[PS3] Intervista a Kaz Hirai

[Turrican3]

Il presidente di SCEA punge Microsoft sul lungo termine: PS3 non è stata progettata per un ciclo di vita di soli 5 anni... e poi aggiunge "che si fa se un gioco [per X360] occupa 40-50 GB? lo mettiamo su tre dischi [DVD]?"

Hirai si dimostra ottimista anche sul futuro, e per l'occasione ne approfitta per togliersi qualche sassolino dalla scarpa riguardo le accuse di "arroganza" che da più parti vengono mosse a Sony:

"La storia ha dimostrato la lungimiranza delle nostre scelte. [...] Pensiamo di avere l'unica vera console next-gen, [...] e siamo fiduciosi sul fatto che manterremo la nostra posizione di leader"

Sony Computer Entertainment America President Kaz Hirai recently made several interesting comments in a new interview with San Jose Mercury News reporter and author of Xbox 360 Uncloaked Dean Takahashi.

One of the major differences between the Xbox 360 and the PS3 is that Sony's next-gen console comes equipped with a Blu-ray drive while Microsoft's system uses standard DVD-9 discs. While some at Microsoft have accused Sony of forcing this new format on consumers and therefore driving up the price of the PS3 as well, Sony's Hirai naturally doesn't see it that way.

"This is a console that is here for the long haul and is not on a five-year cycle. Microsoft is coming out with an HD-DVD accessory for HD movies as an add-on only a year after they launched. That is exactly the kind of thing we don't want to do," Hirai said.

He continued, "This console is going to do much more. We have made sure this is a console for the long haul. If you look at the lack of Blu-ray on Microsoft, what do you do if the game requires 40 to 50 gigabytes? Put it on three disks? Let's look under the hood and see total value we are delivering to consumers. At five to 10 years, you see the lasting power of the PS2. If you go out there now, there is a lot of PS2 software out there. From a consumer's view, who got the better value? If you look at which console is giving the publishers more time to amortize their development costs, the answer is pretty obvious."

Many video game industry watchers were a bit surprised that Sony showed its hand with regards to the PS3 pricing ($499 / $599) at E3, but Hirai said it's one of those situations where they just can't win. "We get no breaks," he remarked. "If we didn't say the price, you would be all over us for that. I think that is the right price for what we're bringing to consumers."

Interestingly, when asked about Microsoft's new Live Anywhere initiative Hirai downplayed it, while highlighting connectivity between the PSP and PS3. "The more interesting play for me is connectivity with portable devices. That means interaction with the PlayStation Portable and the PS3. Cell phones are not primarily designed for entertainment. We can make the PSP and the PS3 work together. That's a step up in entertainment and a new value to offer the consumer."

The interview also delved into what some would call Sony's "arrogance" in the marketplace. In the past Sony has made statements along the lines of "the next generation doesn't start until we start it." Countering this, Hirai simply pointed to Sony's history of leadership in the video game world.

"It's been that way for three console generations. History has a way of proving the forward-looking things that we say," he said. "With our original PlayStation, we ushered in the era of the CD-ROM and 3-D. With the PlayStation 2, we correctly said that the next-generation starts with PS2, not Dreamcast. With the PlayStation 3, we are keeping to our belief that we have the true next-generation console. It's all about the games. We all know that. It's about delivering compelling entertainment to the consumer once again. We are well on our way to showing that. We are in a very compelling position. I'm confident we will stay in the lead."

[Rot!]

Riiidge Racer 

Saluti

[Erpecco]

Sul Blu-Ray ha un fondo di ragione, purtroppo però il formato è estremamente in ritardo rispetto alle previsioni.
Il resto IMHO sono le solite vaccate da P.R.