• Hey Guest. Check out your NeoGAF Wrapped 2025 results here!

Eurogamer Phil Harrison interview (PS2, PSP, PS3)

Eurogamer: Moving on to the PSP, how do you think it's gone now we're three months on from launch? What do you make of the reports Nintendo DS is outselling it?

Phil Harrison: Well that's factually incorrect. PlayStation Portable has been the fastest-selling machine to ten million units. We are bringing in plane-loads of PSPs into Europe and the US as we speak in order to satisfy the demand in the run-up to Christmas, and if you talk to retail they'll tell you it's the hottest-selling piece of hardware right now - by far and away the number one demanded product in stores this Christmas.



Factually incorrect? Ask retailers what they think?
That's why we need NPD figures to be made public. Lies must be confronted to real facts.
 
"PlayStation 3 is the only format that has 1080-progressive, which is the true definition of HD, so it's really premature to be talking about the HD era. The HD era really only starts when we are on the market."

Hahahaha....

I think you'll find that 720p is also hidef.
 
Just remember that this is in the UK.

That said, I remember when Phil Harrison wasn't a corporate yes-man, but a guy with vision. This article pisses me off in so many ways...
 
Fastest selling machine to 10 million?! :lol

Sure, maybe if you SHIP millions more than you're actually selling to customers!
 
Phil Harrison: if you talk to retail they'll tell you what we paid them to tell you
Ghost said:
Exactly. There are so many reasons to love Sony, why do they always have to spoil everything with manipulation tricks?
 
marc^o^ said:
Eurogamer: Moving on to the PSP, how do you think it's gone now we're three months on from launch? What do you make of the reports Nintendo DS is outselling it?

Phil Harrison: Well that's factually incorrect. PlayStation Portable has been the fastest-selling machine to ten million units. We are bringing in plane-loads of PSPs into Europe and the US as we speak in order to satisfy the demand in the run-up to Christmas, and if you talk to retail they'll tell you it's the hottest-selling piece of hardware right now - by far and away the number one demanded product in stores this Christmas.



Factually incorrect? Ask retailers what they think?
That's why we need NPD figures to be made public. Lies must be confronted to real facts.

Well if he's speaking in terms of the UK market then he's probably more or less correct as the PSP has been outselling the DS slightly for the last few weeks.

I can't believe the same is true for the rest of Europe as if you look at Amazon France and Germany, the DS is usually way ahead of the PSP in terms of both hardware and software.
 
:lol :lol :lol :lol

Ah God, I just read the entire interview.

"I don't do impressions" :lol

I've never seen anyone misconstrue data so effectively as this man.
 
Taker666 said:
Well if he's speaking in terms of the UK market then he's probably more or less correct as the PSP has been outselling the DS slightly for the last few weeks.

I can't believe the same is true for the rest of Europe as if you look at Amazon France and Germany, the DS is usually way ahead of the PSP in terms of both hardware and software.

No, it's not true at all. If you're shipping more than your competitor, but not selling through to customers, you are NOT outselling them.
 
Taker666 said:
Well if he's speaking in terms of the UK market then he's probably more or less correct as the PSP has been outselling the DS slightly for the last few weeks.
.
Even in UK, DS has been overall outselling PSP these last 9 weeks:
DS PSP
15-Oct-05 24.5 18.7
22-Oct-05 23.0 8.0
29-Oct-05 30.0 12.9
05-Nov-05 35.0 16.0
12-Nov-05 40.0 12.0
19-Nov-05 44.0 62.0
26-Nov-05 54.5 57.0
03-Dec-05 63.0 79.0
10-Dec-05 77.0 69.0

So you see, this kind of bullshit statement worked on you. And you can now be sure all magazines will continue to report PSP is the leader... 10 millions PSP owners...

Should we applaud Sony for building hype on lies? Or react as we are doing here?
 
Phil seems like a cool guy. He's not as evasive as Kaz and not as hard to understand as Kuturagi and he doesn't talk in hyperebole that much.

Good stuff
 
marc^o^ said:
Should we applaud Sony for building hype on lies? Or react as we are doing here?

We should applaud them for how easily they can get their competitors and their competitors fanboys worked up.
 
marc^o^ said:
Even in UK, DS has been outselling PSP these last 9 weeks:
DS PSP
15-Oct-05 24.5 18.7
22-Oct-05 23.0 8.0
29-Oct-05 30.0 12.9
05-Nov-05 35.0 16.0
12-Nov-05 40.0 12.0
19-Nov-05 44.0 62.0
26-Nov-05 54.5 57.0
03-Dec-05 63.0 79.0
10-Dec-05 77.0 69.0

So you see, this kind of bullshit statement worked on you. And you can now be sure all magazines will continue to report PSP is the leader... 10 millions PSP owners...

Should we applaud Sony for building hype on lies? Or react as we are doing here?

It didn't work on me, I know the 10 million thing is PR bull.

I merely said that in terms of the UK over the last few weeks the PSP had outsold the DS.

I hadn't seen the December 10th figures so was basing my assumption on the 3 weeks prior to that when the PSP outsold the DS.
 
SolidSnakex said:
We should applaud them for how easily they can get their competitors and their competitors fanboys worked up.
I'm not a Sony sheep so I react: build hype on lies is bad. Period.

And I concur with Ignatz Mouse: your avatar rocked.
 
Ignatz Mouse said:
Just remember that this is in the UK.

That said, I remember when Phil Harrison wasn't a corporate yes-man, but a guy with vision. This article pisses me off in so many ways...

Nothing to suggest that the team under him aren't yes-men though.
 
Ignatz Mouse said:
That said, I remember when Phil Harrison wasn't a corporate yes-man, but a guy with vision. This article pisses me off in so many ways...
Yeah, not a great interview, but let's not assume he converted to the darkside in one step.

marc^o^ said:
There are so many reasons to love Sony, why do they always have to spoil everything with manipulation tricks?
Let's not single them out as if they're any different from any of the other major corporations in the gaming biz in this regard. If you don't like the practice, please call it out whenever you see it, not when a specific company does it.
 
kaching said:
Let's not single them out as if they're any different from any of the other major corporations in the gaming biz in this regard. If you don't like the practice, please call it out whenever you see it, not when a specific company does it.
True indeed.
 
kaching said:
Let's not single them out as if they're any different from any of the other major corporations in the gaming biz in this regard. If you don't like the practice, please call it out whenever you see it, not when a specific company does it.
Oh I'd do that, and you'd do it too. I hope it won't become a common trend though.
 
Clearly next year the emphasis will start to shift, and we will start to share with you at the appropriate time a lot of the cool things about PS3. We also perhaps didn't feel the need to be overly scared into making any announcements just because somebody else had launched beforehand - that wasn't part of our plans and isn't part of our plans.

Well said... IMO.
 
DarienA said:
Well said... IMO.

I'm glad they were able to stick to their own schedule too. Alot of people were expecting them to throw their cards on the table by now even though they set a plan for when they'd talk about the PS3 and that wasn't part of it.
 
DarienA said:
Well said... IMO.

He said pretty much what a lot of us were predicting too. No new PS3 information this year because they want all customer focus on PS2 / PSP for christmas.
 
Razoric said:
He said pretty much what a lot of us were predicting too. No new PS3 information this year because they want all customer focus on PS2 / PSP for christmas.
Makes sense. But goes against everything that they did at their E3 presser. This is nothing but PR craptalk. Whether you agree with it or not.
 
Plus it would have indirectly made advertising for next gen consoles, x360 being the only one available.
 
PhatSaqs said:
Makes sense. But goes against everything that they did at their E3 presser. This is nothing but PR craptalk. Whether you agree with it or not.

It's an interview with a corperate exec, of course it's PR crap talk.
 
kaching said:
Yeah, not a great interview, but let's not assume he converted to the darkside in one step.

Oh no, it's been a steady progression since the late 90's. But he's solidly there now.

I think the major change occurred when he left SCEA for SCEE. Back at SCEA he was responsible for SCEA publishing a lot of niche stuff in the US, including all the Art Dink stuff. There was a time when Sony used to embrace the different and weird (despite what all the haters will try to sell you) and Phil was at the forefront of that.

But now, he's all "our share price" and "here, let me spin that for you." I mean, I can understand why, he's moved up in the company, but damn, I wish there were at least people like he used to be on the publishing/marketing front again. That was an excitign time to be a PS fan. Now, not so much.

Razoric said:
It's an interview with a corperate exec, of course it's PR crap talk.

Exactly. I miss pre-exec Phil.
 
kaching said:
Yeah, not a great interview, but let's not assume he converted to the darkside in one step.

Let's not single them out as if they're any different from any of the other major corporations in the gaming biz in this regard. If you don't like the practice, please call it out whenever you see it, not when a specific company does it.
There's a difference between PR spin and outright lies. ;-)

Eurogamer: Would you say Sony missed the boat with online gaming in this generation, given the relative success of Live compared to PS2 Online? Is that a balance you're hoping to redress in the next generation?

Phil Harrison: I've always been very admiring of some of the things Microsoft has managed to do with their branding and some of the consumer elements of their service, but it's always important to remember that more people play online games through PlayStation 2 than any other consoles. On a worldwide basis it is the most popular online console by virtue of the size of the installed base.
This is a great example of spin. Factually, he's correct, but as a percentage of hardware sold, MS is much higher. It takes something that could be negative, and puts a positive light on it. The PSP quote on the other hand, is just laughable.
 
marc^o^ said:
Oh I'd do that, and you'd do it too. I hope it won't become a common trend though.


Do I get credit for running down a Sony guy without prompting, even though I am a Sony fan?

And marc^o^, just about everything you post PSP related is negative. You're *right* in this case, but it really is annoying and one-sided.
 
VanMardigan said:
Phil Harrison=Peter Moore.

I couldn't ever tell them apart in print.

Until Phil Harrison calls gaming on the PS3 "A LUCID DREAM" then I think Peter Moore is still in his own little category.
 
Yeah I would still say Peter Moore is in class of his own still. Would any exec besides him wear an "I'm a Legend in Japan" T shirt?

Regarding Sony and their 10 million number, obviously they are talking shipped, but sold through at the end of the year will be quite close. Break down the numbers to where we see PSP sell through by the end of this year:

Japan - 2.5 million
Europe - 3 million
USA - 3 million

Canada has PSP at > 500K already sold through, so that is over 9 million sold right there. Plus other smaller territories and the 10 million number sold through isn't so far fetched.
 
Top Bottom