PlayStation Europe CEO Talks Used Games, Lessons from PS3 Launch

Metro had a good interview with the CEO of PlayStation Europe, Jim Ryan, after the PlayStation 4 conference at the Electronics Entertainment Expo last week. The discussion tackles how well the conference went when they hit home on two controversial topics surrounding the Xbox One, reliving the prelaunch of PlayStation 3, and how to avoid mistakes that created the PS3 to be a "niche" console before steadily improving in its lifecycle.

In the transcript, Ryan admits that part of the focus in the conference was to reiterate that Sony's new console wouldn't have restrictions on used games and online access like the Xbox One demands, and likes the results.

"...If you take the two points that got everyone so excited when Jack [Tretton] was on stage – the used game policy and the need not to be always connected – those are things that we decided upon well before the furore of the last couple of weeks. Those are matters of policy that we determined were appropriate for our platform."

Ryan is pressed on the used games situation later, and gives us his take on his business model with the publishers.

"...There is a certain common knowledge that there is unhappiness within the publishing community over the fact that they do not participate in the second-hand business. However, if you offer any publisher a choice between an installed base of X – where X is a very large number – with the status quo on the second-hand disc-based model or 50 per cent of X and some sort of putative cut of the second-hand business I can predict with 100 per cent certainty what they would take."

Later on, Ryan looks back at the PS3 and definitely believes improvement has been made after they took command in the gaming universe from the success of PlayStation 2.

"...We have certainly learnt our lessons from the PS3. And there are a number things that occurred that time round that we do not intend to happen again. And I think some of the things that we’ve done in February and then again yesterday indicate that we have learnt those lessons.
"...You know with hindsight we were at the top in those days and probably had we not been there we may have done some things a little differently at the start of the life of the PS3."

Will the PS4 suffer a lack of game titles in the first year of release after the launch window? Ryan gives us numbers that indicate the complete opposite.

"...The statistic was quoted yesterday, I think it was 140 games in the first year. And the majority of those will come in the back end of 2014."

How about those that are still going to hold on to their PS3? Ryan believes the same support will happen on the PS3 as it was on the PS2.

"The PS2 we kept going for 13 years, we’re only seven in for PS3 so with an installed base of 70 million you’d be a fool not to want to publish to that still."

[Source: Metro]
[Image credit: Flickr/Cian Ginty]

A Close Look and Reactions to DualShock 4 at E3

One of the benefits of being at the Electronics Entertainment Expo this year is literally getting a hands-on preview of the PlayStation 4 console that's coming out later this year. Everyone's intrigued about some of the new design choices on the DualShock 4, and more importantly, how does it actually feel?

At first glance, a huge touchscreen in the middle of the controller is the obvious difference, and the grips on both sides seem a little more spread apart and longer than the DualShock 3.

Looking further at the device, there's plenty of improvement from its predecessor. The directional pad and buttons are now in a concave, providing a better feel going around the d-pad and selecting the four buttons. Both L2 and R2 triggers have more of a springing action that could make shooters like Call of Duty flip the top trigger-button layout.

Both analog sticks seem to be a little closer providing a split-second faster response to the other buttons. The touchscreen also can click into the controller, and a "share" and "option" button on the sides of the touchscreen replace the traditional "start" and "select" buttons.

Unfortunately I won't be able to get a feel for one until a kiosk opens up in a local store, but here is plenty of reaction from other journalists that made the trip to Los Angeles. It's generally favorable, with some gripes about the newly-designed thumbsticks.

Kotaku (video impressions):



Engadget: "...the DualShock 4 felt great. It's light, responsive, and comfortable -- the new thumbsticks with convex tops cradle your thumbs, and the triggers easily hold your pointer fingers. As for the face buttons, things are nigh identical with previous DualShock iterations. The standard ex / triangle / circle / square combo remains, and looks just about the same as on the DualShock 3. Though the touchpad didn't have any in-game effect in DriveClub, the pad is easily clickable and not too far from your thumbs to quickly jump from face buttons to it."

VG 24/7: "The shoulder buttons have been reshaped, and they’re made from hard plastic. The triggers are significantly better than DS3’s. My biggest gripe with the current pad is the lack of lip on the triggers: my fingers always feel as though they’re about to slip off, especially in driving games where you’re constantly using the 'gas,' as they say in America. This has been changed with DS4, so the trigger feels like a trigger. It has a hooked lip. It’s much better.

"I’m not convinced by the rims on the analog sticks. The current versions are rounded with a bubbled grip, but the new sticks have a ringed indentation which I found irritating after only a few games of Driveclub. It just felt 'there'. You’ll get used to it over time, I guess."

Dvice: "The DualShock 4 controller is a complete redesign from the DualShock 3. The controller is less cramped and more comfortable to hold thanks to rounder grips and analogs that sit wider apart. The new convex edges on the analogs did a good job keeping my thumbs in place, but I still think the Xbox One's micro-texturized grip edges on the thumb sticks feel more superior. ...Overall, the DualShock 4 is a huge improvement, and with a built-in mono speaker and headset socket, Sony's finally caught up to both the Wii Remote and the Xbox 360 gamepad."

[Image credit: Flickr/faseextra]