8:31PM Kaz: “most people will want the PS3 experience on-the-go.” Also, Kaz clearly has a Tablet P on his person. Perhaps we’ll get into that next!
8:30PM Walt: “Some serious gamers will adore physical controls, but zillions of people are playing games on touchscreen devices. You expect those people to turn around and buy one of these? Who is the audience?
8:29PM Kaz: “We still need physical media. We’re in business in so many countries, and in some nations, making it all available through the internet is too big a challenge. It’ll cost $299 for the 3G model in the US, and $249 for the WiFi model.”
8:28PM Walt: “Does it use physical media?” Sigh — we’re just repeating stuff at this point.
8:27PM Kaz just busted out the PlayStation Vita — nothing we haven’t seen here before, but here’s hoping for more deets. Ships in December in Japan, “early next year” elsewhere.
8:26PM Kaz: “That’s why we started PlayStation Suite, to bring original PS games to these platforms. PS Suite runs on Android smartphones, and some phones will be PlayStation-certified,” to ensure that we’re part of that growth segment.”
8:25PM Walt: “But, does Sony make games for these platforms? Do you benefit?”
8:25PM Kaz, talking about those challenges: “Whether we’re talking about iPods, iPads or Android smartphones, they’ve had an impact on traditional videogames. No question about it. Some of it’s positive — a lot of people who may buy one of those devices, they decide to get into gaming because they end up with one of these devices. The gaming industry as a whole gains customers this way.”
8:24PM Walt: “We’ve seen an explosion of handheld gaming on non-typical gaming devices, like smartphones.” He’s talking up the iPhone and iPod touch specifically, which have clearly had a mondo impact at the gaming side. Kaz looks like he’s never seen, or heard of, an iPod. Curious.
8:23PM Kaz: “We talk about ten-year life cycles, and we still have the PS2 as an active PS2. When you eventually look back at the PS3 — which I expect to last ten years — I think it’ll have a higher install-base than any of the current systems.”
8:22PM Kaz: “We have a much larger install base [compared to Xbox] in Japan, and I think that’s also true now in Europe. The fact that we packed so much into the PS3 at the start — which was a disadvantage up front due to the high price — has helped in the long run. I don’t have the numbers in my head right now regarding the US.”
8:21PM Walt: “Where do things stand between you and Xbox, and that competition?”
8:21PM Kaz: “I think a lot of companies are going to try to get into this space. How we did it, apart from TV, was PlayStation. With the PS3, we provide so much more than gaming content. We have an integral place in the living room.”
8:20PM Walt: “Sounds like you expect Apple and some of these guys to enter!”
8:20PM Kaz: “We have our own record label, our own studio. There are other ways of leveraging the assets that we have. Additional outtakes that may be exclusive to Sony services… but no, we’re not going to shut out other companies from having access to Sony Pictures and Sony Music.”
8:19PM Kaz: “Everyone is embarking on their own strategy so that they own their own space in the living room. It’s a very competitive market. I have to worry about the content that *we* can bring. How easy is the UI? How great is the experience? Content deals are content deals, but by and large, you’ll do the same deals with the same kinds of providers.”
8:18PM Walt: “How much do you worry about that?”
8:18PM Walt’s suggesting that these unorthodox TV players may come in and steal thunder with their ecosystem and software sauciness.
8:17PM Walt’s suggesting that Apple just *has* to be mulling some sort of major TV entry. Mocks the whole “hobby” thing regarding the Apple TV. Kaz is smiling brightly.
8:16PM Walt: “How concerned are you about Google and Apple in the area of smart TVs?”
8:16PM Kaz: “If a consumer picks up a VAIO or PS3… the first an second thing you do is plug it into a TV, and then into the internet. In the case of TVs, the consumer is still trained to hook it up to the old-fashioned cable (coax). We need to ensure we have compelling content on our own services to connect their television to the internet.”
8:15PM Walt: “TV now becomes more like a computing device, and suddenly you’re in a world that’s more similar to PlayStation than a traditional TV set.”
8:15PM Kaz: “There’s a chicken-and-egg problem as well with Smart TV apps. You need a lot of horsepower in televisions to run ‘em smoothly, and that obviously impacts the cost of those sets. You need more expensive components. Do you have the content for people willing to pay the premium? You have to take a leap.”
8:13PM Kaz: “We think gaming will drive major adoption… initially.”
8:13PM Kaz: “One of the drivers of 3D will be videogames. It appeals to a younger demographic — game content isn’t based on live footage, so it’s super easy to tweak content to make it not feel unnatural. Gamers are willing to try new things, so they will be a driver.”
8:12PM Kaz: “Well, the jury’s still out there. It depends on how much content is out there. The easiest way is through broadcast, and that’s another challenge. Getting people to deliver the content.”
8:11PM Walt: “Let’s talk about TVs. I get the impression that it’s a tough moment in the television business. We already had the surge of folk buying into HD, and 3D didn’t really work…”
8:11PM Kaz: “If we sell it to a consumer, and it’s got the Sony name on it, it’s under my responsibility. CyberShots, the network service, PlayStation, VAIOs…”
8:10PM Kaz it out! Looking sharp, we might add. Walt’s asking him what his actual title is these days.
We’re back! AsiaD ‘s concluding today, but we’ve got a couple of big hitters left on the schedule. Kicking things off this morning — yeah, it’s morning, we’re within the future — is Sony’s Executive Deputy President, Kazuo Hirai, and we’re guessing he’ll be shooting it straight in regards to the PS Vita, those nasty “outages” and whatever else he seems like keeping us abreast on. Join us after the break for the blow-by-blow!
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