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Sony's Andrew House

The Euro PS3 boss talks 3D, PlayStation Plus and opening up new business models

GamesIndustry.biz You've announced PlayStation Plus as a subscription service for PSN. Won't that confuse players over content that is free and that which isn't, and is there an issue there now that company's like EA are charging extra for online multi-player?
Andrew House

You can avoid the confusion as long as you maintain a base level of a very clear value proposition - this is the game that I buy, I expect a certain level of entertainment from it at a certain price point. Beyond that we're moving from an entertainment as product to entertainment as service, and that's very new and uncharted territory.

There will be a number of different business models and the consumer generally embraces choice and as long as these are made available as something that people can choose from then we're on safe ground. You're right, there will be some learning there as to how it works and what consumers are prepared for where they see value. That's going to be learning that happens collectively within the industry but as long as it's built upon a well understood baseline model that people are comfortable with then there's room for experimentation.

GamesIndustry.biz Sony does seem open to new business models on the PS3 - PlayStation Plus, EA Sports Online Pass - and yesterday you announced Steamworks along with Portal 2. How did you mend bridges with Gabe Newell, because he's been quite grumpy in the past when it comes to PS3...?
Andrew House

It was absolutely fantastic to see him up there on stage. I can't really go into details about how that came about, but what I would point to is we've had a fairly good track record with building relationships and creative partnerships with a wide variety of developers. It's great to see Valve, in a hitherto rather curmudgeonly position with the PlayStation, now come on board. We're in a relationship-based business and those relationships need to be solid.

GamesIndustry.biz Your other big E3 deal is Move. You've priced the package, so how many units are you hoping to shift between now and Christmas?
Andrew House

I've been asked, is Move a peripheral or is it a platform? And I think it's somewhere in-between. In terms of the level of new units we'll ship it's closer to a new platform than just the peripherals business. We're looking for very, very substantial numbers. We've been deliberately very competitive and aggressive about the pricing that we've set against it. The impression I got from E3 is that it was well received as an easy point of entry so we expect the numbers to be very substantial.

GamesIndustry.biz And are you expecting it to boost PS3 hardware, and can you talk in percentage terms what those numbers might be?
Andrew House

It's difficult to say because we haven't launched it yet and it's a little bit too early to predict. What I do think is important is that I hope we demonstrated there is a gathering sense of momentum around PlayStation Move - the ease with which it can be implemented in games, the sheer variety of experiences that it can enhance and improve and the fact that uniquely among the motion control offerings it is uniquely at home with conventional games and genres as it is with social and more casual gaming experiences. And that is a key winning point as far as I can see.

GamesIndustry.biz Are you still dedicated to the casual business on the PS3? At your E3 showing I got the impression that there was a lot of shooting and intense action titles. Is there still a focus of bringing in new consumers through casual gaming?
Andrew House

Absolutely. It's part and parcel of our heritage. There was a tremendous variety of genres and experiences that you saw there. For me, one of the most impactful demos was with Sorcery to show that Move can establish credibility not just with the typical casual, social games - and we'll have those in a starter to be shipped with the unit - but you could feel in that room people who play games saying they want to do that and see those gaming experiences in a more serious and immersive way than has more generally been positioned and expected in terms of the casual genre.

I'd point to the fact that we were the company that introduced EyeToy, SingStar, and we've got a very solid heritage for building mass market and casual gaming experiences that are very widely appraised. Move allows us to do that in a more dramatic fashion. And it's coming at absolutely the right point in the lifecycle.

It's coming at the point where the price of the hardware has made it much more of a considered option for a wider group of people. It's come at a time when Blu-ray and HD in general has really gained traction with a mass market consumer and to have this on top of all of that is great timing and really sets us up well.

GamesIndustry.biz Okay, final question. It's been a year on since the big reveal of PSPgo. What have been the big lessons from releasing that hardware?
Andrew House

I'd be honest and say one of the lessons was that the degree to which packaged goods even on a portable device is seen as very important for consumers. We made something of a leap of faith that we would move at this point a digital device. There is a group of consumers, I firmly believe, that see that as the next wave, but we've also learnt that packaged media and the ability to have physical media in your games collection is something people see an enormous amount of value in. An that's something we'll consider as we look at future technology options.

Andrew House is president of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe. Interview by Matt Martin.

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Matt Martin avatar
Matt Martin: Matt Martin joined GamesIndustry in 2006 and was made editor of the site in 2008. With over ten years experience in journalism, he has written for multiple trade, consumer, contract and business-to-business publications in the games, retail and technology sectors.
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