Q&A with Sony U.S. games chief Jack Tretton

[BBlue]

Q: I want to ask you a little bit about — you guys are — you mentioned this right at the start — you’re looking at the 10-year product lifecycle and having a product that’s relevant over 10 years. One of the ways that you guys tried to do that was by building in the Blu-Ray disc format into the PlayStation 3. Like Dean said, there are many people who are ready to call this for the Wii, for this generation of consoles, there are also people out there now that are getting ready to call this battle between the HD-DVD and Blu-ray for HD-DVD. Is that beginning to look to you guys like a mistake that you went with Blu-ray instead of HD-DVD, given the costs and what market share has done of late?

A: I guess you might be seeing some numbers that I haven’t seen, but everything I’ve seen has Blu-ray outselling HD-DVD handily. And I think the other thing that’s lost on people getting into an HD-DVD-Blu-ray battle, is that Blu-ray is a great format for movie playback, but for the PlayStation 3, I think the most important thing is the Blu-ray drive for gaming and the ability to have 50-gigs of storage on a PlayStation 3 game as compared to 9 from our competition at max. And if you look at games like “Ratchet & Clank,” “Resistance” and some of the key games that we’ve shipped, you’re talking about games of upward of 24-gigs. And I think again, you can’t ignore history. When we first came out with the CD format as compared to cartridge, the storage capacity was incredible, and what you could do with gaming was incredible, and people said, “that’s amazing, it’s never going to get any better than that.” And then DVD came out, and initially people said, “Why do you really need DVD? CD has plenty of storage capability,” and five years later, 95 percent of the content was on DVD. I think you’ll see the same thing with Blu-ray. And people say, “Oh, 9 gigs is enough. You just put two, three, four discs in a box.” That obviously isn’t going to fly long term.

Q: Well, you guys pitched this as both, that it was not just — that the PlayStation 3, that having the Blu-ray in there was not just for the games, but also for — that this was going to be the Trojan horse to win the Blu-ray DVD battle, which Sony has placed a lot of bets on. Just because it’s in the PlayStation 3 doesn’t mean it’s going to win.

A: OK, well I’ll give you a couple of statistics that has me fairly confident: 160 CE companies backing Blu-ray, seven of the eight major studios backing Blu-ray, you’ve got Blu-ray content outselling HD-DVD two-to-one, and by an even greater margin worldwide. You’ve got a machine in the PlayStation 3 that’s got over 2 million units in North America that plays Blu-ray movies, and those to me are all positive signs. Now if you want to rattle off the HD-DVD statistics that are more superior to those and are more advantageous, I’m more than happy to listen.

http://blogs.mercurynews.com/aei/200...d_version.html

[Spankey]

What is with this bizarre HD-DVD support. The hostility towards Blu is amazing.

[Esox50]

Originally Posted by BBlue

A: [U]OK, well I’ll give you a couple of statistics that has me fairly confident: 160 CE companies backing Blu-ray, seven of the eight major studios backing Blu-ray, you’ve got Blu-ray content outselling HD-DVD two-to-one, and by an even greater margin worldwide.

He must have missed the memo back in August regarding Paramount

[kirs]

Originally Posted by Esox50

He must have missed the memo back in August regarding Paramount

Or...

[Crackbone]

Originally Posted by kirs

Or...

I was about to say the same thing. :P

[reiella]

Originally Posted by Crackbone

I was about to say the same thing. :P

Or he doesn't think very highly of either universal or paramount .

[Esox50]

Originally Posted by kirs

Or...

You guys are setting yourselves up for disappointment. I hope you're right, but expecting both WB and Universal to make strategy changes at CES is setting unrealistic expectations. Just my $0.02.

[Crackbone]

Originally Posted by Esox50

You guys are setting yourselves up for disappointment. I hope you're right, but expecting both WB and Universal to make strategy changes at CES is setting unrealistic expectations. Just my $0.02.

I've never gone on the record saying that CES is going to be the switching point. I think it's going to come in the first or second quarter, but as CES is part of the first quarter, it wouldn't surprise me.

However, Mr. Vaughn has gone on the record saying, If I were a betting man, I'd bet on WB exclusivity during CES. Of course, he didn't say which way they would go.

Kosty has also gone on the record over @ HDD, saying that many of the posters @ HDD are going to be disappointed with CES, however, that's about the extent of his predictions(and honestly, his track record isn't all that much greater than Plazman or Rdjam)

[Esox50]

Originally Posted by Crackbone

I've never gone on the record saying that CES is going to be the switching point. I think it's going to come in the first or second quarter, but as CES is part of the first quarter, it wouldn't surprise me.

I agree. I think WB will go BD exclusive late 1Q or early 2Q. Been saying that for a while. Universal is interesting. I think they'll have BDs on the shelf by late 3Q, but if they hear definitively of WBs plans and timing, they may do a pre-emptive...

[Esox50]

Originally Posted by Crackbone

Kosty has also gone on the record over @ HDD, saying that many of the posters @ HDD are going to be disappointed with CES, however, that's about the extent of his predictions(and honestly, his track record isn't all that much greater than Plazman or Rdjam)

On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being a major jerk*ff, rdjam is a 10. Kosty isn't far behind. I'd put him at about 8.

Remember two things related to Kosty and all the other HD DVD stroke offs out there:
1.)if they keep predicting something long enough, chances are at some point it will come true. Kosty being "right" about predicting Chinese players in the future is akin to me predicting the sun will rise tomorrow. His "out" is that the "timing is just off a little bit".

2.)in HD DVD stroke off fantasy land (i.e. using their logic), no bad news for HD DVD at CES (i.e. if Warner and Universal don't change strategies AT THE SHOW) will be construed as GOOD NEWS. When you're on what will eventually be the losing side & trying to co-exist, all you can do is dodge bullets. And when the bullets let up for a while after CES, you come out of your hole, and start cheering "Yay, we made it through unscathed."

Then the FUD-sters will take over from there. Step one will be discrediting any executive or Blu-Ray Insider comments re WB or Universal and the websites that posted the articles (Newsweek, Pali Capital, etc, etc). Step two will be when they start with the "This must mean that WB is going HD DVD", or "Disney is going Neutral", or "The BD companies didn't show enough BD Live players and PiP titles so HD DVD is better", etc

Watch and see (assuming nothing major happens re WB and Universal)...

[TheTenth]

Originally Posted by kirs

Or...

would he know something we don't? (crossing all fingers, even foots)

[jason_grumpy]

Originally Posted by TheTenth

would he know something we don't? (crossing all fingers, even foots)

I think this was the Gauntlet thrown down we were expecting from one of the other 5th element stones. So far, Lionsgate, Fox, and now Sony has tossed in something that raises eyebrows. Disney next?

PS, that 5 turns into 7 with Warner and the 2fer mentioned elsewhere....

[Spankey]

Add New Line and MGM and you get 7.

[jsb_hburg]

Originally Posted by BBlue

Now if you want to rattle off the HD-DVD statistics that are more superior to those and are more advantageous, I’m more than happy to listen.

Good comeback! on the HD DVD FUD.

I just don't see the Wii in the same product category as the PS3 from a product market definition standpoint. The Wii is simply not a next-gen console. Thus, saying that some are about to call it for the Wii is just too facile.

[reiella]

Originally Posted by jsb_hburg

Good comeback! on the HD DVD FUD.

I just don't see the Wii in the same product category as the PS3 from a product market definition standpoint. The Wii is simply not a next-gen console. Thus, saying that some are about to call it for the Wii is just too facile.

Until I see a third party game that well-utilizes the Wii's structure... I'm not going to go that way.

1st Party Development is strong with Nintendo, but they have had the longest of any studio-farm to develop and strengthen their franchise.

[Knight-Errant]

What's interesting is that everyone seems to like bashing Sony with words but seem reluctant to put their money where their mouth is if it means buying HD-DUD lol

[181]

Originally Posted by jsb_hburg

Good comeback! on the HD DVD FUD.

I just don't see the Wii in the same product category as the PS3 from a product market definition standpoint. The Wii is simply not a next-gen console. Thus, saying that some are about to call it for the Wii is just too facile.

The PS3 will eventually destroy the Wii. I own all three next-gen systems. The PS3 is by far the cleanest. People are hostile towards it because they think it's to expensive, but deep down they want one.

[MotionBlurr]

Originally Posted by 181

The PS3 will eventually destroy the Wii. I own all three next-gen systems. The PS3 is by far the cleanest. People are hostile towards it because they think it's to expensive, but deep down they want one.

I agree. A modified Gamecube is not going to cut it too long. People will need their fix of HD graphics which the PS3 was built to do. But there is no reason why a family can't have a Wii and PS3 next to each other in the family room.

[sj001]

The Wii will lose it's luster, I look at it as more of a curiosity, a very cool one, but I don't think it has the longstanding power that the XBox 360 or better yet the PS3 has. Hardly any games come out for it.

[181]

Originally Posted by sj001

The Wii will lose it's luster, I look at it as more of a curiosity, a very cool one, but I don't think it has the longstanding power that the XBox 360 or better yet the PS3 has. Hardly any games come out for it.

Yeah and a lot of people don't buy games for it, they just have Wii Sports which comes with the console. It's more of a conversational piece in the entertainment room. When guests visit, you can load it up, create a "Mii" character for them, play a few rounds of Bowling and then get bored of it.