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Phil Harrison resigns from SCE Worldwide Studios. (to go to Infogrames? wtf)

I have to say that I've always wondered why Harrison was so liked. The things I remember the most are his retarded comments about the DS and his calling the motion sensors in Sixaxis a "fantastic innovation".
 
Madman said:
Don't bother. Anyone saying Jack Tretton or Kaz "suck" are just being dramamtic. They were not as well spoken as Phil, but they aren't fools.

Heh, yea he's being made out to be the Colin Powell of the Sony Administration.

E3 05 = Iraq Weapons of mass destruction presentation
 
Jokeropia said:
I have to say that I've always wondered why Harrison was so liked. The things I remember the most are his retarded comments about the DS and his calling the motion sensors in Sixaxis a "fantastic innovation".

He redeemed himself when he said, flat out "PR is part of my job, what did you want me to say" when the DualShake was announced.
 
sajj316 said:
I don't know ... it seems like he was pushed out. He did make somes comments about how SCEJ did not believe in the casual gamer. They couldn't come to the realization that a family can sit down to play a game together. Phil was the only one asking for more casual games. I guess the release of the Wii and its success just proved Phil right and SCEJ execs wrong. Guess who pulls all the shots? Who leaves and who doesn't?

how does it seem like it was pushed out from his GDC comments? "pushing out" someone as high as phil harrison would take more than some comments, and probably more than 4 days. everybody needs to stop thinking his gdc comments caused this, it was probably vice versa.
 
SnakeXs said:
He redeemed himself when he said, flat out "PR is part of my job, what did you want me to say" when the DualShake was announced.

I wish I had a job where simply stating what actually I do counted as a valid means of redeeming myself.
 
;_;




Between him and Ken, its the end of an era. They founded Playstation, and now they're gone :(

I think the long-term model for the line has already been envisioned, so they may not truly be 'needed' for direction at this point ... but I'm going to miss them.




Specifically regarding Phil, I'd consider him one the best PR guy I've seen. He is simply amazing in interviews and when speaking at conferences.
 
Shocking news. He was probably the most level-headed guy out of the Big 3.

Who would've thought that both Peter Moore and Phil Harrision would depart MS and Sony in the span of a year? Crazy stuff.

:lol @ all of the tears in this thread. Some of you are reacting like he just died.
 
This is going to make E3 suck too.


The only press conference that is actually listenable, is the parts of the Sony one where he's speaking. The rest range from crap to utterly cringe-worthy :(
 
Ashhong said:
how does it seem like it was pushed out from his GDC comments? "pushing out" someone as high as phil harrison would take more than some comments, and probably more than 4 days. everybody needs to stop thinking his gdc comments caused this, it was probably vice versa.

I wonder how much of that has to do with so many of the first-party games still in incubation and so few of them have actually come out, and those that have been delayed did not turn out as great as have been expected. Ultimately Phil is accountable for the current state of the first-party line-up with so much promise but with actually only a handful of true gems. Not having a keynote at GDC should have alarmed some people, I certainly was surprised at the lack of announcements, not one speech from Sony at GDC, it's just not like Sony to not show that bravado.
 
Onix said:
This is going to make E3 suck too.


The only press conference that is actually listenable, is the parts of the Sony one where he's speaking. The rest range from crap to utterly cringe-worthy :(
If you're lucky, Jeff Bell will make the move to Sony on time for E3.
 
Kittonwy said:
I wonder how much of that has to do with so many of the first-party games still in incubation and so few of them have actually come out, and those that have been delayed did not turn out as great as have been expected. Ultimately Phil is accountable for the current state of the first-party line-up with so much promise but with actually only a handful of true gems. Not having a keynote at GDC should have alarmed some people, I certainly was surprised at the lack of announcements, not one speech from Sony at GDC, it's just not like Sony to not show that bravado.

What about these roumors on how all future Rockstar games will be PS3 exclusive? I can see him having issues with paying for exclusivity as supposed to in-house development that he has been advocating.
 
Surprised by the move. I always liked Phil, I'm sure he'll find success wherever he goes. Good luck, and thanks for the good times.
 
spwolf said:
What about these roumors on how all future Rockstar games will be PS3 exclusive? I can see him having issues with paying for exclusivity as supposed to in-house development that he has been advocating.
What about those rumours of EA buying Take 2, therefore making your first point null and void?
 
spwolf said:
What about these roumors on how all future Rockstar games will be PS3 exclusive? I can see him having issues with paying for exclusivity as supposed to in-house development that he has been advocating.

It's not like Phil is in charge of every facet of development and recruitment anyway, they have the people in product development in place long before Phil came into the picture. And no I don't think they would pay for R* exclusivity, not because they don't want to, but because they can't afford it. I don't think this is a "difference in philosophy" but more of a case of management taking responsibility, and Phil is where the buck stops when it comes to first-party games.
 
As jstevenson pointed out, the thread title should be changed - GI.biz says they got mixed up, and are reporting that he's actually going to Infogrames.
 
Kittonwy said:
It's not like Phil is in charge of every facet of development and recruitment anyway, they have the people in product development in place long before Phil came into the picture. And no I don't think they would pay for R* exclusivity, not because they don't want to, but because they can't afford it. I don't think this is a "difference in philosophy" but more of a case of management taking responsibility, and Phil is where the buck stops when it comes to first-party games.

What's the deal with the Japanese studios? It seems like they have nothing in the works, outside of Polyphony and Ueda's Team. Is the talent not there or are they just sitting on their hands?
 
Sony Japan are a bit touchy, clearly they are not happy with all the questions from shareholders they are going to get at the next AGM about why they missed the wii gravy train.

I fail to see why he has done such a great job anyway, where are all these AAA Sony first party games? Do Naughty Dog and Insomnic count as first party?
 
Wouldn't taking a job at Infogrames be a huge stepdown from Sony? On the surface, it at least appears like Phil didn't exactly resign.
 
gofreak said:
As jstevenson pointed out, the thread title should be changed - GI.biz says they got mixed up, and are reporting that he's actually going to Infogrames.

In 2003, Infogrames Inc. licensed the Atari name and logo from Atari Interactive and changed its name to Atari Inc
 
WTF, best video game exec around. Very shocking news...

Yes I realize he's not dead, STFU it still really sucks. I have to wonder how the quality of games will be affected (though it's good that Kaz isn't quitting as well, then I would be handing out the doom and gloom for real).
 
GauntletFan said:
In 2003, Infogrames Inc. licensed the Atari name and logo from Atari Interactive and changed its name to Atari Inc

Yeah, I thought so too, but according to GI.biz they're different entities again.

UPDATE: There was some confusion previously over Atari Inc and the Infogrames companies, which are not the same entity. David Pearce was the former CEO of Atari Inc, while David Gardner replaced Patrick Leleu at Infogrames. It is Infogrames that is the possible destination for Mr Harrison, not Atari Inc. GamesIndustry.biz would like to apologise for any confusion arising from this.
Related Information

I dunno though, maybe the difference doesn't matter.

mr_bishiuk said:
Do Naughty Dog and Insomnic count as first party?

ND does in the purest sense (i.e. it's owned by Sony), Insomniac does in the broader "first party publishing portfolio" sense.
 
Let's be honest here, Phil never really recovered from the ass kicking & name taking he got from da Reggienator at last years GDC. :D
 
speaking of E3, when will it take place this year?

and is there anything between now and E3, because from what i know there is not a single game related news coming out of Sony's GDC.

so are they pushing HOME to Fall or what!!!!!!!!!!!

btw i love Phil, specifically his European accent, it is the ..... MotOrstorm
 
WORLDWIDEWII: Home is very, very likely to release this spring. Everything is coming together.
Also, supposedly there will be a Sony Gamers Day event in May.
 
Hcoregamer00 said:
I thought she quit Nintendo when the moved the HQ.

"Denise Kaigler will be Nintendo of America's new vice president of marketing and corporate affairs, a position formerly held by Perrin Kaplan"

Yeah you're right she did leave Nintendo, I wonder what she's doing now.
 
darkgable said:
Let's be honest here, Phil never really recovered from the ass kicking & name taking he got from da Reggienator at last years GDC. :D

? unless I'm missing something, Sony kicked everybody's ass at last years GDC.
 
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