as it’s not confidential.

Porktree

My favorite quote is where the SCEA says that they are ‘google’ and XBL is ‘aol’. XBL is sooooo lame and unhip….not. I’m sorry Ozzy, I don’t have any hard questions to ask, I thought I was reading a parody of a real interview.
sportsunit

Phil Harrison and the whole sony crew are out of their minds. They say the most mind-boggling, out of touch with reality, things.
shufflemoomin

I stopped reading half way through. Sony and their mouthpieces just boil my blood. They just talk SUCH crap and I can’t cope with it any more. It’s just corporate spin that means NOTHING. I’ve never seen such a case of denial by a large corporation. A large majority of the gaming community resent their platform and their actions and they just can’t admit it. I hate to say, but I completely hope the PS3 fails in the industry, because Sony deserve to realise they can’t do what they want and still get their asses kissed.

Good on Microsoft for realising that the gamer is their lifeblood and not the technology they build into their systems.
Jonas

Phil Harrison and Jack Tretton both remind me of Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf, Iraqi Minister of Information, during the begining of the war. lol
http://hamwise79.blogspot.com/ Torrey

I actually do have a topic I’d like you to comment on, Oz. Phil says that in order for the 360 to be successful it needs to have a broad range of titles available. I think it’s pretty obvious that this is a big reason the PS2 was so successful- it had games for everyone.

In my opinion, the original Xbox fell short in this area. There were a lot of shooters, racers and sports titles but not a great deal of variety. I am definitely seeing an improvement on the 360 thus far with games like Viva Pinata and Guitar Hero II on the way and I think Live Arcade has really opened up a new level of accessibility… but I still think there’s a lot more variety that could be added to the system. I would love to see a great platforming franchise come along like Ratchet & Clank. Or something as artistic and original as Shadow of Colossus. The Xbox has never quite succeeded in the platform/adventure genre (Blinx didn’t cut the mustard, unfortunately).

To bottom line it for ya, I guess I’d like to know what you think MS needs to do to build that broad range of titles that can be found on the other systems. What needs to happen to make the 360 the premiere console in people’s homes?

Oh and btw, if you can convince the appropriate parties to make a Crimson Skies 2, I’ll take you out for a steak dinner.
http://blogs.artinsoft.net/ocalvo Oscar Calvo

Here is a question:

Is is true that developers are not as "Free" to provide online content in the Xbox360 as thay are in PS3 platform?

If so, why, what kind of restriction does Microsoft impose?

Also,

What are the implications of a truly free market in the PS3 or Xbox360.
Anonymous

Re: "Is is true that developers are not as "Free" to provide online content in the Xbox360 as thay are in PS3 platform?"

I’m actually not quite sure what Phil’s trying to get at here. He *may* be trying to spin the PS3′s lack of online service as a plus, meaning "we don’t supply any technology or have requirements around certification" – so go ahead, do what you want. At the end of the day I believe the key is that a developer can do the games they want on the platform. If there are ever online games that can only be done on the PS3 and not on the 360 I’ll be worried… but that’s not currently the case.

As to "implications of a truly free market" – not sure what you mean exactly?
Quarem

"I’m actually not quite sure what Phil’s trying to get at here. He *may* be trying to spin the PS3′s lack of online service as a plus, meaning "we don’t supply any technology or have requirements around certification" – so go ahead, do what you want. At the end of the day I believe the key is that a developer can do the games they want on the platform. If there are ever online games that can only be done on the PS3 and not on the 360 I’ll be worried… but that’s not currently the case."

User created mods for Unreal Tournament 3 were apparently a bit of an issue to get on Xbox Live, and caused a delay in the game’s announcement on 360 while the situation was being discussed between Epic and Microsoft <a href="Joystiq">http://www.joystiq.com/2007/01/29/epic-aims-for-unreal-tournament-user-mods-on-ps3-360/</a>.

Could the ‘open’ nature of the PS Network be a plus here?
Quarem

The editing boxes are too small, sorry for the poorly formated link.

Here’s a better one. <a href="http://www.joystiq.com/2007/01/29/epic-aims-for-unreal-tournament-user-mods-on-ps3-360/">Joystiq</a>.
Quarem

Argh!

Ozy you need to have a preview button for commentators.

http://www.joystiq.com/2007/01/29/epic-aims-for-unreal-tournament-user-mods-on-ps3-360/
crucible

My favorite parts:

“rumble I think was the last generation feature; it’s not the next-generation feature. I think motion sensitivity is. And we don’t see the need to do that. Having said that, there will be specific game function controllers, potentially like steering wheels that do include vibration or feedback function—not from us but from third parties.”

So, rumble is a last generation feature, and you won’t see Sony developing for it… but third parties will be. Why are Sony third-party hardware vendors developing for last generation gaming, and why does the software allow for it?

“we are working on exciting, online initiatives encompassing user-generated content and virtual marketplaces, that the competition can’t offer.”

This sounds like a YouTube venture.

I’d like to know their definition of user-generated content… because obviously if you can’t match it, then it couldn’t be games/XNA.

“they’ll be introducing IPTV later this year. Will we see similar initiatives on the PS3 soon?

SCEA: At CES this year Sony announced its own free Internet Video HDTV system, an available option on the majority of new Sony televisions produced this year. “

Is that spin for saying that the PS3 won’t have IPTV, spin for that they don’t know, or do they want to sell new tvs?

I wonder how the studios will allow for their IPTV system if it’s free… I’m not sure about the Xbox solution as yet – but I think it still costs more for a top of the range, IPTV plasma tv than an Xbox 360, right?

“Through products such as the PlayStation 3 and the PSP, we are demonstrating the power of consumer-driven entertainment in gaming, multimedia and online functionality found in no other systems in the marketplace today.”

Just remember guys – gaming, multimedia and online is found in no other system than the PS3.

All in all there is way too much spin doctoring in there and I think they change their message every 2 months… and I’m not sure why… If they don’t want to tell the truth about something they should stick to one half-truth, rather than the mix they’re giving out now.
Piranacon

“We aren’t forcing the developer or the gamer into a neatly wrapped, cleanly scrubbed, sterile experience. I suppose you could say the PS3′s network capabilities are the Google – open for exploration, as broad as your imagination — to Microsoft’s AOL – carefully chosen content they think is right for you, whether you truly want it or not”

I thought Microsoft just supplied the API’s, but do you limit what the developer can publish? (other than things that would break the law).

Do you think the open PS network will give it an advantage over Live? (in the future that is)

“cleanly scrubbed, sterile experience.” I’m not saying that Live is perfect however, from a technical and ethical point of view, by not having rules on how the shop interface works for example aren’t they exposing their customers to a risk of credit theft.

More Intrestingly, if each developer is responsable for how the game is handled on the web and is comprimised some how and personal information is stolen for the PS3 HD(due to the openness of the network), would do you think the customer point the finger at? and would do you think Sony? will point the finger at

As for the comment “whether you truly want it or not”, I think the download numbers on the content will probally speak for themselves.

Other than that its the normal Sony PR rubbish.

More intresting questions to bring up would have been:

“When Microsoft annouced how BC was going to work on the 360 you said ‘I don’t believe that was backwards compatibility’ and now your implementing this method on one of the biggest gaming nations (Pal) in the world, whilst the rest of the world has decated chipsets. Do you

1) Think that you should review technologies throughly before slating them?

2) If emulation through software isn’t BC how are you going to provide BC for the PAL users?

3)The UK is one the most expensive place in the world to buy a PS3 don’t you feel that a price drop is in order, as they are getting less than the rest of the world?

4)How is this going to be implemented on OLD PS3′s? will they contiune to provide BC with the old sets?

Haven’t now created two SKU’s of the PS3, which will confuse the customer more than the Prem/Core SKU’s ever did”
crucible

Sony Press release for January sales: http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/microsoft/archives/112018.asp?source=rss

Although we still saw supply constraints at retail for PS3, we did sell a strong 243,554 according to NPD data.

Phil Harrison: http://biz.gamedaily.com/industry/feature/?id=15342

I think the fact that we are able to have a very well organized, very well managed supply channel, which allows us to keep the stores restocked, is a really positive thing. You would be sitting here saying, "Why the hell are you out of stock? Why the hell can’t you manage the supply chain and why can’t people buy PS3s?"

and: The blue laser diode, as you well know, had a blip short-term ramp up issue, which is now past; that’s now behind us. That did cause us some challenges in being able to supply the launch worldwide, but that’s all resolved.

If Phil is speaking the truth, then why does the Sony press release say otherwise?
Sean

I definitely feel that the words "unprecedented demand" could only possibly describe the Wii. Before Christmas I waited in line 4 and a half hours to get one and still failed. Now that we’re in February I ONLY had to wait 1 hour this past weekend. Stores are still doing vouchers and still selling out in under 30 minutes (except for the rare, surprise shipment). For anyone playing the Wii it’s easy to see why Harris considers motion sensitivity "next-gen," so my question for Microsoft is whether there are currently any plans to add this functionality to the 360.

PS.. Wii Code 3428-8389-7022-4237.
Brad

Actually the Google (PSN) vs. AOL (XBL) thing is pretty accurate…AOL is an online service and Google is not…oh and Google is evil too!
Orc

BIZ: When you look at all the bad things associated with Blu-ray – the big cost it added to the PS3, the fact that it was mainly responsible for the initial shortage and delay to Europe, the slower disc read times – are you still happy with Sony’s decision to go with this technology?…

PH:[What you said regarding] disc speed is a complete myth. It makes no difference to the operation of the game whatsoever..

I thought it was well known that the Blu-Ray drive was over-all slower and was the reason why some games cache to the hard drive or placed repeated content on the disc for faster access. So is this not the case then or is this another lie by Sony??
droptop GP

He’s crazy. Next he’ll be see shaving his head and dropping out of rehab 3 times in 3 days.
http://www.satori.org madsax

Hey Orc,

The thing about the Blu-Ray is that yes, it is slower than current high-speed DVD drives, but not by a huge amount. Frankly, for all disc formats at this point in time, it just takes for frickin’ ever to fill up the amount of memory in these consoles. It’s not really a Blu-Ray issue, it’s a spinning disc platter issue
Lord Nerdious

I love how he states that Xbox is built exclusively around one brand. Yet, the 360 is outselling the PS3 without the help of Halo. I wonder if all these lies he tells will catch up to him?
Mack Attack 11

Sony and their whole cockiness makes me sick. The arrogance of how he says we do not need to drop the price our system warrants it. It is all about economics 101, supply and demand, and price points and quite frankly their price point is way to high (obviously that is why their units remain on store shelves) but they do not want to admit this. Secondly, his statement that MS is built around one IP is absurd. Are their heads that far up their @ss? I guess they are conveniently ignoring GOW, Crackdown, PGR, Mass Effect, Forza, Too Human, Fable, Alan Wake etc. They just want to address Halo. Halo is bad @ss but that is what put Xbox on the map and was an excellent entry point for MS but do they really think all the eggs are in one basket. I believe they need to look at their IP because it is looking pretty weak. I just don’t get it. They are typical PR people who spin everything to make it sound better for them. Yes they have built a nice brand in the PS and I was an original PS & PS2 owner but wanted something different so I converted to Xbox. Now I own a 360 and believe based on facts that at this time it is a far better system than PS3 for many reasons that have already been mentioned in previous articles. The biggest kicker is Xbox live. Online Xbox is unbelievable, the functionality it has blows my mind and its’ ease of use. I never though 10 years ago I would be gaming with some dude in France (I live in the US) and talking to him at the same time, big props to MS for their online pioneering.
Mazda3guy

Hey Ozy, I do have a question for you on Phil’s madness, two in fact:

"[What you said regarding] disc speed is a complete myth. It makes no difference to the operation of the game whatsoever."

Ignoring the obvious misuse of the term “myth” (since it is completely factual), what do you have to say about the idea that disc reading speed makes no difference to the operation of a game? Forgive me if I am wrong but if this were true, how exactly would you take advantage of the 25 or 50 (single/dual layer) gigs of information that are possible on a Blu-ray disc without encountering painful load times?

“Microsoft’s approach I think is far too built around a single game IP, one IP, and they could learn the benefits of a killer catalog rather than a killer application. And having the broad software support in multiple genres, in multiple categories, in multiple age groups is what really propels a platform for the long-term. So I think those are the differences that we see between the platforms.”

Frankly I just want to hear your rebuttal to such insane mumblings. In my opinion faulting Microsoft for the success of the Halo IP is like faulting Nintendo for the success of their happy plumber in overalls.
J.Goodwin

I’d be more likely to buy into the open platform = more choice for developers and gamers argument if there weren’t such obvious counter-examples. Oblivion is dropping on PS3 whenever it finally goes, and they’ve reported as recently as last week that they still have no idea what’s going on with DLC. They plan to do it, but they don’t know how.

That’s just bizarro world.

Instead of giving developers tools, Sony is giving them The Tool.

I’d like to know more about the type and amount of support provided by the ATG to 3rd parties. It’s not unusual to see the ATG guys in the credits on 360 games, so it would be interesting to know what when where and how much they’re doing to bring games to market.

How much of what ATG contributes to a given project is then available to other developers directly through updated dev kits? Are there certain areas that ATG is regularly being called in to help out on?
Anonymous

Re: "Ignoring the obvious misuse of the term “myth” (since it is completely factual), what do you have to say about the idea that disc reading speed makes no difference to the operation of a game? Forgive me if I am wrong but if this were true, how exactly would you take advantage of the 25 or 50 (single/dual layer) gigs of information that are possible on a Blu-ray disc without encountering painful load times?"

I’d suggest you read the following two posts that are a back-and-forth discussion on the topic with Mark Deloura (formerly head of dev relations at Sony). The short form is that you’re right – it’s not easy to fill memory quickly enough from optical media in general. Adding huge amounts of space doesn’t do anything to lessen the problem.

http://ozymandias.com/archive/2006/08/30/Blu-ray-Drive-Speed-More-Relevant-to-Games-Than-Capacity.aspx

http://ozymandias.com/archive/2006/08/31/Mark-Deloura-Comments-on-Relevance-of-Blu-ray-_2800_Oddly_2C00_-We_2700_re-in-Violent-Agreement_2900_.aspx
Anonymous

Re: "I’d like to know more about the type and amount of support provided by the ATG to 3rd parties. It’s not unusual to see the ATG guys in the credits on 360 games, so it would be interesting to know what when where and how much they’re doing to bring games to market."

ATG is actually the old name – GTG (Game Technology Group) is the current name. However, the guys are doing the same work. GTG does everything from code reviews and optimization to giving deep feedback on how to best use the capabilities of the system. They know the 360 inside and out and can help solve problems all developers might hit. I can’t give specific numbers, but I can tell you that the majority of titles that come in for performance help walk away with significant gains. This isn’t because the developers are "bad" or anything; it’s purely because the GTG guys really know every little trick to get the most out of the system. The best aspect is that the help GTG gives is documented for the developers so they can take the information back to the studios and learn more over time. This is one of the reasons you see second, third, fourth, etc. generation games looking better and better over time.
J.Goodwin

Dangit, I was aware that the name changed, but my brain reversed the change

Really, the GTG and Ninjas are, IMHO, probably some of the biggest contributors to Xbox and 360′s success from a software perspective, so it’s kind of sad that they can’t be more public with what they do.

Peter Parker syndrome, I guess. If Sony knew who and where, they’d probably send assassins after their families.
Anonymous

Re: "Really, the GTG and Ninjas are, IMHO, probably some of the biggest contributors to Xbox and 360′s success from a software perspective, so it’s kind of sad that they can’t be more public with what they do.

Peter Parker syndrome, I guess. If Sony knew who and where, they’d probably send assassins after their families."

It’s less that than these guys work with partner’s confidential information. And they simply can’t talk about it – we even have strict guidelines on who can talk about what to whom internally to protect partner’s IP and information. It’s the way it’s gotta be.
Mark

I loved this bit

BIZ: And are there any concessions you’re willing to make about something that they’ve done better than Sony?

PH: Well, I’d be delighted if Mario was to appear on a PlayStation platform. [grins]

Unfortunately, due to time constraints at DICE, the following questions had to be answered by SCEA and not Phil Harrison :)

Having read the whole thing I’d love to ask you a question but there isn’t really anything to ask. It just seems like they are reading from a pre formulated script… if question A is asked, reply with answer X. But how about answering the Biz question above that Phil avoided, but with regard to Sony?
http://www.onlinegamers.org Rasputin

I can’t really see ANYTHING he said that I could possibly come close to agreeing with. It just smacks of stupid hubris.

He says that Microsoft shouldn’t build around a single IP, apparently ignoring that the Playstation was the Little System That Final Fantasy Built, or that the NES was All Mario All the Time.

System success isn’t just determined by breadth of catalog but by strong central IP, and he’d do well to remember that. If the oft-mentioned rumors are true that Metal Gear Solid may show up on the 360, then the PS3 is in worse trouble than he thinks.
Anonymous

Re: "Having read the whole thing I’d love to ask you a question but there isn’t really anything to ask. It just seems like they are reading from a pre formulated script… if question A is asked, reply with answer X. But how about answering the Biz question above that Phil avoided, but with regard to Sony?"

That’s a tough one, especially if you focus on the PS3. The obvious answer is brand strength – the Playstation brand is quite powerful, and probably the biggest thing helping them maintain any momentum right now.
iwuzwhatiwuz

"If that means that for Wednesday through Friday there were a few machines on a shelf in a store in Milwaukee, great!"

Add to that a few machines in Lexington Ky (saw em’ at Gamestop, Wally world, and Best Buy), Knoxville TN (Wal-Mart), Cincinnati OH (Walmart, EB Games, Bestbuy) Ashland Ky, (Ditto). In truth I have YET to be in a city where one CAN’T find a PS3. I have seen Wii’s in stock at a few Wal-Marts (West Union Oh and Ashland Ky), but I have also seen Xbox 360 Pro SKUs OUT of stock several places. Werid huh Phil?
Matthew

"That’s a tough one, especially if you focus on the PS3. The obvious answer is brand strength – the Playstation brand is quite powerful, and probably the biggest thing helping them maintain any momentum right now. " - Ozymandias

I was just on engadget’s sub-blog of http://www.xbox360fanboy.com and someone posted this video, they did a good job with the song, an amusing watch

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R98qC0fd_1w&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Exbox360fanboy%2Ecom%2F
islandkiwi

Oz,

One of the earlier comments (it was Torrey) noted that a weakness of the Xbox (and of the 360) is a lack of gaming variety. I think we can all agree that if you’re looking for an FPS, look no further than the 360.

In your opinion, what type of games does the 360 need more of, and how does MS go about expanding the variety of their gaming library?
Strifer

How about we analyse the next Bill Gates interview?

I’m not saying PH isn’t a tool, but the constant Sony bashing on this site is getting a bit silly now.
http://www.citystate.co.uk/ Robin

Aah, you can always count on Ozy’s reactionary fanboy readers to systematically miss the point of quote after quote.

"My favorite quote is where the SCEA says that they are ‘google’ and XBL is ‘aol’. XBL is sooooo lame and unhip….not."

This analogy refers to XBL being a walled garden, whereas Sony’s offering is an open system. A more accurate analogy would be early 90′s AOL/Compuserve versus the WWW. It’s a comparison that will be borne out by the level of diversity that Sony’s offering will play host to, compared to the ultra-homogenised XBL.

"If there are ever online games that can only be done on the PS3 and not on the 360 I’ll be worried… but that’s not currently the case."

True cross-platform games and MMO games for a start. Throughout XBL’s history, the commercial strategy has ensured that we can’t exploit the platform’s actual technical capability.

"I thought it was well known that the Blu-Ray drive was over-all slower and was the reason why some games cache to the hard drive or placed repeated content on the disc for faster access."

Surely any device that has a HDD and an optical drive should cache as much as possible to the HDD?

"Yet, the 360 is outselling the PS3 without the help of Halo."

Maybe it’s something to do with being half the price and having a ton of games.

"In my opinion faulting Microsoft for the success of the Halo IP is like faulting Nintendo for the success of their happy plumber in overalls."

PH isn’t talking about Halo. He’s talking about the habit of relying on a single ‘event’ game every few months (e.g. Dead Rising, Gears), aimed at the same narrow audience, which sells tremendously to the same people who bought the last Big Thing. This isn’t the way to break a platform out of a niche demographic.

"He says that Microsoft shouldn’t build around a single IP, apparently ignoring that the Playstation was the Little System That Final Fantasy Built, or that the NES was All Mario All the Time."

I don’t think I need to explain why the statement above is clueless. Two systems that did phenomenally well over 7 years+ didn’t manage that through blind reliance on a single character, franchise or genre.
DevsterC

Ozy stated: "If there are ever online games that can only be done on the PS3 and not on the 360 I’ll be worried… but that’s not currently the case."

Robin responded: "True cross-platform games and MMO games for a start. Throughout XBL’s history, the commercial strategy has ensured that we can’t exploit the platform’s actual technical capability."

Cross-platform in which sense – ports from system to system of the same games? or playing one platform against another, like Shadowrun?

I agree XBL hasn’t been fully exploited yet – the XBLM marketplace alone is kinda klunky. But I’m not sure that it’s a forced inhibitor on game development; it’s more that developers haven’t yet glommed on to how to integrate it into their MMOs, and MS themselves seem to be a bit slow in doing much more than making it a matchmaking system (pretty decent, except for the lack of Zones playing a part) and a place to download patches or other stuffs – things the PC did already. Dunno how they’ll bust it out with functionality, but someone will.
Anonymous

Re: "If there are ever online games that can only be done on the PS3 and not on the 360 I’ll be worried… but that’s not currently the case."

True cross-platform games and MMO games for a start. Throughout XBL’s history, the commercial strategy has ensured that we can’t exploit the platform’s actual technical capability."

How do you define "true cross-platform"? I’ll be intrigued to find any definition that Live couldn’t technically do, even MMOs. A lot of these discussions come down to business terms, not technical issues. And business issues can generally be solved.

Phil Harrison D.I.C.E Interview – Bring your Questions!

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