TGL: The Vita has one of the strongest launch line-ups we’ve ever seen for any new piece of hardware. How important is it to have such a healthy launch line up?
NO’H: I’ve never seen such a good line up for a new piece of hardware. All the big names are in there and the Playstation Store is already making Minis and Classics available from day one. Vita has gamers’ games from day one. Look at FIFA for example. Gravity Rush is another example. Gravity Rush was originally a PSN only title. I looked at it twelve months ago and thought this needs to come out on a card. We extended the development cycle and now it’s a full blown release. It’s bloody brilliant. I actually love Top Darts myself.
WipEout is another example, a franchise that has been with us since the PSOne’s launch. Ridge Racer comes to Vita too later in the year. It’s always been associated with Playstation. It’s the games that excite me. They’re what keep me here. I never ever thought I would stay with one company for 17 years. But it’s such a changeable environment that you just can’t help but get excited about it. We also have a great team working on Playstation in Ireland. We always share a great enthusiasm.
TGL: How do you expect Vita to actually do in Ireland? Given that it’s had something of a slow start in Japan, do you expect Vita to perform better in Europe from the get go?
NO’H: I don’t think you can compare the Japanese launch to the European one. It’s like this, software sells hardware. Look at the PSP in Japan. Monster Hunter sold millions of PSP’s. Monster Hunter is not available on Vita at this time. The Japanese will wait for the AAA games before they buy the hardware in millions. That said, the Vita hasn’t done that bad and has sold pretty well in Japan. It’s a good start. In Europe, we have a lot of different titles that really showcase the hardware and what it does from day one. Brands like WipEout and Uncharted are huge in PAL. FIFA day one is huge for Europe. Playstation has never had a day one FIFA before. Games like these are really important. Every console I’ve ever launched will always have the core gamers who will buy it straight away so you will always have a spike that will always traditionally come down. It has to. But now, launching at this time of year with Easter around the corner, we will see a spike in April with things like communions and confirmations. It always happens. We always get a spike there in the “catholic countries” as I call them. You’ll never get that spike in the UK, Germany or France. Then we have holiday season and the summer. The Vita is a great companion for the audience out there for these seasons. There’s already about 350,000 PS3’s out there already. That pool of people will see the appeal of having a PS3 on the go with Vita. You can play games, watch movies, play music and collect trophies. There’s just so much to do with Vita and your PS3 working together. Timing and pricing have worked out very comfortably for us. People have been very surprised with the pricing.
TGL: Was it difficult to find a sweet spot with the pricing, given the advanced technology and consumer expectations?
NO’H: It’s always difficult of find a sweet spot. A sweet spot will never begin with a “2”. Sweet spots always begin with a “1”. You’ll never hit a “1” with a product launch. It’s not going to happen. But the core gamers will embrace the price. We’re comfortable with the price. Vita will always evolve. You have a core male audience in Ireland, the 18 to 35 group. DS for example, targets a lot of games for girls. We’ve never really broken into that. But we will evolve into a wider audience with time.
TGL: Given that we’re getting hit with so many impressive games from the day one with Vita, what do you think we can expect from the second wave of Vita software going forward?
NO’H: I’ve seen Resistance, I’ve seen Assassin’s Creed and I’ve seen Call of Duty all on Vita. All I can say is “holy shit”. No device can touch this.
TGL: Is it fair to compare Vita to other devices or is it in a space all by itself?
NO’H: People say to me all the time, is Vita like iPad or like this tablet or that tablet and I always say no. Vita is unique and is in a space all to itself. It’s not competing with anything else. No other device can touch this because it’s not like anything else.
I've pasted all the VITA stuff from the interview, for the full interview click here.
