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Sony’s Phil Harrison Provides Amusement

GameDaily recently interviewed Sony Computer Entertainment President Phil Harrison about the PlayStation 3. He provided choice line after choice line that I couldn’t help but mock.

GameDaily BIZ: Are you bothered by all the negative press about Sony and the PS3 lately? Even certain mainstream press publications have labeled the console biggest disappointment, etc…

Phil Harrison: No, not a bit. I think, first of all, the so called negativity is in a fairly narrow section of the media.

Yes, in such niche mags as Time and Newsweek.

Harrison (cont.) The most important thing, however, is that the people who buy the system love it,

Is there really an alternative emotion after dropping $600 on a videogame system?

Harrison (cont.) I don’t really care about the negativity in the press; if it was true, if they were talking about real big issues that were genuine criticisms, then of course we’ll address them, but there’s nothing that bothers me

Really? So the price, the lack of games, the lack of a rumble feature would all be small issues that are just nitpicking your genuinely great system? I understand the guy has a product to sell, but his bullshit could use some work.

Harrison (cont.) I think the fact that we are able to have a very well organized, very well managed supply channel, which allows us to keep the stores restocked, is a really positive thing. You would be sitting here saying, “Why the hell are you out of stock? Why the hell can’t you manage the supply chain and why can’t people buy PS3s?” So we’re actually doing in succeeding in managing to keep the demand satisfied, so I think that’s a positive.

He’s right. It is a positive that you can keep a system no one wants in stock. I know what he’s trying to say is that people are buying them and that no one is noticing because they’re keeping suppliers so well stocked. So remember, the next time you see a lot of one product sitting on the shelf, it’s selling like gangbusters and they have a very well managed supply channel.

BIZ: But don’t you feel pressure from the realities of the market and people who maybe don’t want to spend $600? Do you feel there is pressure to drop the price this year?

PH: Absolutely no pressure at all. I think that the reality of the market is that there’s a great deal of software people want to buy, there’s a great deal of software coming that will stimulate further activity in the market. We’re very comfortable with the plan.

There IS a great deal of softwar people want to buy like…Resistance? And, um…yep, maybe Resistance if they don’t have an XBox 360 and Gears of War. That’s about it. Sit around and wait for Devil May Cry, Metal Gear Solid 4, and Final Fantasy XIII.

PH: We have no plans to do so in the standard controller that ships with PlayStation 3. I believe that the Sixaxis controller offers game designers and developers far more opportunity for future innovation than rumble ever did. Now, rumble I think was the last generation feature; it’s not the next-generation feature. I think motion sensitivity is. And we don’t see the need to do that.

Rumble was a last generation feature. And not-rumbling was the generation before that. PlayStation 3: Kickin’ it reeeal old school. Also, why is it an either/or argument? Why does the Wii-mote have both and you don’t? But hey, enjoy your half-assed motion sensativity.

Harrison (cont.) Having said that, there will be specific game function controllers, potentially like steering wheels that do include vibration or feedback function—not from us but from third parties.

Because those guys make real reliable products.

I’m not inherently anti-Sony or anti-PlayStation 3. I’m just anti-bullshit and if I had a nickel for the amount spewed in this article, I could afford a PlayStation 3.

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