Sony on PS3: it's still the first inning, and we're not out yet

Ah, baseball analogies. They're kind of lost on nerdy videogame types like myself, but Sony Computer Entertainment America's CEO Jack Tretton does manage to throw out some good ones that explain Sony's uphill struggle with the PS3.

“The first year is important,” says Tretton, “but it’s the first inning of a nine-inning baseball game. You’re not going to win many baseball games if you panic when you’re down 1-0 in the first inning."

Tretton confesses to some "missteps" early on in the game, but he doesn't seem too worried about past mistakes.

"I think the biggest miss for us was the launch, in that we had easily a million consumers in North America alone that wanted to get their hands on a PlayStation 3 … and we had roughly 200,000 units to take advantage of that demand."

Sony likes to talk about the "long term" when it comes to console successes, and Tretton reminds us of that: "I think if you have that long-term perspective, while I fully admit we’d like to have sold more units, it’s hardly cause for panic."

Finally, MSNBC brings up past charges of arrogance on Sony's part. Tretton says that bloggers and press had more to do with that than consumers, but he does make an admission of sorts.

"I think the arrogance claim comes with a leadership position and being unwilling to admit that you’re failing."

Read the full interview with Jack Tretton on MSNBC.