Phil Harrison Resigns?

[archangelmorph]

I've worked in big companies long enough to know that changing one guy at the top is going to change very little.

I disagree with your sentiment here..

Executives in Phil's position have a clear role in the vision & direction the company persues.. Everything from identifying talent, to acquisitions, to defining future product focus, to greenlighting 1st second & 3rd party developments in line with the established vision people like phil have a vital role in ensuring the success of the hardware platform by making it what it is..

If he was the only person in the company at the time to see potential in an IP like Singstar which would then go on to become a multi-million-selling franchise then don't you think he would deserve some credit for it?

At the end of the day Sony is pretty much in the position that it's in because of the executive decisions made by people like Phil & Ken/Kas & so that's why it's sad to see someone like this go.

Hopefully he ingrained enough of his vision into his subordinates so that, come the time someone is promoted (hopefully, & not brought in from outside...), his successor can carry it on in the same vein & sustain some of the successes that Sony's software development studios' have had over the past several years..

 

[archangelmorph]

And whats up with Kaz handling all the duties? shouldnt Peter Dille and Jack Tretton get a piece of that pie?

What the heck would a marketing VP know about managing software studios & product development?

 

[patsu]

Whaaa ?! It's a huge loss to Sony. Phil is charismatic and single handedly saved Playstation early last year.

I think Kaz took over (temporarily) because it's a worldwide role.

 

[inefficient]

I disagree with your sentiment here..

Executives in Phil's position have a clear role in the vision & direction the company persues.. Everything from identifying talent, to acquisitions, to defining future product focus, to greenlighting 1st second & 3rd party developments in line with the established vision people like phil have a vital role in ensuring the success of the hardware platform by making it what it is..

If he was the only person in the company at the time to see potential in an IP like Singstar which would then go on to become a multi-million-selling franchise then don't you think he would deserve some credit for it?

Basically Phil's role is like one of the judges on American Idol. Guys and girls go up in front of him, pitch their ideas to them. He either shoots them down, or lets them live on. In the end, the public will decide what idol/game they choose. The execs/judges just sort of prune the options.

But I don't think you can ever say, Simon Cowell made X persion who he/she is. No that tooks years of work on behalf of the actual talent. The good talent gets chosen and goes on to sucess because they are able to sell themselves. Same way I don't think you can ever say Phil Harision made X game what it is today.

 

[archangelmorph]

Basically Phil's role is like one of the judges on American Idol. Guys and girls go up in front of him, pitch their ideas to them. He either shoots them down, or lets them live on. In the end, the public will decide what idol/game they choose. The execs/judges just sort of prune the options.

But I don't think you can ever say, Simon Cowell made X persion who he/she is. No that tooks years of work on behalf of the actual talent. The good talent gets chosen and goes on to sucess because they are able to sell themselves. Same way I don't think you can ever say Phil Harision made X game what it is today.

Strawman arg..

I never said he did..

I merely expressed the fact that X person wouldn't have necessarily succeeded based on their talent alone if all the other bigwigs in the industry told her that her "style" of singing wouldn't sell to todays markets. & similarily if Simon Cowell was the only one who recognised a potential market for x person's fresh & unique talent then he clearly deserves to take "some" measure of credit in her success, provided he signs her & she does succeed of course..

 

[Nesh]

Noooooooo. Phill was the only guy from Sony I loved listening to

 

[Shifty Geezer]

Indeed. No-one's taking away from the ground crew here to give Harrison all the glory. Only recognising that he embraced another side the market that other people were turning a blind eye, and gave the ground-crews a chance to do their thing. If Harrison hadn't have been in charge at that point, there's very good reason to think thing like SingStar and EyeToy would never have happened.

 

[2real4tv]

Excellent speaker reminds me of Tony Blair in his presentation, hopefully Sony will keep a close relationship

 

[Archgamer]

My feeling on this has exactly to do what Phil said at GDC. Phil and Kaz probably didn't see eye to eye. If Ken was still around one would think he would share Phil's vision and brought in social gaming to Japan. Phil did admire him a lot even though some people regarded Ken Kuturagi as crazy with his PR stunts.

 

[patsu]

Excellent speaker reminds me of Tony Blair in his presentation, hopefully Sony will keep a close relationship

Yes, that is the minimum Sony should do (I think Phil should be good enough to start a promising project). They should get him on-stage again in one of the Playstation events.

My feeling on this has exactly to do what Phil said at GDC. Phil and Kaz probably didn't see eye to eye. If Ken was still around one would think he would share Phil's vision and brought in social gaming to Japan. Phil did admire him a lot even though some people regarded Ken Kuturagi as crazy with his PR stunts.

May be, may be not. Phil should already know about his departure in GDC 2008 before he criticized his Japan colleagues. But do you have some back stories to share about Kaz and Phil's relationship ?

 

[Archgamer]

May be, may be not. Phil should already know about his departure in GDC 2008 before he criticized his Japan colleagues. But do you have some back stories to share about Kaz and Phil's relationship ?

I don't have any back story. I'm just trying to make an educated guess here. I would think that any frustrations they had in the past was just handed professionally by not leaking information out as oppose to Howard Stringer trying to invite Kuturagi over for dinner.

In any case I don't think Phil leaving will change how Sony will run the show. The same way how Peter Moore was for MS. Sony will still push for Home upgrades, Europe continues to boom and Sony Japan doing what they currently are doing as in not caring much about Phil's vision. Stuff like that.

 

[Zassk]

I've worked in big companies long enough to know that changing one guy at the top is going to change very little.

Policy is set at the top by people like Phil. Policies like "let's launch at $599" vs. "cut anything necessary so we can launch at $399".

 

[archangelmorph]

Policy is set at the top by people like Phil. Policies like "let's launch at $599" vs. "cut anything necessary so we can launch at $399".

Errrr...

Except Phil's a software guy..

 

[Shifty Geezer]

Eurogamer have a biography up : http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=93413
I think one of the key difference with Phil was he was a software guy coming at the concept from the thing that actually makes it what it is. If they replace him with 'an executive' than Sony will lose that insider understanding of the industry.

 

[nAo]

Maybe he left to be a part of new venture that will try to launch a new gaming platform (hw and sw) for the next console cycle [/wild wild speculation]

 

[Cornsnake]

Even wilder speculation. Ken Kuturagi will design the CPU.

 

[Cyan]

I'm with Nesh here, I liked his style. There is an Eurogamer article by Rob Fahey called Retrospective: Phil Harrison, which I find very interesting as it lists what could be some possible explanations about his departure, like the "infamous" Target Renders (2005) or Sony's internal divides.

http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=93413

 

[slider]

Shame to see him go from such an influential position. I'm of the opinion that this is the worst news to hit Sony for a while (although I'm sure some of you more ardent followers will have other opinions).

The best thing about Phil was that he always spoke coherently and, in my limited experience at least, addressed the issues that were of interest to gamers and more specifically PS3 owners. I guess Sony rolled him out at crucial junctures for a reason.

The Atari news is surprsing.

 

[Nesh]

I feel that the absence of Phill will cost me as a Playstation consumer. He was the only person that kept his words in perfect balance with reality and vision and the only one who could communicate with the market. None of other Sony executives have managed to pass the message to the consumers like Phill did.

The others created damage and often showed that they didnt know much about the product they were working for. They many times said things that werent true. Not intentionally but because they didnt have much knowledge of the product or the consumer that the product was targeted to. Jack Tretton for example probably had no idea about the nature of the footage shown at E3 2005 Sony conference, and he also got confused in the latest E3 referring to multiplatform games as being exclusives. Kaz Hirai also seemed to give too much emphasis to Ridge Racer without realizing that people no longer cared much about it. Know your consumer!!

With the absence of Phill, all these people are left to do damage because of their distance from the actual business model and the customer, lacking the right talent to communicate with us. As a result the product although may be destined to be a success, it could actually fail, leaving unsatisfied and disappointed consumers because of their false impressions about the offerings and the consumer.

In every presentation or interview or sharing of vision Phill Harisson made a difference. You knew you were going to get honest information as well as a message about a vision that is tangible and highly promising. You felt that he wanted the Playstation to be a product aimed for out satisfaction. The others gave the impression that the Playstation was just another product to bring money. They did not leave their mark.

I wish Phill would never leave from Sony. He is the person I felt trust for and generated optimism for my purchase

 

[wco81]

Maybe he left to be a part of new venture that will try to launch a new gaming platform (hw and sw) for the next console cycle [/wild wild speculation]

Wouldn't the barrier to entry be pretty high by now?

How many entities are prepared to lose billions to develop and subsidize hardware, build up a distribution channel from scratch against 3 entrenched competitors, then line up software support, including pay for exclusives and/or buy up key IP?