大象传媒

Some of these questions might be answered at the press conference today, but if not..

1) Home has been delayed twice now, because of Mr. Hirai's dissatisfaction with the state of the project. Can he tell us if these delays are accomodating new features we don't yet know about, or simply to get announced features up and working?

2) At E3 2005, SCE told us that with PS3, we'd be able to enjoy video, music, internet and more simultaneously with gameplay - presumably through in-game access to the XMB. Thusfar, however, there is no universal in-game access to the XMB. How much XMB functionality does SCE intend to make available in all games?

3) Looking forward, without explicitly asking about PS4, does Mr. Hirai see Playstation in the future remaining at the cutting edge of processing power and technological innovation? Nintendo has quite successfully turned its back on this approach, and I'm wondering if this has led to any reconsideration of the usual 'Playstation' approach that led to the initially expensive PS3.

4) Is Mr. Hirai worried that Blu-ray may become too associated with Playstation? Become seen as a movie format proprietary to Playstation, as with UMD, rather than as a more general standard?

I bought a PS3 on the launch weekend and have not been disappointed with it to date in terms of games seen and the advances it gives me over the PS2.

However, I am disappointed by the delays that we seem to experience here in Europe over other territories such as the US and Japan.

For instance there is still no official release date for the Dualshock 3 controller here in Europe yet it has been available in Japan and the US for some time. There are also delays on the European Playstation Store over the other territories, owners of PS3's were promised HOME, in game XMB functionality (as per the 360) but there is no official word on the official Playstation forum as to when we might see any of these. There is an thread on the official Playstation forums asking for Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE) to provide us with a blog the like of which we can see in the US - but again no official word from SCEE on when this might happen.

I know the PS3 is great console but without the feeling that SCEE are behind it buyers might be put off and ultimately that is bad for Sony.

I would really appreciate a response from Mr Hirai.

Thanks

I have been a fan of the playstation consoles owning a ps1, ps2 and a psp
however I don't own a ps3 which may be a little strange
when I came to buy one the 60gb one had just gone out of stock and been replaced with the newer 40gb edition without ps2 backward compatibility.
Backward compatibility was a big strength in the launch of the ps2 as it allowed me to have a big catalogue of games from the start (some of which I still play!) I now have a large collection of PS2 games which when I upgrade I will have to pick between running both systems or losing my collection of games. Do they have any plans to re-introduce ps2 backward compatibility or offer and external upgrade?

I have one simple question for Mr Hirai - what is his company doing to encourage developers not to produce games which require massive installations on PlayStation 3?

The latest game which I purchased, Gran Turismo 5: Prologue came on a Blu Ray disc yet it required six gigabytes of my hard drive before I was able to play. As I only have a 40GB drive (Sony thinks that this is sufficient and this is the only model they sell in the UK) it will not be long before I cannot play new games without deleting the installation files of the old ones.

Hi there,

Preamble: I'm a 'new' PS3 owner. I've had the wii from the moment it came out in Europe and have been very happy with it. I was waiting before investing in the PS3 - and have recently bought one (blu-ray and games such as GT5prologue and GTA-IV - swung the deal).

My questions include:

a) being able to do multiple things. The cell processor is indeed very powerful (in games) but we can't browse the internet or photos and listen to music at the same time?
b) the above but in-game?
c) being able to chat to friends using msn/yahoo/facebook etc?
d) with websites changes their views to suit the iphone, why don't sony do the same and help so that we get a good internet browsing experience?
e) with the new smaller cell processor - one would imagine a smaller ps3 coming out soon. will there be deals for first ps3 owners to be able to swap their old ones for new ones (i.e. keeping their original hard disk and settings) - obviously for a knock down price?

many thanks,
Nasos

a) sup with japanese publishers still supporting the ps2... what is sony doing to promote the ps3 to ps2 publishers?

b)what happen to in-game xmb???

As a PS3, Xbox 360 and Wii owner, I have found myself happy with the technology of the PS3, but feeling somewhat let down by SCEE with regards to delays and lack of communication to European customers. With that in mind my questions would be:

1). What improvements , if any, are going to be made with regards to online content on the PSN Store, the European region tends to be last to receive content and usually months after other regions. Is there any plan to globalise the release of this content in the future ?

2). Are there any plans to engage more with European customers ? I'm an active member of the official European PS3 forums, and there is a strong feeling amongst even the strongest PS3 fans that Sony and SCEE are not doing enough with regards to communication with customers. Are there any plans to create something like and official blog and to start an active dialogue with customers in the European region ?

3). What plans does Sony have to strenghten it's postition with regards to online gaming, specifically with regards to the strong competition available from Xbox Live. Is online gaming a key part of Sony's focus for the future of the PS3 ?

What are the long term plans for the PS3 e.g. new applications, significant updates, new pheripals etc.

Are there any plans to add Skype to the PS3 as Sony have done with the PSP? This for me would be a great way to video chat with my family instead of having to huddle around a laptop.

Quite simply, why does Europe get the short end of the stick compared to USA and Japan?

The console itself was released here several months after the USA and Japan versions were available.

The new European 40GB PS3 does not offer backward compatability for PS2 and PSOne games, has a smaller hard drive and doesn't support the Dual-Shock 3 controller.

It almost seems as if Sony does not want to sell us the Playstation but recommends other consoles instead.

1. Can you give us any details on Team ICO's next project?

2. Any plans for a price drop on the PS3 in the UK in the future?

Update to my earlier question...

It seems that the USA is now selling the same 40Gb PS3 that we get, i.e. no backwards compatability with ps2 games, no dual-shock3.

In general I'm happy with my PS3's potential as a home media hub - I enjoy Blu-Ray movies and was pleased to see Sony including divX compatibility, then adding subtitles to this feature.

However, the machine's potential will continue to be partially unfulfilled as long as Sony singularly fails to exploit its position as a global media giant and integrates more online content into the PlayStation store.

When is the UK PlayStation store going to offer up-to-date movie trailers (instead of the pitiful selection there now) and, better still, full movie releases for either rental or purchase as downloads?

Given the amount of material it owns, Sony can have no excuses in this matter, surely?

Hi,

When PlayTV comes out, will there be a version that I can use with the newly launched Freesat, so I can have the benefit of your new PVR with the benefit of the HD channels that Freesat will bring? (As I don't want to wait until 2012 for Freeview to bring HD to my TV).

My Question relates to the Web ability of the PS3 and what work is being down to rectify its current limitations around media content sites.

I purchased the PS3 to enhance my home experience. Being able to surf from the living room was a big pull in terms of added value.
Unfortunately, the PS3 has failed to live up to what I believed would be a suitable alternative product in the home media PC sector.
The PS3 web interface does not allow me to view and enjoy video content on either 大象传媒 or Sky News. I cannot access MSN or my Hotmail Live account. This is pretty much the tip of the iceburg, many of the content driven sites that use Flash are not compatible? Yes, youtube works but that is a small conciliation for a user that would like to watch content and also use MSN or Hotmail.

Is he worried about Nintendo's Wii2 on the Horizon with better graphics and such. what are they planning to do to combat this?

Mr Harai,

As you are no doubt aware there is now a massive backlash generating in the European region from SCEE customers. this is highlighted by a recent poll held on the EU Playstation Forums where well over 1,000 of the total 4,400 users expressed their disappointment at how SCEE treats its customers.

The biggest points raised were:

1) SCEE does not speak to its customers and SCEE have been criticised by SCEA for this attitude

2) European customers have never been offered the same equipment as Asia and America, Europe never had the emotion chip or the 80GB on release day and this created an overwhelming feeling of being mistreated

3) SCEE releases equipment and software to European customers at delayed times again creating the overhwleming feeling that the region is not being looked after.

How does Sony the intend to address European market's concerns?

Please Mr. Darren Waters, ask him this, becaue it is VERY important:

Sony Computer Entertainment AMERICA has a lot of big/good studios (Naughty Dog, Zipper Int., Santa Monica Studio,...) and Sony Computer Entertainment EUROPE is very big/strong, too (Cambridge Studio, Liverpool Studio, London Studio, Guerrilla Games...) but Sony Computer Entertainment is totally weak and does NOTHING. They have POLYPHONY DIGITAL. Just one good studio. And that's it. Ok, they got some small teams internal, but THAT'S NOT ENOUGH! PS3 has no japano-games and so, sale-numbers are totaly weak compared to the Wii numbers injapan. There are NO games for the japan people and no big and good games from SONY JAPAN. It's time for them to do something. Create some new studio in Japan OR buy some studios. SONY has 9% of Square-Enix! Maybe they should buy the rest of Square-Enix and so, SONY would be a Monster in Japan!
Are there any plans, to make their presence in japan BIGGER??

(sorry for the freaky english. I am not from america/UK)

I have some questions

1. Why when Europe/PAL is a strong region for Sony/Playstation do we seem to be poor relations in comparison to the US?

The US store has more content, had the Playstation 3 release before Europe and if anything new comes out, its in the US first.

Do Sony not care because they already have a strong consumer base here and so focus less?

2. What are Sony doing to encourage more exclusive content for the PS3?

3. Why can I not set up a PSN account in Spain in English? Just because I live in one country like many people, it does not mean that countries language is my native language like Spanish is not my first language. Lots of Web sites allow you to choose a different language, why cant the PSN? I can speak Spanish, but would prefer it in English.

4. Why did Sony only allow Skype to work with the PSP slim? I was an early adopter of the PSP and very disappointed that it is not compatible with all the new updates and so on, will we same the same issue with the PS3? Its not a good way of rewarding loyal customers!!

Do Sony have any plans to release some games for the PS3? 6 months after purchase I still only own the two titles I bought with the console, and there appears to be absolutely nothing of interest on the horizon. At the moment the PS3 is little more than a Blu-Ray player.

Will Sony address the horrible installation process on many titles? Many games take half an hour or more to install, and take up a considerable portion of the 40Gb drive, limiting users to a finite amount of titles, and sorely testing their patience.

Will the PS store's woeful bandwidth ever be addressed? A 50MB file should not take 45mins to download on a 16Mb line. Will the need for installation after download be removed? The Xbox 360 somehow manages to have games/demos immediately playable after download with no installation.

Are there plans to improve the overall quality of PSN titles? The vast majority of downloadable games do not have demos (unlike the 360), and even those that do are difficult to find, after the recent removal of the 'demo' category.

I have herd that Sony are planning not to produce anymore SIXAXIS controllers and be replaced by Dualshock 3 controllers. Can you confirm this?

Oh I forgot,

5. Who鈥檚 idea was it to have those terrible 鈥淭his is Living adverts鈥�, with the stupid mime artists instead of showing, exciting game trailers and HD movies?? I hope you sacked whoever was responsible, it was almost like you didn鈥檛 want to sell playstations!!

Having been a Sony fan for ages now I must say I am a little disappointed at the number of games available on the PS3. My questions echo previous posts.

Q1: I was lucky enough to purchase an early 60Gb UK model but was wondering why a relatively paltry hard disk size was included. Given the relatively low disk hardware costs why was more substantial hard disk size never included? This is also puzzling given the plans to enable the PS3 as a PVR and for it to become an entertainment hub. If recording HD is ever possible 60Gb will be tiny!

Q2: I also have a gripe about hardware incompatibilities (an earlier blog mentions this in more detail) with the PSP, having bought an original PSP. Certain functions are not backward compatible. Would future OS updates be able to address this? I now have friends who only have the 40Gb model who are somewhat annoyed at the extras I get with my 60Gb one.

Q3: Are there any plans for Sony to make more use of the motion sensor available in the controllers? So far its use has been somewhat of a gimmick. Or will Sony leave this up to the Wii thus losing potential new gamers?

Q4: Now that the next gen HD \ Blu-Ray war is over will Sony be adopting a vigorous release schedule for all up coming titles and classics? (especially the Lord of the Rings trilogy!). I would expect a wealth of Blu-Ray titles in the release schedule.

I think there's a lot left to get right with the PS3 (particularly using available processing power) before even thinking of PS4! This should be easy to do for Sony given the update features for the OS.

Thanks.

One of the things about being a 3rd generation gamer is that the day a new generation is released I am first in line. Now some of my friends are gamers but never left the Ps2 behind as they could not see the big differance in moving up. Do you think this is becuase of what could be considered a limp and undefinative marketing campaign or for another reason ?

Regards
ZonedUk

I'm enjoying my PS3 and it does seem that things are starting to come together with it. I was wondering whether there are plans to continue improving it's media capabilities? If it supposed to be central media hub then it need to act as a server to more devices than just the PSP. I'd like to store all my music and photos on my ps3 but then be able to access them from other devices such as a laptop etc. And will the media managment be improved? It is not a nice experience trawling through a text list of a few hundred album titles etc. It's far from the best interface out there, it would be good to know that this is being looked at.

Influx, I can answer your questions for you:

1) Go out and look for games if you want to own them, there are loads of good titles and you don't know if you like them until you try them... borrow/rent first though.

2) Sony has nothing to do with most of the installation stuff, that is down to the studio (GT5P exception). But I (like everyone else who has already done it) would highly recommend a bigger HDD. They are cheap these days so excellent job Sony on that move.

3) I have an 8MB line and a 50MB file takes less than 5mins to download from the PSNStore... the pictures are slow but downloads are faster than Windows (XP and Vista)... more likely you need to contact you ISP and tell them to take that throttle off your connection or you'll leave them. That'll sort that issue out.

4) PSN Titles quality: SuperStardustHD is super, Mesmorise literally mesmorises everyone... catch my drift? All that is needed is contract negotiations to be completed for Movies which I believe was already stated a few months back, Sony Pictures is a different company and most go through all the same processes as publishing say Warner Bros movies.

Here are my questions, but first my congratulations on the growing success of the Ps3. As an owner of the console i am extremely satisfied with my own.

1: What is the policy of Sony in relation to global releases? I.e why the release order of Japan, U.S. then Europe?

2: As a vertically intergrated company, is there any plans to utilise this to further benefit the Blu-Ray format i.e increase its competitiveness and end the DVD format?

3: Do you see Square Enix as I viable partner to expand the companies production capabilities across the computer game and movie industry?

Much appreciated

A happy customer

Danny Owen

yep, raw deal is pretty much what Sony gamers are getting this time around. Still stuck with my PS2 as missed the 60gb console. Was waiting for it to come down in price, all it did was disappear. Now I don't see the point in getting the half-hearted 40gb PAL unit. I am hoping they release a new unit. I have seen on some internet forums the possibility of a 160gb slimline PS3 to come later this year? That would start to get me interested again in parting with my cash. While Japan and the US get larger, better models with more choice in colour, controllers etc. Europe is always going to feel like is getting a raw deal. Grrrr, why is Sony doing this to me??

i have a ps/ps2 (psp for a while) and 360 from MS


a few questions

1. why is it that european gamers always get the sour end of the deal when it comes to the price of a sony console?

playstation 3 (40GB)

UK = 拢289.99
US= $399.99 thats 拢200.39
JP= ?37,581 thats 拢182.69
list can go on

MS and Nintendo charge only charge 拢15-拢20 extra compared to US and JPN prices

2. why is it that we never get the packages avalible in the US and JPN?
example 80GB package which is avalible.

@DarrenWaters

You only have to look on the EU Playstation Forums (official forums) to see how much this affecting people. And I must say though that it is not soley the fault of Sony. This has built up over decades of neglect from all corporations based all around the globe.

But as the visibility is now much easier to see Sony do seem to be getting it the neck somewhat because the system us updatable and such an issue can be avoided.

As I said, a poll was created and the last time I looked (roughly 5 days after it was created) over 1,000 of the 4,400 registered forumers had voted to show their approval of more communication, while stating various other reasons for the discontent.

(In fact I even told the 大象传媒 what was happening at the time but they appear to have ignored me, I would have said that a mjor backlash like this would have been worthy news)

Ever since the PS3 launch was delayed by 6 months in the SCEE terratories Sony has been having this backlash. The internet doesn't help, as it appears the EU customer are getting a raw deal, as when things are released they appear to be overpriced.

My question is this:
Was the PS3 rushed to market? If delayed the XBox360 would have had a 2 Christmas headstart over the PS3, and blu-ray players would have been double the price of HD-DVD and had a bigger impact on the format 'war'. Would you have prefered to have had another year to develop it / develop for it?

btw, It's a fantastic console with some great games and features, and I look forward to its future...

Mr. Hirai,

Are there any plans to address download times for updates? Currently in the U.S. some updates take hours to download.

Also, are there any plans to better integrate the Playstation Underground on the PS3 or PSP?

Finally, what is the status on 80GB models in the U.S.? It's becoming increasingly difficult to find any units at local and online retailers. I know that there will be a Metal Gear Solid 4 80GB bundle (which I plan on purchasing), but will it end there or are there plans on puming more units into the country.

Could you please ask when Sony plan to release PlayTV?

I like many other people have been waiting for a confirmed release date and price for a very long time now.

It originally sounded like a great idea and i have been holding off buying an alternative solution as i expected PlayTV to be out by now.

At precent it seems that it wont be released any time soon and living without a video recorder of any kind is becoming a pain.

If i knew how long i would have to wait i might be tempted to hold off buying a Humax or Media centre instead of PlayTV!

It's been said a few times before but I'd like to reiterate the point about backwards compatibility.

Sony have said that they wish to focus in the future on further development rather than supporting old games.

Sorry, but I thought business was meant to revolve around supplying for the needs and wants of the consumer, not telling us what we should want.

If people have large (or even modest) collections of PS2 and even PS1 games, it's stupid to make them keep the old console to play them. I love the PS3 and am looking forward to getting one soon, but for such a powerful machine to be unable to play "simple" games?

So my question is: will there be a firmware update to add backwards compatibility to the 40GB version?

I have purchased a PS3 but am deeply disappointed in the way that U.K customers have been treated by Sony.

The introduction of the inferior 40gb model reduces choice for the gamer and is simply an attempt in my view to make people dispose of their PS2s.

I have upwards of 30 PS1/2 titles that will become defunct when my existing PS2 dies.

Sony should have persisted with the 60gb model instead of forcing this inferior machine on us.

No wonder the Wii is doing better.

Just a few of questions...

When Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo all released their system specifications to the world, did Sony calculate their figures in such a way that it showed that the PS3 was capable of 2 Teraflops of processing power?

I found this very sly and if you calculated the Xbox360's processing power in the same way that you, Sony, calculated the PS3's then they are almost the same. Taking away the fact that the 360 runs at 100% efficiency at all times whereas the PS3 runs at about 70%, meaning that when it comes down to number crunching, the 360 is a more powerful machine. Why oh why do companies do this? Why lie to the consumer about what your machine is actually capable of doing.

Another question is:

Why did you choose to make your own OS for the PS3? Why not use a more bespoke OS made by a company that actually knows about Operating Systems? This would have been a great benefit to your console and would have helped save processing power, then you could have freed up one of the cores on the cell for something other than running the OS!

Another question:

Why hype up 'backwards compatibility' so much, and then drop it from your 'new' version of the PS3? In my honest opinion, you took a step backwards.

Another point:

Again, you lied tot he consumer about why your Dual Shock does not vibrate. You said that you can not include the rumble feature because it would interfere with the motion sensing. That is a lie. We all know the rumble feature was removed because you lost a case against Immersion who held the patent to the technology! Why didn鈥檛 you hold your hands up and admit your mistake like Microsoft and Nintendo? At least they have rumble as standard, oh and I didn鈥檛 see rumble interfering with the Wii's motion sensing!

Another point:

You chose Blu-Ray as your format, fine. I agree its not a bad format. You then pushed that the PS3 is the only console capable of 'FULL HD'. Again, that is a lie. The 360 is fully capable of 1080P HD Graphics...so lets not take this lie any further.

Another question:

Why did you purposely alienate your developers by making your platform so hard to code for and then issuing developers with out-of-date development kits with no updates for a long period of time?

Right, moving on to your online strategy...

You go for the 'We are the best' approach to everything, but again you do not listen to your consumers! Ok, your online service is free, but what鈥檚 the point of a free service if you yourself are not supporting it the way you should?? Have you not learnt from your competitors? Do you purposely ignore facts? Why do you have broadcast such huge visions and then bodge a mediocre attempt to realise those visions.

In my personal, professional and honest opinion, I truly believe that Sony Computer Entertainment needs to go back to the drawing board and have a good think about what they want to do in this business. Developing a console with an amazing vision is one thing, but falling short consistently, breaking promises and lying to your consumers is another.

At 2:09 pm on 06 May 2008, darrenwaters wrote:
@ALL I'm sensing a lot of frustration from Sony Europe users and a perception that Europe gets a raw deal from Sony. Am I right/wrong?

Yep that about sums it up ! As I said above I like my PS3 and I don't regret buying it one bit, I am just disappointed about the lack of any official SCEE comms in the official Playstation forums (I am a member there) relating to game delays, advance news on updates for firmware etc.

Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA) have an official blog on their forums and many of us European customers maintain US forum accounts so that we can try and see what is going on....

I am looking forward to seeing the official response from Mr Hirai.

"@ALL I'm sensing a lot of frustration from Sony Europe users and a perception that Europe gets a raw deal from Sony. Am I right/wrong?"

Got it in one Darren.

After being a long standing fan of Sony and the Playstation 1 and 2 I was eagerly awaiting the PS3 however the high cost compared to other consoles and a poor 40gb version of the PS3 that Sony has presented Europe with has made made me think otherwise. Add to that a string of broken promises regarding what the PS3 would be capable of and long waiting times between game release dates compared to Japan and American has left most of Europe's gamers and myself disillusioned with the Playstation brand.

How is Sony going to repair this damage to its fanbase? A good start would be reinstating the 60gb version with backwards compatibility or the rumoured 120GB version.

Dear Mr Hirai,

I have been playing video games for about 30 years now, and have to say that I have been happy over the last 10 years with the Sony games consoles, but I'm disappointed by Sony's efforts with the PS3 in Europe:

1. Why was the 60Gb PS3 model discontinued so soon after launch?
2. Why was PS2 backward compatibility removed from the replacement 40Gb model, and could it be re-introduced?
3. When will Europe get a PS3 model with a reasonable size HDD?
4.Why is the PS3 so much more expensive in the UK?

That is all for now.
P. Renwick
Preston, UK

why is the playstation 3 rubbish?

I have a Playstation 3 40GB, its an excellent console. I have purchased FIFA, Burnout and recently GT5 Pro. I was so desperate to get a dual shock 3 which I happy got from the states. This completed the PS3 experience. With all the complaints , most are from Microsoft side. When can we see these exclusive titles on PS3. Like Killzone , GT5 , Uncharted 2 and truly and under rated Ratchet and Clank Game.

But on top of that when can we see a serious price drop not the hardware but the games. I can purchase Rainbow Six for the PC at 17.99 but its around 39-49 mark for PS3 or Xbox. There no real justifcation for this pricely. Look at the WII most games are 19-29 and its second biggest console in the world (1st is the playstation 2)

Heres one.
Why, do Sony always over egg the pudding when it comes to the potential power of the machine, and have a prepensity to claim rendered footage is runnin in real time.

I agree.

Why Mr Hirai, was footage shown at E3 advertised as 'real time in engine' when it was actually CGI!!!! WHY DO YOU PEOPLE KEEP ON LYING!!!! STOP IT!

I am talking about Killzone. It was proven to be in CGI afterwards and the developers EVEN ADMITTED it was CGI! Why was it shown as 'IN GAME REAL TIME'?? You keep on doing this!

Then again, fairly recently a game screenshot was shown...AND THE SCREENSHOT HAD BEEN PHOTOSHOPPED TO LOOK BETTER!! Seriously, stop it. It is getting boring!

As an owner of a 60gig PS3 I have been impressed with the frequecy of firmware updates to make more and more features available but the biggest feature your customers are asking for is:

1) In game XMB, when is it coming

Any company which ignores it customers finds that when upgrade time comes thhose customers go elsewhere

2) Why, when the ps3 is supposedly the worlds most powerful console do so many games struggle to run without glitches, lots of games seem to freeze

3) Load times off of (as supposedly superior) BluRay disc are incredibly slow leading to 4-6gig games installs If this continues my 60gig hardrive may be full by the end of the year, and thats not counting PSN title downloads, game demo's, music photo's and soon to be movie downloads

4) Since winning the format war BluRay sales have stagnated, what is sony going to do to reinvigorate the HiDef market, because if they don't start shifting some (non-ps3) players soon then the format will be buried under Xbox lives HD download service, this in turn will hurt ps3 sales

Is there any chance that Playstation would start a public playstation committee. Where owners of playstation could come and talk with playstation about console.

A lot of the time it seams that our views are not taken seriously and are being ignored.

Sorry I can not remember what it is called at moment but I do know 大象传媒 do same sort of thing. It is where a public voluntary give up there own time talk about issues directly with 大象传媒 for year or so.

Following on from my previous post about harddrives filling up with game installs

Can Sony look at subsidising harddisk upgrades?

because if you release a new 120-160 SKU then all of us who originally brought a ps3 near launch will be left out

Or doesn't Sony care about early adopters

I would have thought that Sony and Seagate (manufacturer of the 60gb SATA HDDs) could agree some bulk discount for PS3 owners wishing to upgrade to 250 or even 500gb HDDs.

The PS3 can play standard DVD and DVD data content at MUCH faster speeds than the BluRay speed. Why can a developer not choose to deliver in the DVD format if the game does not need the extra space, most multi platform titles would then run far smoother and avoid the BluRay bottleneck. It will soon be the case where if you own some key titles you will fill your hard drive, this seems like it will become a far greater problem in the future.

High scoring exclusive games are very thin on the ground, Metacritic top 20 PS3 games (only 4 are 90% or higher) only contain 4 unique games, none of which reach the 90% mark.

This score is shameful in light that the top 360 games contain 13 games with 90% or higher, 7 of the 20 titles are exclusive to the system.

Without the BluRay player is it safe to say that the PS3 would have died?

For those asking for special dispensation for HDD upgrades... no, I wouldn't agree with that, nobody with rightly agree with that. How about some valid points to make, discount HDD's is a joke statement to make.

You'll be asking for discount from nVidia next time you upgrade the gfx card in your PC? No, didn't think so.

I bought my 320GB HDD and would never be unreasonable of as to expect a refund of any amount. In fact, I was happy to spend all the money I did and the one of the reasons I bought the PC was the abililty to upgrade my HDD and have a console with the largest HDD in the entire world at the time... and apart from 0.000000000% of consoles it still does have the largest HDDin the world!

Given the huge popularity of the Nintendo Wii thanks to its unique control systems with people outwith the traditional gaming market.

Are sony developing simillar control systems for the PS3? Why has there been such a delay in Sony or any other manufacturer doing so?

Having had an x-box360 for some time and recently purchasing a PS3, there seems to be a massive gap in the online gaming set-up of the PS3 - rather than questions I have some suggestions.

The "PS" button should take you into a similar menu as the 360 - rather than the trun off controller, turn off system etc.

THERE IS NO GAMERSCORE - this is a fantastic yet simple feature employed by Microsoft; it allows direct comparison with friends/peers as to their progress of the same games - the lack of it suggests you're a single person on your own; rather than part of a community with the same interests.

Again they should box up a cheapo headset with the PS3 rather than having to purchase a seperate bluetooth unit - and if it's anything like the microsoft one it probably never works.

Sony seem to have gotten the hardware side spot on - but the functionality/community of the online side is totally wanting. Is Home going to solve all this - as there seems to be no details coming out as to what it is or involve - apart from it being a "second life" type of thing.

Does Mr Hirai feel that Blu-ray will be the last major physical format for releasing movies and games for the home market?

I'm a 360 owner and have found the recent release of Xbox originals as downloads to be a much easier method of purchasing games. Plus, with the constant 'out-of-stock' issues the release of GTA IV has presented extending such services to mainstream games on both the 360 and the PS3 would surely be beneficial for both the consumer and the developers. It would cut down on development costs as releasing patches and fixing bugs would be simplified - and the games would not be restrained by the data capacity of the discs.

iTunes has proved the model is very successful for music, and Xbox live now offers movie rentals. Whilst I don't forsee the physical medium disappearing altogether - surely Blu-ray will be the last medium for which a physical format accomodates the mainstream market?

You simply must ask why SCEE gives PS customers such a bad deal.

We buy more PS3 consoles than any other region, so why are we always last in line for the good stuff? And why are things like the PS Store, when we do get them, not as good as in the US et al?

Sir,

I earlier contacted Sony on the release of PSP - relating to the enforcement on the "regionalised" model for software and content. I got a standard reply with little reason other than markets markets.

Currently I have 3 kids who have Nintendo DS's - they play regularly - play shared games - and we tend to buy them new games whereever we are on holiday...

Its such a pity we can't do the same with PSP and Playstations. In the past we wanted to get a game for my son whilst in florida - and he was disappointed - and this also delayed our purchase of the playstation 2.

Overall the regionalised approach doesnt take into account peoples needs - and should really be taken away.

Your thoughts on the matter?

I just want to reiterate a point that a few people have already made. I'm currently looking to buy a playstation 3, but with only the 40gb model and especially that this has no backward compatibility I really think I'll wait for a better option.

I would like to know if there are any plans to diversify the Playstation 3 models on offer, or perhaps an option to customise certain features?

Question:

Will you be introducing the 80gb higher end Playstation 3 that can play ps2 titles, has 4 usb ports and car readers, to the uk and europe market?

If not i will not be purchasing a Playstation 3 and will get a Xbox 360 instead.

@aeropeegee - PSP games can be played on any regions consoles and are not locked to a certain region however UMD movies are. A quick google search would show you this.

As a PSP user, to get the most from my PSP I have resorted to homebrew (unofficial applications) which voids the warrenty of my PSP just so I can play extra movie formats, watch youtube videos etc and with more and more people turning to this it would be good for Sony to give people what they want in official updates rather than resort to shady methods. It can be done yet Sony continually ignore their consumers. I sometimes feel if I was American I would be listened to.

The has been great upset with how Playstation Store (PSN) in Europe has been organized. You have PS1 and PS3 software all mixed up and it very diffract to find content.

Is there any chance that European PSN Store could be organised more like PSN Store like it is USA.

xbox had an advantage of releasing the console before you why didn't you release playstation 3 before microsoft released xbox

I live in Mexico. I like PS3 products, but I own an XBox 360. The reason behind it is that PS3 products sometimes goes triple price in the regular market. XBox has an standard price for almost all products. Also, XBox has getting closer to people here. PS3 is distant to gamers for an unknown reason.

Will be seeing soon a change of policy of Sony to LatAm markets?

There are a lot of unhappy European users that feel that Sony Europe have handled the launch and support of the PS3 badly, culminating in a groundswell of bad feeling towards them from people who used to love the company.

The constant treatment of Europe as a poor cousin (price and release) to the US and Japanese territiories is disproportionate to the revenues generated and yet no improvements are made.

For example, Sony recently adjusted the pricing of their digital downloads in Canada to reflect the exchange rates and yet no such modification happened in europe where prices often exceed the 拢/$ rate.

Far worse, no communication is entered into despite a very vocal majority asking for such dialogue on Sony's own PS3 forums. The US has direct customer communication via the Playstation Blog and yet we have a website created by a PR company thet 'spins' old news and never responds to customer comments.

Please don't dodge the issue with Mr Hirai, none of the 'serious' gaming magazines will ask the tough questions that have been posted on here regarding SCEE and I'm really hoping you'll take him to task about these very important topics.

Cheers!

I agree with many others questions.

1, Why is there no choice in console to purchase in Europe where as in the US and Japan there is ?

This relates to the ability to play Playstation 2 games on the PS3, as in Europe the only model available cannot do this. PS3 models that are available in Japan and the US can do this.

2, Why is the cost of the machine itself so much more expensive here when compared to the US or Japan?

The 360 (Other electronic devices aswell) can manage a much more comparable price in dollars to pounds so the argument about vat/tax or shipping doesn't hold up.

@mike_cjo PlayTV was announced today as July-September this year. No doubt with Sony's track record it will be late.

I think the overall question that should be asked that brings together all these questions is:


Sony when do you intend to stop mucking around European users and return to the good days of being a top quality, unrivaled gaming powerhouse???

Is it true that there is a PS2 "Software" emulator being worked on for PS3. Which will allow people to play PS2 games on 40G PS3?

The reason why I say this is because on some blog they stated that going to sell PS2 games on PSN for PS3. As you are fully aware for this to happen with 40G PS3 you will need to use a "Software" emulator of PS2.

With the PS3, Sony can no longer deny that they treat Europe as the dumping ground of the world (this is especially evident as they continue to force outdated Sixaxis stock upon us, while other territories receive the new Dualshock 3).

Many users of the official (and countless other unofficial) Playstation forums have expressed gross displeasure at Sony's treatment of us Europeans. Yet Sony continue to ignore us and brush it all under the carpet.

My question is:
With Europe being one of (if not) your largest market, what in your mind justifies the mistreatment of your customers in this territory?

[Did we look at you funny or something? :P ]

And what are you going to do to correct it?

Darren, we (EU PS3 owners) have been trying desperately to get in contact with someone at SCEE about this. Please bring these points up in some form, because right now SCEE seem to think that ignoring us will make the problem disappear. It won't.

And don't let him get off lightly/fall for a "We're actually doing lots for European customers; all you have to do is look at our sales." comment. It's not that simple Mr. Hirai. Delaying it (like you seem to do with everything) won't work this time.

Would you say Playstation has gained advantages to being active user of Open Source projects ie Khronos Group (OpenGL)?

Do you believe that Open Source software is important to future gaming development? And is Playstation keen on keeping giving a commitment in this area of developing open source software?

1) What benefit does Mr. Hirai see in current restrictions on the access of home developers to the Playstation 3's graphics processor?

2) What risks does Mr. Hirai see in removing the restrictions?

I got a couple of ques tions /suggestions:

1) Get the Time and Date to come up when you click on the PS Button this is such a simple feature i dont know why its not included as its such a pain to have to go to my phone to check the time!

2) When listening to music it would be good if the implemented the SIXAXIS so that you could change the track by shaking the controller!

3) In PSN you should be able to change you PSN ID.

4) A YouTube Video Downloader

5) Better Wep page Viewing ie. more codes.

6) Some sort of IM thats compatabille with MSN, Yahoo.

Why do EU customers get consistently treated so badly compared to the US customers?

PSN games are up to 6 months late compared to on the US store.

Patches which have been submitted to Sony are late to be released.

EU has no real blog (threespeech is awful) and communication with customers is none existent.


Look at the feedback section of the official playstation uk website forums. There is a length complaint section that outlines why EU customers are so upset.

Oh, sorry, a couple more things. When the EU gets upset about late releases, why do we hear such pathetic excuses as 'translation and localisation' issues? Puzzle Fighter was released in the EU and US simultaneously and globally on the 360, yet STILL hasn't been released in the EU.

What I really dislike about the Xbox 360 and the PS3 is that there are so many flippin' different versions of the same console!

What happened to the good old days where an Xbox was an Xbox, and a PS2 was a PS2?

I know that they want to be able to profit from people on a low budget as well as on a higher-budget, but I'd really like it if they could make them all as good as the best!

I'm hoping to get a PS3 quite soon and I will then start considering whether or not to get PlayTV when it comes out - if I do, and probably even if I don't, I'll certainly be buying a much larger hard drive and swapping it in the PS3. 40GB? You're having a laugh!!!!

Three questions of interest...

1. What is the Playstation's strategy to tackle the online market? Is the success of their online offering hinging around Home?

2. How does Mr. Hirai feel Sony and Playstation can build on casual game successes such as Singstar?

3. What experiences and/or work practices from his time at SCEA does he feel has benefited his running of SCEI?

Why do Europe always get left out, we are a big game market as big as Japan and USA yet we get left out on demos, on the release of the PS3, on games on almost anything you can think of Japan and America get it first, yet your biggest competitor the xbox 360 does not descriminate europe.

What do you think of your online service, and will it ever be charged or will it always stay free, I would prefer to pay for it for a better service, take the release of Grand Theft Auto 4, no one could get a game online for the first 3 days as the servers were flooded, and people are still having trouble getting online now with it, and many other games are laggy and very bad online.

At the risk of sounding controversial, I don't think SCEE deserves all of this flak! I recently swapped my noisy, temperamental 360 for a PS3, and overall the experience compares well. Don't take the flaming all to heart, Kaz!

Nevertheless, I do have a couple of questions/ comments:

1. Europe is clearly a more difficult market to operate in for a console manufacturer, particularly given the challenge of preparing titles for release in multiple languages. However, Sony has no direct competition from the 360 in its home market of Japan, whereas it is a long way from catching up in the US - Europe is the only market where the title is up for grabs. Since the PS3 has just overtaken 360 for total units sold in Europe, this sounds like a significant coup for the PS3. So... (with as little marketing hyperbole as possible...!) how important is the European market to Sony's worldwide strategy?


2. Sony's approach seems to be to trail a new product/ service many months in advance of its release (Play TV; Home; ingame-XMB; DualShock 3...) Is this a conscious marketing decision (i.e. designed to build hype and encourage customers to see the PS3 as a long-term investment)?

3. Does Sony recognise that this approach risks alienating customers who become tired and irate with the lack of certain release dates (especially in Europe...)? I for one would not mind the delays half as much if a confident release date was given. I know that's a common gripe amongst PS3 owners, and it surely could be easily remedied... Where does the line sit between building pre-release hype, and simply being guilty of over promising and under delivering?

4. With specific regard to Play TV, I should like to note that I commend SCEE for investing in this exciting piece of convergence tech. I have a PVR which I can't wait to ditch in favour of Play TV. Also commendable is the mature decision to use an open format, rather than the proprietary format approach of Sony-past. I understand a revised release date of September 2008 has just been announced. What is the particular reason for the delay of this product, which was originally promised for Spring 2008? Is it a technological issue (allowing Play TV whilst playing games, or something)? Or is it just a lower priority fledgling product because it can "only" presently work within Europe?

Nick

just read the interview.
did you just not question him about scee's apathetic attitude to europe or did you just edit it out.
either way, thanks for listening and responding to the majority of your users, NOT

this was a complet waste of time signing up since none of the major questions were asked

whats the point of this place?

there is a lot of damn ppl on here. Most sho disregard for the PS3. I for one thought that the new PS wud b an improvement on the ps2 [which was an amazing console,btw!!!]. I checked the prices. 拢450!!!! 450!!! 450 for 1 controller and a big black box!!! I tried the ps3 ,60GB, at a frends house.

It was good. I think it could pick up media sources [i.e.. WMP 11 on Vista], his laptop was an inch away... it didn't work!! And the network finder thing was rubbish... even though the modem was on the other side of the room. It had limited backward comp as i tried 2 play a ps2 game it didn't work [when it did on my ps2!!].

But the thing was delayed by a billion years. And this new one comes out with no backwards comp!! That was the selling point of the ps2!

So Questoins.... AND PLEASE ANSWER THIS TIME!!!
1) Why are our ps3 goods so crap and so late
2)how come we are at a disadvantage to the USA and Asia when it comes to the ps3 and games and accesories and the XMB!!!
3) When is there going to be price cut on the ps3 like in USA

4) UP YOUR DAMN GAME PLEASE!!! [not a question, a request]

Sadly Kaz Hirai has already held his interview with Darren and the chances of him volunteering to answer any further questions are very remote...