Tech File has an interesting, but not too revealing, interview with Peter Dille, senior vice present of marketing at SCEA. Surprisingly, it's about the PSP (and not the impending PS3). Dille tactfully answered the hardballed questions. On the state of UMD movies, it appears that Sony's not giving up yet. He says: "We are committed to helping the studios better understand our product and our consumer, and will continue to educate them as we evolve and enhance the functionality of the PSP." Apparently, it's the studios' fault for not understanding what consumers want. I'd have to agree: Hitch, anyone? (note: Hitch was released by Columbia, owned by Sony Pictures.)When asked about third party support and getting original games for the PSP, Dille had this to say: "Smart third parties also recognize the great success achieved with games tailored from the ground up for the PSP." Yes, smart publishers understand that we don't want ports. Hopefully, the industry is getting smarter. Finally, on why the DS is getting all the love these days, Dille had this to say: "One key finding in our market research is that many consumers don't understand everything the PSP can do. So starting this summer, we're embarking on a major marketing campaign to educate consumers about the multi-functionality of the PSP beyond gaming." I know that I'm intrigued by what this marketing campaign is going to look like, so stay tuned.
Feel free to read more of Dille's wise words here.
[Update 1: Those of you that have better reading skills than I do have noticed that Dille announced a PSP version of Medal of Honor. For some reason, I just assumed that we already were getting one.]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
7-20-2006 @ 1:04PM
pixelator said...
God, it's beancounter mentality corpo-speak dorks like this who made me walk out of the game industry.
UMD isn't going well? Studios need to be EDUCATED.
DS getting a lot of press? The consumers need to be EDUCATED.
Sorry, and most who read the comments here know I've roundly defended the PSP and Sony against detractors, but this is the kind of arrogance that irks members of the industry as well as their target market (18-34), many of whom do read these blogs and articles.
I don't know about you, but I don't think the DS Lite success is owed entirely to the public being UNEDUCATED about the PSP, although they could've promoted it a bit better.
Tell you what, Sony. Here's MY take (an actual PSP fan who has purchased about 20 games for your little handheld) on the failings of UMD: 1). It's too expensive. The most pricey UMD should be $19.99, and most should be $10-15. 2). You can only play them on a PSP - gotta get those UMD slots in car multimedia decks and video recorders!
And here's more free advice, Mr. Beancounter... Give the PSP a video output cable and hook up with iTunes or GUBA or some other service so you can offer music & video content for playback on not only the PSP but regular TVs like the iPOD. I guarantee increased sales. I won't even ask for a cut, how cool is that?
As for the games, you can't dictate what the third parties develop, but SCEI can certainly guide development of key titles - and hey, you can still play the porting game! Can you say EVERQUEST PSP, the first infrastructure online MMORPG? The PSP hardware would run a ported EQ engine with no problem. Bundle it with a flip-up keyboard for say, $79, charge the MMO addicts $10 a month and you've got yourself a system seller, baby! Throw in some more Katamari/Loco Roco/Every Extend type games and I think the PSP would be looking damned good.
Beancounter execs can't see past their own budget and can't see their own mistakes, is the problem. They're trained to ONLY work with what they already have on the table. That's why you hear nothing about new R&D - instead, it's 'educating' people about what the PSP already offers.
At least I don't have to put up with them at work, anymore.
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7-20-2006 @ 1:04PM
SuicideNinja said...
"Consumers vote with their wallets, and based on sales figures, the PSP has proven to be the device of choice for people who want to play console-quality games -- and watch movies, view photos, listen to music, and connect to the Internet."
Scratch everything but "play games". The media functionality is good enough for those who care to use it. I still don't feel the PSP appopriately replaces other media-specific devices, and it never will. They should just concentrate on pushing games that we can't get elsewhere.
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7-20-2006 @ 2:09PM
R0DJOh said...
Lol Sony... so basically its everyone elses fault except yours. Whatever.
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7-20-2006 @ 2:29PM
Cabbage said...
"...starting this summer, we're embarking on a major marketing campaign to educate consumers about the multi-functionality of the PSP beyond gaming."
But don't PSP owners want Sony to focus on games, not multi-media?
"the PSP has proven to be the device of choice for people who want to play console-quality games -- and watch movies, view photos, listen to music, and connect to the Internet."
Isn't the PSP pretty much the only portable that can do all of those things out of the box? That's like saying "The N-Gage is the device of choice for people who want to play games, talk on the phone, and hold a synthetic taco up to their head." That is a pretty tight set of constraints there.
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7-20-2006 @ 2:32PM
pixelator said...
Yes, it does play games - and it has a lot of them, and a lot of A-AA titles. So no, you don't "scratch games," regardless of your Sony-hating bias.
There's plenty wrong with what this guy is saying - but the fact that the PSP does games in addition to multimedia and web isn't one of them.
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7-20-2006 @ 2:41PM
pixelator said...
PS - that was meant as a reply to 2.
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