The publisher hasn’t shown its cards yet in terms of what it could do with. That might change come September.

“Capcom haven’t announced anything officially on Wii U. I think they have done prototypes. There are only so many things you can get ready for E3,” Reeves told TBreak.

“But they might show something at the Tokyo Games Show which is where Wii U is more focused on. I haven’t seen anything personally myself but since the companies are quite close, I am sure they must be looking at something.”

Watch the mountains come September. TGS happens from September 15-18.

Speaking in an interview with ME Gamers, Reeves said there will be at least one launch title for the system, with Street Fighter vs Tekken and two others on the horizon. One of the two planned, Reeves is “sure you can guess what one of them [it] has to be, considering the success in Japan.”

“I think down the road, you could probably see a Monster Hunter iteration somewhere,” he added. “Probably on both [3DS and Vita]. I haven’t heard any concrete plans…they don’t always share those plans…because they switch teams many times.

“Personally, I find Vita a little bit more enticing. It’s got more to get into, it has 3G, it feels good in the hand. I find…and Nintendo will probably tell you as well…that 3D is not what they are going to sell it [3DS] on. They think 3D is something that will draw people in, but after a while, that’s it. People will just use the slider and put it into 2D. And they are aware of that.

“It’s going to depend on the software ultimately, whether it be a Zelda or a Mario, they are the games that will probably draw players in and sell systems. It will be interesting to see who prevails. I think in the Middle East it will probably be Vita, because of its PlayStation brand. In Russia it will certainly prevail as well. I think in the US and Europe, however, it’s going to be quite a battle. And that’s only good for consumers.

“But Capcom themselves are pretty agnostic about it. They will choose the game that will suit the individual platforms and develop for both of them. Just as other publishers, like Ubisoft, who are developing for both of them as well.”

You can read the full interview with Reeves through the link.

Thanks, Gematsu.

In fact, the developer has another original title in the works which is expected to hit next year. Reeves wouldn’t say what it was though, and mores the pity.

“The strategy going forward is for [Resident Evil and Street Fighter] to form the basis of the portfolio,” he told MCV (via CVG). “We’re not saying it’s going to be all Street Fighter and Resident Evil forever. There will be new projects, but they will be shot through with Capcom’s quality NDA and subjected to a very rigorous green light process… there will be at least one more original title from us that will come out next year.”

Last week during the firm’s Captivate event in Miami, new IP Aura’s Wrath was shown, along with Dragons’ Dogma, another new IP which was announced during the event.

Thanks, StolenGlory.

Define “cheap”.

Ex-SCEE boss David Reeves has told Eurogamer the exclusivity deal for Grand Theft Auto III on PlayStation 2 was “remarkably cheap”.

A deal was sorted at a private showcase between Reeves, SCEE founder Chris Deering and third-party publishers in LA.

“The last meeting of the day was with Kelly Sumner [ex-Take Two boss],” said Deering.

“We picked up something called State of Emergency, which I don’t think would have been on Xbox anyway. Then I said, ‘What else have you got?’

“And they said, ‘Well, we’ve got this Grand Theft Auto game… I suppose we could do a deal on that.’

“Our technical people had said GTA III was not bad. It was innovative, but not a monster. I had just heard it was good. So I said, ‘OK.”

Reeves says the deal wasn’t done in a formal matter, but with beers instead.

No exact details were given on the deal.

Grand Theft Auto III turned out to be the big push for the GTA series, and one of the defining titles for PS2, which turned ten in Europe yesterday.

Capcom Europe boss David Reeves believes Microsoft and Sony “have to” incorporate Kinect and Move into the next-generation of consoles.

Speaking with Eurogamer, the former head of SCEE said there’s been so much investment in the new devices, it would be a bit silly not to include the tech or at least a modified version of it.

“I think [motion control is] the preamble to what might come in the next static consoles,” he said. “I don’t know when they will arrive. That different way of controlling a game, either with your hand and feet or your voice, or even maybe just your eyes.

“I think it will extend the life of the static consoles a little bit. But it will roll into – there’s so much investment in those systems, they’ll have to use it for the next static consoles as well. Or a modification. They’ll learn a lot from this.”

Both Microsoft and Sony feel the peripheral offers each have released will extend its respective console’s lifespan, but both refuse to be baited as to when consumers can expect the next wave of consoles.

However, as far as the current-gen is concerned, Reeves sees PS3 garnering big gains while Microsoft will retain medium gains and Wii will sputter off.

“The PS3 will grow massively, especially outside the frontline markets in Europe,” he said. “Xbox 360 will continue to grow and Wii, unfortunately, I see coming down – as it is now, quite rapidly.

“Unless they come up with some really good, innovative software with a very strong IP, I think they’re going to struggle. It’s the life cycle, isn’t it?”

Kinect was launched earlier in the month, and Move was released in September.

Capcom Europe boss David Reeves believes that the big three will release new consoles within two to three years.

Speaking with GI.biz, Reeves stated that Kinect and Move will “revive and pique interest” in games until there’s another “clash of the titans in two years time”.

“Two to three years, I reckon so,” he said when asked for an approximate time-frame.

“I don’t have any inside information. All the first-parties have got to be working on something. The tricky thing is when do you put a stake in the ground on technology? That’s the problem.

“You can be waiting a few extra months to implement something, but you’ve got to set a date to go with a certain chip at a certain point otherwise you’re going to miss the key milestones.”

As for Xbox 360, European Microsoft executive Chris Lewis told VG247 during E3 that the redesigned 360 along with Kinect would extend the machine’s life-cycle by five years.

“It is, in many ways for us, mid-lifecycle,” he said. “With this new, sleek design and Kinect for Xbox 360 we’ve got at least another five years of this generation, where we continue to offer great experiences for people.”

Meanwhile, Sony has said time and time again that PS3 has a 10-year life-span, with SCEA’s Peter Dille going so far as to say that it will beat out Xbox 360 in lifetime sales.

“I don’t think [360 will] be around in 10 years so I’m very confident we’ll pass them within that time-frame,” said the exec, speaking in an IGN interview.

“I mean, we’ve got 31 million [units sold] worldwide right now — they’ve got 39 million [units sold]. I don’t even need to go out 10 years.”

Nintendo has remained quiet on when to expect a new console let alone and upgraded version of Wii, but NOA’s Reggie Fils-Aime has said that the company is not ready for Wii 2 yet.

Former Sony Europe boss and COO of Capcom Europe David Reeves, has said that Sony should release PSP2 if they are serious about competing in the handheld market.

Speaking in an interview with GI, Reeves responded to a question about the release of a PSP2 and if it would be wise for Sony to do.

“I’d like to the think it would be for the publishers and developers and consumers,” he said.

“Sony tried to make the transition with PSPgo, I think that changed some consumers attitudes, but they need to come back with something on PSP pretty quickly to stay in the game because Nintendo are shit hot at getting these things right. And they always get these things right.”

Sony has recently denied that it was considering a PSP2, and this seems to be backed up by the fact that they are launching a new PSP campaign in the US to promote the current device.

VG247 has heard it on good authority that a PSP2 will be announced later this year at gamescom in Cologne or maybe even at Tokyo Games Show.

Capcom’s announced its appointed former SCEE president David Reeves as its COO for its European arm.

The move comes after former COO of Capcom US and Europe Mark Beaumont sadly passed away last month.

Reeves takes up the post from tomorrow, April 1.

“I established a close working relationship with Capcom during my time at Sony and have always admired its commitment to push boundaries and develop innovative titles,” said Reeves,

“We are very pleased to have secured the services of someone of David’s calibre,” commented Capcom Europe president Hiroshi Tobisawa.

Reeves left Sony Computer Entertainment Europe last year, having been with the firm since 1995.

PR below.

DAVID REEVES TO JOIN CAPCOM
Former SCEE President to become COO of European arm
London – March 31st,2010 – Capcom®, a leading worldwide developer and publisher of video games, today confirmed that it has appointed David Reeves as COO at CE Europe, the company’s European subsidiary. This role, effective from April 1st, 2010, will see Reeves responsible for overseeing all aspects of the European operation with the remit to maximise potential revenue and explore new areas for growth throughout the region.

Most recently President and CEO for Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, Reeves spent 14 years with the company setting up operations in Germany, Austria and Switzerland and overseeing the launch of PlayStation throughout Europe.

“We are very pleased to have secured the services of someone of David’s calibre, commented Hiroshi Tobisawa, President, CE Europe. “He brings with him an unprecedented level of industry knowledge and expertise which will be invaluable as we look to grow our European operation.”

Speaking about his appointment, David Reeves said, “I established a close working relationship with Capcom during my time at Sony and have always admired its commitment to push boundaries and develop innovative titles. It is therefore a real pleasure to now join this organisation and be a part of its future successes.”

Ex-SCEE president David Reeves is to keynote Games Convention Online, as you can see here, with a talk owhich will apparently answer the question of when online game sales will overtake standard retail.

Reeve’s talk is titled, “Schrodinger’s Cat and Heisenberg’s Dog – The Change from Offline to Online”.

GCO takes place on 31 July and 1 August in Leipzig.

David Reeves plays Pro Evolution Soccer over FIFA, he’s told Eurogamer.

“I have to say – and I shouldn’t really say it, because someone from EA’s going to read this – but I guess I played Pro Evo from a way back and I’m stuck to it,” he said.

The bombshell was made in the exec’s final interview before leaving Sony as president.

There’s some funny stuff in there. Hit the link.

It’s the end of an era. David Reeves leaves SCEE today as president, after a 15-year career with the company.

He’s replaced by CMO Andrew House.

Eurogamer’s rounded up a ton of his quotes from interviews with EG, GI and VG247, which make for funny, insightful and, if we’re being honest, sentimental reading.

Bets of luck, David. Interviewing you was a pleasure.

PlayStation 3 will be the dominant console within five years, soon to be ex-SCEE president David Reeves has told GI.

“I don’t think it will be next year, but in three to five years it will become dominant on the market,” he said.

“The legacy will be that people will see a tortoise and hare situation. In a way, in the end it will be a dead heat. People will say PS3 took a while to get going but it really caught up very quickly and confounded many of the critics from the first year,” he said of the consoles position on the market.

“When I see the line-up ahead, when I see what’s lined up on the new product side, I’m very, very optimistic for what I see for PlayStation’s future in the PAL territories,” he added.

More through there.

When you’re wrong you’re wrong. We were wrong. Former SCEE president David Reeves isn’t going to Realtime Worlds.

“I’d never ever heard of Realtime Worlds until someone asked me about them a couple of days ago,” he told Develop.

“I can honestly say no, that rumour is not true.”

We’d been told that Reeves was on his way to RTW as CEO. The company confirmed today that former Capcom Euro boss Gary Dale has taken the position.

That’s right, Mr Source. We’re looking at you.

Realtime Worlds has confirmed that Gary Dale has joined the developer as CEO.

Ex-SCEE boss David Reeves was heavily tipped for the job when he stood down from his Sony role earlier this month.

Dale was previously Euro MD for Capcom.

“Having worked with Gary earlier in his career at BMG Interactive, I am deeply impressed with his management style and profound understanding of the entertainment business,” said David Jones, co-founder and creative director, Realtime Worlds.

“As RTW transitions from being a traditional developer to an online publisher I could not be happier that Gary will lead us through this exciting phase of our growth. His years of experience at companies such as Capcom and Take-Two will prove invaluable in ensuring we meet our goals of becoming a world leading next-generation online publisher. My focus going forward will be on ensuring we continue to deliver quality innovative experiences as with our debut title, Crackdown.”

There’s a press release here.

Thanks, deftangel.

VG247 has been told that David Reeves – confirmed as leaving SCEE as president this morning – is to take up a senior position at Scottish developer Realtime Worlds.

Reeves will leave SCEE on April 30, to be replaced by current CMO Andrew House.

No one at Realtime Worlds could be reached for comment. Sony staffers have been told the exec is retiring.

It’s worth noting that Ian Hetherington, RTW’s chairman, was a Psygnosis co-founder.

The Dundee outfit is currently working on MMO APB.

Chalk it up as rumour. But don’t say we didn’t warn you.

SCEE just confirmed that David Reeves has quit as its president, to be replaced by Andrew House.

Reeves will leave the company on April 30. He’s been with SCEE since 1995.

House is currently CMO. He’ll assume the role of “Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Co-Chief Operating Officer (Co-COO) of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE)” as of May 1.

“It has been a wonderful ride with PlayStation,” said Reeves.

“I never got to visit all 106 countries but managed 66. I have just two things to say on leaving: I want to thank all of those people who have supported SCEE and me personally in the past 14 years; you have been magnificent!

“Secondly, I am going to spend my time now trying to repay society for all I have taken from it. If your children are having physics lessons at the local school or wondering why their ski instructor is very elderly, your car mechanic has a bad back, or the social worker keeps bringing you PSP games, then it could just be me! Good luck to everybody at SCEE and everybody who continues to support us.”

Press releases after the break.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DAVID REEVES TO RETIRE FROM SONY COMPUTER ENTERTAINMENT EUROPE

Tokyo, April 15, 2009 – Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. (SCEI) announced today that David Reeves, President, CEO and Co-Coo, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE), and Deputy President, Sony Computer Entertainment Inc., will retire from Sony Computer Entertainment Group as of April 30, 2009.

David Reeves joined SCEE in 1995, where he was responsible for establishing and managing the regional offices of SCEE in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. He moved back to the United Kingdom in 1999 and leveraging his talent and skills in the broad areas of sales, marketing and operations, Reeves contributed immensely in selling millions of the original PlayStation®, PlayStation®2, PSP® (PlayStation®Portable) and establishing the PlayStation name as the number one brand in the home digital entertainment industry in the countries and regions across the Europe/PAL territory. In 2003, Reeves was appointed President and COO of SCEE and CEO 2 years later, and while having nearly 100 countries in the Europe/PAL territories reporting to him and managing the vast market of diverse cultures and different business customs, he provided strong leadership in successfully launching PLAYSTATION®3 in the growing competitive landscape.

“David’s contribution in firmly establishing the PlayStation brand and expanding the business in Europe/PAL territories in his 14 year tenure at SCEE is immeasurable,” said Kazuo Hirai, President and Group CEO, Sony Computer Entertainment. “I would like to express my sincere gratitude to David for the many accomplishments he made to the PlayStation business and wish him the best luck in his future endeavours.”

“It has been a wonderful ride with PlayStation,” said David Reeves. “I never got to visit all 106 countries but managed 66. I have just two things to say on leaving: I want to thank all of those people who have supported SCEE and me personally in the past 14 years; you have been magnificent! Secondly, I am going to spend my time now trying to repay society for all I have taken from it. If your children are having physics lessons at the local school or wondering why their ski instructor is very elderly, your car mechanic has a bad back, or the social worker keeps bringing you PSP games, then it could just be me! Good luck to everybody at SCEE and everybody who continues to support us.”

About Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.
Recognized as the global leader and company responsible for the progression of consumer-based computer entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. (SCEI) manufacturers, distributes and markets the PlayStation® game console, the PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system, the PSP® (PlayStation®Portable) handheld entertainment system and the PLAYSTATION®3 (PS3®) system. PlayStation has revolutionized home entertainment by introducing advanced 3D graphic processing, and PlayStation 2 further enhances the PlayStation legacy as the core of home networked entertainment. PSP is a new handheld entertainment system that allows users to enjoy 3D games, with high-quality full-motion video, and high-fidelity stereo audio. PS3 is an advanced computer system, incorporating the state-of-the-art Cell processor with super computer like power. SCEI, along with its subsidiary divisions Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc., Sony Computer Entertainment Europe Ltd., and Sony Computer Entertainment Korea Inc. develops, publishes, markets and distributes software, and manages the third party licensing programs for these platforms in the respective markets worldwide. Headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. is an independent business unit of the Sony Group.

PlayStation, PLAYSTATION, PSP and PS3 are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ANDREW HOUSE NAMED NEW PRESIDENT AND CEO OF
SONY COMPUTER ENTERTAINMENT EUROPE
CMO of Sony Corporation Is Appointed President & CEO, SCEE

Tokyo, April 15, 2009 – Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. (SCEI) announced today that Andrew House, Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) and Group Executive of Sony Corporation, has been named President, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Co-Chief Operating Officer (Co-COO) of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE) as of May 1, 2009.

In his new role, House will be responsible for managing the PlayStation business across nearly 100 countries in the Europe/PAL territories, including the company’s PlayStation®2, PSP® (PlayStation®Portable) and PLAYSTATION®3 platforms as well as PlayStation®Network.

House joined Sony Corporation in 1990, where he worked in corporate communications for Sony Corporation (Japan) for five years. In April 1995, he was assigned to the marketing and communications division of SCEI, contributing to the marketing and promotion of the original PlayStation® computer entertainment system as well as its game titles. In March 1996, House was promoted to Vice President, Marketing of Sony Computer Entertainment America, where he led SCEA’s marketing efforts to establish the North American market for the original PlayStation as well as formulating and executing the market strategies which led to the successful launch of the PlayStation 2 and PSP businesses. House was also instrumental in developing the PlayStation brand into a household name in North America. In addition to his marketing responsibilities, he also led the Third Party Relations and Developer Support divisions from 2000, making sizeable contributions in establishing and maintaining firm relationships with third party game developers and publishers in North America as well as growing content alliances.

Acknowledged for his invaluable contribution to the expansion of the PlayStation business and to the company’s marketing and brand management efforts, House was appointed CMO of Sony Corporation in 2005, with global responsibility for corporate marketing across all of Sony’s businesses with primary emphasis in building value in the Sony brand.

“I’m very happy to welcome Andrew back to the PlayStation business and to work closely with him again” said Kazuo Hirai, President and Group CEO, Sony Computer Entertainment. “I’m confident that the skills and expertise Andy has gained over the years working as Sony’s CMO will contribute enormously in leading the PlayStation business in Europe/PAL countries and regions and to bring new initiatives in managing the business in the coming networked era.”

“I’m delighted to return to the PlayStation fold and excited to take on this new challenge,” said Andrew House, “I have strong ties to the interactive entertainment industry and I believe there is huge potential for further growth of our business in the Europe/PAL countries and regions, particularly in the area of networked entertainment. I’m looking forward to working with everyone at SCEE and with other groups in Sony to help achieve this potential.”

About Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.
Recognized as the global leader and company responsible for the progression of consumer-based computer entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. (SCEI) manufacturers, distributes and markets the PlayStation® game console, the PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system, the PSP® (PlayStation®Portable) handheld entertainment system and the PLAYSTATION®3 (PS3®) system. PlayStation has revolutionized home entertainment by introducing advanced 3D graphic processing, and PlayStation 2 further enhances the PlayStation legacy as the core of home networked entertainment. PSP is a new handheld entertainment system that allows users to enjoy 3D games, with high-quality full-motion video, and high-fidelity stereo audio. PS3 is an advanced computer system, incorporating the state-of-the-art Cell processor with super computer like power. SCEI, along with its subsidiary divisions Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc., Sony Computer Entertainment Europe Ltd., and Sony Computer Entertainment Korea Inc. develops, publishes, markets and distributes software, and manages the third party licensing programs for these platforms in the respective markets worldwide. Headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. is an independent business unit of the Sony Group.

And round and round we go. Xbox Europe boss Chris Lewis has told GI that 360 is well ahead of PS3 in EMEA.

“If you look right across my area of responsibility, every data point that I’ve got, which I trust – and data points we’ve always used – put us approximately 1 million units ahead in the aggregate,” he said.

Lewis is using GfK Chart-Track, figures, he said, and it talking specifically about EMEA – Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

This grouping doesn’t include Australia and New Zealand, which will be added to Sony’s figures when they talk about the PAL region.

Next up: David Reeves says Chris Lewis is wrong! Keep that breath bated while you wait.

Sony must simply take some pain with PS3, SCEE boss David Reeves has told the Guardian, but no matter how bad the fight is at the moment for the machine, the firm’s still “fighting”.

“We simply have to suffer a little,” he said, “go down in market share and mind-share.

“It’s like Ali v Foreman – go eight or nine rounds and let him punch himself out. We’re still standing, we’re still profitable and there’s a lot of fight in us. I don’t say we will land a knockout blow, but we’re there and we’re fighting.”

Reeves was speaking after the release of dour PlayStation family sales figures for last year, in which both hardware and software sales declined against 2007.

“My objective is financial – to make a profit in our territory by the end of March, and we will,” Reeves added.

“Our priority has always been the PS3; the forecast was 10 million at the beginning of the year and it’s still 10 million. If we’d cut the price, lost another billion dollars, we might have had a huge Christmas but it would have been followed by a huge loss.

“The company could have thought: ‘Hmm, I’m not sure I want to be in this business at all.’ But we’ve shown Sony this is still a good business to have.”

There’s loads more through there. Well worth a read.

Sony’s David Reeves has told Eurogamer has told Eurogamer that any speculation regarding a next-gen PlayStation is premature as he hasn’t ever heard anyone mention it.

“I have never even heard it mentioned,” he said. “I think people are concentrating so much on what’s happening now that they’re not even thinking about it.”

Read about Reeves’ views on on the future of PSP, platform exclusivity, 360 reliability, armadillos, price cuts destroying the market, PS3 being in second place and about Sony making a profit, not sales through the links.

By Mike Bowden

SCEE president David Reeves has admitted that PSP performance has not been good enough but promised a stellar line up for 2009.

“The competition has been such that publishers have had four consoles, plus PC, to publish for. They did not put their chips on PSP, certainly in the US and Europe,” said Reeves when asked about why he thought the PSP’s performance had been lacking.

“In Japan, a lot of publishers put their chips on PSP. So games like Monster Hunter, Phantasy Star Portable and Dissidia have caused enormous spikes for PSP in Japan. But there haven’t been big platform drivers in Europe.

“Now I can look you in the face and say, the line-up for PSP in 2009 is two or three times stronger than it was last year, ” said.

“We ran out of steam on games around August, September last year. We didn’t have a Monster Hunter or a Dissidia. But probably from March to July, you’re going to see that type of thing starting to kick in.”

Eurogamer then confronted Reeves with the fact that 185 DS games have been announced compared with 44 for PSP. To that Reeves responded: “It depends on the quality of the games, doesn’t it? People come out on DS and want to compete against Nintendo first-party, and that’s a tough thing.

“It’s like when you watch six year-old boys play football, and they all follow the ball right the way across the field. Sometimes developers and publishers do that, and that’s what they’ve done with DS.”

Ok, David. If you say so.

By Mike Bowden

In a recent interview with Eurogamer, Sony Europe president David Reeves says he has no regrets about titles like Grand Theft Auto, amongst others, going multi-platform and completely understand the publisher’s rights to do so.

“I don’t think we were in a position not to give up exclusivity,” he said honestly. “You can’t live on exclusivity forever; in the end, you’ve got to be master of your own destiny.

“We’ve invested in studios like Media Molecule and gained exclusivity that way. We’ve made studios like Evolution and Guerrilla wholly-owned.

“Our strategy is to have 15 to 20 IPs by the time we get to 2009, 2010,” he added.

“We don’t have to go to Capcom or Take-Two and ask for an exclusive. And I don’t think we could afford it anyway. In the cold light of day, I would do exactly as those publishers have done and go multi-platform.”

When asked what his response would be if Konami announced it was going multiplat with Metal Gear Solid, Reeves replied: “That’s totally their decision. We’re not going to fall over ourselves just to try and keep that exclusive. We have to stand on our own two feet.”

More, as ever, through the link.

By Mike Bowden

When asked what the average [read: not 'hardcore', doesn't care about Blu ray] consumer would choose if he/she went into a shop and saw the expensive PlayStation 3 compared with the cheaper 360, SCEE president David Reeves expects them to go for “the green machine” – though only because they haven’t done their research.

“The price will affect their decision,” he told EG. “Yes, if I haven’t got that much money to spend, I will go for, let’s say, the green machine. Because the salesman will say, ‘Well, it’s got all the games,’ and he wants to sell that machine.

“But there are people who come in having done their research, thinking, ‘PS3 has got all the games, it’s free to go online, it’s got a Blu-ray player.

“I know I’m not going to have to ring up the customer careline saying ‘I’ve got three red lights.’”

“We recognised that those numbers would go down because we did not drop the price,” added Reeves. “But we reached the targets we expected to reach under those assumptions.”

By Mike Bowden

When quizzed on whether PlayStation 3 would remain the most expensive console on the market, Sony Europe president David Reeves concurred saying that you need a thick skin in order to know how to weather the economic storm.

“I think it will [remain the most expensive console, yes," said Reeves to EG. "I'm not saying there are going to be any price cuts at all in the short term or the medium term. I'm not saying we don't need to do it - we are expensive.

"It is possible that as the cost [of manufacturing] comes down, we will be able to do it.

“But we’re protecting ourselves with a very hard shell to get through the next one or two years of an economic situation,” he warned.

“If you’re experienced, you know you have to go into that mode – it’s like being an armadillo. You have to be hard, and then you will come out when the sun comes out.

“If, as an industry, we can get through the next six to seven months, we’re going to find a massive uplift in September and October. I’m very optimistic about it. ”

Still more through the link.

In a rather volcanic interview with Eurogamer, SCEE president David Reeves has said he feels that despite the recession, the videogame industry is in good health and will remain if “people” don’t go around “cutting prices” and ruining it for everybody else.

“It’s a function of the economic situation that you are going to find people who are resilient, who do not play with their pricing, who are very efficient,” said Reeves.

“Those people in that particular studio, they don’t have a job, but I think in a few weeks you’ll find them housed in other studios,” he responded when confronted with the many development houses that have either gone under or laid people off recently.

“Of course there are going to be some people who fold. But the videogames industry is inherently very healthy.

“It’s not a question of survival of the fittest, it’s the survival of people who are professional, and don’t just go around cutting their prices and destroying the market,” he added.

There’s more than you could possibly imagine through the link.

By Mike Bowden

David Reeves has told EG that despite Microsoft’s claims to the contrary, Xbox 360 is not as far ahead as the company thinks.

Reeves compared Sony stance of not dropping the price compared with MS as like “going ten rounds with Ali” and still standing.

“I don’t want to talk about the competition too much, but Xbox 360 is not ahead by a million units,” said Reeves, looking back on the post-December NPD fallout.

“We sold through 500,000 PS3s in November. We sold through 1.1 million units in December. Our installed base now is very close to 8.5 million units in PAL territories. Our numbers show we are absolutely neck-and-neck,” he said.

Looking ahead to the remainder of the PS3′s lifecycle, Reeves remains positive as now he claims that PS3 is number two in the market.

“What happened was, we overtook them, and they dropped the price. It’s almost as if we’ve gone ten rounds as Mohammed Ali and we’re still standing, because we didn’t drop the price. We held firm.

Now, going into the remaining rounds and the next seven years, we are going to be very strong. The last few weeks have shown we are clearly number two in the market. I’m as confident as I was before.

SCEE president David Reeves has said that in light of yesterday’s moribund Q3 financial results, Sony’s plan was never sales-minded, but profit-focused.

“We’ve said it would be 10 million, and it is 10 million,” said Reeves. “We had a price decrease in the previous year, and we didn’t have a price decrease this year. Xbox 360 did, and Nintendo was already quite low.”

“The plan wasn’t necessarily to hit sales, it was to hit a profit target – to do better than break even in Q3.

“The financial results show a break even in Q3 for Sony Computer Entertainment worldwide. So rather than then going for market share and sales, we went for profit, at least to break even,” he added.

“We’re two-and-a-half years into a ten-year cycle,” Reeves re-iterated. “For October, November and December we were in a holding pattern, especially with the pricing.

“We had to demonstrate we could make a profit with the business model, and that’s what we’ve done.”

Full thing over at Eurogamer.

According to a PSN release schedule obtained by videogaming247.com, the online music video service, operated by London-based company VidZone Digital Media will be available to download from PSN on 4th June.

Until now, the Vidzone service – which allows streaming of music videos to all PS3 users in Europe for free –only had a “2009″ release schedule.

Amid fears that you wouldn’t be able to play games and listen to music simultaneously, Sony’s David Reeves said of VidZone to VG247 last year that, “Because you can listen to it – you don’t have to see the music video – and play your game at the same time.”

By Mike Bowden

In an article at PlayStation.com featuring leading industry figures talking about what they are looking forward to most in 2009, SCEE president David Reeves has said that turning a profit is Sony’s main, short-term goal.

“The most important thing for us as a company in the very short term is for us to start making money,” said. “This is a pledge that was made last March and is something that we are still very much on target to achieve.

“Once we have achieved this, I think it will be a very exciting time for PlayStation. Once we have alleviated that specific pressure, we can move forward at a rate of knots.”

SCEE Worldwide Studios president, Shuhei Yoshida, said “2009 will be the year of big, exclusive PS3 titles.

“Just to name a few, the year will start with the much anticipated launch of Killzone 2, followed by a fresh, new take on the superhero/anti-hero open sandbox genre inFamous, a mind-bending thriller Heavy Rain, a massive 256 player simultaneous online shooter MAG, an augmented reality, virtual pet in your room experience EyePet, and some more big titles that we have not even announced yet.”

Loads more through the link including Phil Harrison saying he’s most looking forward MMOs on PS3.

SCEE president David Reeves has told MCV that substandard hardware will do nothing to grow the games market.

“We also grow the market through new products – some work, some don’t, that’s just the Sony way,” he said.

“And on that point, another thing we have committed to for supporting market growth is putting out quality hardware – you don’t grow the market by putting out shoddy machines.

“So we try to make sure that PS3s have a failure rate of just two to three per cent, which is very low by industry standards.”

Take that, Microsoft.

Thanks, Kotaku.

SCEE president David Reeves has said that the game industry is not recession-proof, and that it’s “difficult to explain” why PlayStation products are achieving European targets.

“From our point of view which is in the videogames division, in PlayStation, it’s not recession-proof, of course,” he told Dutch TV station RTL.

“I don’t think any industry is, and eventually we may see a downturn.”

Reeves said that SCEE’s products are holding steady across Europe, and that much-cited recession-related factors surrounding the games industry of late may be causing the trade to be suffering less than other sectors.

“For the moment we’re seeing that our sales for both hardware and software are hitting projections in most countries in Europe,” he added.

“Difficult to explain: it could be that parents don’t want to disappoint their children in buying PlayStations, or whether it’s the competition as well… or maybe it’s because people are spending more time at home and this is a safe haven, rather than going out to restaurants or spending money on buying cars and fridges and things like that.

“We seem to find that in timres of recession that people tend to stay at home, but they still want to be entertained.”

The exec went on to assure that there will be no scaling back of SCEE staff “at all,” despite Sony Corp recently announcing 8,000 job cuts.

Well worth a watch.