Kikizo quizzes Kaz on the PS3

Surely we’ve had our share of disappointments with Sony over the past few months. But TGS 2006 may have swept them away, or at least convinced us to give them another chance. Kikizo’s video interview with SCEA boss and now SCE executive VP Kaz Hirai says a lot about Sony’s renewed confidence, despite all the recent setbacks, and reveals a bit of what has been going on behind SCE’s doors all this time.

While the press tore Sony a big new hole over the string of bad news concerning the PS3, not the least of which were the Euro delay and the North America/Japan launch cuts, SCE hunkered down and focused on a key strength of the console: the jaw-dropping content. Says Kaz, “(after E3) we talk about our product because there is something concrete to talk about.” In fact, the span of time between E3 and TGS was critical for Sony and game developers alike, to produce all that content playable on the Tokyo floor – and to talk about.

And TGS was a change of pace for the PS3. Before, it had all been about the media – devkits, media demos of PS3 games… but with Tokyo, it’s all about the consumer hands-on. The PS3s you may have played with on the game show floor (you lucky sonofagun, you) are the test units, Hirai confirms. This likely is as close as the consumer gets to the production PS3 before its official launch this November.

More Kaz and more PS3 and what they’re calling the controller (for now) at the full article!

Download: [Kikizo Quizzes Kaz]

Surely we’ve had our share of disappointments with Sony over the past few months. But TGS 2006 may have swept them away, or at least convinced us to give them another chance. Kikizo’s video interview with SCEA boss and now SCE executive VP Kaz Hirai says a lot about Sony’s renewed confidence, despite all the recent setbacks, and reveals a bit of what has been going on behind SCE’s doors all this time.

PS3 promises good content. While the press tore Sony a big new hole over the string of bad news concerning the PS3, not the least of which were the Euro delay and the North America/Japan launch cuts, SCE hunkered down and focused on a key strength of the console: the jaw-dropping content. Says Kaz, “(after E3) we talk about our product because there is something concrete to talk about.” In fact, the span of time between E3 and TGS was critical for Sony and game developers alike, to produce all that content playable on the Tokyo floor – and to talk about.

TGS was a change of pace for the PS3. Before, it had all been about the media – devkits, media demos of PS3 games… but with Tokyo, it’s all about the consumer hands-on. The PS3s you may have played with on the game show floor (you lucky sonofagun, you) are the test units, Hirai confirms. This likely is as close as the consumer gets to the production PS3 before its official launch this November.

Kaz’s controllers. Kikizo takes the trouble to ask Hirai what the “official” name of the PS3 controller is. It’s the “Wireless Controller for the PS3,” laughs Kaz (Uh… WC4PS3, perhaps?). And speaking about that controller, Hirai says the reason (or at least one of the reasons) why they can’t have motion-sensing and vibration in the same controller (despite Immersion’s claims) is affordability. To have both working in a controller would make it too expensive to sell as a standalone product – especially since the PS3 will ship with a single WC4PS3 (just like the PS2) and a second-player controller is usually the first accessory a PlayStation owner buys.

Long term plans. And Sony’s thinking less launch game, more long-term. The Euro delay and smaller launch numbers disappoint us, but Kaz reassures that the PS3 we purchase – even if later than expected – will stand solid, vibrant, and fresh six, seven, eight years later. Sony’s built a console that aims to excite the content creators/developers as well as the consumers, and deliver a unique gaming experience.

There’s a bit more than this in Kikizo’s video interview (as well as vid clips from assorted PS3 games), available for download below, but with what we’ve just featured above and what we’ve seen from TGS, we pretty much are looking forward to the PS3’s luanch, a little over a month from now. And we pretty much share Sony’s confidence – or at least cautious optimism – with their newest platform. SDF victory, anyone?

Download: [Kikizo Quizzes Kaz]