Sony senior official Karraker on the PSP and PS1 downloads

In case you are not aware, Sony has a new guy manning the senior director post of their corporate communications. He’s Dave Karraker and while he isn’t new to the game industry, he never expected he’ll eventually end up where he is now considering his background. He actually started out as a TV reporter for CBS and NBC in Santa Barbara and Reno.

Enough about the guy and on to why he’s making news today. Recently, gaming-dedicated site GamaSutra interviewed Karraker. It was a rather long interview and it was all about their marketing strategy, the PS3 launch, and other Sony stuff. However towards the end, the discussion shifted to PSP and downloadable contents. The moment we read that, we were like, “Dude, now we’re talking.”

“I think handheld is incredibly important for us, particularly as we start developing more and more downloadable content. And IÂ’m not just talking about games, IÂ’m talking about entertainment content as well,” Karraker reveals. He then specifically pointed out TiVo-to-go saying it actually is a big hit. He then went on saying the DS simply cannot be compared to their product, as the former is more about gaming while the PSP offers a whole wide array of things.

The discussion then proceeded to PS1 games on the PSP. When asked how the emulated download works, Karraker explains, “Basically you just download them to the PS3, and bounce it to your PSP, and those will all be under US$ 5. And then there will be downloadable content from hotspots.” Hmm, just under five bucks. What do you think?

Anyway, they then capped off the conversation with the types of games different markets dig. While actions and sports games work well with the PSP, such titles are not big hits in Japan as they prefer RPGs. Karraker then reflects, “itÂ’s just a matter of getting the consumer in Japan accustomed to the idea of playing an expansive RPG on a handheld device.”

Via GamaSutra

In case you are not aware, Sony has a new guy manning the senior director post of their corporate communications. He’s Dave Karraker and while he isn’t new to the game industry, he never expected he’ll eventually end up where he is now considering his background. He actually started out as a TV reporter for CBS and NBC in Santa Barbara and Reno.

Enough about the guy and on to why he’s making news today. Recently, gaming-dedicated site GamaSutra interviewed Karraker. It was a rather long interview and it was all about their marketing strategy, the PS3 launch, and other Sony stuff. However towards the end, the discussion shifted to PSP and downloadable contents. The moment we read that, we were like, “Dude, now we’re talking.”

“I think handheld is incredibly important for us, particularly as we start developing more and more downloadable content. And IÂ’m not just talking about games, IÂ’m talking about entertainment content as well,” Karraker reveals. He then specifically pointed out TiVo-to-go saying it actually is a big hit. He then went on saying the DS simply cannot be compared to their product, as the former is more about gaming while the PSP offers a whole wide array of things.

The discussion then proceeded to PS1 games on the PSP. When asked how the emulated download works, Karraker explains, “Basically you just download them to the PS3, and bounce it to your PSP, and those will all be under US$ 5. And then there will be downloadable content from hotspots.” Hmm, just under five bucks. What do you think?

Anyway, they then capped off the conversation with the types of games different markets dig. While actions and sports games work well with the PSP, such titles are not big hits in Japan as they prefer RPGs. Karraker then reflects, “itÂ’s just a matter of getting the consumer in Japan accustomed to the idea of playing an expansive RPG on a handheld device.”

Via GamaSutra