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Phil Harrison Answers Your Questions                                                

                        Posted by                Zonk        on Friday April 20, @02:43PM
        from the ulp-tough-room dept.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  
                                       
Right around this time last month, we asked for your questionsto pass on to President of Sony Computer Entertainment WorldwideStudios Phil Harrison. With the launch of the PlayStation 3 console inEurope, Mr. Harrison has had kind of a full month. He still found usthe time to answer your questions, and today we have them to read.Below are his very thorough responses to the questions you posed,ranging in subject from the European delay to the public perception ofSCEA. Make sure to give them a look, and many thanks again to Mr.Harrison for his time.
                                
                1.) 'Ask 1996-Phil' by The-Bus
According to your Wikipedia bio, you joined SCEA in 1996. If you couldgo back in time and give professional advice to your 1996 self, whatwould you say? If you were to give professional advice to peopleinterested in entering the industry today, what would it be?

Phil Harrison: Wikipedia is great, but as you probably know, mybio was not written by me, so I'd not trust it completely...I actuallyjoined Sony's game division in 1992 just before SCE was formed. Ijoined the nascent Computer Entertainment Project to help bringPlayStation to the European developer community, while simultaneouslykick-starting our in-house development team in London. I moved to theUS in 1996. To answer your time travel question, the professionaladvice I'd give myself is to "think bigger". When we launchedPlayStation we really had no idea we'd be talking about an industrythat would more than triple in size and reach a 3rd of US homes soquickly. If I'd had the chance to revisit my 1996 self I would haveencouraged him to be more ambitious, bigger scale, more aggressive inchanging the way games were made and also to have invested more heavilyin creating online experiences - however experimental, howeverunsuccessful.

As for professional advice to how to get into the industry, the way Icame in to the business was a rocky road which, frankly, has got evenharder since I made it my full-time career in 1987. Theentrepreneurial, freelancer approach is very difficult without aportfolio of work or very good contacts. My advice to anyone thinkingabout joining this industry is first and foremost get as much formaleducation as you possibly can. If you are interested in a programmingor technical career, a degree in a computer science-related area isvital, as is a very high level of mathematics. Specialize as late asyou can in your educational path. For an artist or designer, the needfor a degree is less vital if you have a clearly demonstrable talent,but that puts the emphasis on a brilliant, and differentiated,portfolio of work. Even so, I would encourage anyone to get awell-regarded degree-level education as a minimum before evenconsidering applying for a position. Animators and 3D modellers shouldtake advantage of systems at school to start building a portfolio ofwork. Putting up your own website is a great way of pointing potentialemployers at your work - even if it's a selection of 10 second clips ora gallery of rendered stills. But please make them different andunusual. Finally, when you come to an interview make sure you areprepared! Research the company you are applying to, play their games,be prepared to comment on industry trends and issues and know as muchas you can about the area you are interested in working in. Go to GDCif you possibly can, make friends through the various onlinecommunities and societies dedicated to game developers and startbuilding up an industry "buddy list". It will come in very useful.

Both really great questions, by the way.

2.) 'Philosophy of gaming...' by 7Prime
What is your personal philosophy regarding the future of videogames asa genre? For example, where do you see games, in terms of social andcultural identification, 20 years from now, and how do you think thenature of the PS3 plays into the culmination of this overall vision?

Phil Harrison: Another very good question - and hard to answerproperly in the space available. My personal philosophy is to make theentertainment experience of videogames available to everyone. I want tosee the audience of people who play videogames, of any type, on anydevice, include practically anyone on the planet. Whether it be animmersive action game that appeals primarily to young adults, or acasual game that is enjoyed by the entire family, I hope thatvideogames and electronic forms of interactive entertainment continueto expand to new audiences, all the time. Linked to that, I want to seevideogames given more credibility as a mainstream form of entertainmentthrough appropriate cultural commentary and criticism. If you read anewspaper in pretty much any country in the world, you will readintelligent discourse on the cultural impact of film, music,literature, theatre, television, radio, art and fashion every day -although it's unusual to read anything about videogames apart fromoccasional reviews. There are, of course, exceptions - and it isthankfully changing, but we've still a long way to go as category or agenre before we can be considered culturally and socially significant.This is changing - and anyone who plays games will see the influencegame graphic design has today on general graphic design in a multitudeof ways - from websites and posters to TV commercials. What I hope isthat 20 years from now the distinctions will be completely overcome andvideogames as a passtime will be given the same cultural and socialcurrency as a book, a film, a TV show or a piece of architecture. Afterall, the popular culture creators of 20 years from now will all,largely, have grown up playing, or at least being intimately aware of,videogames. The writers and commentators on those same popular culturecreators will all have had the same experience playing videogamesgrowing up - at which point the circle is complete. I don't think thereis a culmination to this overall vision - it will be a constantprocess. Each successive platform brings new technology to theexperience of games and helps expand the audience still further. I hopePS3 will be seen 20 years from now as a crucial influence in the growthof our industry.

3.) 'Choices' by mothlos and drinkypoo
Now that you have a few months with PS3s in the hands of consumers andplenty of reviews to pour over, is there anything that you would havedone differently in designing the machine? Given the problems that seemto have come with Blu-Ray, does it still look like including the drivein the system was worth it? And if so, was it worth it for the PS3, forthe Blu-Ray format, or for both?

Phil Harrison: First of all, I would not take credit fordesigning the machine. As Chairman and CEO - and head of thearchitecture lab in SCEI Tokyo, Ken Kutaragi is responsible for thehardware design strategy for SCE. I think that PlayStation 3 is amasterpience of design and technology - it packs a huge amount ofperformance into an amazingly small (and quiet) box. Now it may not yetbe apparent what all that technology is actually for - something thatgives us plenty to focus on for the next few years - the overall designof the machine is very good. The Cell processor is wildly powerful anddevelopers are now beginning to understand what that means for gamedesign. The choice of putting a hard disk drive in every machine wasthe absolute right decision technically, but is a tough choicefinancially. There is no denying we had some start-up challenges withBlu-ray at the beginning but that is the price you pay for leading edgetechnology. Thankfully, those challenges are behind us and I standfirmly by the decision to include BD-ROM as the physical media format.Next generation game design demands the capacity of Blu-ray. Once we'dadopted BD as a game format, there was little incremental cost tosupport BD as a movie format. Given that the majority of BD movies arenow using dual layer (50GB) discs, we're seeing the importance of thehigher BD capacity much earlier in the life of the format compared toDVD. First and foremost, I believe it was the right decision forPlayStation 3 to use BD for games - and the fact that is helpskick-start BD as the next generation movie format is a bonus for all ofus, players and game-makers.

4.) 'Homebrew Gaming' by Anonymous Coward, maynard, and flitty
If someone manages to get homebrew games running on the PS3, will therebe firmware updates to stop this kind of development, to protect yoursoftware developers, or is homebrew something you are planning on andeven encouraging? Is there a chance that the policy of restrictingaccess to PS3 graphics hardware (via the hypervisor) could be revisedto encourage us homebrew developers? How does this strategy differ fromyour strategy with PSP homebrew? Has Sony considered offering kernelpatches and an RSX optimized OpenGL library for PS3/Linux?

Phil Harrison: Now, let me first say that Homebrew is sometimesa misused term and so for the purposes of this answer I will excludepirates and hackers with illegal intentions from the definition.

I fully support the notion of game development at home using powerfultools available to anyone. We were one of the first companies torecognize this in 1996 with Net Yaroze on PS1. It's a vital, crucialaspect of the future growth of our industry and links well to thesubtext of my earlier answers. When I started making games on theCommodore 64 in the 1980's, the way I learned to make games was byre-writing games that appeared in magazines. Really the best bit abouta C64 was when you turned it on it said "Ready?" with a flashing cursor- inviting you to experiment. You'd spend hours typing in the code,line-by-line, and then countless hours debugging it to make it work andthen you'd realise the game was rubbish after all that effort! The nextstep was to re-write aspects of the game to change the graphics, thesound, the control system or the speed of the gameplay until you'dcreated something completely new. I might share this with a few friendsbut not for commercial gain at that time. But the process itself wasinvaluable in helping me learn to program, to design graphics,animations or sounds and was really the way I opened doors to get intothe industry. Now, those industry doors are largely closed by thenature of the video game systems themselves being closed. So, if we canmake certain aspects of PS3 open to the independent game developmentcommunity, we will do our industry a service by providing opportunitiesfor the next generation of creative and technical talent. Now havingsaid all that, we still have to protect the investment and intellectualproperty rights of the industry so we will always seek the best ways tosecure and protect our devices from piracy and unauthorized hackingthat damages the business.

5.) 'Retaining PS3 Exclusives' by Sciros
With a number of previously-PS3-exclusive titles having gonemultiplatform, are there any efforts to prevent this from occurring inthe future, or is it of little concern to SCE?

Phil Harrison: We have the widest selection of meaningfulexclusives on PlayStation 3 - by virtue of our own investments in ourdevelopment studios and strategic support of independent developers andpublishers. I really don't believe gamers mind who makes the game, solong as the games they buy on their system are the best games they canget anywhere - and that their system investment is secure in theknowledge that there are plenty more coming in future. Within SCEWorldwide Studios we have the largest platform-dedicated developmentresource in the industry - with more people, and more teams, dedicatedto making games exclusively for PlayStation 3. So my main "concern" isto make sure those games are absolutely the best they can be.

6.) 'Rumble' by SuperCharlie
How long will we have to wait until we see a first party controller with rumble?

Phil Harrison: As we've only recently resolved our legaldifferences with Immersion, it's a little early to answer this.However, you can play games on PS3 that support devices that haveforce-feedback already, most notably driving games through steeringwheels.7.) '20 GB PS3' by !ramirezWhy is Best Buy discontinuing sales of the 20 GB PS3?

Phil Harrison: I can't comment on any specific retailer'sstocking decisions, but I think that retailers know their customersvery well and make their product selections based on anticipateddemand. In Europe, we've only sold the 60GB version based on retailerdemand and over 800,000 units have already been sold in just over 2weeks.

8.) 'Europe?' by Ant P. and Zonk
Given that the hardware sold in Europe has less robust backwardscompatibility than in the US and Japan, and the high price the consolesells at because of the VAT, do you feel that you've in any wayalienated the European gamer? Can you give us some insight into why theEU launch of the system has been so long delayed?

Phil Harrison: It was an unfortunate and unavoidable problemcaused by the slower-than-anticipated ramp up of the production on theBlue Laser Diode, a key part of the BD drive technology. Although thisis now well behind us, we could not predict the production volume withany degree of certainty to launch globally in all markets at the sametime back in November 2006. However, we have more than recovered fromthis situation with what is objectively a very well-executed launch inEurope with a great selection of games on disc and network. Gamers haveresponded really positively and purchased over 800,000 units alreadymaking it the most successful launch in the history of the video gamesindustry in Europe. I accept that is not entirely satisfactorycompensation for having to wait, but we were able to reward Europeangamers with a free copy of Casino Royale on BD when they registered forthe PlayStation Network.

9.) 'Public Image' by Gothic_Walrus
People on the internet and in the tech media in general have beenraking the PS3 and Sony over the coals, with a noticeable backlashdirected towards Sony's PR department. Debacles like Jack Tretton's'you can't find the PS3 in stores' comment, and 'All You Want ForChristmas is a PSP', has left some gamers with the impression that Sonythinks poorly of them. You in particular have taken a lot of fire asone of the main figures connected to the PlayStation 3, and theconsensus seems to be that Sony has a lot of work to do to win over thegaming public. I'd like to ask you, then, how is Sony going to go aboutchanging this mindset? Are there any plans for this you'd be able toshare with us?

Phil Harrison: I really don't know how to answer that questionentirely to your satisfaction, but allow me to try: I don't deny thatwe've made some mistakes and have been rightly flamed for some of them.We learn, we cringe slightly at the memory of some of them from time totime but we move on. And hopefully we're not stupid enough to repeatthem! But I also have to point out that millions of people around theworld have bought PS3s and are loving the experience - and frankly theybecome our advocates and evangelists far more effectively than I couldever be. If we continue to deliver great software, services andexperiences to our gamers they'll become even more comfortable inrecommending PS3 to their friends and family - that's what builds aloyal fanbase. We absolutely have a lot of work to do but I'm convincedwe have the right strategy - and recent announcements like Home andLittle Big Planet have resonated very positively with our audiencesaround the world, including some commentators who had been previouslycritical of us.

10.) 'Price drop?' by RyanFenton
I understand the strategy of never announcing price drops until they'reimminent, but the PS3 is not even on many people's radar at the moment,because of the staggering price. Sony's CEO Howard Stringer has evenstated that the price might be too high. Are you even considering pricedrops on the PS3 hardware?

Phil Harrison: Probably no surprise to hear that we've no plansto drop the price but it's also no surprise to anyone reading this thatcore to our business plan is growing the installed base of hardware.But price is only one part of the motivation to purchase a system. Weneed to maintain the high desire for the product through greatsoftware, services and support combined with great awareness. I want tomake sure we're focused on the best possible gamer and user experienceand that will bring PS3 onto more people's radar - to use yourexpression - much more effectively than simply dropping the price.

Phil Harrison
SCE Worldwide Studios

虽然看得懂...好累....