Sony's Kaz Hirai: 360 Lacks Longevity, Wii Not Competition, PS3 Will Finish In First

[The 1 2 P]

Poor Kaz. All that drinking and drug use he did in the 60's and 70's is still getting the best of him. Based on the strength of one console generation(the Xbox), he's decided that the Xbox 360 won't last more than four or five years. He also doesn't see the Wii as competition(I wonder why). Finally, the most telling of all his quotes is that the PS3 will be on top at the end of this console cycle. Really? Over the Wii too? What ever drugs this dude is taking must be laced with some pretty potent stuff: http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=206201

Theres so much I could say about this article but why bash Sony when they do a perfectly good job of bashing themselves? I mean, the Wii isn't considered their competition?? I guess in their world the Psp is also in first place because the Ds isn't considered their competition either. I'm just saying.

[Icarus Moonsight]

Deny reality... for massive damage! :beaten:

[Tron 2.0]

Kaz must be in denial or still in shock since sony sales in electronics are in a slump :p

[Phyeir]

If Sony's talking heads put half as much effort as they do in pretending they will be/are still in first into actually doing things to improve the system (some original new titles, maybe? Price drop?), they could actually get some sales figures back up.

[Berserker]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v348/natev/sonypr.jpg

The funny thing is I made that a few years ago for some other post, but it's still painfully relevant.

[DeputyMoniker]

He is doing his job...

[ProgrammingAce]

He is doing his job...

No he's not, he's spouting off to the media while his company keeps loosing money...

His job is to make a profit.

[DeputyMoniker]

No he's not, he's spouting off to the media while his company keeps loosing money...

His job is to make a profit.

His job is to represent the board and the brand. What did you expect him to say?
"If they weren't paying me so well, I'd quit."
"I wish we didn't invest so much in Blu-Ray."
"We're fucked."
"All suggestions are being considered. Here is my email address..."

[p_b]

No he's not, he's spouting off to the media while his company keeps loosing money...

His job is to make a profit.

Maybe the analysts will like it? He certainly didn't quote this rubbish for us gamers...

[Kitsune Sniper]

His job is to represent the board and the brand.If that's his job, he's not doing it very well. :(

[ProgrammingAce]

His job is to represent the board and the brand. What did you expect him to say?

Considering at least one board member had to step down (Kutaragi), and the brand is operating at a loss, i'd expect him to keep his mouth shut. The bagdad bob routine is making his brand the laughing stock of the industry.

I wonder if Jack Trenton will still give me $1,200 for some PS3's i find on the shelf? It's a shame Sony wasn't even willing to donate the cash to a charity set up to help sick children through gaming...

[Nebagram]

I like the idea that when you're getting heavily beaten by competition all of a sudden you're 'not competing with them'. Reminds me, ironically, of all those Xbox Live arseholes who sign off just before they're about to get slaughtered in a game.

[izarate]

Oh yeah, I recall when Microsoft did something like this. They said that they were #1 in the "high definition console generation". :D

Well if Nintendo isn't Sony's competition maybe the PS3 has a chance of getting to the #1 spot.

[swlovinist]

Leadership that does not speak of elephants in the room are poor leaders. Honesty and humility in my opinion, go a long way. Not stating the obvious just shows how arrogant the company is to its own faults, and how disconnected they are to what the gaming public wants to hear. All three game companies have said stupid things, but this guy seriously needs to shut his mouth. As a fan of the PS2 and owner of the PS3... These are the types of things Sony does not need to be doing.

Here are some suggestions

"We underestimated our competition"
"We are moving forward in a new direction with the PS3"
"We are looking at cost saving ways to offer the PS3 at an affordable price"
"We have heard from the public how important BC really is"
"We are looking at ways to improve our sales position with the PS3"


Saying the BS he says just makes him look

1. Stupid
2. Really Stupid

[geneshifter]

I think it's funny that after all the stupid things he's said in the past he got promoted after Phil Harrison left. Sony sticks with these guys for some reason. I would really like to know what the reason is.

[Graham Mitchell]

His comments about the Xbox lacking longevity seem somewhat...paradoxical. If the Xbox360's life span is cut short, it would be because Microsoft releases a new console. And if they release a new console, chances are that it will considerably outperform the PS3 (otherwise why would they release it?) So, if that new console starts eating into Sony's sales numbers, what are they going to do? Sit on their ass and wait out their 10 years with an outdated machine, losing more and more sales to MS's more state-of-the-art machine?

I've been playing games a long time, and I've noticed that once a console has a decent install base and some momentum, (and all three machines on the market are currently enjoying that situation) the only thing that kills said console is the announcement of a new console. It may be over-generalizing, but even the Gamecube was still supported well until the Wii was in the works. So, this "longevity" that Sony talks about is a choice they make. They could choose to release another console in a year or two. I think the only reason they don't is because to get a PS3 (or a 360) to run as advertised on a high-def TV costs about $700, and the current economy will not allow for many people to make an investment like that every three or four years.

[djbeatmongrel]

Its a shame the ps3 has ptoential but attityudes like this will not help expand their business. Even though the wii has a different aim its still competition.

[Daria]

I love how he completely dismissed the competition for various inane reasons and then summed it all up as "Therefore, In my own little world PS3 is number 1."

BEST PR statement EVAR!


LOL

[ProgrammingAce]

"We don't provide the 'easy to program for' console that [developers] want, because 'easy to program for' means that anybody will be able to take advantage of pretty much what the hardware can do, so then the question is what do you do for the rest of the nine-and-a-half years?" explained Hirai.

Wait, are you kidding me? They don't provide a decent development environment in order to ensure good software doesn't come out?

It really does suck when just anyone can take a kick ass concept and easily apply it to your console...

[Steve W]

I would think that developing cross-platform titles would be easy, considering that all three consoles use variations of the Power PC processor. It's not like porting games between the 68000, the 6502, and the Z80 back in the day. The PS3 should be getting a little more shovelware from the other two consoles, at least. The PS3 needs ports of Pimp My Ride and Anubis II!

[ProgrammingAce]

I would think that developing cross-platform titles would be easy, considering that all three consoles use variations of the Power PC processor. It's not like porting games between the 68000, the 6502, and the Z80 back in the day. The PS3 should be getting a little more shovelware from the other two consoles, at least. The PS3 needs ports of Pimp My Ride and Anubis II!

The CELL is it's own unique beast, and the development tools Sony provides are absolute garbage. They honestly hand you a custom version of IBM's C++ compiler and tell you to go to town. If you have any questions, here is the manual, poorly translated from japanese.

If you want to develop using windows instead of linux, then they suggest you use Metroworks Codewarrior. They'll even sell you a plugin for a few grand per PC that actually lets you debug your code! As an added bonus, that plugin license is only valid for 6 months and is locked to your PC's mac address.

[Icarus Moonsight]

That's insane... O_O No wonder there are so few games.

[bangtango]

He is doing his job...

I completely agree with you.

Maybe he put a whole lot of hyperbole out there but I'd rather have a guy boasting about how well things are going, even if it isn't entirely true, than have him pull a Bernie Stolar and bury a system he is being paid to promote.

You don't promote a guy through the ranks and pay him a bundle to say something like:

"Shit, the Wii is killing us in retail and the 360 is killing us online. What's been going wrong? Anything and everything. Pricing, lack of games. Fuck, we're at wits end. Fortunately many of the problems we are currently experiencing will be rectified with the PS3's successor and that is in development as we speak. The PS3 is merely a precursor to what we have in the oven."

All of that may be true but a company head "admitting" things wasn't exactly good for the Saturn.

The fact that Hirai makes a few idiotic statements every couple of months shouldn't make any difference to a current owner of the PS3 and anybody who bases their decision on what system to buy on what company head gives the best interviews is being just as irrational as Hirai is being made out to be.

My main point is, a quote like the one in the original post will be forgotten sooner or later and filed away with a hundred other similar quotes from Sony's headquarters. For three or four months, 50-60 people will wax poetic about it on a few message boards. Then what? It'll be over. Nobody will think of that particular quote in ten years.

On the other hand, when someone says what Bernie Stolar did about the Saturn, well that one is timeless for all the wrong reasons. What Kaz said here is a damn sight better than pulling a Stolar.

[Rob2600]

They don't provide a decent development environment in order to ensure good software doesn't come out?


the development tools Sony provides are absolute garbage.

It reminds me of how Nintendo restricted access to the N64's microcode until later in its life. Why do that?

[Graham Mitchell]

You know, I really don't think the ps3 is doing all that badly. Though it surprises me, I find that more of the "casual" gamers I know tend to own a ps3 and not a 360 (if they don't have a wii, that is). When I wa younger, the systems I noted to be flagrant failures were the ones where I knew nobody else who had one (jaguar, 3do, tg16, saturn, 32x) and where people actually thought I was stupid for buying one.

So, while the numbers demonstrate that the ps3 is the lowest-selling machine on the market at this time, my personal experience tells me that people actually really like the machine (it plays madden just fine), and they're confident in their purchase because of the power in the Pllaystation brand name. So, let's not get carried away here. The ps3 may be in third, but I wouldn't consider it a failure. It's just off to a slow start.

[skaar]

My PS3 is seeing use again since I've bought more Blu-ray movies ;)

I see the PS3 having a similar end life to the PS2 - My PS2 was my DVD player back in the day and the PS3 is my DVD player now... ;)

It's not a bad system, and I don't think there's anything wrong with him standing behind his brand and company's work. That's what his job is.

[Nature Boy]

What I said in the "Nintendo Claims Responsibility for 99% of industry growth in 2008" thread applies here as well:


Every publisher greatly exaggerates their position. As a business you don't admit "yeah, we really blew that one!" you say something like "we're building towards a better future"

If you want an honest opinion on a company's situation you *never* go to the company themselves. They're not going to admit anything, nor should you expect them to (shame on you if you do).

That's what 3rd party impartial observers are for.

[Iron Draggon]

perhaps he means the XBOX360 lacks longevity because surely no XBOX360 hardware is ever gonna last as long as Sony's PS3 hardware will... that's pretty much an indisputable fact now... it's lame that he says MS has never supported a console longer than about 5 years when they only made one console before the XBOX360 though... sure, they prolly won't support the 360 longer than 5 years either, but that doesn't mean everyone will upgrade

it's understandable why he says that they're not competing with Nintendo though, because they certainly aren't competing on the same level... the Wii still isn't even in HD yet, so technically it's still using last-gen technology... it's basically just a Gamecube with motion controls, it's not a hi-def system

now as for why he thinks the PS3 will end up on top at the end of this generation of consoles, it's prolly because the PS3 will still be on this generation of consoles 5 years after MS has moved on to a new one, and because as mentioned before the Wii is technically last-gen hardware

so there's a reason why he sounds like an idiot, but there's also a reason why he said what he did as he did... he's certainly not gonna say something like "perhaps we made some mistakes, and that's why we're in last place now"... saying something like that would be admitting defeat at a time when Sony desperately needs to simply correct the mistakes they made and stop just carrying on like they've done nothing wrong and continue to lose money

P.S. what did Bernie Stolar say about the Saturn? I'm sure I'd rather forget, and that's prolly why I forgot it, but please remind me what he said about it

[The 1 2 P]

My main point is, a quote like the one in the original post will be forgotten sooner or later and filed away with a hundred other similar quotes from Sony's headquarters. For three or four months, 50-60 people will wax poetic about it on a few message boards. Then what? It'll be over. Nobody will think of that particular quote in ten years.

While I agree with the first part of your statment(this quote will be filed away with several other similar quotes), I don't agree with your last sentence(nobody will think of that particular quote in ten years). By that logic I should have already forgotten about some of these other Sony gems:

"The next gen doesn't start until we say it does."

"People will work harder and get second jobs in order to be able to afford PS3's."

"The Psp will take games out of the handheld ghetto."

"2008 will be the year of the PS3."

"I'll give you $1,000 for every PS3 you find on store shelves because they are absolutely sold out thru out the US."

I could go on but you get my point. Again, I agree with you that he's a company head during his job to impress the board. But the above quotes from various Sony heads during the last three years are not very likely to be forgotten anytime soon, just like this new one. I mean, can you seriously tell me that you think a quote like "the Wii doesn't count so it's not competition"(I paraphrased) will be forgotten in a few months?

[bangtango]

P.S. what did Bernie Stolar say about the Saturn? I'm sure I'd rather forget, and that's prolly why I forgot it, but please remind me what he said about it

He is credited with a 1997 quote saying "The Saturn is not our future" when he was asked a question about the system. This while the system was still in stores, Sega was still trying to sell it and Saturn owners were still waiting/hoping for games.

[Daria]

"People will work harder and get second jobs in order to be able to afford PS3's."


I remember that one. It was awesome.

Anyway there's such a thing as blanket PR statements and then there's Sony's special brand of trash talk. You don't have to sound like Bernie Stolar but the man would benefit from a good dose of humility. At least he wouldn't come off as a raving tard.

[ProgrammingAce]

The most fightening aspect of all the nonsense coming out of Sony is the fact that they seem to belive what they're saying.

When you're operating at a loss and your sales are last place in the industry, the last thing i'd want to hear from you is that you don't think you need to make any changes. Sony seems to think that because they're in first place, they don't need to make any improvements on price, services, or features.

I'd much rather hear Kaz walk out of that meeting saying "Sony has a number of innovative ideas and concepts which we can't discuss at this time". Instead of "We're Number 1, we don't need to change."

I tend to believe that Sony's top brass actually thought people would take a second job in order to pay $600 for their console. Having my ear to the ground, i think that may be part of the reason Phil Harrison left. You can only drink the Koolaid for so long.

[bangtango]

While I agree with the first part of your statment(this quote will be filed away with several other similar quotes), I don't agree with your last sentence(nobody will think of that particular quote in ten years). By that logic I should have already forgotten about some of these other Sony gems:

"The next gen doesn't start until we say it does."

"People will work harder and get second jobs in order to be able to afford PS3's."

"The Psp will take games out of the handheld ghetto."

"2008 will be the year of the PS3."

"I'll give you a $1,000 for every PS3 you find on store shelves because they are absolutely sold out thru out the US."

I could go on but you get my point. Again, I agree with you that he's a company head during his job to impress the board. But the above quotes from various Sony heads during the last three years are not very likely to be forgotten anytime soon, just like this new one. I mean, can you seriously tell me that you think a quote like "the Wii doesn't count so it's not competition"(I paraphrased) will be forgotten in a few months?

I think it depends on who we are talking about.

I would predict that the general public, which includes casual gamers and many mainstream gamers, will forget a lot of those quotes after awhile.

The people more likely to remember all of those individual quotes would be anyone who spends a lot of time on forums or gaming (news) sites.

Out of all those quotes you list, the only two I had remembered (before you posted them) are the "second jobs" one because it was such a notorious quote. And the "$1200 for every PS3 you find on store shelves" because I have the issue of EGM with Jack Tretton's interview sitting 10 feet away from me.

Don't get me wrong, though, you're probably right in this case. The reason I say most of those would be forgotten is because of the fact they will be "filed away."

The result of this happening is that after awhile, a lot of these idiotic statements start blending in with one another. Take a typical interview with guys like Mike Tyson, Rickey Henderson or any number of outspoken guys in the NBA/NFL. I don't mean guys who slip up once or twice in a career but the types who are good for at least one or two quotes a year.

People like them make so many outrageous or idiotic statements that after awhile, it is hard to remember one from another. Other than one or two real humdingers, it almost becomes impossible to tell some of those statements apart.

Given that sort of history, sooner or later a lot of what comes out of Sony's mouth is going to be forgotten. Sure, people are going to remember the most notorious quotes forever but that is a given.

[GarrettCRW]

Take a typical interview with guys like Mike Tyson, Rickey Henderson or any number of outspoken guys in the NBA/NFL. I don't mean guys who slip up once or twice in a career but the types who are good for at least one or two quotes a year.

But there's a big, nay, HUGE difference between Iron Mike and Rickey. Mike is considered to be seriously disturbed, and a wasted talent. But Rickey? People LOVE him. The man is as odd a duck as there ever was, but he's wildly popular with fans and players. Some teams (especially those where Rickey has spent a good deal of time with) still get the odd request by fans for a return of Rickey Henderson.

The moral of the story: Sometimes it's great to be the dude who says and does crazy-ass things, but other times that guy is just damned scary.