Sony Europe President Andrew House Says Something Uncharacteristically Stupid

[darth los]

http://g4tv.com/thefeed/blog/post/69...ly-Stupid.html It's not even fun beating sony up anymore. There's no honor in kicking something that's already down..... But it sure is fun. Are these guys serious!?! Only Sony could have a stranglehold on the videogameindustry and have it all go to shit a mere 3 years later. These guys are like a running joke. Sort of like the Bush administratipn. (no that never gets old)

[Trencher]

Link does not work. What did he say?

[capncnut]

Works for me. Here you go: I'm convinced that working for Sony Computer Entertainment Europe lowers your intellect. That would explain all the dumb things ex-SCEE president David Reeves said over the last few years. It also explain a recent quote from current president Andrew House. I know for a fact that House is a smart, astute, and sharp executive -- one of the best in gaming. Yet in a recent interview with Edge, he said: "If you look back at previous lifecycles, like PS2 versus N64, we have lots of data that suggests that lots of people bought into N64 as their entry level gaming device, and were happy to upgrade to a more powerful machine later in the lifecycle when the price point was right for them." I don't recall this vicious war between the PlayStation 2 (2000 release) and the Nintendo 64 (1996 release). Last time I checked, the N64 competed with the original PlayStation and the PS2 competed with the GameCube. No wonder Sony is in third place -- it can't even remember which systems it previously competed with. If you can't remember history correctly then you can't learn from it. (Btw, I'm kidding.) Seriously though, I'm sure it was just a simple slip-up and I'm willing to give House the benefit of the doubt, simply because he's proven to be a superior executive. He has done outstanding work for SCEI and SCEA before being promoted to Sony Corporation (reporting directly to Sir Howard Stringer!). Though part of me is a little worried about him.... Will he continue to spout David Reeves-like nonsense? Is there something in the water supply at SCEE that's making people dumber? That must be it! Someone buy Andy a Brita or Pur pitcher before the water at SCEE rots his brain! TheFeed's Brian Leahy suggested that I might be interpreting the quote incorrectly. His logic is that the release dates were PSone (1995), Nintendo 64 (1996), PlayStation 2 (2000), and GameCube (2001). Since the GameCube started a bit late, the N64 and PS2 had a brief period of direct competition, with the former being much cheaper than the latter. I'm not buying that argument. I don't think anyone feels that there was a "PS2 versus N64" period, like House said. Think I'm wrong? Do you agree with Leahy? Choose a side and leave a comment!

[Skippy911sc]

Every Empire eventually falls...Nintendo had it all...then nothing (don't even say the Wii is out there in a real competitive way), then Sony...now Microsoft...and they too will fail...circle of life. Perhaps the next company to release the next greatest system will be the new leader...

[CoinReturn]

Every Empire eventually falls...Nintendo had it all...then nothing (don't even say the Wii is out there in a real competitive way) The Wii has consistently outsold both PS3 and 360 since it's release, some months selling more than both combined. Nintendo is raking in millions while Sony and Microsoft are struggling to make a profit. It's a shame, since all the good software is on the HD systems.

[bassman]

The Wii outsells the next gen systems? I just recently got a wii and only have a few games, but so far it sucks. I'm hoping it will grow on me, but right now it's about on par with the virtual boy. If you remember that short lived system.

[darth los]

The Wii outsells the next gen systems? I just recently got a wii and only have a few games, but so far it sucks. I'm hoping it will grow on me, but right now it's about on par with the virtual boy. If you remember that short lived system. It's not your imagiation Bassman it sucks....And it only outsells next gen systems in people's minds.....which is a great segway into the next post..... The Wii has consistently outsold both PS3 and 360 since it's release, some months selling more than both combined. Nintendo is raking in millions while Sony and Microsoft are struggling to make a profit. It's a shame, since all the good software is on the HD systems. It is an indisputable fact that the wii kicks both the 360's and ps3's asses in terms of sales. But what are we really talking about here? It's apples and oranges and nintendo has done a masterful job creating the illusion that the wii is a system on par with the other two and thus should be compared to them in any way. I'm sure that plasma t.v's consistently outsell prius' also but it doesn't mean squat because they're not the same things. We're not talking coke vs. pepsi, big macs vs. whoppers, or ipod vs. zune. The wii is a gimmick which appeals to waaaaaaaaaay more people than conventional gaming does. The "casual gamer" a.k.a. people who didn't give a shit about gaming until the wii came along greatly outnumber us hardcore gamers. So wouldn't logic dictate that what they're into would sell more? Every hardcore gamer I know barely even plays with their wii (now if that doesn't sound like a metaphor for masturbation then I don't know what does !) Also, I don't want to come off like I have all the answers because no one does but it just seems logical to me.

[Trencher]

I can belive that playstation company's leadership does bad decisions, I remember that horrible ad campain "This is living!"

[EvilNed]

Out of the Big Three, I'd have to say I enjoyed the Wii the most. Well, It was easy to adapt too, and of all the games I've played on all three platforms, they were always the most fun to play on the Wii. But XBox360 is still the best gaming machine because it has the best games. And that's what it boils down too. Personal taste.

[Yojimbo]

I'm sure that plasma t.v's consistently outsell prius' also but it doesn't mean squat because they're not the same things. Liked the above quote of Darths in particular! Harley Davidsions vs. Daschund puppies - well they both move about and look cool while doing it, but I say the puppies win hands down, so that makes them better than the Harleys! Sony doesn't seem to know what the hell is going on nowdays. I remember a time when the Walkman was considered a must have from the leader of technology in the field. To this day, Sony has no device to compete with the ipod.

[EvilNed]

Creative makes the best MP3 players tho. iPods are average, at best. It's just that Mac throws a shitload of funds into marketing, and voilá, the masses fall for it.

[DeadJonas190]

It's not your imagiation Bassman it sucks....And it only outsells next gen systems in people's minds.....which is a great segway into the next post..... It is an indisputable fact that the wii kicks both the 360's and ps3's asses in terms of sales. But what are we really talking about here? It's apples and oranges and nintendo has done a masterful job creating the illusion that the wii is a system on par with the other two and thus should be compared to them in any way. I'm sure that plasma t.v's consistently outsell prius' also but it doesn't mean squat because they're not the same things. We're not talking coke vs. pepsi, big macs vs. whoppers, or ipod vs. zune. The wii is a gimmick which appeals to waaaaaaaaaay more people than conventional gaming does. The "casual gamer" a.k.a. people who didn't give a shit about gaming until the wii came along greatly outnumber us hardcore gamers. So wouldn't logic dictate that what they're into would sell more? Every hardcore gamer I know barely even plays with their wii (now if that doesn't sound like a metaphor for masturbation then I don't know what does !) A Wii is a gaming system, so you really can't compare a car and a TV and say it is like the Wii compared the the other systems. The is very illogical. I will admit, I rarely play my Nintendo Wii, but at the same time it is far from a gimmick. Nintendo didn't build the system to appeal to hardcore gamers, which is a much smaller group than the casual gamers they build the system from. The reality of the situation is that by doing so Nintendo has outsold the other systems for nearly 3 years now and is destroying the competition, that is not only in peoples minds, it is a fact which the monthly numbers prove time and time again. Does that mean the Wii is the best system out? Hell no, the Xbox 360 has a superior game selection than any of the other game systems. From a business standpoint, Nintendo is pure genius for what they did, they saw how casual games were outselling the others and took advantage of the situation successfully. If you look at the best games on the Wii they are mostly first party games and that is where the problem lies. All these other companies like EA have been pushing the casual games on the Wii and ignoring hardcore gamers because casual games turn a bigger profit, they cost less to make and sell to a larger audience. In no way am I saying this is you, but I have found that a lot of people who don't like the Wii have never tried to even play it because you have to move to play some of the games, it seems that they are intimidated to get off their couch and do something. Over the past year I have come to accept that Nintendo, the company I grew up loving, no longer cares to make games for me, but they picked my grandma instead. However, if you look at the Nintendo DS, it still has a lot of great games from action games to RPG's and it outsells the PS3 and 360 quite often even though it is only a handheld system. I think the DS is the only Nintendo system that is still making games for gamers and not just casual gamers.