Xecutiona
02-21-2007, 02:05 PM
Earlier this week i was visiting a known Gaming Location here in Newcastle. The regulars at the cafe were harassing him about his job as a Sony gaming representative. I quickly told him that i would have liked to perform an interview with him, gamer to gamer. His response to my request was a no at first, but after further questioning he issued a challenge to me. He told me that if i could beat him in Counterstrike: Source(the game i was playing) then he would grant me this interview. I was weary of his confidence at first, but after a few rounds he was handed out some serious "lix", Gosu style.The product of that game is in front your eyes at this very moment.
note: one of the conditions of this interview was that he stays anonymous. This is followed, as the opinions expressed here are his own and may place his career at risk
The topic of the interview was the Japanese/American release of the Playstation 3, Problems that face Sony, Blu Ray and the upcoming European release of Sony's highly anticipated console.
My first question to him had to do with the apparent shortage of the Playstation 3 on the resease day. His reply was as follows.
"Honestly, the bigger heads up there plan it. they don't ever intend on meeting the demand with the supply. its simple economics.They just want to skim the early buyers"
It was then that my ears popped up. I immediately fell back to my secondary school economics days and remembered the skimming price theory. This theory surrounded the process by which new products get released at very high prices to reap the most benefit that they can for a short period. This was also seen with the Playstation 1, the PS2 and the PSP.
" i dont even think they wanted to release in japan and america last year. The heat from microsoft was alot more than they expected and they rushed the release for November. believe me, there were alot more ps3's produced, but they just weren't shipped to the stores.the systems out at that time are still amazing, its just that there will be so much more by march, which actually looks like a good launch than that in Japan and America."
While halfway agreeing i pointed out that most of the games which SONY would consider major selling points for their system were going to be released in and around March.I then asked if he was of the opinion that releasing in march would have been much more lucrative for SONY than their November 2006 release. His response was,
"like i said before, in terms of games alone then march would have been the better time to release. but remember they have other financial ties and other corporate races;BLU-RAY."
When asked if Blu-Ray was one of the major reasons why SONY released in November, he said:
"Of course, think of it. if they didnt release(the ps3) then, blu ray wouldn't have been getting the response it is(getting) now. the buggy systems(ps3) needed to be sent out to the market so that blu ray can take off. Now blu ray is selling 3 to 1 hd-dvd."
I inquired further about him saying that the first systems to be sold were "buggy". This was his response:
"yeah the systems were buggy. but they released firmware that they were too lazy to put on themselves before release to fix the problems."
I then pointed out that it is accepted that the porn industry is the industry that decided VHS over Sony's Betamax in the home video category; asking him if he is of the opinion that the same trend might occur in the BluRay/Hd-DVD war. he said,
"(chuckling) It is true, and that is where they must get their act together. i mean who wouldnt want to see good porn in high definition!?"
I then asked if he owned a xbox360, and if so what game he is playing at the moment and he said:
"yeah i do have one and im playing gears of war, its a brilliant game and i enjoy it alot."
I then asked him if he owns a ps3 at the moment and he said,
"yeah i have my ps3. i got one at the Hong Kong release from my boss."
I asked him about the games he plays on his Playstation 3 and if its anything close to the experience he had on gears of war for the xbox360. his response,
" That is a good question. i love resistance, its solid as a fps and it gave me a good few thrills. while not everything that is gears of war, i still love it and i play it alot. also, that motorstorm game is cool. i play the pre release version all the time with the other reps around the country and i have to tell you that its great. im also testing the sony online stuff. its really cool what they are doing, like xbox live but with a few more features. i cant tell you exactly what features though but you will see in time"
being very cynical, I asked him if he is saying that simply because Sony pay him to do so and he said,
" naw man im just talking to you as a gamer. if i were to go by the script you would be calling everything im saying bullshit. i dont like that stuff. i already said stuff that can put me in trouble so i dont think my name should be used. you're a gamer too and i trust you. also i know where you live chuckle*"
In summary, I asked him if he thinks it is a good choice to buy a ps3 on the Europe release and he said,
"yeah it is, if you can sell your left kidney its worth it! this generation the best thing to do is to buy two and steal one of the three because there are great games coming out for each system. that is what i would reccommend...and you are not publishing my name so i CAN say that *grinning"
i met this guy at the gaming cafe in newcastle. he agreed to have me ask these questions and well, here it is! if you have questions that you want me to ask him just tell me and i will get back to you as soon as possible
note: one of the conditions of this interview was that he stays anonymous. This is followed, as the opinions expressed here are his own and may place his career at risk
The topic of the interview was the Japanese/American release of the Playstation 3, Problems that face Sony, Blu Ray and the upcoming European release of Sony's highly anticipated console.
My first question to him had to do with the apparent shortage of the Playstation 3 on the resease day. His reply was as follows.
"Honestly, the bigger heads up there plan it. they don't ever intend on meeting the demand with the supply. its simple economics.They just want to skim the early buyers"
It was then that my ears popped up. I immediately fell back to my secondary school economics days and remembered the skimming price theory. This theory surrounded the process by which new products get released at very high prices to reap the most benefit that they can for a short period. This was also seen with the Playstation 1, the PS2 and the PSP.
" i dont even think they wanted to release in japan and america last year. The heat from microsoft was alot more than they expected and they rushed the release for November. believe me, there were alot more ps3's produced, but they just weren't shipped to the stores.the systems out at that time are still amazing, its just that there will be so much more by march, which actually looks like a good launch than that in Japan and America."
While halfway agreeing i pointed out that most of the games which SONY would consider major selling points for their system were going to be released in and around March.I then asked if he was of the opinion that releasing in march would have been much more lucrative for SONY than their November 2006 release. His response was,
"like i said before, in terms of games alone then march would have been the better time to release. but remember they have other financial ties and other corporate races;BLU-RAY."
When asked if Blu-Ray was one of the major reasons why SONY released in November, he said:
"Of course, think of it. if they didnt release(the ps3) then, blu ray wouldn't have been getting the response it is(getting) now. the buggy systems(ps3) needed to be sent out to the market so that blu ray can take off. Now blu ray is selling 3 to 1 hd-dvd."
I inquired further about him saying that the first systems to be sold were "buggy". This was his response:
"yeah the systems were buggy. but they released firmware that they were too lazy to put on themselves before release to fix the problems."
I then pointed out that it is accepted that the porn industry is the industry that decided VHS over Sony's Betamax in the home video category; asking him if he is of the opinion that the same trend might occur in the BluRay/Hd-DVD war. he said,
"(chuckling) It is true, and that is where they must get their act together. i mean who wouldnt want to see good porn in high definition!?"
I then asked if he owned a xbox360, and if so what game he is playing at the moment and he said:
"yeah i do have one and im playing gears of war, its a brilliant game and i enjoy it alot."
I then asked him if he owns a ps3 at the moment and he said,
"yeah i have my ps3. i got one at the Hong Kong release from my boss."
I asked him about the games he plays on his Playstation 3 and if its anything close to the experience he had on gears of war for the xbox360. his response,
" That is a good question. i love resistance, its solid as a fps and it gave me a good few thrills. while not everything that is gears of war, i still love it and i play it alot. also, that motorstorm game is cool. i play the pre release version all the time with the other reps around the country and i have to tell you that its great. im also testing the sony online stuff. its really cool what they are doing, like xbox live but with a few more features. i cant tell you exactly what features though but you will see in time"
being very cynical, I asked him if he is saying that simply because Sony pay him to do so and he said,
" naw man im just talking to you as a gamer. if i were to go by the script you would be calling everything im saying bullshit. i dont like that stuff. i already said stuff that can put me in trouble so i dont think my name should be used. you're a gamer too and i trust you. also i know where you live chuckle*"
In summary, I asked him if he thinks it is a good choice to buy a ps3 on the Europe release and he said,
"yeah it is, if you can sell your left kidney its worth it! this generation the best thing to do is to buy two and steal one of the three because there are great games coming out for each system. that is what i would reccommend...and you are not publishing my name so i CAN say that *grinning"
i met this guy at the gaming cafe in newcastle. he agreed to have me ask these questions and well, here it is! if you have questions that you want me to ask him just tell me and i will get back to you as soon as possible