Game Informer interviews Sony's Phil Harrison

[JTK]

You all will enjoy this.

Just watch how much FUD and misinformation gets shot down in short order here.

The latest issue of GameInformer magazine, December 2006, page 26.

Interview with Phil Harrison, Sony's president of worldwide studios:

It's a good interview but here's the most relevant portion:

Originally Posted by Game Informer

Question:

Minidiscs and UMD have struggled as media formats. Are there concerns about BD not taking off as a format?

Answer:

Well, first of all, MiniDisc is still the number one personal portable, digital recording format ion the world, 15 years after it came out.


Question:

But it didn't have the impact on teh general consumer that, say, the cassette tape had.


Answer:

No, because the world is digital now, the world's not tape. The UMD movie catalog on the PSP is over 400 strong. There are a huge number of games for the PSP that use UMD and we'll continue to push that format very strongly.


Now your question about BD discs needs to be clarified.

BD is NOT a Sony proprietary format and that was clear in Jack's presentation.

We are a partner of a much larger consortium that represents 80 percent of the consumer electronics industry, the world's largest computer companies, Dell and Apple, and also the consortium includes the vast majority of the major Hollywood Studio content.

Sony Pictures alone represents more than HALF the films EVER made with MGM and Sony Pictures.

So I don't believe there is any debate about BD discs being the next generation of high definition movie format for the industry and for the world.

But that is completely incididental to the fact that we need BD discs as a game format. You can see from the richness and detail that's going in to our games that we absolutely require the storage capacity.


Question:

On a gamer level, some people are talking about how BD holds more, but DVD is accessible faster.

Answer:

That is not correct.

It (BD) is indistguishable from DVD. You saw it today that the loading times are not an issue. When you've got that much content accessible, the benefits of Blu-Ray discs are clear.

There is NO consumer downside whatsoever.

[dialog_gvf]

There needs to be some perspective here. When people talk about Minidisc, like BD, there are two worlds:

(1) Pre-recorded content
(2) Personal recording

Minidisc was a complete flop in the pre-recorded arena, at least in NA. That can't be denied. However, over 100,000,000 Minidisc players and recorders have been sold, making it by far the most successful portable recording format. I've had four myself, the latest a Hi-MD (1GB discs) that allows me to carry my entire music collection and serves as a dump drive for my digital picture taking (a cheap card reader that dumps to the recorder).

Now, with BD, something similar could happen. It could be a flop for pre-recorded but a massive success for recording. But, I think that can only really happen if there are BD burners that read HD DVD (combo drives).

Now, UMD was an OK choice for delivering games. But, it was totally moronic for movies when the prices they could charge made them more expensive than DVD, and they supplied the tools for people to rip DVD to MemorySticks. It was only a matter of time before the consumer saw the value route, and UMD movies died.

It killed Mini-DVD though. While 8cm recordables thrive for camcorders.

Gary

[dobyblue]

Awesome post and Phil Harrison putting this issue to bed is a good thing.

[hyperdine]

Phil Harrison = FUD Killer

[BTBuck1]

Originally Posted by dialog_gvf

UMD movies died.

UMD movies are not dead, Sony will continue to support it...and if what was said is true, they have 50% of the movies ever made, that should suffice for a portable player. Not to mention what was also made 400+ movies, should be a rather large library for anyone to pick through.

[JTK]

Originally Posted by Brian@BBY

UMD movies are not dead, Sony will continue to support it...and if what was said is true, they have 50% of the movies ever made, that should suffice for a portable player. Not to mention what was also made 400+ movies, should be a rather large library for anyone to pick through.

But how about this?:

Sony Pictures alone represents more than HALF the films EVER made with MGM and Sony Pictures.

That's a critical obstacle for HD-DVD isn't it? From where I sit, that's downright insurmountable since we all know that nothing even remotely associated with Sony will ever support anything but BD to the bitter end.

[BTBuck1]

Originally Posted by JTK

we all know that nothing even remotely associated with Sony will ever support anything but BD to the bitter end.

yeah, you and I are on the same page...

[phloyd]

I like my UMD movies especially when I travel.

With the number of titles available I have quite a few titles that I am happy to watch over and over so really for me the format is a complete success. It makes me real happy when I get a Universal title like Bourne Identity or Shaun of the Dead on eBay I think I am becoming a bit of a Universal Studios hater... sigh!

[Blackraven]

Originally Posted by Brian@BBY

UMD movies are not dead, Sony will continue to support it...and if what was said is true, they have 50% of the movies ever made, that should suffice for a portable player. Not to mention what was also made 400+ movies, should be a rather large library for anyone to pick through.

Movies on proprietary formats still don't do too good and what's even worse is that the UMD movies are still heavily region-locked like DVD.

It looks like they may not die BUT they won't grow too fast either. As for me, it's not worth buying UMD movies (especially when Samurai 7 UMDs only work on Japanese PSPs)

Yet, in the case of Mini Disc, it ain't that bad. It died in America but it is still VERY POPULAR in Japan. Heck, even their Lexus cars in Japan have MD cartridge slots so that means MD is still a leader in the land of the rising sun.

Same goes for Memory Stick. I do love memory sticks (more than SD and probably compact flash cards) as these are an integral part of the Handycam line.

Sure the cost is exorbitant (even if prices have dropped) but these sticks are RELIABLE and they don't break down on you easily. Best place to store images from your Handycam

Although I agree Memory Sticks for movies ARE DUMB, they are excellent for personal storage of photos, music and small-sized videos.

[dialog_gvf]

Originally Posted by Brian@BBY

UMD movies are not dead, Sony will continue to support it...and if what was said is true, they have 50% of the movies ever made, that should suffice for a portable player. Not to mention what was also made 400+ movies, should be a rather large library for anyone to pick through.

Bad choice of words on my part. Instead of "dies" I should have said "sales collapse". Prices and alternate methods hurt UMD sales.

It's too bad they didn't use a Mini-disc form factor. Hi-MD for one layer would have been awesome. Mini-disc recorders are USB PC burners too. And discs would be $2 each by now. Or, make the PSP a Mini-disc recorder itself, rather than just a player. It would have been a massive new shot of life.

Gary

[Dave]

BD is NOT a Sony proprietary format and that was clear in Jack's presentation.

This should shut up most SONY haters!

[56@Yamamoto]

Not SONY, but rather Panasonic technically.