Sony Interview (Please Translate)

[Anvil]

I came across this reference to an interview with Sony's Phil Harrison at another forum where it has caused a bit of a laugh (I guess regarding the use of motion detection in the controller). I will not post what was said but would rather have some level-headed people who understand (I believe this is German) translate some of the comments.

http://www.spiegel.de/netzwelt/netzkultur/0,1518,418642,00.html

 

[Bad_Boy]

thx to arne over at gaf

S O: How do you respond to statements made by people who say that you have appropriated Nintendo's idea of motion sensitive controllers?

Harrison basically says that it's not as simple as that, and he provided an example on how Sony first used real 3-D technology in 1994 and when N64 came on the market in 1996, no one was asking Nintendo the same questions -- the quote actually says "We didn't say, Nintendo you've used our idea!" He then says something about how innovation is driven by building upon technological advancements along with cost efficiencies, etc.


S O: But is it coincidence that two consoles with motion sensitive controllers come to market at the same time...

Harrison: We've been working on our controller for a long time and we're sure Nintendo has been working on their controller for a long time as well. The difference between our strategy and those of all others is that ours is built upon the Dual Shock controller, the de-facto industry standard for video game controllers. Then someting about how from selling 400 million controllers they have defined the standard by which people interact with game consoles (the man-machine interface). But now we've given this controller a new dynamic - montion sensing technology.


SO: How many games in the first year will use this new functionality?

Harrison: I expect that every game will use this functionality. We move the controller all the time when we play already, but now we can control how we play when we move the controller along with using the analog sticks as normal as well. That is a feature that only the Playstation 3 will be able to provide.

[skipping a bunch]

SO: Live anywhere question... Speaking directly about online, MS has announced "Live Anywhere" a plan that connects Windows PCs, Xbox 360 and mobile phones. Something about how perhaps how will Sony do this when they don't have as large a hold on the PC market as Microsoft has.


Harrison: No, I don't think so and I also don't believe that the consumer will buy into it. When someone has a video game console as their primary method for playing video games, then that's all they will use it for. We believe that the PS3 will allow the people to play our games, show our films, browse the Web and perform other PC functions. The PS3 is a computer. We don't need the PC (to be successful in our online plans -- based on context).

 

[Tap In]

The PS3 is a computer. We don't need the PC

ruh roh..


and so it begins.

Not sure if Sony is going to be able to market this to people as a "computer" though.

that's a pretty big stretch.
Blu Ray player?, gaming machine?, PC?

All 3? not sure if people are ready for that.

 

[Titanio]

ruh roh..


and so it begins.

Not sure if Sony is going to be able to market this to people as a "computer" though.

I think you're misinterpreting his comment. He was asked about Live Anywhere, connection to PCs etc. I think he's just saying they don't need the PC to be part of their online strategy, but obviously MS has a vested interest there, and wants to wrap it in. For them, Playstations are really the only platforms in the home that they have to carry and support.

 

[mckmas8808]

Oh god not here too. Don't read the babelfish version. Don't read it.

 

[Tap In]

I think you're misinterpreting his comment. He was asked about Live Anywhere, connection to PCs etc. I think he's just saying they don't need the PC to be part of their online strategy, but obviously MS has a vested interest there, and wants to wrap it in. For them, Playstations are really the only platforms in the home that they have to carry and support.

Perhaps.

this statement however, seems to describe the PS3 more broadly.

We believe that the PS3 will allow the people to play our games, show our films, browse the Web and perform other PC functions. The PS3 is a computer.

I am just not sure where they are going with this thinking. It's confusing to me as a consumer. I guess because I am so used to my PC as my main portal. I even text message people on Xbox Live through my xbox.com account (PC) as often as I do (or more) than on the 360.

 

[Tap In]

Oh god not here too. Don't read the babelfish version. Don't read it.

oh... is this making the rounds?

poor translation?

 

[aselto]

Oh god not here too. Don't read the babelfish version. Don't read it.

German isn't much different from English, babelfish doesn't have much space to completely change the meaning.
But anyway, I guess that Harrison just slams the idea of Live Anywhere, he didn't say that PS3 would replace PC.

 

[mckmas8808]

I am just not sure where they are going with this thinking. It's confusing to me as a consumer. I guess because I am so used to my PC as my main portal. I even text message people on Xbox Live through my xbox.com account (PC) as often as I do (or more) than on the 360.

It's not hard to understand at all. It's Sony's vision of the future. All 3 companies have a certain vision and this is Sony's.

 

[Arwin]

Quick summary/trans of the rest

BluRay
He answers about bluray that the BluRay Disc Association doesn't require HDMI to be built into BluRay Disc Players until 2011. Asked if the Sony Pictures division isn't worried about piracy, Phil replies that he thinks 50Gb of data will inhibit online downloads all by itself, no protection scheme required. In ten years time, sure, but not now, and not for a few years.

Microsoft's problems in Japan
He answers that Microsoft has recognised Japan is a special market with very strange and exotic tastes (not big fans of Halo or PGR3). This is a problem that Harrisson recognises and gives Sony a headache also. The Japanese have special tastes that needs to be respected.

European market
Asked if the European market has similar distinctions, Phil replies that although the U.S. and European markets are much closer, titles like eyetoy, buzz and singstar are much more popular in Germany for example than in most other continents, and have helped widen the Playstation demographic. Also, Germany has certain requirements of games (i.e. violence and age content restrictions) that Sony needs to respect (i.e., they needed to make a special Vice City for PSP for 16 year olds, many people may not know this but the German edition comes in two versions)

What games would you like to play on next gen consoles?
I like racing games, those I probably play most. But in the next-gen I'm most interested in community type games where communication and social interaction play a big part. Phil then describes his admiration for myspace.

Interviewer remembers that Phil mentioned myspace on E3 which he thought was interesting to hear from a console manufacturor. Phil explains that the wonder of myspace is that the power of a network isn't the platform it is on, but the people it connects and what those people bring into it.

Interviewer goes on to say that for the Playstation network, people will have to buy themselves a playstation. Does Phil think these people will build up communities on that network also?
Phil answers that the Playstation 3 has a built-in web-browser with which people can actually also use myspace.

Interviewer: "That sounds as if you have plans to make additional connections there"
Phil: That's right, but I can't comment further on that just yet.

 

[Arwin]

I am just not sure where they are going with this thinking. It's confusing to me as a consumer. I guess because I am so used to my PC as my main portal. I even text message people on Xbox Live through my xbox.com account (PC) as often as I do (or more) than on the 360.

Considering the rest of the interview, I think Phil's answer would be that you can access your xbox.com account through the PS3 browser as well and text message people from there using a USB keyboard and mouse.

 

[Titanio]

Perhaps.

this statement however, seems to describe the PS3 more broadly.



I am just not sure where they are going with this thinking. It's confusing to me as a consumer.

He didn't say it was a PC. He said it was a computer, which it is. The babelfish says that PS3 will let its users play games, movies, browse the web and other "computer" functions. That does not a PC make, and he did not say it was a PC. Sony has spoken before about Playstation as a computer, but specifically as a different type of home computer, not a PC. I think that's all he's really saying there.

I think his point in the context of this question is that the functionality that is relevant to Sony's strategy, some of which may be shared with PCs, is already in the PS3, so they don't need to start connecting the two platforms. Sony has no interest in Windows are in building synergies between Playstation and PCs, but obviously MS has some more motivation for that.

 

[Bad_Boy]

Oh god not here too. Don't read the babelfish version. Don't read it.

Yeah kinda reminds me of the mistranslation of Famitsu when the DMC4 threads started appearing recently.

 

[Powderkeg]

When someone has a video game console as their primary method for playing video games, then that's all they will use it for.We believe that the PS3 will allow the people to play our games, show our films, browse the Web and perform other PC functions. The PS3 is a computer.

This seems to contridict itself to me.

If someone has a video game console as their primary method of playing games then that's all they will use it for.

Thus people who buy the PS3 must not plan on using it as their primary method of playing games, or they wouldn't bother buying it for the films, browsing the web, or performing other PC functions.

This would mean people who do buy a PS3 for those non-gaming purposes would need to buy a different console to act as their primary method of playing games. Since most people seem to think the Wii is a great secondary console, by process of elimination he is saying the 360 will be most peoples primary method of playing video games.

Right?

 

[Titanio]

This seems to contridict itself to me.

If someone has a video game console as their primary method of playing games then that's all they will use it for.

Thus people who buy the PS3 must not plan on using it as their primary method of playing games, or they wouldn't bother buying it for the films, browsing the web, or performing other PC functions.

This would mean people who do buy a PS3 for those non-gaming purposes would need to buy a different console to act as their primary method of playing games. Since most people seem to think the Wii is a great secondary console, by process of elimination he is saying the 360 will be most peoples primary method of playing video games.

Right?

That makes absolutely no sense. One machine can be both your primary games machine and a primary movie player, for example. They're not mutually exclusive ideas. It could be your primary games machine and a movie player on the side with occasional browsing. Any combination of usage is possible.

A machine being your primary source of something does not mean it can't be a primary source of something else or that you only bought it for that. It just means that it's the machine you go to most often to enjoy that content - it doesn't say anything about how else you might use it.

edit - I see how that translation is confusing. Spiegel's own translation, or perhaps the direct quote in fact is:

"No, it doesn't concern me and I don't think it concerns the consumer either. Once you adopt a game system as your primary entertainment device, that's what you want. We think that Playstation 3 is the place where our users will be doing their gaming, their movie watching, their Web browsing and a lot of other computer entertainment functions. That will satisfy them. Playstation 3 is a computer. We don't need the PC."

I think he's referring to wanting all your desired functionality out of a primary entertainment box, not mixing together different machines for that.

That quote is clearer still in that it specifies "computer entertainment" as the other functionality, not just the more general "computer functionality".

 

[Tap In]

It's not hard to understand at all. It's Sony's vision of the future. All 3 companies have a certain vision and this is Sony's.

I understand that.

I just don't think it makes sense to try to replace the PC interaction by trying to create an online browser community based around an entirely different machine, while on a TV, in the living room. Hence my confusion why they would dilute a product as powerful as the PlayStation name by trying to sell it as a all-in-one machine.

I think they would rule the market and made more sense to me by staying on target as a gaming machine that plays movies and goes online for gaming and connecting with people within that context. But My space on your tv?

This message is too diluted for me as a consumer.
Maybe my brain is too mushy at the moment (cold medicine) but I'm not feeling that it's focused enough on what matters, the games.

Considering the rest of the interview, I think Phil's answer would be that you can access your xbox.com account through the PS3 browser as well and text message people from there using a USB keyboard and mouse.

yes, I thought of that too, but again, I'm already sitting at my PC (lways on), when I want to play a game then I fire up the gaming console.

 

[Powderkeg]

That makes absolutely no sense. One machine can be both your primary games machine and a primary movie player, for example. They're not mutually exclusive ideas. It could be your primary games machine and a movie player on the side with occasional browsing. Any combination of usage is possible.

Not according to Harrisons statements.

When someone has a video game console as their primary method for playing video games, then that's all they will use it for.

edit - I see how that translation is confusing. Spiegel's own translation, or perhaps the direct quote in fact is:

"No, it doesn't concern me and I don't think it concerns the consumer either. Once you adopt a game system as your primary entertainment device, that's what you want.

That would be a drastically different interpretation. Mis-interpreting a word or two I could understand, but mis-interpreting the entire sentence?



Either way it's a typical PR statement by a corporate head. Not something to be taken too seriously since it's doubtful he knows anything more about the PS3 than what he is told by department heads in corporate meetings.

 

[Tap In]

He didn't say it was a PC. He said it was a computer, which it is. The babelfish says that PS3 will let its users play games, movies, browse the web and other "computer" functions. That does not a PC make, and he did not say it was a PC. Sony has spoken before about Playstation as a computer, but specifically as a different type of home computer, not a PC. I think that's all he's really saying there.

I think his point in the context of this question is that the functionality that is relevant to Sony's strategy, some of which may be shared with PCs, is already in the PS3, so they don't need to start connecting the two platforms. Sony has no interest in Windows are in building synergies between Playstation and PCs, but obviously MS has some more motivation for that.

phrased like that, I understand the point (in that context).

but, maybe they should hire you to do their interviews then as you are better at boiling down the confusing/conflicting messages.

 

[Titanio]

Not according to Harrisons statements.

I'm not arguing with you, but that contridicts what Harrison said.

You're looking at a babelfish translation.

Look at the real thing, Spiegel's own english version, which is probably Harrison's original words:

http://service.spiegel.de/cache/international/0,1518,419072,00.html

No, it doesn't concern me and I don't think it concerns the consumer either. Once you adopt a game system as your primary entertainment device, that's what you want. We think that Playstation 3 is the place where our users will be doing their gaming, their movie watching, their Web browsing and a lot of other computer entertainment functions. That will satisfy them. Playstation 3 is a computer. We don't need the PC.

phrased like that, I understand the point (in that context).

but, maybe they should hire you to do their interviews then as you are better at boiling down the confusing/conflicting messages.

It's a language issue here.

 

[Tap In]

....
I think he's referring to wanting all your desired functionality out of a primary entertainment box, not mixing together different machines for that.
....

see, that's where they lost me.

I'm just not buying into that strategy. Maybe I'm wrong, but I see the PS name as a game console. they have a tough road to hoe to change that perception to an all-in-one machine IMO.

edit: oh... and I could buy into the strategy if all of the same functionality was on my PC (at an affordable price with the same games and support and ease of use). As contradictory as that may sound, it may be a combination of convenience, proximity to the screen (compared to a tv) privacy of use or habit.