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Sony's Jim Ryan : ‘Giving away stuff on day one… it’s kind of odd.’

N

Nightengale

Member
Searched & couldn't find this.

http://metro.co.uk/2013/08/28/sony-jim-ryan-interview-giving-away-stuff-on-day-one-its-kind-of-odd-3939866/

Basically Gamecentral's interview with Jim Ryan, querying his thoughts on various matters from MS's line-up of games vs theirs, EA's 'close partnership' with MS, the FIFA bundle, whether or not indies will matter, whether or not PS4's power will matter, TLG, and various other deals. Thought it was quite nice.

GC: So I was at the Microsoft event, where I saw the two Jims.

JR: Phils.

------------------------

GC: Do you worry that you’re falling behind now? You obviously won E3, I think anyone would admit that, but a lot has changed since then. You may have forced these changes on Microsoft but they are clearly working in making the Xbox One more attractive to gamers. So do you worry that there’s now less to distinguish the two consoles and that they’re actually now in danger of overtaking you – because as we discussed last time I think they have the better line-up of games at the moment.

JR: And that’s your opinion.

----------------------

GC: You’re not tempted to go and make a deal with some other game?

JR: Why should we do that? Our problem is gonna be matching supply to demand. It’s perfectly rational when a platform holder, or indeed a publisher, runs a pre-order campaign to engage in promotional behaviour to dial it up if you feel it’s not where you need it to be. That’s a rational thing for any businessman to do. We’re perfectly happy with where our pre-order are.

Our problem… we’ve actually had to turn off the day one pre-orders and now we’re onto day two. So why would we go out and add something? Giving away stuff on day one of a new platform launch, in my mind it’s kind of odd.
Click to expand...

Full interview in the link above. It's quite lengthy, and it's classic Jim Ryan all the way through, with some mild shots fired every now and then.
 
Y

Yagharek

Member
It's not really odd. It's almost the same as pack-in games we used to get as standard before the 32 bit generation began.
 
N

nib95

Banned
They're giving away free stuff with PS+ too, well, not exactly free but you catch my drift. Basically you give stuff away when you want the adoption rate and value proposition for the said thing to be higher. He is most probably right about Microsoft having weak pre order numbers, hence all the EA and DLC money hattery, Day One stuff etc.
 
N

Nightengale

Member
I know the headline catch is his comment on the matter, but the interview is a lot more than just that one throwaway comment. GC was quite hard-hitting with Jim on the interview, and it gave quite a nice back-and-forth between them.

Mr_Zombie said:
Well, X1 costs money to. :p
Click to expand...

But people paying the same price for X1 at retail won't get the FIFA pack-in.
 
B

BigDug13

Member
NateDrake said:
Aren't they giving us free games with PS+?
Click to expand...

Yeah that's giving you something for a subscription service separate from a "we can't possibly meet demand for our hardware so why do we need to add incentives to something that is completely sold out" situation.
 
N

Nibel

Member
It's not odd, it's awesome

Seems kind of butthurt to me about Microsoft giving away FIFA14, hope people don't follow his sentiment
 
B

Bleep

Member
Mr_Zombie said:
Well, X1 costs money to. :p
Click to expand...

Of course! There just seems to be a trend of people forgetting they pay money for PS+. It's not a bad thing, I'm a member and it gave me a discount on Spelunky today, I'm just aware that it is a paid service.
 
W

Withnail

Member
nib95 said:
They'regiving away free stuff with PS+ too, well, not exactly free but you catch my drift. Basically you give stuff away when you want the adoption rate and value proposition for the said thing to be higher. He is most probably right about Microsoft having weak pre order numbers, hence all the EA and DLC money hattery, Day One stuff etc.
Click to expand...

Not really, the value of PS+ is arguably decreasing on PS4 compared to where it is currently.

Anyway people are reacting to the thread title without reading the OP (as usual). He's referring to the practice of adding a game after preorders have already started, and as some of us have pointed out the ONLY reason to do that is if preorders are not meeting projections.
 
G

General Patton

Banned
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I see it as not much difference when Sony went all out following the hacking fiasco. MS is trying to curry favour with potentially scorned customers. The FIFA pack-in is a smart move.
 
B

Bananajama

Banned
I'd say they're not at all butthurt.

They didn't need to add any value to the day one pre orders because people actually want it.

Xbox Obe however Microsoft had to splash the casb to get the day one preorders outta the door.

In fact got an email yesterday saying I stoll can if I want to
 
N

Nightengale

Member
Withnail said:
Not really, the value of PS+ is arguably decreasing on PS4 compared to where it is currently.
Click to expand...

Obviously, given that we're talking about a console that isn't even out yet, and will barely have 30+ games by end of the year.

IGC on PS4 is going to primarily be 'Indie Game Collection' for the first year, I would assume.
 
M

mrklaw

MrArseFace
Nibel said:
It's not odd, it's awesome

Seems kind of butthurt to me about Microsoft giving away FIFA14, hope people don't follow his sentiment
Click to expand...

It's awesome for consumers, he was talking from a business standpoint. It is odd because it suggests the need to boost preorders, which means MS aren't where they want to be with preorders in Europe.
 
K

KoopaTheCasual

Junior Member
Nibel said:
It's not odd, it's awesome

Seems kind of butthurt to me about Microsoft giving away FIFA14, hope people don't follow his sentiment
Click to expand...

Yea, sounds a tad salty, but it is what it is. He's just trying to downplay it, since saying "yea, it sounds super rad!" about your competition's offer is never good.
 
N

nib95

Banned
Withnail said:
Not really, the value of PS+ is arguably decreasing on PS4 compared to where it is currently.
Click to expand...

How so? Just because there are less games out doesn't mean it'll stay that way. My guess is actually that PS4 PS+ will hold just as much value if not more as considerably more devs are making indie games for the PS4 compared to the PS3, and they'll want the coverage and revenue, even if it is small, as it beats being left lost in a sea of other titles.

PS+ PS4 already has DriveClub, Resogun, Secret Ponchos, Outlast and Don't Starve. That's absolutely solid for a brand new console with so few games actually even out on it. In fact, that's already worth way more than the value of PS+ right off the bat.
 
D

dragonbane

Member
GC: You’re not tempted to go and make a deal with some other game?

JR: Why should we do that? Our problem is gonna be matching supply to demand. It’s perfectly rational when a platform holder, or indeed a publisher, runs a pre-order campaign to engage in promotional behaviour to dial it up if you feel it’s not where you need it to be. That’s a rational thing for any businessman to do. We’re perfectly happy with where our pre-order are.
Click to expand...
Damn. Brutal truth right there. Ryan doesn't hold back lol
 
N

Nightengale

Member
Glorified G said:
'Giving away stuff on day one… it’s kind of odd.’

Unless it's to a Gamestop manager
Click to expand...

Apples and oranges. One is to consumers as an incentive, one is to retail frontliners as an investment.

I wrote this in a separate post.

This(giving away console and games to sales managers/staff) is trade marketing, or a 'below-the-line' investment to enhance retail level staff to be knowledgeable about your products, and build loyalty towards the brand/product, to sway any CIFM-type consumers. ( Choose It for Me )

Extremely common business practice for major multinationals.

In many ways, it's no different from all those buntings, point-of-sale material, posters, cardboard cut-outs, statues, and all the marketing material that retail shops get to brand their stores come launch of a new AAA-game.

Those stuff are ridiculously expensive, you know. Marketing department spend many many sleepless nights developing very very small stuff ( like posters, standees, etc), work very closely with distributors and agencies to make sure it is all well utilised on-ground, and go to grounds to ensure that all retail staff are motivated to sell the products.
Click to expand...
 
M

Miles Quaritch

Member
GC: I’m just interested in whether you’re purposefully saying no to them either because you don’t want to spend the money or from some other matter of principle?

JR: No, and you know we’ve carefully selected titles where we feel it’s appropriate to partner with a third party. So Activision, yes, are doing stuff on Call Of Duty with Microsoft. However, we are partnering with Activision on Destiny. And you know Destiny is a new IP from Bungie and there’s gonna be stuff that is exclusive to the PlayStation SKU for a window of time and there’s gonna be a lot of PlayStation-branded marketing collateral and there’s gonna be PlayStation hardware bundles.
Click to expand...

Sony's banking a lot on Destiny being a bit hit.
 
B

BigDug13

Member
KoopaTheCasual said:
Yea, sounds a tad salty, but it is what it is. He's just trying to downplay it, since saying "yea, it sounds super rad!" about your competition's offer is never good.
Click to expand...

Maybe it sounds salty. But the bottom line is that if Microsoft had their preorders sold out, they would have never given a game away that required moneyhats to EA. Sony has their preorders and beyond sold out. What possible incentive could they have to give a game away to help boost preorders? And it's not like MS is giving a ton of FIFA away. It's only for Day One Edition consoles which Sony sold out of months ago.

And the two free games MS is giving to tier 2 preorders is simply to try to prevent them from just getting PS4's instead since it will be available sooner.
 
O

Omni

Member
He comes off as condescending in that interview. Maybe it's just the way it is edited...

not relevant at all. just bothered me while reading it
 
F

Fergie

Banned
Of course the IGC for PS4 will be smaller, it's a new console and it's backlog won't be as extensive. I'm sure as the generation goes on it will be as valuable as the current PS3 situation. Can't place blame on PS+ decreasing in value when the gen hasn't even started.
 
N

Nightengale

Member
squidyj said:
those last guardian questions :l
Click to expand...

And people wonder why Sony's not announcing games early anymore. :p

They're pissed off as it is with Agent/TLG questions.

chertipros said:
Who cares if it's odd, it benefits the consumer
Click to expand...

Him calling it odd is just him being politically polite to MS.

He basically fired a shot and said that the only reason MS did this is because they're not meeting preorder numbers in Europe. All business.
 
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