Board 8 > Interview with Shuhei Yoshia about Vita -- packaged PS3/Vita games, pricing.

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ZFS
08/24/11 10:20:00 AM
#1:


It's a fairly lengthy interview, but as is always the case with Yoshida, it's well worth the read. He tends to be far more upfront and honest than most other executives from Sony and other big publishers. Good read. More here, if you're interested -- http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2011-08-24-sonys-shuhei-yoshida-interview

Eurogamer: You mentioned that one of the problems with the PSP was a lack of content. What steps are you taking to ensure that same mistake won't be repeated?

Shuhei Yoshida: As far as we're concerned from a worldwide studios standpoint, right after the launch of PSP we had to shift lots of resources to prepare for the launch of the PS3. That followed closely after the launch of PSP. In retrospect we did it too extreme. We were happy with the launch of PSP. We had lots of games to launch with, but because of the demand of creating games on the new consoles, we shifted resources too much and the coverage for the PSP became weak.

The same thing was happening with third parties as well. The next generation of hardware was launching. Because us and third parties had to shift resources out of the portables, that created the huge issues in terms of the supply of the content.

We learnt the lessons of that experience. We're going to make sure we will have a good, continuous supply of software on PS Vita as we continue to support the PS3 and PS Move.


Eurogamer: When the price was announced it surprised many because it was a bit lower than we were expecting. Now Nintendo has announced a price cut for the 3DS, does that put pressure on Sony to reduce the price of Vita?

Shuhei Yoshida: We are totally happy with the price we put out. Personally, I was expecting Nintendo might move their price, but I wasn't expecting them to move at this time. We didn't price Vita relative to 3DS or those other devices. We plan the value we want to put in to the Vita and the price people would perceive the value would be. Nothing changed since the announcement. We are totally happy.


Eurogamer: You can have a connected experience with games you play on your PS3. Is it feasible to play a game on PS3, leave home and continue it on Vita, and return to it on PS3 when I get back?

Shuhei Yoshida: That's totally feasible and it's going to be happening. One of the games we're making, called Ruin, we are developing both the Vita version and the PS3 version of that title. Both games will be packaged together. You can play the game at home on PS3, save your data on our PSN server on the cloud, and you can continue playing the game on PS Vita by downloading the save from the PSN. And you can do vice versa. It's a continuous experience, playing the same game on PS Vita and PS3.

There is lots of interest from publishers and developers to do that. At Konami, Kojima-san announced the concept of Transfarring. The initial product will be between PSP and PS3, but he is also talking about between PS3 and Vita. Actually, it's easier to create the experience on PS Vita and PS3 because the performance is much similar, and the amount of RAM is pretty similar.


Eurogamer: It's possible to use Vita as a controller for PS3.

Shuhei Yoshida: Technically, yes. PS Vita and PS3 can be connected. Actually, PSP and PS3 can be connected as well. They function when you have video on PS3 you can browse using PSP Remote Play function. Again, because PS Vita and PS3 performance is similar, because the PSN feature set is complete on PS Vita, it's going to be much easier to use PS3 and PS Vita in the connected function.

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Diet Water
08/24/11 10:23:00 AM
#2:


I hope legit fighting games on handhelds catches on as a concept.

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ZFS
08/24/11 10:25:00 AM
#3:


This is also probably worth posting, given how portable discussion seems to always go back to smartphones:

Eurogamer: How do you respond to those who say in this smartphone heavy market there isn't a desire for a high-end portable gaming device? What do you say to those who are worried about Vita?

Shuhei Yoshida: I'm not sure who is worrying. If our publishing partners or our developer partners are worrying, I understand. If their business is in the console space, they are in the same venue as us, so we should create a market with them so we can continue our business. So I totally understand that.

But when consumers are saying it, I really don't understand. It really depends on the types of consumers. If you are a very, very casual person who might just want to kill time as you're waiting for your train or something, you might not need a dedicated, big game experience. But if you like games, if you really love games, you would want to play the kind of games you like, even on the portable.

I totally believe there are millions and millions of people like that. As long as there are great portable gaming experiences you cannot get on smartphones, there will be a market.

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GranzonEx
08/24/11 10:26:00 AM
#4:


From: Diet Water | #002
I hope legit fighting games on handhelds catches on as a concept.


Lol playing serious fighting games on anything other than arcade sticks.
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The Mana Sword
08/24/11 10:26:00 AM
#5:


transfarring

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GranzonEx
08/24/11 10:28:00 AM
#6:


As long as the console business is healthy, there will always be people that want dedicated handhelds.
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edwardsdv
08/24/11 10:30:00 AM
#7:


yoshida is officially the smartest man in gaming.

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ZFS
08/24/11 10:30:00 AM
#8:


ain't no transfer like transfarr

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ZFS
08/24/11 3:24:00 PM
#9:


up we go

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thundersheep
08/24/11 3:33:00 PM
#10:


From: GranzonEx | #004
Lol playing serious fighting games on anything other than arcade sticks.


Pretty much. I really just hate handheld gaming in general. I mean there are some great games on the systems, but I can't think of 5 that I would rather play on a handheld than a console.

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paperwarior
08/24/11 3:36:00 PM
#11:


Lol playing serious fighting games on anything other than arcade sticks.

Okay Mr. More-Hardcore-Than-Thou. I use a d-pad, so handheld versions are fine.

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ZFS
08/24/11 4:33:00 PM
#12:


Portables are nice. I wouldn't want to play fighting games on a portable over a console, but there are a lot of smaller experiences that you can't get on a console. It's also nice to be able to lay down in bed at night and throw something on for a while. You don't have to set aside a chunk of time to get some play time out of them either.

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