Kaz Hirai on 40GB PS3, Home and more
- Posted November 8th, 2007 at 06:42 EDT by Mike Harradence
- 4,775 views
- 14 Comments
Kazuo Hirai, President and CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment, recently sat down with Japanese publication Famitsu to discuss a number of issues concerning the new 40GB PlayStation 3, PlayStation Home and the loss of exclusivity in Capcom’s Monster Hunter 3.
Hirai first addressed the question of why the firm decided not to announce the 40GB machine at September’s Tokyo Games Show, stating, “What was most important at TGS was to appeal to everyone our software lineup.”
“A library of games is what consumers look for on a game console, and it is our mission as a console maker to fulfill that. Therefore, we put the focus on software that our third parties have been working on, as opposed to the new PS3 models.”
Indeed, Hirai stuck by the firm’s philosophy on maintaining PS3-specific features in the new model, such as Blu-ray and network features, as opposed to including PS2 backwards compatibility; something which he views as only one of a number of possible features available.
“We have gone through many discussions but we concluded that it is only one of many features of the PS3. What is more important is for the users to play PS3 games on the PS3, so our top priority is for them to be playing Bluray games and downloadable contents”, he said.
“There are users who probably want to play PS3 games but feel it is too expensive. By removing backwards compatibility and be able to sell at a lower price point is just another strategy of ours.”
When asked on what he thought of the recent announcement that Monster Hunter 3 would now be exclusive to Nintendo’s Wii, he commented: “It is my understanding that it is up to the game companies to make business decisions on which platform to release their titles.”
“The series has helped in the success of PS2 and PSP. Capcom has plans to release Monster Hunter Portable 2G for the PSP in March '08 [in Japan] so we hope to continue our partnership with the company.”
Hirai also addressed the delay of PlayStation Home, expressing his dissatisfaction with the current status of the ambitious online service, insisting a delay was for the better.
“If anything, we believe the delay would have a positive effect”, Hirai explained.
“I personally am not satisfied with the current version of Home. This is a very big project for the PS3 and we want to make sure that we deliver to our hearts content. We hope everyone will look forward to its spring release next year.”
Source: 1up.com
Comments
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mikehunt92
- 7:10am GMT - November 8th, 2007
- 1
i just hope home is worth all this lost sleep or i will be pissed
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Staticneuron |
Staticneuron- 8:03am GMT - November 8th, 2007
- 2
“It is my understanding that it is up to the game companies to make business decisions on which platform to release their titles.”
You would have thought this to be common sense but everyone is obsessed with the idea of Sony and MS buying rights for every title.
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Alpha2
- 8:41am GMT - November 8th, 2007
- 3
Concidering the quality in crease between the first version of the Home beta and the current version they really do seem to be telling the truth in that respect. Lighting, clothing options, games and the general environment have indeed seen a positive effect.
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Mecha_Daddy |
mecha_daddy- 11:57am GMT - November 8th, 2007
- 5
If they do Home right it can probably evolve onto the next playstation, like xbox live.
But free.
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Naucious23 |
Naucious- 2:03pm GMT - November 8th, 2007
- 8
their right home is a big project because right now XBL is the best with online service even with a hefty price tag. So its absolutely imperative that home should arrive to gamers in diamond form. A lot is riding on home to boost up online gaming.
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AGB217
- 10:43pm GMT - November 8th, 2007
- 10
All i care for is the ability to add players to my buddy list WHILE IN GAME, so if it has to be a friend added to PSN, than have IN GAME XMB.
I love the idea of PSN friends only, because that way a buddy can see what game i am on and just hop on his game rather than calling me. But we need XMB so i can add people while playing.
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The Cleaner
- 10:54pm GMT - November 8th, 2007
- 11
Sony could do a lot better with someone else - Kaz lacks credibility.
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IRONMAIDEN
- 1:21am GMT - November 9th, 2007
- 13
from that recent vid of home i saw, it looks even in its form now to be worth it imo
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nastanley
- 2:19pm GMT - November 9th, 2007
- 14
I agree with him; a delay I believe is for the better.Releasing Home in a hurry is not a good thing to do, because the company has to make sure that Home will be a flawless program that will appeal to the gamers and will leave Sony's competitors woundering.
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