Sony Europe - Reeves and Maguire talk

[Powercell]

http://www.mcvuk.com

After PS2 and PSP launches that left us in the dark for almost a year, SCEE president David Reeves has promised to right the wrongs of the past and give Europe equal billing to Japan and the US when PS3 launches in November.

Speaking exclusively to MCV, Reeves moved to reassure an industry concerned about hardware numbers that he aims to ensure that Europe is not left behind.

“The US, Japan and Europe will be equally served,” he said. “It’s my job to make sure Europe gets equal billing. I can’t specify the numbers but we’ll work hard to ensure it is equal.”

And now that Europe can look forward to the arrival of the hugely anticipated console during the pivotal festive season, Reeves led the celebrations – and hinted at what could be a bumper launch line-up.

“We’re delighted that it is out in November. I think the fact it is worldwide is good news for retail. And for our third party partners it is great timing before Christmas – in Europe specifically. Europe is on track and I think the third party publishers should recognise that. But as for us, we will have anything from four to six titles at launch, maybe more.”

But the SCEE president would not give any indication of Sony’s next big announcement – a final price point. “Ken [Kuturagi] will choose a price point at the right time once all the production costing is done,” Reeves added.

“Sony has a history of choosing the right time to do it; we did it with PSOne and it was the same with PS2.”

A straight-talking SCEE UK boss Ray Maguire has told MCV that it would be “impractical” to expect every single PS3 order to be satisfied.

Maguire joined Euro boss Reeves in celebrating the worldwide November launch – but at the same time warned that there are inherent problems with such a diverse region. “We might have expected to go as late as next spring in Europe so the launch is great for retail in particular,” Maguire told MCV.

"PAL has emerged in the last few years as more important as a whole because of its growth, and it is natural that you cut up stock in proportion to market share. PAL presents more difficulties as you’ve got over 100 territories and localisation issues to deal with, but we’ve done it before so we know how to deal with it."

"Of course the launch is important but we are looking at a sustainable long terms business plan – it is impractical to believe you can fulfil every single order. But we are going to do the best job we can to deliver what we hope will be a world beating console."

And Maguire also suggested that there will be plenty of next-gen titles on show at this year’s E3. "I think E3 will be a great show place for PS3 software. It will be one of the more important E3s – you’ll see for yourself."

[LiquidEagle]

SCEE's really making a good name for itself with this PS3 stuff IMO. I don't remember them being nearly as prominent in the PS2 launch, aside from very early screens of the Getaway which looked pretty different from the final product (check the MGS2 unveiling issue of PSM, like August 2000 ).

Between Killzone, Eyetoy stuff, The Getaway, that "car destruction" demo, and a few more odds & ends (is Evolution Studios/Motorstorm from the UK? For some reason I'm thinking it is...), SCEE's got a great lineup to show. I recognize not all that stuff is launch-relavent, but it's still a great offering from one single branch of Sony .

[liver_kick]

SCEE's really making a good name for itself with this PS3 stuff IMO. I don't remember them being nearly as prominent in the PS2 launch, aside from very early screens of the Getaway which looked pretty different from the final product (check the MGS2 unveiling issue of PSM, like August 2000 ).

Between Killzone, Eyetoy stuff, The Getaway, that "car destruction" demo, and a few more odds & ends (is Evolution Studios/Motorstorm from the UK? For some reason I'm thinking it is...), SCEE's got a great lineup to show. I recognize not all that stuff is launch-relavent, but it's still a great offering from one single branch of Sony .

Yup, Evolution is a Sony 2nd party, they're UK as well. And dont forget Heavenly Sword.

Agreed on SCEE, they seem primed to be a bigger force than ever within Sony's first party. Hopefully with the consolidation of SCE into "World Wide Studios" their output will reach more shores this generation.

Also IIRC most if not all of Sony's Cell based demos at E3 (Duckies, Alfred Molina, real-time London, as well as the new GDC stuff) were created by SCEE's internal technology group.

What I really want to see from Europe is next gen Wipeout at E3 though.

[LiquidEagle]

Wipeout Pure was a big hit for PSP at its launch (props to SCEE ), so I think we can fully expect a Wipeout in the near future, if not at launch for PS3 .

Who knows what SCEE Cambridge is working on for PS3 too...? They just finished 24 The Game and I'm curious to see what they can do on PS3. Primal and Ghosthunter were kind of iffy no doubt, but they have a good grasp of technology IMO (just look at the facial detail on Lazarus in Ghosthunter!), and with SCEE's recent roll I want more!

I'm interested to see exactly what those 4 - 6 titles are...

[yoshaw]

A lot of the EMEA region depends on the European launch. Which although sucked bigtime in the past, doesn't as much feel like a bad thing now that Sony is promising so much for the European region. Hopefully people in the less prominent regions of the world will get to see some PS3 love from Sony asap after its initial launch. Somehow that 1mill/month figure sounds a very promising light at the end of the tunnel for people in regions other than the obvious included in the PR worldwide claim. Well, hopefully.

[Smokey]

i love sony!!! lol

[xbdestroya]

Europe's a very important region for Playstation, and it's expected that PS2 sales will pass the N. America penetration shortly, if they haven't already. Remember also that Phil Harrison, the head games guy now, was formerly of the SCEE division.

[Z]

I'm interested to see exactly what those 4 - 6 titles are...

keep in mind those are only the potential launch games published or supported by Sony (i.e. 1st & 2nd party).

here is my guess (a little more than 6 ):
three sports titles from 989 Studios: football, soccer and basketball.
Untold Legend (don't freak out!)
Resistance
F1
Eyedentify
WarHawk
another surprise title (or two)
-

if that is too much (even if they are ready. they don't want to compete with themselves) take away the sports titles. there will be two of any sports game from EA and Take 2 regardless.

I don't think similar games will be released regardless of how near completion they are in at launch. for example; they are going to have one racer (like F1 or Motor Storm). one shooter (Resistence or Killzone) etc.

I think the majority of games that have been demoed thus far will be release by next May.

[Mitri]

i can't wait to see the next ridge racer game. it has never missed a launch. idk who makes it but i thought i would just speak my piece.

[LiquidEagle]

keep in mind those are only the potential launch games published or supported by Sony (i.e. 1st & 2nd party).

here is my guess (a little more than 6 ):
three sports titles from 989 Studios: football, soccer and basketball.
Untold Legend (don't freak out!)
Resistance
F1
Eyedentify
WarHawk
another surprise title (or two)
-

if that is too much (even if they are ready. they don't want to compete with themselves) take away the sports titles. there will be two of any sports game from EA and Take 2 regardless.

I don't think similar games will be released regardless of how near completion they are in at launch. for example; they are going to have one racer (like F1 or Motor Storm). one shooter (Resistence or Killzone) etc.

I think the majority of games that have been demoed thus far will be release by next May.

Resistance is definitely coming out before 2006 ends, according to Ted Price, and Insomniac has never missed a ship date to my knowledge. They're independent and they go through SCEA though, so I wasn't really counting that game (it'll definitely be my launch title of choice though!) Also, 989 sports are SCEA, and I don't think they make football games anymore (American Football), since EA owns the rights to NFL Players Association, right? Warhawk is from Incog, based in Salt Lake City, so I counted that as SCEA too

Since this was SCEE talking, I figured they were talking about their own local titles, not including SCEA/SCEI titles, but I guess I was wrong and your list is more accurate, Z

[Z]

Namco makes it. and since it already launched for X2, I don't see why PS3 won't get at least a pumped up version (if not an identical one). I think RR is a safe bet. the list I gave were more Sony titles than other.

[venomv]

Resistance is definitely coming out before 2006 ends, according to Ted Price, and Insomniac has never missed a ship date to my knowledge. They're independent and they go through SCEA though, so I wasn't really counting that game (it'll definitely be my launch title of choice though!) Also, 989 sports are SCEA, and I don't think they make football games anymore (American Football), since EA owns the rights to NFL Players Association, right? Warhawk is from Incog, based in Salt Lake City, so I counted that as SCEA too

Since this was SCEE talking, I figured they were talking about their own local titles, not including SCEA/SCEI titles, but I guess I was wrong and your list is more accurate, Z

Didn't Sony buy Insomniac like 2-3 months ago? They don't need the NFL to make a football game, they just need to be creative, even though I don't think they make footballs games anyway, never really did like their football games.

[Z]

Since this was SCEE talking, I figured they were talking about their own local titles, not including SCEA/SCEI titles, but I guess I was wrong and your list is more accurate, Z

oh. well, I was concidering Sony as a whole, even 2nd party projects like Heavenly Sword. after all, there are now one Sony studio called Sony Worldwide Studios that include every Sony dev anywhere in the world.

and yes, Sony bought Insomniac, and what a team they are!

as for the NFL license, we are seeing football games from Take 2 and Sega. EA hase the 'NFL' license and not the right to be the only one that makes football games
this goes for the FIFA name. EA is the only one that has license of FIFA, but how many soccer games are out there? heck, Winning Eleven is the best, yet it is not an official license of the soccer assosiation.
you don't have to use real world names and locations to make your game fun. think about the licensing in games like GTA and Burnout; there aren't any!

[LiquidEagle]

Sony bought Insomniac? I don't think so... Ted Price even stated when he spoke at Phil's keynote that Insomniac is an independent developer, and they chose PS3 because of its firepower and Blu-Ray (plus they've had a great relationship with Sony, naturally). The closest thing I can think of to what you're talking about is Zipper, the creators of SOCOM. Sony bought them about 2 - 3 months ago, so you might have them confused.

I know that they don't have to have the NFL license, but I figured that pretty much put a halt to Madden's competitors when that sale went down. The 2k series was unfortunately put to a halt, and I don't think people wanted 989 to continue Gameday to begin with! We'll see, of course, but I'm personally not expecting a football game from Sony. Of course I'm not a sports gamer so it doesn't affect me either way, hehehe.

[Z]

AAHHH!!
you are right, it was Zipper and not Insomniac. man I need some sleep....

the ironic thing as to why I mixed them up was that I made a joke saying that everybody thought Sony owned Guerilla, but they announced they bought them late last year. then, they announced they bought Zipper; another dev that we thought Sony already owned. so I said; "what next? Sony buying Insomniac?!"

now it turns out they don't own that one as well...O_o'

[LiquidEagle]

Insomniac would be a fantastic addition to Sony's group, but I don't think that's Insomniac's thing. As long as everybody's happy where they are, there's no reason to jumble things up I guess, and Sony's made the right choice to keep Insomniac close