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Sony's Scott Steinberg: no 'senior citizen' gaming happening here

11:20 AM on 08.04.2008, Colette Bennett 23 comments

Sony's Scott Steinberg: no 'senior citizen' gaming happening here photo
     Nintendo

Like your console gaming experiences hardcore, with nary a Wiimote in sight? The latest from SCEA's Scott Steinberg ought to be music to your ears. In a recent interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Steinberg addressed issues such as future plans for the PS3 and why Sony is uninterested in reeling in the "senior" demographic.

Direct from the interview:

"I think the notion of that controller is a non-trivial point that you've brought up, that control and that familiarity is like comfort food - from my perspective, we lead, we don't follow," he said. "And as a brand, Nintendo's got their thing, and we're not trying to get the senior citizen group to get into gaming, we're looking to convert the PS2 owners and the tens of millions of installed base that were playing DVDs and playing games on their PS2, to now play Blu-ray movies and Blu-ray games with their PS3."

I'm glad Nintendo's doing what they're doing, I really am. It's been tremendously successful for them, and I also like the idea that my parents may come to understand a little of why gaming is so essential to me (and maybe come to like it themselves). On the other hand, I like gaming with a controller that I don't have to wave my arms all over the place to use, and I like games that are directly marketed to me: a gamer that's spent a long time gaming and can understand and enjoy more complex structures. It seems like there's room for both.

Still, Sony earns some support from me by not being wavered by the tremendously successful business plan that Nintendo has in place. I hope sticking to their guns can earn them what they want in the long run. Is the Wii the way to go, or will you stick it out as Sony unveils their long term plan?

[Via GamesIndsutry.biz -- Thanks, ActionBastard]


Next page: More Sony stories




king3vbo's Avatar
king3vbo at 08/04/2008 11:26
Eat all the old people, shove them in the oven
Eat all the old people, show them that you love 'em
Eat all the old people, mmm they taste like veal
A sandwich is a sandwich, but your grandpa is a meal
Leathersoup's Avatar
Leathersoup at 08/04/2008 11:27
I just had a mental image of a bunch of senior citizens at the coffee shop trading friends codes. :)
Takeshi's Avatar
Takeshi at 08/04/2008 11:28
That pic made my day.
Y0j1mb0's Avatar
Y0j1mb0 at 08/04/2008 11:45
LMAO..GREAT PIC.
Prince Ghidorah's Avatar
Prince Ghidorah at 08/04/2008 11:53
"We lead we don't follow."

Is that what you're doing with the PS3? Leading?
CelicaCrazed's Avatar
CelicaCrazed at 08/04/2008 12:03
They should focus on the Alzheimer market. Customers would buy the same game three times over. Sony could even market to non-PS3 owners who don't remember they don't own a PS3. Maximum profit!!

Ok, I think I'm being a douche....
ceark's Avatar
ceark at 08/04/2008 12:16
sounds good to me. I like that PS3 is not a console focused on dumbed down games.
D Sane's Avatar
D Sane at 08/04/2008 12:24
I own both so I don't have to make a choice. I have the PS3 for me when I wanna do some serious gaming and the Wii for when friends come over and want to play Smash Bros. and drink screw drivers. It works out all around. Now if the 360 would just quit stealing exclusives from PS3...
Cyberxion's Avatar
Cyberxion at 08/04/2008 12:34
My take? I loved the PSX, and I enjoyed the PS2. I'm the kind of person that ought to be an easy sell when it comes to the PS3, right? Fuck no. I'm not going to buy one. At least not for the reasons Sony thinks I ought to.

Sony seems to think that they deserve to sell the PS3 through to people who bought their previous consoles, independent of whether or not they have enough unique product on the shelves to justify those sales, and that's ridiculous. To me, brand loyalty is something I reserve for developers and publishers. A console is only as good as the games available for it after all, and if there aren't enough exlusive games to justify the purchase, then whether or not I bought and enjoyed their previous console means jack shit.

And while ancillary features are appreciated, they've never factored in to my decision to buy a console even the smallest bit, and they never will. I didn't buy a PS2 because it played DVDs, and I won't buy a PS3 because it plays Blu-Ray flicks. Call me old fashioned if you must, but if a console isn't home to at least a small handful of games that appeal to my tastes as a gamer, then I'm not going to buy it. That it's loaded up with extra bells and whistles isn't going to change my mind a single bit.

Scott Steinberg needs to get in touch with reality. The PS3 is a fine system, but right now it's leading jack and shit, and jack just left town. That's not to say that they ought to follow Nintendo's lead, but that maybe they ought to analyze what worked for them the last two generations and try to do some of that. Whatever they're doing now aint working for me.
TrailerParkJesus's Avatar
TrailerParkJesus at 08/04/2008 12:38
I think I heard somewhere that out of all the demographics, senior citizens spend the most money, or have the most dispensable earnings. So yeah...
Alexradl's Avatar
Alexradl at 08/04/2008 12:40
There are still tons of PS2 owners who haven't made the leap to the one of the current gen systems. Sony still hasn't secured that market. It's a great strategy but, they need to rethink their PS2 support if they want PS2 owners to upgrade to a PS3.

I'm definitely glad Sony is sticking to what they do best.
RJG's Avatar
RJG at 08/04/2008 12:46
"We lead, we don't follow."

Ladies and gentlemen, introducing the SIXAXIS! You can use it to play bowling!

Yeah, great job leading there guys. Next thing you know you'll be rewarding people for completing certain tasks during games with things like "achievements". Can't. Fucking. Wait.
Anus Mcphanus's Avatar
Anus Mcphanus at 08/04/2008 13:05
I think it's stupid that Sony expects people to go out and buy a PS3 just because they owned a PS2. No one is going to buy a PS3 just because it's the next playstation and Sony need to stop pushing that idea and give people more legitimate reasons to own one.

On the plus side at least they aren't dumbing games down for the oldies
Corak's Avatar
Corak at 08/04/2008 13:31
"senior citizens spend the most money, or have the most dispensable earnings. So yeah"

Um I don't think that is entirely true, most if not all the senior citizens I know and deal with on a daily basis at my job are on fixed incomes. Fixed incomes do not allow for a lot of spending unless they have a nice pension or retirement fund. I'm not saying that they couldn't afford it but from previous experience teenagers and young adults normally have the most disposable income.
MechaMonkey's Avatar
MechaMonkey at 08/04/2008 15:28
!old people--
DemonEyes23's Avatar
DemonEyes23 at 08/04/2008 15:47
sony all the way here. Theres about 4 to 5 games on the wii that hold any interest over me and all of them have only basic motion controls that could have been left out ie i dont like waggling i play games to relax when i want to move around i go to the park or running.
Dexter345's Avatar
Dexter345 at 08/04/2008 15:48
If they want to stick to true Sony fashion though, now that they've said this, they have to go and do the exact opposite.
DemonEyes23's Avatar
DemonEyes23 at 08/04/2008 15:48
On the up side my mom wants a wii...she will use it for wii fit for maybe a couple of months if that and then i'll steal it and buy super smash bros thus solving my problem of not wanting to throw down 250 for the only game i really really want
Cyberxion's Avatar
Cyberxion at 08/04/2008 16:28
@ Dexter345

Rumors say that they already are. ;)

@ DemonEyes23

What is it you're trying to say boy? Is Timmy caught in the well?
BattyAdroit's Avatar
BattyAdroit at 08/04/2008 18:15
@Cyberxion: How will the market survive without you?

thank god it works for me. Sony dodged a bullet.
Cyberxion's Avatar
Cyberxion at 08/04/2008 20:15
@ BattyAdroit

Ah, right. I forgot that the validity of one's opinion is directly proportionate to his influence on the market.
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