Giggle..like a little school girl after reading this

[joeorc]

December 16, 2007
PS3's Tretton Praises Blu-ray
Comments: 6

Fascinating, hard-hitting interview with Jack Tretton, president and CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment America in Foster City, by San Jose Mercury News. Here are a few key points from the extensive interview that you should read in its entirety when you have time:

* On whether he believes Sony made a mistake in going with Blu-ray instead of HD DVD, given costs and market share of HD DVD:

"...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.
...When we first came out with the CD format as compared to cartridge, ...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.

* On PlayStation sales projections for this year:

We expect to sell 33 million pieces of hardware across the three platforms. And that breaks out to 12 million PS 2s, 11 million PS 3s, and 10 million PlayStation Portables, and then we don’t break out software, but our forecast is 250 million units of software across those three platforms.

* On dropping to #3 in next-gen gaming consoles representing a "disastrous" year for Sony:

...if we have 67 percent growth over last year in our revenue, and if 45% of all software sold is on our three platforms, I’ll take that kind of disaster all year long.

* On getting "wiped out in Japan... , losing share in Europe... ... behind in North America,... behind worldwide right now with the PlayStation 3":

... we outsold the Wii last month in Japan, and I think the traction for the PlayStation 3 is extremely good in all three worldwide markets.

* On perception that Sony has history of backing failed formats from Betamax to mini-disc to "the player that’s in the PSP":

Yeah, and we’ve had some history of having some success as well... 160 CE companies backing Blu-ray [editor's note: now more than 170], seven of the eight major studios backing Blu-ray [editor's note: now 7 out of 10 studios if you include MGM, New Line, Lionsgate and DreamWorks; or 4 of the other 6 "major studios"]; 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.

[Editor's Note: the interviewers did not respond with HD DVD statistics that are more superior or advantageous.]

http://www.hollywoodinhidef.com/blog_detail.php?id=145

[tiger roach]

The man knows what he is talking about.

[david2189]

lol hd dvd got served

[groovyone]

Originally Posted by joeorc

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.

This is the part that seems to get lost in the 'format war'. It isn't just movies!! BD has no HD DVD competition for software and a vastly larger selection for blank discs, etc.

[mystiksuicide]

The only companies that picked the wrong format are: Toshiba, Universal and for the time being Paramount.

[CptGreedle]

It is only a matter of time.
He it totally behind the format, and it shows.

[SamInNorthCakalakey]

I don't have a PS3 and don't game much anymore except on the Wii but are the PS3 games watered down to match the space limitations of the 360? Like Warner's BD releases are watered down so they can put the same thing on BD 's and DUD's?

[adamboy87]

How do you guys respond to people when they talk about the PS3 and how they are losing the console war? I understand blu is beating hddvd, but clearly the ps3 is selling less than wii and 360.

[Zaphod]

Originally Posted by mystiksuicide

The only companies that picked the wrong format are: Toshiba, Universal and for the time being Paramount.

Actually I think Paramount came out on top with this one. They are putting out crappy HD-DVD encodes and they got paid to do it. Talk about a great business model!

[SamInNorthCakalakey]

And they will eventually get paid again when they re-release these titles on BD. Smart people.

Originally Posted by Zaphod

Actually I think Paramount came out on top with this one. They are putting out crappy HD-DVD encodes and they got paid to do it. Talk about a great business model!

[ikbradley]

Originally Posted by adamboy87

How do you guys respond to people when they talk about the PS3 and how they are losing the console war? I understand blu is beating hddvd, but clearly the ps3 is selling less than wii and 360.

Couple of points:

(1) Overall, the PS3 is matching if not besting the 360 in overall sales. In North America, the 360 sells more. Overseas, the PS3 obliterates the 360. The statistics you are looking at are for North America only.

(2) The console war has just begun. Out of 200 million 6th generation console owners, only 25% have made the transition to the 7th. The overwhleming majority of adopters have been Gamecube and XBox owners, who were left with abandoned consoles. That means around 150 to 175 million 6th generation console owners have yet to make a choice (the majority being PS2 owners).

(3) The Wii is not competition for either the PS3 or the 360. It is a complimentary system and will bring more people into the 'gaming' community. Instead of Wii taking a piece of the pie, it is making a bigger pie. However, in terms of software sales, the Wii is predicted to have the lowest attach rate.

Hope that helps.

[Magic]

I love the way in which he answered each question. He threw PC and general courtesy out the window and was firing from the hip. Awesome!

[Luis_A51]

Originally Posted by ikbradley

Couple of points:

(1) Overall, the PS3 is matching if not besting the 360 in overall sales. In North America, the 360 sells more. Overseas, the PS3 obliterates the 360. The statistics you are looking at are for North America only.

(2) The console war has just begun. Out of 200 million 6th generation console owners, only 25% have made the transition to the 7th. The overwhleming majority of adopters have been Gamecube and XBox owners, who were left with abandoned consoles. That means around 150 to 175 million 6th generation console owners have yet to make a choice (the majority being PS2 owners).

(3) The Wii is not competition for either the PS3 or the 360. It is a complimentary system and will bring more people into the 'gaming' community. Instead of Wii taking a piece of the pie, it is making a bigger pie. However, in terms of software sales, the Wii is predicted to have the lowest attach rate.

Hope that helps.

All great points. Especially the last one. The problem with marketing your system to non-gamers (Wii) is that non gamers buy few, if any, games. Most are happy with wii sports/wii play and maybe the occasional mario game.

Also people keep forgetting that MGS4, GT5, GoW3 and FF13 arent out yet, and those will move a lot of systems. Even RE5, GTA4, DMC4 will move more units, as PS2 owners will have to upgrade to a next gen console. So far the only big PS2 franchise to make it to the PS3 has been ratchet n clank.

[tru2blu707]

i still dont understand that even with the HIGH failure rate of the 360 including using last gen format with dvd that people are still buying that piece of crap. show me one 360 game that runs at 1080p at 60fps..... i doubt there is any and i doubt there will ever be any. when the billion dollar franchise comes out(GT5) its gonna blow the competition outta the water

[Icemage]

Originally Posted by tru2blu707

i still dont understand that even with the HIGH failure rate of the 360 including using last gen format with dvd that people are still buying that piece of crap. show me one 360 game that runs at 1080p at 60fps..... i doubt there is any and i doubt there will ever be any. when the billion dollar franchise comes out(GT5) its gonna blow the competition outta the water

I think there's one 360 title that does it (Virtua Tennis 3), but by and large you're right. And it's a tennis game, so not exactly tons of things to render on the screen.

---

In regards to the question above about PS3 vs. 360 version games, the answer is "it depends". A number of the early launch PS3 games, as well as a number of games recently released, were ports of the 360 version, and suffered slightly in the process. However, more and more games are being independently developed (Assassin's Creed, Call of Duty 4) or being ported in the other direction (Devil May Cry 4), so we should start seeing multiplatform games that look and play better on the PS3 in due time, and at least for the time being they're holding their own.

---

On the original topic, this is one of the rare cases where Jack Tretton hasn't shoved his foot too far in his mouth, but his responses are still full of marketing doublespeak. I'm sure the guy is a great administrator (as confirmed to me by my casual acquaintances inside of Sony), but he's one of the worst Sony execs at giving interviews.

[Cyorg]

Originally Posted by SamInNorthCakalakey

I don't have a PS3 and don't game much anymore except on the Wii but are the PS3 games watered down to match the space limitations of the 360? Like Warner's BD releases are watered down so they can put the same thing on BD 's and DUD's?

Yes.

[xberserker]

Go Blu!

[kingofgrills]

I read that "article" and those guys are tools. The San Jose Mercury News game reporters are serious Microsoft fanboys. If you ever read their articles, they don't even try hiding their bias, and they smack the PS3 and kiss Micro$oft's @ss whenever they can.

At several points in the article they just tried baiting Jack with crappy XBox internet fanboy perceptions of the PS3 and Blu-ray. Fortunately, Jack kept his composure and gently called them on the fact they weren't actually asking questions.

He's great. They suck.

[joeorc]

Originally Posted by adamboy87

How do you guys respond to people when they talk about the PS3 and how they are losing the console war? I understand blu is beating hddvd, but clearly the ps3 is selling less than wii and 360.

say try again..

like Jack said in this so what if were 3rd the developers are still makeing the d@mn games for the system..its not like last time..this time the cost in development for the playstation 3 and the xbox360 cost so much for 3rd party there is going to be pretty much MULTI-CONSOLE releases anyway. as for 1st party.

"EXCLUSIVE'S" that will depend on the 1st party development houses, as for 3rd party "exclusives" there are not going to be many from 3rd party because it cost so much they have to pretty much go Multi-Platform.

SO the point is all 3 systems are going to do just fine this generation..fanboy's can cry all they want trying to say that My system is going to kill your system and make it fail.

got news for YA, it will not fail no matter how much they want it to. tell them to just deal with it ,shut up an play some games and enjoy what ever system they like.

[Psx0005]

Originally Posted by adamboy87

How do you guys respond to people when they talk about the PS3 and how they are losing the console war? I understand blu is beating hddvd, but clearly the ps3 is selling less than wii and 360.

Then I tell them that apparently they're more focused on watching numbers flash across a screen for their entertainment than playing some great games and not looking towards the future with the greatness that will be Gran Turismo 5, Final Fantasy XIII, and Metal Gear Solid 4!