Phil Harrison discussions the PS3 launch, Playstation Network Platform and his role in the company

Next Generation has posted a pretty interesting interview with President of SCE, Phil Harrison about the launch of the upcoming next-gen console, the Playstation 3.

Here are a few of the tidbits given by Phil Harrison during the chat:

Q: Is the business model for digital distribution over PS3 now in place?
A: For the most part; yes. There are obviously some details and some contractual relationships, we have to dot Is and cross Ts but in the big picture, yes.

Q: So is the price decided upon? (for the PS3)
A:  I’m not going to comment on that.

Q: How would you describe the differences between Playstation Network Platform and your competitors offerings?
The fact that PlayStation is making this push is the biggest differentiating factor. The second one is that the basic service is free. We’re taking what we did on PlayStation 2 where online gaming is free, so why should we suddenly charge for it on PlayStation 3? Although, clearly, we are going to have premium offerings where you can pay to download content.

The other one is that – and I don’t want to acknowledge too much one of our competitors – but by calling it Xbox Live Arcade it pretty much tells you what it does on the tin. Whereas we’re going to be much more entertainment-based, much wider – music and movies and games and other forms of digital entertainment and so hopefully it will be more impactful to a mass market.
Next Generation has posted a pretty interesting interview with President of SCE, Phil Harrison about the launch of the upcoming next-gen console, the Playstation 3.

Here are a few of the tidbits given by Phil Harrison during the chat:

Q: Is the business model for digital distribution over PS3 now in place?
A: For the most part; yes. There are obviously some details and some contractual relationships, we have to dot Is and cross Ts but in the big picture, yes.

Q: So is the price decided upon? (for the PS3)
A:  I’m not going to comment on that.

Q: How would you describe the differences between Playstation Network Platform and your competitors offerings?
The fact that PlayStation is making this push is the biggest differentiating factor. The second one is that the basic service is free. We’re taking what we did on PlayStation 2 where online gaming is free, so why should we suddenly charge for it on PlayStation 3? Although, clearly, we are going to have premium offerings where you can pay to download content.

The other one is that – and I don’t want to acknowledge too much one of our competitors – but by calling it Xbox Live Arcade it pretty much tells you what it does on the tin. Whereas we’re going to be much more entertainment-based, much wider – music and movies and games and other forms of digital entertainment and so hopefully it will be more impactful to a mass market.