Tag Archives: andrew house

SCEE president Andrew House has said that Sony plans to continue providing customers with the option of both digital and retail releases in the foreseeable future.

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SCEE president Andrew House has said that despite PSPgo and PSN enabling customers to purchase games digitally, packaged games are not going the way of the Dodo any time soon.

As a matter of fact, Sony plans to continue to support packaged media as an “additive to the business”, and according to House, business would have to shift in order to meet a digital demand, along with learning how best to market non-physical items.

“I think we were always fairly clear, as far back as the original announcements, that this wasn’t a replacement for the current PSP-3000 offering, and that it sits alongside that and packaged media,” he told GI.biz. “It’s additive to the business. The early sales numbers that we’ve seen bear that out – I don’t think there’s been a huge amount of cannibalization, and I think those sales have come in and lifted overall PSP sales.

“It’s clearly demonstrated that there is a consumer out there, and it’s validated that proposition in moving more towards a digital download as a preferred means of getting content.

“Make no mistake, when you’re looking at PS3 games and you’re seeing the shift in the sheer size of the data that’s becoming available, the packaged media business is not going away any time soon.”

Full thing through the link.

SCEE boss Andrew House has told GI that the European PS3 Video Delivery Service (VDS) will grow by around 50 films per week.

VDS launches today.

“We’re starting out with a really strong offering – there’s plenty there to choose from, a tremendous number of current hits – and then I think we’ll grow it somewhere in the region I hope of about an additional 50 movies per week,” said the exec.

“So that’ll encourage return traffic, people coming back, something new for them there to check out – we’re feeling fairly comfortable about the content line-up we’ve got, and that’s led us again to this being the right time to launch.”

More through there. There’s a list of “launch window” films here. Around 2,000 movies will be available on the store as of today.

SCEE’s Andrew House has told Edge that PS3 will “significantly outpace” the PS2′s life-cycle, meaning it will hold up longer in the retail market.

“If you look at the PS2, still in some markets going very strong, especially in North America in its tenth year on the market, we still can’t predict where that life-cycle will end,” he said.

“I have a theory that with successive generations, and with more value added and built into the console in terms of experience – and let’s not forget that the PS2 really didn’t offer a tremendously robust network experience – that what you effectively do is potentially lengthen that lifecycle more and more as you get to the next iteration.”

More through CVG.

SCEE boss Andrew House has said to the FT that the price-cut the PlayStation 3 recieved last week in Cologne at GamesCom isn’t down to “a reaction to current market conditions”.

“We are aware that consumers are watching their euros and pounds more carefully than before and it may make a price reduction have potentially even more impact. But it would not be fair to say this is a reaction to current market conditions,” admitted House.

House also didn’t rule out a possible link-up with social website, Facebook. This comes as an Xbox 360 version of the popular socialising website, announced at E3, is due before Christmas.

“The goal is to move from a traditional short, toy-based life cycle to a longer, consumer electronics life cycle. The network allows us to give customers a better sense of value and continuous improvement.”

More through the link.

Sony Germany’s given GT5 a “4 Quartal 2009″ date in its official GamesCom paraphernalia, as you can see on GTPlanet.

The game was actual playable at the Cologne show last week. SCEE boss Andrew House told us that we’re going to see specifics on the game “very soon” in an interview at the event.

Polyphony head Kazunori Yamauchi also said last week that the game will release “very soon” after its little PSPgo brother on October 1.

Tokyo, innit. Hit the first link to see the brochure.

SCEE boss Andrew House has admitted that Sony is going “head to head” right now with Microsoft.

Speaking to MCV, House said that the PS3 and PSPgo does have a fighting chance of taking on the Xbox 360.

“We’ve competing very seriously, head-to-head, with Microsoft in Europe right now,” said House, going further to say “and this gives us a major opportunity to do that more aggressively.”

“We have very high hopes for the new PS3 and think it will deliver a significant increase in our sales.”

More through the link.

Andrew House also spoke to VG247 on Wednesday. Get his thoughts on the PS3, PSPgo and why anybody looking forward to GT5 should watch the mountains here.

SCEE bossman Andrew House has said to MCV that, despite fears from Amazon it’ll be in short demand, the PS3 Slim won’t be receiving shortages at it’s release.

“There are trucks and trailers leaving right now – it’s on the road,” said House.

“I will make a prediction there – I don’t think we will be having too many of those [shortage] discussions with retail.”

House also claimed how “pleased” he was with how the company was holding on the PS3 Fat.

“I’m very pleased with how we have managed our inventory system on the existing model.”

More through the link.

We sat down and chatted with Andy House on Wednesday. Catch our full interview with him here.

SCEE president Andrew House has told VG247 that initial feedback for PSPgo has been positive, and the consumers who hop on board first will benefit.

The console was given prices of $249/€249/¥24,980 when the console was announced back at E3 in June. And only last night did SCEE tell us that it’ll retail for £224.99.

“I think, clearly, there is a delta there between PSPgo and the existing PSP-3000. We’ve received, to date, some tremendous anecdotal feedback on the form factor and the sheer sexiness of the device which I think bodes well for its launch.

“We, at least for Europe, were very keen to put an initial offer in place that would reward the consumer who jumps on board first. Therefore, I think the offer that we announced yesterday, that those initial purchasers will be able to get GT for PSP absolutely free. I think that goes a long way to addressing that.

“We’re also looking at some other plans further down the line that will come together for launch around people who have existing UMD libraries and what we can do to incentivize those as well. So, I think that and a combination of what is a really very attractive portable device leaves us feeling fairly confident where we are right now.”

Go through the link for the full interview.

SCEE president, Andrew House, has said that Sony would like to knock down the price of PS3 to the same £199 price point PS2 saw during its peak last generation.

However, that is providing the decision to lower the cost that much was within the boundaries of “sensible business”.

“If we could get to a more aggressive price point within the boundaries of sensible business, absolutely would we wish to do that?  Yes, we would,” he told VG247 exclusively during GamesCom.

“We have to deal with an exchange regiment that is-what-it-is right now, and not something that we are obviously in control of. I also think, as well, that that we have – let’s not forget – a great line-up of content coming for PS3 this year that I think will be very motivating and I think what we are also trying to do – we spent a lot of time yesterday very deliberately talking about the network – talking about what we are doing to improve, refresh, and add more capabilities to the network.”

As far as making a splash during this holiday season, House believes with the recent announcement of the movies on demand service along with the size of PSN, Sony is in good shape.

“What I hope is starting to become very apparent with PS3, is that the network has a larger community that you can engage with because there are more services, more things that you can do – access to movies now coming in November – and we are adding value to the existing PS3 owner as well.

“I think, will put us in reasonably good shape for this holiday.”

You can read the full interview through the link.

We must have missed this during our livetext last night. Apologies.

SCEE president Andrew House confirmed during SCEE’s GamesCom presser that the PS3 motion controller will be at the Tokyo Games Show next month.

We assume this’ll be part of Kaz Hirai’s keynote speech during the event in September. Expect the name for it to be announced there too.

Instead, all guests were just treated to a developer’s update for the controller.

Read back what happened at the conference here.

SCEE president Andrew House has told VG247 that anybody wondering why Gran Turismo 5 wasn’t shown during the company’s massive GamesCom presser should look forward to seeing something “very soon”.

“I am not going to make a prediction on that but I think you will see something on GT5 very soon,” said House. We assume that most likely means the Tokyo Games Show.

While the game wasn’t shown during the conference, it is playable on the showfloor. It is also coming to TGS next month. Some new info and menu screens were released last night.

Catch the full interview here.

Interview by Patrick Garratt.

SCEE president Andrew House took time out of his busy schedule at GamesCom to have a chat with VG247 regarding all things PS3 price-cut, PSPgo, how important it is for developers to comprehend the PS3 hardware, and the future of digital downloads.

Not only did House mention that Sony would  love to drop the price of PS3 to the $199 price point of the PS2 peak should it be fiscally possible, he also touched a bit on yesterday’s strange omission of a date for Gran Truismo 5, and how those who preorder the initial offering of PSPgo will get GT PSP for free.

There are loads of goodies in the interview, you should read on past the break.

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Day one is rounding up at GameCom and if you missed out on any of it, we’ve got you covered.

It’s all here in one lovely post. From Peter Moore sporting shorts and chatting on stage with Katarina Vitt, to Ray Muzyka not giving us a Mass Effect 2 date – that was the EA side.

From the day purchase of a purple Hannah Montana PSP 3000 to Kaz’s mega-fucking-ton but anticlimactic announcements of PS3 Slim and it’s pretty price – Sony’s all right here as well.

Hit the links and see for yourself.

EA PRESS EVENT

• GamesCom: EA press conference liveblog

• EA’s GC Press Event: Pictures from the floor

• Bernabau stadium to release as DLC in FIFA 10

• EA Sports Active moves 1.8 million units

• More workouts coming in November to Sports Active

• Sims series sells over 100 million units

• FIFA 10 demo dated for September

• Battlefield: Bad Company 2 dated for March 2010

• Brutal Legend demo for September 17th

• Tim Schafer talks multiplayer in Brutal Legend

• Dante’s Inferno releasing in February

• Mass Effect 2 trailer posted online

• Everyone in Star Wars: TOR will speak three languages

• GamesCom: Dragon Age: Origins video shows Darkspawn

• Battlefield: Bad Company 2 video and shots from GamesCom

• GamesCom: Mass Effect 2 screens are a sight to behold

• GamesCom: Loads of Dragon Age: Origins screens

• Brutal Legend GamesCom video from EA Press Event

Sony Press Event

• Sony Press Event liveblog

• SingStar and Audi Home spaces announced

• PSN’s made $280 million

• BBC iPlayer coming to PS3

• PSN cards coming to Europe

• Last two characters for Heavy Rain revealed

• Gran Turismo PSP free with registration of PSP Go in October

• PS3 Slim announced!

• PS3 finally gets official price cut

• The first pics of the Slim

• First official shots from PS3 Slim

• PS3/PSP video-on-demand service coming in November

• Digital Reader announced for PSP

• Minis announced for PSP Go

• PSP 3000 painting the town pink, turquoise, and purple this November

• Tretton on the PS3 Slim

• Watch the new Heavy Rain trailer

• Watch the moment the PS3 Slim is revealed

• Uncharted 2 GamesCom trailer from Sony Press Event

Sony announced during their GamesCom conference this evening that a set of mini-games, known simply as Minis, will be available from October 1: the day the PSP Go launches in Europe. They are 100Mb in size and will be available from the PS Store at launch and downloaded directly from the PSP.

SCEE president Andrew House promised that an extensive line-up of the games will be available, all the way from the PC and mobile game markets.

It’s unclear if this will work with older PSP models.

Read what happened during the conference here.

The Sony press event is live at GamesCom and president Andrew House just said that PSN has made $280 million since launch.

There have also been 560 million downloads of game-centric content, with a connection rate of 60 percent with 27 million registrants.

“PSN is The Future”, said House. “It’s a service that delivers a unique offering for everyone.”

The event is live right here.

SCEE boss Andrew House has offered up an explanation as to why the PSP Go has such a large price tag.

“When you introduce a new piece of hardware you have the opportunity to say there is a certain premium that is associated with it, and we took that into account,” he told MCV.

“As with all hardware launches you look at the business model, the cost structure, and the necessarily level of profitability, and you use that to set the wholesale price. Much as we do with any other hardware.”

So the $249 will be spent by those who want it, basically, and those who don’t wont. That simple. Same as all things, really.

More through the link.

SCEE president Andrew House reckons Europeans appreciate PS3′s value, and the console’s cost will only come down when Sony’s goddamn good and ready.

“Not to harp on about it, but the PlayStation 3 has a ten-year life cycle and there are issues of cost and profitability,” the exec told MCV.

“We will make that move on price when all those factors are aligned.

“Would people buy more when they are cheaper? Of course. But on the other hand there is an inherent marketing challenge. In Europe I think people do see the value of the machine, the Blu-Ray and network services and take that all into consideration instead of just focusing on price.

“But we will look at price and will address it when the time is right.”

And when will the time be right? Cologne, apparently, as we’re being told with alarming regularity.

SCEE president Andrew House has called motion-sensing an “essential” element to PS3, speaking to GI at E3.

“That’s one of the essentials,” he said, talking of PS3′s wand-based motion control system premiered in LA earlier this month.

House was quick to expound the machine’s further virtues, however.

“But the PlayStation 3 is also one of the best Blu-ray players around for high-definition movies and that almost gets lost in the mix,” he added.

“That gives it an enormous sense of longevity, people want the best if they are buying into high-definition entertainment from a television standpoint or from a movie standpoint. That’s an inherently long lifecycle and it helps bolster the traditional gaming lifecycle as well.”

There’s a full interview through there.

SCEE president Andrew House has stated that neither price point for PSP Go will pose an issue with consumers.

“If it’s cheaper would we sell more? The answer would probably be yes,” said the boss.

“I think on PlayStation 3, and the potential with an extension of PSP, we’ve got an opportunity to go even further on that. The overall value proposition which, by the way, European consumers get very, very well, I don’t think they are as price driven as other markets.

“So the overall value proposition is really strong and trends towards that lifecycle. And then you’ve got for the first time a networked community for the business and the strength that implies. That’s a huge factor in retaining people for a longer lifecycle with the product they have, because now they’ve bought into not just a packaged media relationship with games, but they’re bought into a community that they’re sharing with people and they’re interacting with.”

In the US, the handheld will retail for $249 and in Europe for 249 Euros ($350).

More over on GI.biz.