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Eurogamer Phil Harrison interview (PS2, PSP, PS3)

SolidSnakex said:
Yah, you clearly haven't seen many of Harrison or Moore's interviews if you're comparing those 2.

Probably a move to permenantley discredit Harrison by pairing him with Moore.
 
Ignatz Mouse said:
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.
Just about everybody on this board has a preference for a brand, I'm no exception. So yeah, I heavily defend Nintendo when people cross the line and are unfair with them. But I also have a PSP. I love it as a multimedia machine - it's just too good to browse the web/watch tv shows from my bed- and I also praise my PSP fav games (hot shots golf & wipeout). When I've been negative with the PSP (not that often actually), it's been for objective reasons. You see, I have an opinion. Different than yours certainly but I shouldn't shut up for that reason :-/

I hate manipulation and Sony is often borderline in that regard. Thus the negativity you could sense in some of my posts.
 
He said that there are more people playing PS2 online than XBL? Is that true, or just some damage control on his part? I can't see that being true.
 
This is the only interesting stuff:

Eurogamer: Why is it that you don't want to talk about the PS3 at the moment?

Phil Harrison: I think there are a couple of reasons for that. One is that we always have a strategy for when we share particular new information with the world, and we're in a period when we would rather focus on selling PSPs and PS2s - obviously this Christmas is a huge Christmas for retail. PlayStation-branded products, hardware and software, are the most important thing to retail around the world right now - that's where they're making their money - and it's important that we remain focused on exploiting our current business to the absolute maximum.

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.

A lot of PS3 announcements coming next year!
The rest is just PR.As he adimitted,he has to worry about the impact of his words on the share price of the corporation.
 
Since PSP and DS debuted at the same time (about a week apart), and DS is ahead of the PSP worldwide, wouldn't the DS be the fastest machine to sell through 10 million units?

unless he's talking about in Europe, where I know PSP hasn't shipped/sold 10 million
 
Smokey Bones said:
He said that there are more people playing PS2 online than XBL? Is that true, or just some damage control on his part? I can't see that being true.

I remember reading something to that effect. It was about Socom and that the amount of people that play Socom equals or surpasses that amount of people that use Live!. The fact that you have to pay anything to use Live! (no matter how miniscule the amount is) will never be as easy as connecting a ethernet to your PS2 create an account, loging in and playing.
 
Phil (and too many others) are getting paid damn well, to do whatever it takes to keep brining in the cash. This should be no surprise to anyone, especially when its coming from Sony.
 
Ignatz Mouse said:
But now, he's all "our share price" and "here, let me spin that for you."
That's where I disagree. In recent events/interviews he still shown himself as someone that's capable of acknowledging the strengths of competitors (even in this interview) and there's still a genuine interest and enthusiasm for where gaming is going which I think shows through in his Cell/RSX demo presentations at E3.

This interview comes at a time when Sony doesn't really want to talk about their future plans much yet so it's not exactly surprising to see him mostly just towing the company line. And the line of questioning wasn't looking to dig deeper into some of the comments he made anyway. I think there's a missed opportunity here, for example, that the interviewer didn't choose to focus more time discussing Harrison's recent appointment as pres. of SCE WWS, to ask him about his approach and philosophy for directing future game projects and for approval process of 3rd party offerings.

Airbrian said:
There's a difference between PR spin and outright lies. ;-)
Eh, if you're referring to his claim that the PSP is the fastest selling to 10 million, it causes a raised eyebrow, but I'm not about to declare it an outright lie based on the scraps of sales data we get here at GAF, which are based in significant part on estimates anyway.
 
the harrison interview was okay, but i expect there's not much he can say about ps3 yet.

i've warmed to peter moore recently, i think he's good.


as for the psp v ds debate, the bottom line is sonybots have to live with ds being a success and nfans have to live with psp being a success. personally i think decent competition and choice in the handheld arena is a great thing.
 
Smokey Bones said:
He said that there are more people playing PS2 online than XBL? Is that true, or just some damage control on his part? I can't see that being true.

It's true. At least from a number of users standpoint. I can't say in terms of hours played.
 
ziran said:
as for the psp v ds debate, the bottom line is sonybots have to live with ds being a success and nfans have to live with psp being a success. personally i think decent competition and choice in the handheld arena is a great thing.

QFT
 
Razoric said:
Oh man everyone prepare yourselves for the swarm of N-fans. :lol
why, cause only nfans can smell bullshit? Even if the psp is outselling the ds(which it isnt) I still highly doubt it it more demanded than a 360.
 
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.
Korea is also expected to hit 500k by end of the year IIRC, if the other numbers are true 10M may be pretty close indeed.
That said, is 3M in Europe realistic estimate?
 
It's true. At least from a number of users standpoint. I can't say in terms of hours played.

Care to back that up with some numbers or something since, XBL is the only one that can really be tracked?
 
ziran said:
as for the psp v ds debate, the bottom line is sonybots have to live with ds being a success and nfans have to live with psp being a success. personally i think decent competition and choice in the handheld arena is a great thing.

Competition in any arena is a great thing. Never did understand the mentality of those who want their favorite system to dominate and all others to bomb.
 
"It's true. At least from a number of users standpoint. I can't say in terms of hours played."

i'd be interested to know how they count those numbers given that there is no central unified log in to help identification.

I remember seeing Madden users and the number of broadband unit equipped machines (!!!) being used as proof that PS2 has more online users than the Xbox.

I've no idea which one has the bigger user base, but i'd be surprised if PS2 has anywhere near the number of _regular_ online players as XBL.

"as for the psp v ds debate, the bottom line is sonybots have to live with ds being a success and nfans have to live with psp being a success. personally i think decent competition and choice in the handheld arena is a great thing."

When two tribes go to war (go to war / go to war)
THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE!
THERE IS NO TRY ONLY DO!

... ahem. Maybe it's a US thing? Sports without draws being a hint - there must always be a victor and loser. The concept of two evenly matched opponents sharing the spoils is a little alien, SOMEONE _HAS_ to win.
 
Smaller userbases tend to have higher percentages, period. I mean, like sell-through. Sales tend to normalize over a period of time. Regardless of the userbase size, some games simply won't sell beyond a certain point. Likewise, peripherals and online users will normalize IMO. There are only so many broadband users to go around. X number of them will use a PS2 or Xbox online, but this number won't necesarily grow proportionally with the userbase. So, yeah, XBL will have a higher per-capita online base, but selling more systems means Sony will hit a higher figure, even if it's a marginal increase over XBL.

As for the sales, I don't believe Sony ever uses sell-through. But as long as retailer continue to order shipments, sell-through means nothing. Units have to be sold somehow, unless retailers are just buying them for paperweights or something. There's a finite capacity in the distribution chain, so continued shipments mean continued sales, and the shipments should be a fair indication of sell-through. PEACE.
 
DCharlie said:
i'd be interested to know how they count those numbers given that there is no central unified log in to help identification.

I remember seeing Madden users and the number of broadband unit equipped machines (!!!) being used as proof that PS2 has more online users than the Xbox.

I've no idea which one has the bigger user base, but i'd be surprised if PS2 has anywhere near the number of _regular_ online players as XBL.

They are able to log based on both the PS2's "serialized" number available from library calls as well as unique MAC addresses of the systems. The number of PS2's that have gone online is much higher than the number of Xbox's subscribed through Live.

Again, given that there are only a handful of PS2 titles that seem to get significant online usage vs Xbox Live titles, even considering the much higher PS2 base, I have NO idea about hours played. I'd be surprised if Xbox wasn't FAR higher though.
 
Pimpbaa said:
Competition in any arena is a great thing.
Of course it is.
Pimpbaa said:
Never did understand the mentality of those who want their favorite system to dominate and all others to bomb.
But how does this have anything to do with the fact we should not accept whatever execs say for granted? When someone lies, it is normal and sane they are put into contradiction. And it's not a videogame law. You can apply it to politics, friend relationships, etc.
 
NPD puts the PsP at 2.4 million in North America. Very impressive for a first timer portable. You can't argue with that. 10 million worldwide is BS, though, and shouldn't be tolerated whether it comes from an exec or a GAFer.
 
Fafalada said:
Korea is also expected to hit 500k by end of the year IIRC, if the other numbers are true 10M may be pretty close indeed.
That said, is 3M in Europe realistic estimate?

Yes. Will it happen? We'll just have to wait and see.


From the article:

Phil Harrison: I think there are a couple of reasons for that. One is that we always have a strategy for when we share particular new information with the world, and we're in a period when we would rather focus on selling PSPs and PS2s - obviously this Christmas is a huge Christmas for retail. PlayStation-branded products, hardware and software, are the most important thing to retail around the world right now - that's where they're making their money - and it's important that we remain focused on exploiting our current business to the absolute maximum.

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.

:)
 
VanMardigan said:
NPD puts the PsP at 2.4 million in North America.
Not North America, just the US (and I think Fuzzy stated his numbers are around 2.5m, not 2.4m).

And the PSP is just under 600k in Canada now; November was much better to both the PSP and the DS than it was in the US.

~3.1m sell through for North America as of November 26.
 
Mrbob said:
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.

How the fuck can Sony manage to sell 10 million psps by the end of the year, when Nintendo, who's been kicking the PSPs ass in most regions only got 8 million as of November (according to Reggie)?

Oh man everyone prepare yourselves for the swarm of N-fans. :lol

:rollseyes
 
Yeah, it's the ol' shipped vs. sold method. I don't really see a reason for the manipulation, it's pretty shady. Bad Phil.

Now get the PS3 news rolling.
 
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...

Can you really call Phil a corporate "yes-man" when he's one of the top executives in the company, running an entire major divison? Not saying he isn't selling something here, he clearly is, but its a hell of a lot more likely that Harrison is choosing to spin this, not a Sony corporate decree that he must.

I guess, I see your point, I remember when Phil's interviews were great reads, but I think the term "yes-man" sounds as though he's just a puppet being controlled by Kutaragi and co. when I think the reality is a lot closer to he and Kutaragi working together for a common goal (domination of all things Sony).

Oblivion said:
How the fuck can Sony manage to sell 10 million psps by the end of the year, when Nintendo, who's been kicking the PSPs ass in most regions only got 8 million as of November (according to Reggie)?



:rollseyes
Because the numbers everyone on here wanks over aren't accurate?

Just a thought.
 
Amir0x said:
Yeah, it's the ol' shipped vs. sold method. I don't really see a reason for the manipulation, it's pretty shady. Bad Phil.

Manipulation? I guess you could call it that. On the other hand, Sony have always used shipped (sold to retail) numbers, not sold (through to consumer) numbers, it's not a big secret. So maybe it's less manipulation and more people wanting a strawman to beat down and decry Sony's devious tricks. It doesn't take that much to decipher Sony's 'tangled web of lies'.

Honestly it's like brainless PR breeds brainless responses, so I guess they make good bedfellows.
 
PSP is doing well.

DS is just doing better though on a worldwide scale and no amount of Sony PR is going to change that.

Look, they've had 10 years to crow about their consoles being no.1, now they want to act all spited when they're the ones getting pushed around in a market. Sorry, Sony, man up and take it, just like you dished it out.
 
Oblivion said:
What are you saying? That PSP sold more than DS already?

I think what he is saying is that none of the numbers we get here through outlets like Media Create or NPD are 100% accurate.

People obsess over keeping track of sales, drawing graphs and charts etc. but what they have isn't the concrete fact that they like to think it is, although it's probably pretty accurate.
 
Die Squirrel Die said:
I think what he is saying is that none of the numbers we get here through outlets like Media Create or NPD are 100% accurate.

People obsess over keeping track of sales, drawing graphs and charts etc. but what they have isn't the concrete fact that they like to think it is, although it's probably pretty accurate.

Well Nintendo's numbers at least correspond quite accurately with what we've gathered via media crate, NPD, and Europe sales numbers.
 
Die Squirrel Die said:
I think what he is saying is that none of the numbers we get here through outlets like Media Create or NPD are 100% accurate.

People obsess over keeping track of sales, drawing graphs and charts etc. but what they have isn't the concrete fact that they like to think it is, although it's probably pretty accurate.


I think that's called damage control.

If Nintendo or MS tried that stuff they'd be called out on it right away.

It's also plausible deniability. You'll note in his response he never directly says the PSP is outselling the DS.

There's no massive demand for the PSP in North America. You can go into pretty much any retailer and they have plenty of them sitting on storeshelves.
 
soundwave05 said:
There's no massive demand for the PSP in North America. You can go into pretty much any retailer and they have plenty of them sitting on storeshelves.

So having product in shops means its not selling? :lol
 
Die Squirrel Die said:
Manipulation? I guess you could call it that. On the other hand, Sony have always used shipped (sold to retail) numbers, not sold (through to consumer) numbers, it's not a big secret. So maybe it's less manipulation and more people wanting a strawman to beat down and decry Sony's devious tricks. It doesn't take that much to decipher Sony's 'tangled web of lies'.

Honestly it's like brainless PR breeds brainless responses, so I guess they make good bedfellows.

PR is PR. I don't care who it's from, everyone plays their cards. I just think it's silly. Phil can be playing up the merits of PSP 'cause it's still doing well. But instead he gotta be all "Oh, no competitor is beating us! That shit is just wrong. Fuck that noise, 10 million for PSP strong." Instead he could just say "Well, I don't know exact figures... but I believe PSP is doing very well and there's plenty to look forward to in the future. Prospects are bright, yo."

TheJollyCorner said:
A few more weeks, man... a few more weeks...

I know! Pretty hard to wait for news. Most of all, I need to know the price already. It will pretty much help me decide the order of things next-gen.
 
Deg said:
So having product in shops means its not selling? :lol


I'm saying I doubt his claim that its the hottest selling hardware here. The NPD clearly shows DS infront and GBA waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay infront.

There have been no reports of any PSP shortages at all here in North America either.

If there's any hardware that retailers would love to have more of right now, it would be XBox 360, not PSP.
 
soundwave05 said:
I think that's called damage control.

If Nintendo or MS tried that stuff they'd be called out on it right away.

First time in a Sony PR sales thread, huh? We have this same bloody argument every single bloody E3, Playstation Meeting, or wherever Sony pulls out another of it's little sales charts and declares the console war over. Bunch of people say no way, another bunch go way, then there's some back and forth over shipped vs. sold, before a general agreement is met that Sony only push shipped numbers, the haters grumble about PR, the fanboys grumble that stores don't order new stock if the old stuff isn't selling, and everyone's happy until the next time Ken or Phil quote sales.
 
soundwave05 said:
I'm saying I doubt his claim that its the hottest selling hardware here. The NPD clearly shows DS infront and GBA waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay infront.

There have been no reports of any PSP shortages at all here in North America either.

If there's any hardware that retailers would love to have more of right now, it would be XBox 360, not PSP.
He's the UK guy. Number prove him wrong and I cannot believe how people can actively tolerate being lied to like that.

I demand a Gaybrush Threepio counter interview.

I don't think sony's shipped numbers are actually numbers sold and delivered to retailers. They call them "production shipments" which basically means manufactured.
 
elostyle said:
He's the UK guy. Number prove him wrong and I cannot believe how people can actively tolerate being lied to like that.

I demand a Gaybrush Threepio counter interview.
You don't have all the numbers, and if you do, share! And its not like Nintendo doesn't lie.
 
elostyle said:
He's the UK guy. Number prove him wrong and I cannot believe how people can actively tolerate being lied to like that

I honestly cannot believe how serious people take a companies Exec commenting on their own product.

You guys that complain about fixed Sony Nintendo or Microsoft numbers, you do know theres worse thing happening in the world right now? Also, unless you have stock in the said company, in all honesty, the amount a product sells in none of your business. The product is there for you to play. I mean come on..
 
elostyle said:
He's the UK guy. Number prove him wrong and I cannot believe how people can actively tolerate being lied to like that.

I demand a Gaybrush Threepio counter interview.

I don't think sony's shipped numbers are actually numbers sold and delivered to retailers. They call them "production shipments" which basically means manufactured.

DO you get this angry when Nintendo starts shooting off bullshit?
 
elostyle said:
He's the UK guy. Number prove him wrong and I cannot believe how people can actively tolerate being lied to like that.

I demand a Gaybrush Threepio counter interview.

Tolerate being lied to like that? Fuck that, how about 'realise that it's bloody PR for a games company and not something to get our knickers in a twist over'.

It's not like he's telling me that they aren't opening a nuclear powerstation next to my house as a bunch of uranium trucks roll by.

Seriously, if people don't have the intelligence to approach this with a good handful of salt, then they deserve the aggro the malicious lies Phil Harrison is poisining their ears with causes them.
 
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