SE Yoichi Wada Has High Hopes for PS3, expects Sony market to take off in 2008

[TheChefO]

Actually my wife would probably punch you if you mentioned the PS3 . Sore subject, cause my dad rubbed the fact that he has one and I don't in my face (we are both tech ppl, the only diff is he has a much bigger bank account ). My wife hated it, and was happy that he got one, cause then he stopped talking about it. I get the death look from her still (he has had one since like the beginning of January ) when we come across a store with one in it.

In other words, no . Wii on the other hand, is looked upon favorably .

I can see it from both your and your wife's side. As it is right now ps3 isn't a very good investment as the library is limited and the cost is prohibitive. Not to mention apparantly you don't play the 360 so why would you play a system with an even more limited library?

Then on the other hand, new tech is always nice.

 

[zed]

Actually in the comic strip they claim that they still can't find a wii...

not really, its a quip at the end, im sure if they went around to x number of shops they could also find some to take photos of, im betting NPD numbers for wii's is gonna be in the 100,000s, obviously ppl buy these in shops,
also if u read the piece
'Sony's Jack Tretton in early January, mentioned' now the comic strip is from 10th feburary, ouch! a month later
btw im not excusing Jack Tretton's comment, which is just plain idiotically stupid of him (and deserves to be made fun of)

 

[Nesh]

Lets talk about SE?

 

[Arwin]

Actually in the comic strip they claim that they still can't find a wii...

I remember when the PSP first came out. I imported myself a Japanese unit (from toysnjoys.com). Paid like 400 dollars for it. Now? It collects dust. Almost the same story with the 360. My wife would kill me if I spent 600 bones and then let it collect dust... I still want a PS3 and enjoy playing my dad's any chance I get.

Then it's your own fault. I imported a PSP as well, around about the same time as I met my fiancée (just for the record, we are both over 30 ). I have used it so much for so many different things that she (as do I obviously) feels it was well worth the money, and she didn't even object to getting a second psp, so I could keep upgrading the firmware on one, and code and homebrew on the other. She likes Loco Roco and Lumines. I think I actually use it daily, playing games and demos, listening to podcasts, even for browsing this forum while I'm on the john or in bed, stuff like that.

This has paid off to the point where she has offered to pay half of the PS3 and actually even pushed me to get an import PS3, which after long being very tempted I decided not to as I was starting a new job anyway and the EU launch was announced finally - it's still nicer to have local warranty, have decent PS2 compatibility (with the right region) and all that, plus there seemed to be potential problems with some NTSC progressive resolutions. (It doesn't seem to support 480p signals actually, but it does support 576p, 720p, 1080i, etc.)

Anyway, live and learn, mister.

 

[Arwin]

Lets talk about SE?

Yes, anyway, he could well be right. I think the PS3 is very strongly linked to HD television sets (as is the 360 currently - I don't often hear of someone who has a 360 and no HDtv). And since HD television sets are selling by virtue of TVs becoming larger, cheaper, and very importantly for a lot of people, flatter, they are driving CRTs out of the living room quite quickly. Even the people who didn't know what they were getting when they bought it (if they managed to miss out on the Samsung, Sony or Philips HD demos in the shops), they tend to find out. And as the price of the PS3 comes down and more and more HDtvs make it into the living room, and the familiar PS2 franchises start being released on the PS3, people will start buying the system.

I think SE will be able to do a great job with the new engine they already developed for FFXII, which lends itself well for the system. I think they already mentioned that they hope to use FMV for transitions that don't distinguish themselves in style from the actual gameplay, but may perhaps blend in scenes that have millions more polygons worked in there, relatively subtly.

 

[Rolf N]

Lets talk about SE?

Oh yes, Square Enix! They sometimes make eggcellent games (Final Fantasy X), and they also sometimes make garbage (Children of Mana). They are such a versatile company!

!!debunked!! [strike]FF XIII spin-offs have already been disclosed to release on the 360 if memory serves, right?[/strike] !!debunked!! So it's not a surprise that they at least keep the door open. Overall seems to be a polite, calm, collected exec type of person. I figure that's good for business

 

[Nesh]

Oh yes, Square Enix! They sometimes make eggcellent games (Final Fantasy X), and they also sometimes make garbage (Children of Mana). They are such a versatile company!

FF XIII spin-offs have already been disclosed to release on the 360 if memory serves, right? So it's not a surprise that they at least keep the door open. Overall seems to be a polite, calm, collected exec type of person. I figure that's good for business

wow never heard of this.

 

[avaya]

FF XIII spin-offs have already been disclosed to release on the 360 if memory serves, right?

No. Wouldn't surprise in the slightest now but no FFXIII spin-off's announced for the 360 yet.

 

[Rolf N]

Then I'm probably imagining things

Just hope and pray that The Kotaku's news-collector bot doesn't pick it up and post a story in the next half-hour.

 

[TheChefO]

My prediction:

Wii
Kingdom Hearts*

PS3
Final Fantasy*

All others will be multiplat unless their only sales potential is Japan in which I expect them to hit Wii first then ported to ps3.

>Dev costs vs profits<

*Kingdom hearts to wii due to the demographic and price of the platform and FF for the same, plus ability of the platform and standard of the IP to push tech.

 

[Nesh]

Wii
Kingdom Hearts

PS3
Final Fantasy

All others will be multiplat unless their only sales potential is Japan in which I expect them to hit Wii first then ported to ps3.

*Dev costs vs profits*

When was Kingdom Hearts announced for Wii?

edit: oops didnt see the "prediction" title

 

[tongue_of_colicab]

Wii
Kingdom Hearts*

PS3
Final Fantasy*

All others will be multiplat unless their only sales potential is Japan in which I expect them to hit Wii first then ported to ps3.

>Dev costs vs profits<

*Kingdom hearts to wii due to the demographic and price of the platform and FF for the same, plus ability of the platform and standard of the IP to push tech.

I dont think KH will come to the wii because of the demographic. If that was the case then why isnt it on GC already but instead on the more ''mature'' ps2? Though I do think you have a point now that all 3 consoles still havnt racked up a really big amount of sales.

 

[TheChefO]

I dont think KH will come to the wii because of the demographic. If that was the case then why isnt it on GC already but instead on the more ''mature'' ps2? Though I do think you have a point now that all 3 consoles still havnt racked up a really big amount of sales.

By default ps3 has priced itself out of the kids bedroom. I think the industrial design of ps3 vs ps2 reflects this as well.

Later in the consokes life it might make sense but this is years from now.

 

[Todd33]

Since when do kids play KH?

 

[Arwin]

Since when do kids play KH?

I've seen them do it.

Anyway, they could do it with relatively little effort on both Wii and PS2 - why not on both machines? Hey, maybe even the PSP. And then target a next-gen version at a time when next-gen starts becoming cheap enough for kids. Or make it for the 360 Core, of course, which isn't all that much more expensive than a Wii anyway. Maybe its for this that they bought the Unreal Engine 3 licence eh?

And people with PS3s can of course still play the PS2 version then.

 

[TheChefO]

Since when do kids play KH?

Fair question -
Is it people who spend $600 on a console/Bluray Player or people who spend(receive) $250 on a console with a myriad of games targeted at the demographic that appreciate Disney characters?

 

[Nesh]

Fair question -
Is it people who spend $600 on a console/Bluray Player or people who spend(receive) $250 on a console with a myriad of games targeted at the demographic that appreciate Disney characters?

There are those who are waiting to see KH under a next gen makeover who owned and loved their PS2, FF characters and Disney characters, who are also planning to get a PS3.

Who is saying that Wii owners necessarilly appreciate Disney characters more than PS2 and future PS3 owners?

The myriad games mean nothing. Most of them are uninteresting and are bought out of curiosity

 

[TheChefO]

There are those who are waiting to see KH under a next gen makeover who owned and loved their PS2, FF characters and Disney characters, who are also planning to get a PS3.

Who is saying that Wii owners necessarilly appreciate Disney characters more than PS2 and future PS3 owners?

The myriad games mean nothing. Most of them are uninteresting and are bought out of curiosity

Who would buy KH3?

Disney fans
KH fans
ps2 fans
j-rpg fans
Parents
etc.

I'd agree that the IP would stay with ps3 if ps3 was not priced outside the demographic. Because of it's price it will limit the number of people that can afford it. This will limit the way developers support the platform. Many of the above are no longer going to be a perfect match for the Playstation brand as the price of ps3 has limited the following of ps2 gamers to their next-gen platform. When this changes the issue can be revisited but as it is now:

Disney fans
KH fans
ps2 fans
j-rpg fans
Parents
etc

...are all affected by the price of ps3. So SE can either sit and wait for the price to change or they can support (make money) on another "nextgen" platform that has a lot of hype right now. If you were the developer/publisher which would you do?

 

[Fu3lFr3nzy]

It does look like KH is headed to the Wii, though I am one of those hopefuls that a PS3 version will also exist.

Im not knockin on the Wii, but I'd much rather see KH3 with better graphics and all that eye candy than a Wii version with (you guessed it) new controls and almost the same graphics as the PS2 version .

Who knows? SE likes to makes spinoffs, so maybe KH will get a Wii version while the main KH franchise remains on a Sony platform.

 

[Nesh]

Who would buy KH3?

Disney fans
KH fans
ps2 fans
j-rpg fans
Parents
etc.

I'd agree that the IP would stay with ps3 if ps3 was not priced outside the demographic. Because of it's price it will limit the number of people that can afford it. This will limit the way developers support the platform. Many of the above are no longer going to be a perfect match for the Playstation brand as the price of ps3 has limited the following of ps2 gamers to their next-gen platform. When this changes the issue can be revisited but as it is now:

Disney fans
KH fans
ps2 fans
j-rpg fans
Parents
etc

...are all affected by the price of ps3. So SE can either sit and wait for the price to change or they can support (make money) on another "nextgen" platform that has a lot of hype right now. If you were the developer/publisher which would you do?

360


+PS3 userbase will increase
+most KH fans experienced the series on the PS and will want it on the PS3
+KH development wont necessarilly start soon so all consoles might have a big enough install base
+Most KH fans probably arent kids and its by no means an easy game for kids
+SE isnt EA. If they want to give it all to a game they will. They wont just choose the biggest possible userbase without thinking of the abilities of the platform
+Wada himself expects PS3 to boost and show off a better face in 2008