Apparently, even Europeans aren't exempt from Sony's hubris. I thought that the French, who seem so reasonable, would be a little more in touch with the real world. However, as Georges Fournay, VP of SCE Europe and P of SCE France, shows us, that isn't necessarily true.
Let's check in on the PSTriple's European launch, shall we?
"Those who said that the console is too expensive will get their money's worth: in France, the PS3 is already a success."
On the subject of backwards incompatibility: "Right now, if you ask me if it's a bad blow for the launch, I would say that we would be better off being sure that the console would be totally backwards compatible before releasing it. But hey, when the PS3 shows of its capacity, players won't have any more desire to play the PS2..."
"What's certain, for us, is that 2007 will be a record year in cumulative sales of the PSP, PS2, and PS3"
After the Charlie Foxtrot that was the U.S. launch, one would think that Sony would have learned how to improve their public relations. Asserting that 2007 will set new sales records with a total disregard for the financial limitations of its demographic sounds like the type of rhetoric that got them in trouble stateside.
And while I agree that people with a PS3 will want to play PS3 (as opposed to PS2) games, backwards compatibility nevertheless remains an important part of gaming. It's a question of convenience, and a basic service that Sony should provide to its customers. I'll go as far as to say that 50% of the time, I'm playing last-gen games, and I should be able to do so without pulling out an entirely different console. Sony cannot continue to alienate its consumers. It's getting old.
Of course, this could just be yet another clever and sneaky viral marketing tacket, although I doubt it. Meanwhile, the U.K. launch is going swimmingly.
But did Mr. Fournay say anything good? Why, yes!
"And we plan on avoiding a shortage phenomenon: we will put a million PS3s on the European market, plus 150,000 in France.
On increase in revenues in the gaming industry as a whole: "That means that there is room for three ... even if it's always better to lead the race.
Hey, alright, some common sense from the Sony camp! Supplying enough consoles to meet the demand seems like a good start for Sony's campaign through Europe. Hopefully, this will discourage rogue eBayers from ruining everyone's fun. Furthermore at least Sony Europe realizes that what's good for gaming as whole is good for them.
Now that these boring semantics are out of the way ... why do we care? Because Final Fantasy XII may or may not be exclusive anymore:
"The cost of game development has exploded and it's becoming difficult to have exclusivity besides our own games ... And, for Final Fantasy XII, I can tell you that exclusivity is being discussed."
Bad news for Sony, good news for us. Bloggers and industry people alike, namely Hironobu Sakaguchi, would love to see FFXIII on the Xbox 360. But, let's be honest, he has about as much say in the matter as I do.
Other quick tidbits: Worldwide, Sony will lose 2 billion euros on the PS3 launch, hoping to recoupe it by game sales and accessories. By the end of 2007, Sony hopes to have 200 games out for the PS3.
You can find a Babelfish sloppy translation here.
[via DNA]
Contest:
8:07 PM on 03.21.2007
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damn EU launch already here
Yes I have a PS3 and no I don't have a 360 or a wii. If i did decide to make a switch (which I've seriously been considering) I doubt i'd be able to get half of what I payed for it. I just can't take that much of a loss on hardware that is basically an infant.
Long story short, I'm PISSED!!!
Is the PS3 becoming a dreamcast? (before its time system, sells shockin)
Europe may save the PS3, i know ill be buying one for the blu-ray player(finially get to watch some realy HD content) as will alot of my friends.
Roll on this friday!!
If you take that quote out of context it looks really arrogant, of course. But when you take it in the context that he's explaining that the PS3 managed 60k pre-orders in France, despite the fact that it is out of the pricerange of many people, where the $400 360 only garnered 40k, and the $250 Wii garnered 75k, I'm not sure how, by that metric, the PS3 is not a success. I'm fairly sure that anything, taken out of context, can look like hubris? This? Not hubris. He justifies his reasoning in the same paragraph, and does a fine job of it. I'm also not sure how acknowledging that the console is expensive for many people, but is still forecast to sell well, is a "disregard for their financial limitations."
As far as the issue of backwards compatibility, it is a complete shame that they've chosen to remove the chip that allowed for proper backwards compatibility. I hope that with future updates to the firmware the problems with it will be alleviated, but I won't hold my breath. However, that aside, considering 50% of library seems to be ready to run at launch, I'm not sure why this is as big a deal as it is. This is a better performance than the Xbox 360 has offered gamers in it's initial phases. The real injustice here is that this decision was made in a manner that only effected the European launch, and I do think it's completely unfair. I think it's also poor of Sony to have gone back on their word as far as backwards compatibility is concerned. But as it stands their effort is comparable to the competition, and I can't view that as a complete negative. They also gave plenty of notice that this was going to happen, and they've stated that they plan on working with the system to address the problems.
Now, as far as the issue of exclusivity, I think the fact that negotiations are being made on exclusivity is nothing but assurance that it will happen, honestly. S-E is foolish if they don't continue negotiations for as long as possible in order to get the best deal for themselves that they can. I'm not sure how explaining that exclusivity is under negotiation translates to it losing exclusivity.
Finally, on the subject of Hironobu Sakaguchi's comments, I have to say that I deeply respect him as a game developer. But, as of this point, every game that Mistwalker has produced has been funded completely by Microsoft. This sort of unconditional funding from a publisher, one that lets you work in the manner that you want, is something that's VREY difficult to find. Often finding publishers is the most difficult aspect of getting funding when it comes to startup studios. With that in mind, to me it stands to reason that Sakaguchi would have nothing but positive things to say about his patron. I'm sure that if all developers were getting the deal he is from Microsoft, that they would all agree with him. Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, that's not the case. And unfortunately for Sakaguchi he has no say over where the Final Fantasy franchise goes anymore.
Overall, I see this as just more doom and gloom to feed the frenzy of people that want more of the same kind of news.
The only thing I could disagree with is your first post. Have we already forgotten the pre-orders and the demand for the PS3 over here? The demand was enormous, and Sony failed to deliver. Why can't Sony acknowledge the pre-orders and say "We're excited about the number of preorders, and we hope that the PS3 sells well, and we appreciate the support"
Instead, it's "We have ## of pre-orders, more than MS and Wii, this will sell like hotcakes, no problem." It's hard to reconcile some of Fournay's statements with what has happened in the past. I'm just looking for some humility.
How can you not see this as doom and gloom? Even you said that the backwards compatibility was iffy at best and it looks like SE is jumping ship.
As for the first part, I think it's 100% about context Orcist, and maybe it's just poor translation or point of view. I view what he said to be simply this, "Considering the 360 had 40k, and the Wii 75k at a considerably lower price, the fact that 60k pre-orders are in place for the PS3, despite the cost that puts it out of a lot of peoples price ranges, is a success." Now, I will admit beyond a doubt that this could be something lost in translation, or just a difference of viewpoint, but I think in the context the quote is in, it makes more sense that he's addressing the success of the preorder number rather than the system itself.
And you're right, there was a large demand for the PS3 over here at launch, and the same hulabaloo about pre-orders, but I think you have to look at certain differences. For the European PS3 launch it doesn't seem that the supply will be nearly as limited as it was for the North American launch. Not only that, but the North American launch took place during the holidays, putting even more emphasis on the need to stake your claim on the system early. Here's the thing... When you consider the fact that supply is not expected to be constrained and yet the level of interest is still this high early on, I think you can assume that people didn't feel nearly as pressured to pre-order or stand in line, for example. I keep seeing these stories saying how only 3 people are lined up 30 hours ahead of the launch. Why would you wait 30 hours if you didn't expect to have that much difficulty getting ahold of the system. I think in the European launch, at least, Sony has done a good job of meeting the demand. So I don't really view an early declaration of a successful launch to be that big a deal. Now, if a week from now we find out that there were some issues that were completely bungled, I'll call Fournay a fool. But as of right now, I think as far as Sony's corporate organization is concerned, everything looks green. They've made sure that there wouldn't be issues with violence, they've addressed issues of supply rather well, and most of the other issues are resolved. I don't think anyone is foreseeing any problems with this launch, in and of itself. It could be that that is what Fournay was referring to. From a corporate standpoint, Sony really has nothing to do but sit back and watch at this point. I think that the context in this case really isn't focused on the overall success of the PS3. I could be wrong, Fournay could have just been being arrogant... but given the context that's just not a conclusion that jumped out to me.
I should add, I'm not saying the doom and gloom viewpoint is an errant one, and I'm sorry if you've taken it to be insulting in any way. Having dialogue on the subject is a great thing, especially when it can be done in a manner that is intelligent. I didn't mention it, but nice work on the scoop itself!
Oh, and Cory's right. Totally misread your point about SE. But I think my point is still valid -- if SE is negotiating terms, it could mean that someone there is worried about the return on their investment. The fact that SE is turning the screws must have Sony sweating, even if, ultimately, FFXIII is still PS3 exclusive.
I will agree that the launch appears to be going smoothly, especially with regards to meeting demand. However, even given the nice-looking numbers, Fournay's statement was pretty grandiose, and I just think it's a little early for celebration. I think Sony is on thin ice in a lot of people's minds. For me, it comes back to public image -- a little restraint and modesty would go a long way right now, regardless of how well things look on paper.
Either way, thanks for the positive feedback.
Maybe it's just me but as a european consumer i can't help but feel that if i had €750, which let's face it is the actual price of 2 games and a console, I'd probably wait another 2 months of saving and get a pc or even a laptop.
But hey I'm not into throwing my money away and it's the PS3 name that will sell this console and not it's games.
they are the only company who is activly working on backwards compatability with all their systems, microsft has even stated than now that there are plenty of good 360 games they will start to reduce backwards compatability
yes sony said they'd have 100% bc, and will probably end up at around 75% in a few years. is that inexcusable? not really... considering how widely th ps2 is in circulation (currently still outselling the 360) so youre going to have to switch a cable to play every last ps2 or ps1 game, but lets say they dont get to 75% lets say they dont even get to 50% even if only one fourth of the ps2's titles work on the ps3... is it that big of an issue?
are there honestly that many ps2 games you own and want to play on your ps3?? if you own 2000 ps2 games (there are currently more than 8,000) you're not going to sell your ps2.
and I'd have to agree with sean that just because exclusivity is being discussed doesn't mean its some how automatically coming to the 360. I think sony knows that FFXIII coming to their system exclusively would sell at least another million consoles... and theyre fighting for it.
I think europe is getting possibly one of the best system launches ever
with almost 30 games and consoles widely available... I'd have to commend sony on correcting the issues theyve had from other launches, its also nice to see that theyre considering peoples safety too. the company has had a really good turn around in the last few months and has become considerably more human. despite flopping out at the start I think the ps3 is going to be a decent success...