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Part 1: Sony Worldwide Studios boss talks about handheld and mobile strategy - and how Vita TV may end up in many more devices soon
Sony Worldwide Studios boss Shuhei Yoshida is, in many ways, the gamer's gaming executive. Enthusiastic and personable, he juggles the responsibility of managing Sony's software output with a willingness to constantly engage with gamers on Twitter, where his rapid, honest responses to questions about PlayStation have probably earned Sony more goodwill and positive headlines than any carefully formulated PR plan could ever hope to. He's also responsible for driving the company's engagement with indie developers and small studios, and often seems to be part of an engaging double-act with Vita and PS4 system architect Mark Cerny - the two faces of Sony's reinvention and resurgence.
Yet Yoshida's ebullience can't disguise the magnitude of the challenges Sony faces. PS4 may be riding high on a wave of goodwill, but gamer affection for PS Vita hasn't translated into sales - and Sony itself, the parent company, remains deeply troubled, so much so that powerful American investors in the firm have called publicly for it to be broken up in order to shed unprofitable divisions.
GamesIndustry International sat down with Yoshida in at Sony Studios Japan's offices in Tokyo in the weeks after the Tokyo Game Show to discuss all these challenges and more. Today, we publish the first half of that interview - covering PlayStation Vita, Vita TV, mobile strategy and the intriguing notion that the diminutive Vita TV might find itself built into future devices from other Sony divisions as well.
Check back tomorrow for the rest of the interview - where we'll tackle PlayStation 4, the competition from Xbox One, indie engagement and, of course, the eternal question: where is The Last Guardian?
Q: How was Tokyo Game Show for you? Did you get a good response?
Shuhei Yoshida: For us, the SCEJ press conference event was the big thing in terms of announcing information about PS4 for the Japanese market, and introducing the new PS Vita and Vita TV. It was a huge thing. TGS is an important event, of course, but in terms of business strategy and new product introductions, that was already done a week before. We wanted many people to come to TGS, so we announced all the things that you could try at TGS, prior to TGS.
TGS is a consumer-focused show, compared to something like E3 - E3 is trade, so we can do the announcements during the show, but TGS is a consumer show. We make sure that people know what they can expect when they visit TGS.
I'm very happy that so many people visited TGS. The PS4 area was huge - lots of kiosks had to stop distributing the tickets for their game trials. I felt sorry for people who were there but were a bit late in the day and couldn't try the games that they wanted. In terms of reaction, it was very very positive. As for PS Vita TV, that's something we were able to keep close to our chest until the announcement, and it's been getting quite good reactions as well. I'm very happy about the reactions.
Q: PS Vita TV is Asia-only at the moment - you still have no plans for North America or Europe?
Shuhei Yoshida: I don't think we are saying that we have no plans - we have no plans that we can discuss!
Q: What do you see as the difference between the Asian market and the North American or European market that makes PS Vita more sensible for Asia but not for those other markets - at least at the start?
Shuhei Yoshida: Vita TV is a very versatile device. There are so many different things that that small device can do, and there are quite distinct usage and distinct consumer targets that we can pursue. The market situation is very different between Japan and the Western market in terms of whether it's a portable market, whether it's a console market... Especially the situation with Vita in Japan right now is quite healthy. Lots of new titles have been announced and we're launching the new hardware here first. The messaging and the targeting have to be carefully planned - that's why we decided not to go global with one message. We'll tailor our message and focus first on the Japanese market where the Vita is most active.
Q: You mentioned that the portable market and the home market are differently balanced in Japan compared to the West - I've seen figures saying that around 65% of games sold in Japan this year are portable games. Why is that? Is it something that you think will happen in the West as well?
Shuhei Yoshida: There are many ways that can be explained - many factors contribute to it. To me, the biggest thing is what games are available in each market. This may be a bit counter-intuitive, but whether it's portable or it's console, it doesn't matter. If people see the games that they want to play, they'll probably go and purchase that hardware whether it's portable or console. When you look at the most popular titles in Japan now, they're more often found on a portable platform. It's completely different in the US and Europe - the most popular franchise there was just released a few days ago, GTA V, and that's a console title.
Of course, there's also a difference in the lifestyles. You live in Japan now - I don't know how big a mansion you live in in Tokyo [laughs], but if you want to throw a home party, it's a bit challenging here in Japan, right? People like to get together somewhere outside, and games like Monster Hunter on portable hardware are very convenient for that. There's also the long commute. Everyone here spends hours on trains and portable devices are very popular to play games on.
Because I lived in the USA, I don't know about people in Europe - but American people love large TVs. They love playing big titles on big screens and getting people to their home, throwing parties... It just fits with their lifestyle, I think.
--- The rest of this rather long but very interesting interview is here: http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2013-10-02-shuhei-yoshida-vita-vita-tv-and-sonys-future
