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Yoshida: PS3 Motion Controller Is 'Hardware Platform' For Sony
by Staff [PC, Console/PC]
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October 30, 2009
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The upcoming PlayStation 3 motion controller will not just be an extra gaming peripheral, but a "platform product" that will have a variety of applications, says Sony Worldwide Studios boss Shuhei Yoshida.
"We are still in the very early days of motion control development," Yoshida told Gamasutra as part of a larger interview. The Sony veteran took the reins of SCE Worldwide Studios from former head Phil Harrison in May last year.
"We have had talks with company management where we discussed whether we should approach [the motion controller] as a peripheral or a platform, and we agree that this has huge potential -- so we position this as a hardware platform," he said.
Sony unveiled its yet-unnamed motion control solution at the E3 conference in June this year. The company plans on updating certain games such as Little Big Planet to support motion control, and Capcom is one example of a third-party that is developing a game for the controller with a new version of Resident Evil 5.
"The initiative [for the motion controller] was from Worldwide Studios, but this has to be designed so that many different kinds of games from all publishers can participate in this hardware platform," Yoshida explained.
"So it's not like in the case of SingStar, where the mic is designed to work with the SingStar games; we made a decision that this motion control is a platform product that has to work for a variety of products," he said.
"We are very fortunate that Capcom and [producer Jun] Takeuchi-san has said that he wants to work on Resident Evil 5 for the motion controller because this is a different type of game than what we are developing," Yoshida said. "So we are trying to get the needs from different types of teams as we design the hardware."
Sony has made clear that its motion controller strategy isn't only about accessibility for non-gamers, but also providing a new experience for core consumers who have been PlayStatation fans for years.
Yoshida reiterated that point, saying, "[We're working] with many teams to try different types of games to be able to cover the different needs of different types of games. So we have some teams working on very casual games, and other teams working on core audience type of games."
For more on Sony's motion control plans and overarching internal software strategy, read Gamasutra's in-depth feature interview with Yoshida, published today.
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"However consumer habits times have changed over the years and it seems that the major games Sony's released for the PS3, haven't been generating the kind of brand loyalty or sales as games in the past generations. Microsoft has done well on this front, however."
What outside Halo has generated brand loyalty for MS?. The majority of million sellers on PS3 are 1st party. Not withstanding Gran Turismo releasing next year which is a bigger franchise than Halo. The one area you can maybe criticize Sony for is releasing lots of new ip's and not following the industry standard of releasing multiple sequels. Please expand on you're rather baseless comments please.
A dead peripheral out of the box no less, as it won't get enough developer support to care about it."
Really? Because from what I have read around the internet is that quite a few devs and publishers are interested in just porting their Wii games over to the PS3 with upgraded graphics. It would be easy and really cheap. The profit returns are potentially very high. It all depends on how Sony prices their motion controller. If it is on the inexpensive side of the pricing scheme this could be a huge win for both Sony and the publishers/devs. I am betting it sells for under $50 by itself and $80 with an EyeToy included.
Maybe, but unlikely. From the viewpoint of a consumer that owns both systems they are going to have to do more then just "upgraded graphics" to interest me in buying the same game I already own for the Wii. I'm sure they'll get interest from those that don't already own a Wii, but I don't believe there are enough of them to warrant your very high profit return statement with only a graphic update to game ports. Unless you meant per unit sold and not total profits.
As for the potential success of this 'platform', it doesn't have enough going for it at the moment. Microsoft is doing better on the third party support but even then, we know so little about these products and their true offerings at launch. We need this discussion again in 3 months time.
I don't own a Wii. I know I wanted to play No More Hero's and Mad World. But I am kind of short on cash these days. I would buy both games for the PS3 motion controller if they did get ported over. I figure I am not the only one who is in the same situation. I know that they will port over lots of the shovelware as well, but who cares about that crap right? It all really comes down to price. If the wand it inexpensive then Sony has a sale from me. It not then I guess they don't. I figure ports of Wii games will most likely come at a discounted price so that will good for me as well.
I am also looking forward to what ever original games they have in mind as well. I figure Sony has a lot of good ideas up their sleeve. Time will tell.
Gears of War, Forza Motorsport, and Fable are MS published games that have generated brand loyalty as well as generated massive sales.
Sony's 1st party efforts thus far can be compared to MS efforts like Shadowrun, Blue Dragon, or Crackdown, in terms of sales. That is to say that they sell in the millions months after release rather than weeks after as is the case with Halo/Gears/Fable.
It's not very "baseless" at all. The numbers speak for themselves. The highly touted Killzone 2 didn't manage anywhere near the numbers of Halo or Gears. Sales wise it was far more comparable to something like Crackdown (though it did perform better than Crackdown IIRC).
It's not like MS is shying away from new IPs themselves, as they have published Blue Dragon, Project Sylpheed (space shooter RPG), Mass Effect and Lost Odyssey...RPGs ranging from average to excellent. You cannot insinuate that MS is interested in only pumping out sequels when it is clearly not the case. Sure, some of these games do turn into sequels, like Viva Pinata and Crackdown...but you can't claim that they aren't trying to make new IPs to work with.
I really think that Gamasutra was spot on with that question. Some great Sony 1st party games haven't sold as well as you would think, or at the very least started slow in terms of sales. Resistance, Uncharted, LBP, KZ2, etc. Whereas games like God of War 3, Final Fantasy XIII and Gran Turismo 5 are projected to have excellent sales.
Whereas MS is able to release a new IP and do very well with it. Gears of War and Mass Effect really stick out.
Personally I think much of this has to do with the appeal of the games in combination with MS's advertising efforts. Secondly it has to do with the 360's large North American userbase in comparison to the PS3's very small North American userbase. KZ2 and Resistance are more geared to North American users. Uncharted has a more widespread appeal a la Tomb Raider. MS has published a good number of JRPGs but none of them has sold exceptionally well. Yet one RPG that combines shooting game elements (ie. Mass Effect) is able to sell very well.
So I think the question was a valid one and it would be nice to see if Sony recognizes these sorts of factors. Unfortunately they sort of side stepped the question.
It seems to me that by April 2010, Sony will be at the position they should have been at the end of 2006 assuming that FF XIII will come out for the Western market by April 2010.
@Alan Rimkeit: The price will be key and will probably make or break the whole motion controller initiative. It probably makes sense to sell the motion controllers with a game for around $50-$60 and another package with the Eye Toy, a game, and the motion controllers for $80-$90. This what I would consider reasonable price as an outsider but who knows how the cost will break down for Sony. We just have to wait and see.
In terms of visual innuendo, it's REALLY difficult to outdo the Wii dual-control scheme. I wouldn't be worried about that so long as they don't attempt another Sixaxis.
But incidently, this whole motion control issue reminds me of the initial claim that Nintendo planned to shift the game/development focus, and I would say they're succeeded yet again. The current motion control strategy of additional peripherals is essentially similar to how Nintendo is handling the Wii-board and similar other peripherals.
Back on topic though, I do hope they'll really consider refining that control design, if they are really creating something like that image. Part of the success of the Wii remote design is that it can be handled in forum wand and bar positions, and that you know where "up" is. A round design with a balled end doesn't really seem to work right in that respect.