The “confident but not arrogant” SCEE head David Reeves talks PS3’s future in Europe, as he also says Nintendo is actually encroaching on Sony’s casual market. Next-Gen's interview from Leipzig, Germany within... ImageIn a modern game industry where Nintendo is gladly assuming much of the credit surrounding the rise of the casual game consumer, Reeves said Sony’s “actually the one that broadened the market” even before the Wii and DS were introduced. “We started EyeToy at the end of 2002, then we did SingStar in 2004 and Buzz in 2005,” he said. He has a point. SingStar and Buzz in particular worked wonders in expanding the videogame market, specifically in Europe. But he’s not taking total credit on Sony’s behalf for the expansion of the games market beyond the core gamer. “…We’re very happy Nintendo broadened the market to where we have never gone. But Sony is going places where EA and Microsoft have never been. We’re very happy about [market expansion]. It keeps growth of the industry going up and up and up instead of just recycling gamers.” Speaking of expansion, one way to expand a console’s installed base is to offer up a price cut. Sony cut the price of the 60GB PS3 in the US in July, but SCEE is waiting to pull the price cut lever. “We’re not announcing anything at Leipzig about price cuts. We’re very happy with the situation we’ve got with starter packs. [The starter pack] has been on the market for three weeks and we’ve got a 60 percent increase on a sell-through basis. We’re very happy with that.” “If [a price cut is] what they want to do in the US, fine… But we don’t need to do it in Europe." Reeves said that for Europe, it’s simply too early for a price cut on PS3. And besides, he said, Europeans like bundles. “Had we gone down in price in July, that’s three months after we launched PS3. It’d be kind of like saying, ‘hey, we failed.’ But we didn’t. We’ve been selling through much more than we ever thought we would be, even in Germany. “If [a price cut is] what they want to do in the US, fine… But we don’t need to do it in Europe.” Reeves said that European responses to bundled goods are quite different from the US. While US consumers canappreciate a good value, they’d rather see an all-out price cut on a game console. “In Europe, it’s not like the US. We do a lot of bundles with both third and first party software. … It really does work in most European countries.” Reeves said the European retail trade also likes bundles. “It keeps their cash registers up at the top.” On PlayTV Last night, Sony announced PlayTV, which will act as an antenna for PS3-connected televisions, picking up digital stations over the air in both high-def and standard resolutions. There’s no word on whether or not PlayTV will be hitting US PS3s. However, Reeves called it “a European initiative,” and couldn’t speak for other markets. But PlayTV seems much more fit for the European market as opposed the US and Japan, where digital terrestrial TV—which is delivered over the air—isn’t a big market. “It’s a big opportunity for Europe,” he said. “It’s just one little thing that will add to the proposition of PlayStation and might tip the balance for someone who’s looking for an entertainment device for their home.” Beating the "greatest holiday lineup" Sony’s competition hasn’t been shy about gently reminding gamers every now and then that it boasts “the best holiday games lineup ever.” With games such as Halo 3 and Mass Effect incoming, it’s hard to argue that the potential of a big Xbox 360 holiday is at the very least quite strong. Sony is concentrating on its own lineup of Sony-published holiday games for PS3: Ratchet & Clank Future, Heavenly Sword, Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune, Lair and Folklore. “The consumers are going to see this holiday—the adverts are breaking soon—that PS3 has a very good lineup,” argued Reeves. Right now, Microsoft has strong market penetration in the US, and (at least prior to the PS3 price cut) its Xbox 360 has been consistently selling more than PS3. “This is not the US. [Europe’s] quite different from the US in terms of market shares.” said Reeves. “…PS3 outsells Xbox 360 about 3 to 1. PS2 outsells Xbox 360 by 4 to 1…. In Japan, Xbox 360 does nothing….They have a good lineup and I think they’ve done a fantastic job coming into the market. But they said last year, ‘we’ve got the greatest lineup and this is the year we’re taking off.’ They’re just repeating it. “We don’t like to set ourselves up and say we’re going to great, but then don’t. We just don’t say anything. We deal in numbers.” http://www.next-gen.biz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=6931&Itemid=2

It's pretty much misleading spin and whining that they did it first.

...they can market all they want but they're in third place by a significant margin and losing money and that's not going to change for a while.

Game availability, even after Christmas,, will still be lacking compared to the other two.

Once PS2 sales drop off that's their primary video game revenue gone too.

“We don’t like to set ourselves up and say we’re going to great, but then don’t. We just don’t say anything. We deal in numbers.”

Aah they are always so funny aren't they, that's one of the two things i love about Sony: their Walkman series (original ones, but now i have a corean brand mp3 player) and their no-brainer offensive self-inulting ridiculous agressive PR-statements.

Keep them coming Sony, keep them coming.

However i have to admit that their statement about how they not lowered production and still will have 11million units sold by march is far better. Even their PR had a cut.

"...Nintendo is actually encroaching on Sony’s casual market ..."

If I call my girlfriend a boring whore, and dump her in favour of a wealthier and more exotic girl can I really complain when another man approaches her and tries to pick her up?

"Reeves said Sony’s “actually the one that broadened the market” even before the Wii and DS were introduced.

“We started EyeToy at the end of 2002, then we did SingStar in 2004 and Buzz in 2005,” he said."

Sure and the NES / SNES and Virtual Boy has "never ever" existed.

“If [a price cut is] what they want to do in the US, fine… But we don’t need to do it in Europe."

No of course not, the Europeans are the richest people around the globe, that's why every person I come across and doesn't own a PS3 complains about the price and doesn't give a crap about the bundle, simply... because it ain't their type of games...

Try an experiment: Ask a random person on the street if they've heard of the Wii. Now ask them whether they've heard of SingStar or Buzz. I guarantee you that MANY more people will have at least heard of, if not played, a Wii.

This is just the Sony execs being their usual arrogant selves.

There was a karaoke game on the NES (even though it apparently sucked) and Karaoke Revolution was out before Singstar. I don't know much about Buzz but interactive quiz games have been around for awhile (hell, there was a minigame in Legend of the Mystical Ninja)
Sony did help expand the market but also turned their back on casual gamers the moment they put a $600 price tag on their system. And Nintendo has helped continue to expand it into even more markets. No single company can claim to be the reason for the expansion.

"...Nintendo is actually encroaching on Sony’s casual market ..."

Yea, and the 100 million or Gameboys that were synonmous with the words "airplane" "road trip" or even "car ride" didn't expand the market. Heck go on a plane and look at the safety card, when it says 'don't use electronics before take off' there is usally a picture of a battery, a pair of headphones, and a gameboy.

 

By this rate Sony's grave will reach the earth's core...

Simple Sony: Gameboy + Tetris in 1990.

People,
He is talking from a European perspective. Sony were the first and only ones to ever sell more than 10 million consoles in Europe (actually turned out to be more than 40 million) with the PS and PS2. Nintendo, Sega or Microsoft never achieved that. Next time you're over here in Europe, ask a man on the street and you will find out that Buzz and Singstar are 10 times more popular brands compared to the Wii.