Sony's Peter Dille says the way Nintendo's driven wider-audience gaming means consumers ready to move up to "next-generation high definition gaming" will end up on the PlayStation 3.
"Our view on the Wii: number one, our hat's off to them," Dille told Gamasutra as part of an in-depth feature interview. "They've created this huge phenomenon that's captivated people's imagination -- and captivated a lot of dollars."
"No one around here is in the camp of 'Oh, it's this fad' sort of spin. Again, hats off to them. We think it's good for the business, to be honest."
And good for Sony, too, according to Dille. "There's a perspective here that, if we all believe that the Wii and Nintendo are doing something that hasn't been done -- i.e., bringing more people into gaming -- that's a good thing. Now, if those people get hooked on gaming and they want to continue with their gaming habit, then many of them will figure out 'Okay, what else can I do?' and 'wouldn't a high-definition gaming experience be of interest to me?'"
Based on the profile of the Wii consumer, says Dille, the PS3 is "the perfect place for them to end up."
"It's always been a platform that's inclusive; it's got something for everyone. We believe that the family that's been involved in Wii gaming -- having a PS3 as the centerpiece of their living room is a great thing that the whole family can enjoy much the same way that you can enjoy Wii but perhaps on steroids; it does so much more."
So from Dille's perspective, it's just a matter of time before consumers reintroduced to gaming via the Wii make their return to the PlayStation brand with which they were familiar in the previous generation. "The Wii is not positioned as the digital entertainment hub in the way that the PlayStation 3 [is]," he says. "So we think that over time all those folks will migrate back to the PlayStation 3 -- when I say "back," that takes the view that they were PS2 gamers, went to the Wii, and then would come back."
And as for Wii users entirely new to the space? "As I said earlier, if they didn't come from anywhere, if they're just new gamers, then that's good for all of us. We believe that we'll have a fair shot as selling them a lot of our products down the road."
The full feature on the state of Sony in 2009 is now available at Gamasutra (no registration required, please feel free to link to this feature from other websites).
http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=23300
