Interview With SCE Worldwide Europe VP Jamie MacDonald
SCE Worldwide Europe VP Jamie MacDonald had a hot plate on his hands when the news broke just a last month that the PlayStation 3’s European launch would be delayed till March of 2007, so far he’s handled himself with grace and a sense of dignity. Recently the guys at GamesIndustry.biz sat down with him for an interview that touched on his thoughts on the PS3 delay, the consoles future, and even his opinion of the whole Wii-60 concept. Here are some of the juiciest PS3 related bits from the interview:
GamesIndustry.biz: Do you think the delay will make much difference to your chances of winning the next-gen battle?
Jamie MacDonald: If we were sitting here in five years’ time, I don’t think we’d really think about or notice that PlayStation 3 was four or five months later in Europe. I think in the long run, PlayStation 3 will succeed because of the great product it is and the great software we make for it.
GamesIndustry.biz: What do you think of the Wii-60 concept – the suggestion that for the same price as a PS3, consumers could pick up a Nintendo Wii and an Xbox 360? Is that something that concerns you?
Jamie MacDonald: To be honest, I haven’t heard that… I suppose the challenge that we have is to make sure people aren’t comparing like with like. A PlayStation 3 console comes with a Blu-ray disc player in the box, it comes with an HDMI connection in the box, and it comes with a hard disc drive – so the kind of entertainment experience you can get with a PlayStation 3 out of the box really is unique amongst the consoles.
It’s not a case of either or; there is no other console that provides that high definition experience with a built-in Blu-ray disc player and the HDMI connection. It isn’t comparing apples with apples.
GamesIndustry.biz: So those elements are what makes it worth the extra money?
Jamie MacDonald: I think if you compare it with other consoles, adding on all the extras you need to get a similar experience, it would end up being more expensive than a PlayStation 3. So I think PlayStation 3 is excellent value for money, given what you’re getting.
GamesIndustry.biz: PlayStation remains a strong brand, but do you think that Sony has a bit of an image problem at the moment? Specifically, with regard to the hardcore gaming community – there have been complaints about the high price point, comments from executives which some perceive as arrogant, the delayed launch… How do you deal with that?
Jamie MacDonald: We’d be foolish to ignore a consumer perception of that. But from our point of view, really, when we started with PlayStation 1, we didn’t have any brand equity at all other than it was Sony.
So we built up the PlayStation brand from scratch, and we did that by creating a great platform and a great product. My view is that our approach should be, if we create great platforms and great games, then the rest will follow.
SCE Worldwide Europe VP Jamie MacDonald had a hot plate on his hands when the news broke just a last month that the PlayStation 3’s European launch would be delayed till March of 2007, so far he’s handled himself with grace and a sense of dignity. Recently the guys at GamesIndustry.biz sat down with him for an interview that touched on his thoughts on the PS3 delay, the consoles future, and even his opinion of the whole Wii-60 concept. Here are some of the juiciest PS3 related bits from the interview:
GamesIndustry.biz: Do you think the delay will make much difference to your chances of winning the next-gen battle?
Jamie MacDonald: If we were sitting here in five years’ time, I don’t think we’d really think about or notice that PlayStation 3 was four or five months later in Europe. I think in the long run, PlayStation 3 will succeed because of the great product it is and the great software we make for it.
GamesIndustry.biz: What do you think of the Wii-60 concept – the suggestion that for the same price as a PS3, consumers could pick up a Nintendo Wii and an Xbox 360? Is that something that concerns you?
Jamie MacDonald: To be honest, I haven’t heard that… I suppose the challenge that we have is to make sure people aren’t comparing like with like. A PlayStation 3 console comes with a Blu-ray disc player in the box, it comes with an HDMI connection in the box, and it comes with a hard disc drive – so the kind of entertainment experience you can get with a PlayStation 3 out of the box really is unique amongst the consoles.
It’s not a case of either or; there is no other console that provides that high definition experience with a built-in Blu-ray disc player and the HDMI connection. It isn’t comparing apples with apples.
GamesIndustry.biz: So those elements are what makes it worth the extra money?
Jamie MacDonald: I think if you compare it with other consoles, adding on all the extras you need to get a similar experience, it would end up being more expensive than a PlayStation 3. So I think PlayStation 3 is excellent value for money, given what you’re getting.
GamesIndustry.biz: PlayStation remains a strong brand, but do you think that Sony has a bit of an image problem at the moment? Specifically, with regard to the hardcore gaming community – there have been complaints about the high price point, comments from executives which some perceive as arrogant, the delayed launch… How do you deal with that?
Jamie MacDonald: We’d be foolish to ignore a consumer perception of that. But from our point of view, really, when we started with PlayStation 1, we didn’t have any brand equity at all other than it was Sony.
So we built up the PlayStation brand from scratch, and we did that by creating a great platform and a great product. My view is that our approach should be, if we create great platforms and great games, then the rest will follow.