I'll say it: I like Phil Harrison. As the President of Sony Computer Entertainment's Worldwide Studios, he seems to really know what's going on. Phil seems to be moving the brand in a good direction, and he has done a pretty good job of being the face for Sony's games division. That being said, when it comes to interviews, he seems to only answer the questions he likes, and the rest are dodged so gracefully that you'd have to see it in "bullet time" to really get what happened.
To be fair, Phil did a pretty good job in this Tokyo Game Show Gametrailers interview. He responded to questions about the balance of PlayStation Network titles to Blu-ray disc games, talked about why Lair didn't support analog stick control, and gave Sony's take on the rise of casual gaming.
When asked about the overall reception of Heavenly Sword, Phil had some great points about how some members of the media were quick to discredit the game due to its short length. We were totally with him until he said, "not that many people finish games." Aw, Phil, you were doing so well!
He also said that Home is "out", when it really isn't (closed betas don't count, Phil), and then began a dodge attempt that you can actually see with the naked eye -- no "bullet time" needed.
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Oh us gamers and our short attention spans... WTF? Doesn't being a gamer imply we sit in front of games for long periods of time? That's a good way to defend a short game, saying gamers don't finish games anyway.
I'm also 100% sure Sony forced Factor 5 to use motion control, that's an outright lie right there. Factor 5 knows how to do flight control (Rogue Squadron anyone?) and they wouldn't FORCE players to use motion control if Sony hadn't forced them.
Like everything else Sony does wrong it's not their fault! Spin it some more Sony!
I'll buy into the idea that not that many people finish games. Or at least that a lot of people don't finish. I don't have a lot of time to play, so I'd rather get a little taste (maybe 30-50%) of a lot of things than just play through a couple of games.
Sony=casual gaming?
I can think of Nintendo as a casual gaming console. With the Ds, grab the Brain Age, do a Sudoku, play later. Or grab MArio play some levels and turn the game off.
Just can´t imagine Sony as casual gaming.
Even worse, introducing a console that fans claim to have the best hardware around (and i am sure it has) don´t go with the term "casual".
600 bucks for a console isn´t "casual" money.
Of course I don't finish most games. Most games suck ass. I however have no problem playing a week long Bioshock or World in Conflict marathon. Sony bigshots = fail (nothing new here)
My favorite part was when he acted surprised that people said HS was only 6 hours long and that only the most hardcore testers who played the game everyday could beat the game in 6 hours.
That and he only cited one 5 star review to say that the mass media and gaming critics all hailed HS as great.
Phil is pretty much right. You'd have to be a Sony hater or come in it with expectations of him being a liar to come away any differently. Some games are short. Gears was short, Ive played through 6 missions in 2 hours in Halo3, no sweat-Heavenly Sword is awesome. Play it, trade it in, or rent it for a week for 8 bucks at blockbuster-Hes right its Factor 5 who blew it with the lack of analog stick, not Sony's. They dont mandate(love the bias even in the questioning) The hate and bias of company fanboys is so laym now. Shouldnt we be fans of GAMES-not Microsoft or SOny or Nintendo. If a good game comes out on any given system dont bash it just because its on the "other" system youre too broke to buy but would like or whatever. If you like games that would imply you like games regardless of what system. Most mature people realize both the 360 and PS3 rock-those who dont have a prejudicial axe they love to grind and are just plain ignorant!
I don't know, the longer the game, the less likely I am to finish it. I own a lot of RPGs, and I hardly ever beat any of them. I don't even know why I bother sometimes. A game like Halo 3, I'll play a mission a day. Sure, I could go through the entire game over the course of two or three days (maybe even a single day if I started early enough), but I play games in short spurts. That, and I like to play games perfectly, acquiring all the secret items or collectibles in my first playthrough. That requires some reading up on GameFAQs.
I'm not defending Phil Harrison, but I simply own more games than I can reasonably play, so I can agree with him insofar that I don't beat many of the games I own. How that translates into the community at large, I haven't the foggiest.
he's right, i never seem to finish games. i finish grand theft auto games, and i finished flow. [not real hard] i did finish resistance, but i don't get a chance to finish much else.
I'm surprised that no one's tried to make the claim "Sony is even helping more by having less games, giving you more time to finish the games that are released."
Claiming that people don't finish games is no justification in making it ridiculously short, especially for all the delays. (This goes for all games, Halo 3, HL2: Ep1, Bioshock, but at least they're not blaming the gamers for wanting something more.
i also wanted to say this. looking over the playstation 1 & 2 library, i see plenty of more casual games. mr mosquito, mad maestro, cookies & cream, et cetera... are what i would consider 'casual' games and all those games are very good, fun games. they may not be for everyone, but there is a good deep variety of game types available from the playstation catalog
so those that say playstation hasn't done anything casual, or has tried to find a fill in that market sector, just really haven't look into many games outside of the more marketed games.
I would agree that I finish games that I WANT to finish. Lots of games are released that just suck and I don't want to bother finishing. Although, a game like HS is pretty fun, and I did enjoy it, would I pay $60 for it? No, it's to short, I would rather spend that money on a game that is either longer or has more to it such as online game play.
I did like the question of the inteviewer about the younger audience who doesn't work and $60 is a LOT to spend on a game that can last them a total 10-15 hours.
Do they realize that they're making shit up when it suits them? Or do they really convince themselves that this is the way the world works? Either way, they're fucked up. And Phil is usually the best of the lot.
I have to agree with Phil here...I’ll just list all the games I can think of right now that I own and have yet to finish (all games are PS2 or PS3):
Resistance: Fall of Man (I’ve had it and my PS3 since December 31st — just the last level, “Tower”, is left)
Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories (I can’t be more than halfway or two-thirds of the way through the game; that’s why I never picked up Vice City Stories)
True Crime: New York City (something like 90-95% done)
God of War II (also about halfway or two-thirds)
Guitar Hero II (argh...fucking “Free Bird”!)
Black (I actually have yet to play this one at all, even though I bought it in the beginning of this year)
Bully (less than 5% through this one)
Also, I got Madden NFL 08 the day it came out, but so far, I’ve only played a game and a half because I’ve been playing the hell out of Warhawk. So at least for me, Phil is right. It’s not that I don’t want to finish these games — I do — I just don’t have the time (college = busy = squeezing in Warhawk whenever I can, and that’s about it). You’d think I would’ve gotten around to beating at least a few of the aforementioned games over the summer, but my PS3 was upstairs in the living room, which is adjacent to my parents’ bedroom, so I couldn’t play at night — and on top of that , I was working 9-5 for most of the summer.
Anyway, back to [i]Warhawk[i]...I mean, uh, reading for my 5-6 PM discussion section...
Apparently you people have some problems comprehending what you hear. He underlined the point that Home is not an application, it's not a product. He missed the part that Home is a part of the service called PSN, so he dropped the ball a bit, but anyone with a brain can figure it out.
Anyone claiming that Sony had/has no part in the casual gaming boom has missed, what, 10+ years of gaming history. Like Harrison said in the interview, Singstar and Buzz pretty much made casual gaming what it is. THE casual gaming hits on DS were released much later than f.ex. Singstar. I personally know people who own a PS2 and nothing but Singstar for it. If Sony were on the ball, they'd make a Singstar & PS3 -bundle, for Europe at least, with an Eyetoy thrown in the mix.
I'd even argue that DDR and the classic rhythm games (PaRappa etc.) in general have been much more influential than any of the Nintendo's efforts on the casual gaming market. Nintendo has the volume, sure, but one can hardly call them the sole innovators on that field.
He did dodge some questions, no doubt about that, but I've always thought that he's one of the more honest people in the business. I also think that the point that people do not finish games is a valid one. Then again, I think that 6h of gameplay is a bit scarce for a game costing 50-60 euros. Then again, you can finish most (?) NES games in 30 minutes, so it's all relative.
I must be one of the few true "hardcore" gamers than, there's very few titles I don't finish, and only if they're sub-par. I don't see the reason to spend $50-60 and not get a full experience, but to each his own.
@gamesronlygames
So it'd just coincidence that Sony's FAR UNDERUSED motion control in the Six-axis was the ONLY CONTROL SCHEME in the first major "next-gen" flying title? Occam's Razor says differently. Developers have been providing multiple control schemes as the norm for years now, so Factor 5 decided to forgo this common practice and force the motion control just because they wanted too? Even knowing it was slow to respond and hard to handle?! They've been programing analog stick flight-sims for years, I'm sure they could have handled it and I'm sure they know what good controls play like...
No matter what anyone says, I find it very hard to believe Factor 5 only put in only the motion control scheme because they thought it was the best. It's a blatant attempt by Sony to prove that the motion control in the Six-Axis is worth it, and they failed.
No Sony spin-machine can ever persuade me they didn't...
well, he's right..i dont actually finish very long games (mostly rpgs) but thats no excuse not to make the game longer. if people wanted more after say, 20 hours of gameplay, then he'd be right
also, i dont thing sony FORCED them to do it, nyteshade..they mightve paid them more to do it but they cant force them, factor 5 can take its own decisions.
I agree. I dont finish games. Though thats mostly because I play tetris and that last boss is a bitch.
No seriously, if it's crap i toss it. Otherwise i've finished everygame i've ever thought worthwhile. It sickens me to hear people don't finish good games.
Thats a waste of good er.. time.
I don't finish most games, but some I do. It depends a lot on the type of game and the age. A lot of the old final fantasy games (up to about six) are really fun until the final tower/dungeon when the difficulty level quadruples and it becomes frustrating instead of fun. I don't play games to frustrate myself. I probably would have beaten six actually if my file hadn't become the victim of the coliseum glitch.
Overall I'd say I beat about 30% of the games I start, and make it anywhere from about 50% to about 90% of the way through the games I don't finish.
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Contest:
11:04 AM on 09.27.2007
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I'm also 100% sure Sony forced Factor 5 to use motion control, that's an outright lie right there. Factor 5 knows how to do flight control (Rogue Squadron anyone?) and they wouldn't FORCE players to use motion control if Sony hadn't forced them.
Like everything else Sony does wrong it's not their fault! Spin it some more Sony!
I can think of Nintendo as a casual gaming console. With the Ds, grab the Brain Age, do a Sudoku, play later. Or grab MArio play some levels and turn the game off.
Just can´t imagine Sony as casual gaming.
Even worse, introducing a console that fans claim to have the best hardware around (and i am sure it has) don´t go with the term "casual".
600 bucks for a console isn´t "casual" money.
but ya, I'm pretty sure the majority of people don't finish games...
That and he only cited one 5 star review to say that the mass media and gaming critics all hailed HS as great.
I'm not defending Phil Harrison, but I simply own more games than I can reasonably play, so I can agree with him insofar that I don't beat many of the games I own. How that translates into the community at large, I haven't the foggiest.
Claiming that people don't finish games is no justification in making it ridiculously short, especially for all the delays. (This goes for all games, Halo 3, HL2: Ep1, Bioshock, but at least they're not blaming the gamers for wanting something more.
so those that say playstation hasn't done anything casual, or has tried to find a fill in that market sector, just really haven't look into many games outside of the more marketed games.
I did like the question of the inteviewer about the younger audience who doesn't work and $60 is a LOT to spend on a game that can last them a total 10-15 hours.
Resistance: Fall of Man (I’ve had it and my PS3 since December 31st — just the last level, “Tower”, is left)
Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories (I can’t be more than halfway or two-thirds of the way through the game; that’s why I never picked up Vice City Stories)
True Crime: New York City (something like 90-95% done)
God of War II (also about halfway or two-thirds)
Guitar Hero II (argh...fucking “Free Bird”!)
Black (I actually have yet to play this one at all, even though I bought it in the beginning of this year)
Bully (less than 5% through this one)
Also, I got Madden NFL 08 the day it came out, but so far, I’ve only played a game and a half because I’ve been playing the hell out of Warhawk. So at least for me, Phil is right. It’s not that I don’t want to finish these games — I do — I just don’t have the time (college = busy = squeezing in Warhawk whenever I can, and that’s about it). You’d think I would’ve gotten around to beating at least a few of the aforementioned games over the summer, but my PS3 was upstairs in the living room, which is adjacent to my parents’ bedroom, so I couldn’t play at night — and on top of that , I was working 9-5 for most of the summer.
Anyway, back to [i]Warhawk[i]...I mean, uh, reading for my 5-6 PM discussion section...
Anyone claiming that Sony had/has no part in the casual gaming boom has missed, what, 10+ years of gaming history. Like Harrison said in the interview, Singstar and Buzz pretty much made casual gaming what it is. THE casual gaming hits on DS were released much later than f.ex. Singstar. I personally know people who own a PS2 and nothing but Singstar for it. If Sony were on the ball, they'd make a Singstar & PS3 -bundle, for Europe at least, with an Eyetoy thrown in the mix.
I'd even argue that DDR and the classic rhythm games (PaRappa etc.) in general have been much more influential than any of the Nintendo's efforts on the casual gaming market. Nintendo has the volume, sure, but one can hardly call them the sole innovators on that field.
He did dodge some questions, no doubt about that, but I've always thought that he's one of the more honest people in the business. I also think that the point that people do not finish games is a valid one. Then again, I think that 6h of gameplay is a bit scarce for a game costing 50-60 euros. Then again, you can finish most (?) NES games in 30 minutes, so it's all relative.
@gamesronlygames
So it'd just coincidence that Sony's FAR UNDERUSED motion control in the Six-axis was the ONLY CONTROL SCHEME in the first major "next-gen" flying title? Occam's Razor says differently. Developers have been providing multiple control schemes as the norm for years now, so Factor 5 decided to forgo this common practice and force the motion control just because they wanted too? Even knowing it was slow to respond and hard to handle?! They've been programing analog stick flight-sims for years, I'm sure they could have handled it and I'm sure they know what good controls play like...
No matter what anyone says, I find it very hard to believe Factor 5 only put in only the motion control scheme because they thought it was the best. It's a blatant attempt by Sony to prove that the motion control in the Six-Axis is worth it, and they failed.
No Sony spin-machine can ever persuade me they didn't...
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also, i dont thing sony FORCED them to do it, nyteshade..they mightve paid them more to do it but they cant force them, factor 5 can take its own decisions.
No seriously, if it's crap i toss it. Otherwise i've finished everygame i've ever thought worthwhile. It sickens me to hear people don't finish good games.
Thats a waste of good er.. time.
Overall I'd say I beat about 30% of the games I start, and make it anywhere from about 50% to about 90% of the way through the games I don't finish.