E3: Sony's Dille: Xbox 360 Not Sustainable, HD-DVD Dead Within Months

[FantasyGhost]

posting this here because it's sony exec talking about MS.

Talking to Gamasutra during a one-on-one interview, Peter Dille, the new senior vice president of marketing for PlayStation, maintained that the 360 cannot sustain itself over a 10 year cycle – and also stated that he believes HD-DVD will be dead within months. Here’s an excerpt of the conversation, which will eventually be published in full:

I feel like now we’re at a 10 year cycle for console profitability for everyone except Nintendo at this point...

Peter Dille: Except Microsoft too!

I’m not saying they’re profitable.

PD: They’re also not 10 year! The first Xbox was around for 4 or 5 years, and then they stopped making software for it.

I’m just saying it’s a longer tail before Sony and Microsoft will make money.

PD: I don’t want to be argumentative, but I take issue with Microsoft either having a long tail, or being profitable, because they’ve never done either. They’ve never made a dime in this business, number one, and number two, they’ve never had a tail. They’ve never been successful enough to have a tail! So the notion of a back half of the curve doesn’t exist for them. They stopped the Xbox and I kind of feel for the guy that bought an Xbox the month before they said ‘we’re out of business, we’re moving on.’

The reason I get a little emotional about that is it’s in stark contrast to our approach. If we’ve got something that says PlayStation, we’re going to stand behind it for 10 years, and deliver games like God of War II in the 7th year of the cycle.

With the Xbox 360 you’ve got an inconsistent design, some have a hard drive, some don’t, and none of them have Blu-Ray, and the HD-DVD will be out of business in a matter of months. Is this a 10 year product? And by the way, it doesn’t even work. Do they want to be selling it for 10 years and refurbishing them all for 10 more years? I don’t think that’s a 10 year product. You could disagree with me, or they could disagree with me, but I’d put that up against the PS3 any day.

http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/new...hp?story=14679

[Fats]

That's a lot of flame material right there, but in some instances, I agree with some of his sentiments.

[Coded-Dude]

The reason I get a little emotional about that is it’s in stark contrast to our approach. If we’ve got something that says PlayStation, we’re going to stand behind it for 10 years, and deliver games like God of War II in the 7th year of the cycle.

OWNED!

[masteratt]

I like his heart.

Very strong and young it seems.

If he hates MS (especially X360) business as much as I do, he can do a lot for Sony to put them a head.

He makes some great points.

[Viper]

While largely accurate, this 10 year bullshit is getting annoying.

PS3 isn't getting a 20 million unit head start like PS2 did before competition hit the streets. In the 4-6th year, expect a new Xbox (provided MS can move beyond the financial black hole they dub themselves) that will go above and beyond what PS3 can do and if Sony expects they can keep riding nothing but the PS3 for several more years......lmmfao.

That's the like saying the PS2 would be able to carry them for another 3 years right now and PS2 was the most dominating console ever. PS3 will not be as such.

I'm sorry Dille but you and your boys need to start working on PS4 right now. Now 7 years from now.

[Phoenix]

I don't think it's something to brag about when people are developing for your obsolete console because they are afraid of your new one.

[masteratt]

Sony never says PS4 won't be out for another 10 years.

Just like they never said PS3 won't be out for another 10 years after PS2 launch.

But the PS3 is out and people with PS2s can still use that console right:
That's what they mean.

Microsoft releases a consoles and bins the previous one which is no way to support a brand.

Financially- Can the PS3 hold it's ground like PS2 is against new consoles?
In 5 years time- yes.

[Viper]

Sony never says PS4 won't be out for another 10 years.

I'd have to look it up again but someone at Sony certainly did. They said a revision of the PS3 is likely during that 10 year time frame but that's it.

Let me see if I can find it.

[masteratt]

Don't bother, if someone from Sony did get quoted saying that- It's just PR bullshit so it got nothing to do with their actual plan.

Unless Phil said it himself.

The rest can't be taken seriously- I mean, $1200 (or whatever it was) for every PS3 you see in the shops when it was hardly selling? lol

[Viper]

Don't bother, if someone from Sony did get quoted saying that- It's just PR bullshit so it got nothing to do with their actual plan.

Unless Phil said it himself.

The rest can't be taken seriously- I mean, $1200 (or whatever it was) for every PS3 you see in the shops when it was hardly selling? lol

Haha, yeah, that one's hard to top. I don't recall which rep or position made the claim though it was fairly recent and they alluded to no PS4 for 10 years as much as possible without actually saying but I get your point if a rep said it. There seems to be a communication problem with them all lately so who knows.

Either way the whole 10 year thing is kinda blah anyway. 1-2 years after a new console hits market...Ok, that's super support but 4+ years is nothing more than trying to gain profit while your new console eats it.

[masteratt]

Well that's the way Sony run their business and I think it's a very plausable plan.

I mean of course for Sony it's them making money but for some (no matter how minor) it's simply a ''I'll buy your next-gen console when it's dirt cheap, until then I want to play your PS1 (or 2)'' and who is Sony to say ''No'' as they are gaining money from it (no matter how small the money is).

This is what I mean in most threads- Sony's got such a business plan that everyone benefits and that's why I like them.

Like now- I don't want to buy a PS3.
Is Sony ''forcing'' me?

No- I am here on my PS2 playing my God Of War and catching up on some old title now that they are cheap.

What this guy (Dille) means is that you won't get God Of War on your Xbox this late.

After the next Xbox is out- You might as well bin your old one.
This is Microsoft ''forcing'' you which Sony is not and that's what they mean as a whole is that they won't ''force'' you to move to the next PS for anotehr 10 years.

unnecesarily long post and i'm sure I repeated myself but I wanted to clear everything up as detailed as possible.

[Phoenix]

It's a good idea in some ways, but in other ways, it makes people less willing to buy the next Playstation, since they know they'll still have great games on their current Playstation. Especially if it costs 599 US dollars.

[masteratt]

Well yes maybe for 3 years max.

Sony is a long thinking company and once they show those great games plus price drop plus the fanbase they have with the PS2- Once all those three combine, you get a very succesfull console without pissing people off and by being nice (which mostly result in more loyal customers).

Sony's got a vast market ranging all the way from the PS2 to PSP to the TVs you play your PS3s and PS2s on and to the speakers you hook your Soyn consoles upto etc.
So a year or two of biting the pencil while your very new and very risky product ''fails'' is nothing when the tables turn and you get billions of profit.

[Viper]

Perhaps with the price of entry being higher Sony needs to have the continual support of the prior console.

MS being first to market jumped up quickly with a rebuilt user base. Sony's userbase between the two consoles is so lopsided, it's practically required to sustain income.

I can see how simply having an option as to when to jump on the next gen bandwagon is a good thing but at the same time it can undermine your next gen offering if you slip up.

[masteratt]

After this E3 and god knows what we'll see mid-PS3 lifespan, I think it's safe to say Sony won't slip up.
They still have the most talented developers working for them exclusively and now their 1st Party is bigger than ever.

The only mistake they made I think is that the PS3 launch was pre-mature.
Hardly any services were ready, the most obvious features had to be added via Firmware updates etc but that was mainly to make X360 sweat a bit so can't blame them for that.

If Sony can keep this mind-set, I think they are in for a very historic run of sucess in this market.
I personally find it hard to complain when Sony is leading.
PS1 had everything for everyone and so did PS2.
Sony simply delivers on all fronts and at the moment, I don't see them slipping up.

They still seem to be just doing what they are doing while carefully countering the competition at the same time (making PSN free and adding 6axis).

[Viper]

After this E3 and god knows what we'll see mid-PS3 lifespan, I think it's safe to say Sony won't slip up.

Oh geez, god, man.....Shhhhhh. Sony can hear you.


I just heard 3.7 million PS3 owners shout at once, "Don't jinx it you bastard."

[masteratt]

Hahah, if billion dollar projects could be ruined by jinx; no-one would have sucess

The only downfall of Sony will be when they spoil their fans so much that they don't get impressed by anything Sony offers them.

But then Sony being a tech maniac company- That's hard to happen.

[FantasyGhost]

In an interview with Gamasutra, Xbox head Peter Moore responded to Peter Dille of Sony's comments to Gamasutra regarding the Xbox 360's sustainability, and Dille's statement that HD-DVD would be dead within months.

"If they want to have an opinion about something that's 10 years down the road, that's fine," said Moore, regarding Microsoft's commitment to the 360. "I don't want to get into a sparring match with them over this," he continued, but mentioned that speculation about the future is nothing more than that - speculation.

On the topic of HD-DVD, Moore was largely bullish. "On that mark I look forward to speaking with you at, say, CES next year," he began. "I was just looking at HD-DVD numbers over the weekend, and I think Toshiba may have an opinion about that."

"Of course, the fact that Sony has an economic interest in making sure that it’s dead is interesting. I think his comments will be read with interest by folks in the European Union, and looking at the tactics the Blu-Ray forum has been using to ensure that retailers do things their way. Let’s just look at what happens this holiday. I think it’s kind of a preposterous statement. Within months? No."

The full Moore interview will run on Gamasutra at a later date, discussing the handheld market, casual entries, strategies for Japan, and what Microsoft could be doing better in the games space.

http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/new...hp?story=14692

[Viper]

Verbal ping pong. Slightly amusing but mostly pointless.

[IEatFriedPikmin]

hd dvd will not be dead in a matter of months... that was just dumb. i agree with moore most definitely.

as for the 10 year thing.... the ps3 may have been built with the future in mind, but like Viper said, you have to be successful in order for your console to last 10 years.