Andrew House(PS4 Boss) On Xbox One Policies, Poking Fun at Microsoft, Opinion on Indie Support, & Launch Date

[EChondo]

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/gamesblog/2013/aug/21/playstation4-gamescom-andrew-house-interview

 

 
We have all known that Sony has been taking small(and big) jabs at Microsoft because of their Xbox One policies and stances in the past, but in this interview Mr. Andrew House explains why he takes these jabs and why he was surprised at the initial policies of the Xbox One.

In the recent Gamescom conference for PS4, Mr. House said during the conference;
 

"While others have shifted their message and changed their story," said House during the press event, "we were consistent in maintaining a message that is fair and in tune with consumer desires."

Mr. Keith Stuart(interviewer of Mr. House) asked him to elaborate on this matter.
 

"Yeah, I did reference it last night, I did open the door to the question," he admits. And it all goes back to that initial Xbox One proposition, unveiled at the Microsoft campus back in May – that the console would be a digital-media machine, that everything was shifting, that game discs were all but obsolete. The whole thing has been warped and misrepresented since, but the message coming from Redmond was that gamers would have to get used to a new way of purchasing and playing games. We tend to stay away from over analysing what the competition is up to," continues House. "But I'll characterise it this way: I was surprised … we constructed our E3 presentation because there was somehow a suspicion that the policies and approaches taken by our competition would create an industry trend in that direction. The reason we made such a strong statement at E3, and continue to do so, is because we were surprised by that.

Mr. House was surprised that Microsoft was heading in that direction for their future Xbox console and since many people did not know whether or not the PS4 would be heading in the same direction, so they decided to clarify their stance on this matter and continue to do so.
 

"We thought perhaps slightly naively that the current model worked quite well and was consumer friendly – and our goal was to be consistent on that. But given the speculation that was happening there, it apparently became necessary for us to make a statement and say what our intent was."

And from there on, we have known that Sony will be supporting used games. Mr. House goes on to say that they have a plan and a path that they want the PS4 to travel along.
 

"As I said in my presentation last night, we have some very clear and defined goals about what we want this next generation of gaming to be, and what a new platform should deliver; we feel right now that we're on track to deliver that.

Mr. House has no plans to deviate from their set policies and he goes on to explain his stance for supporting Indie developers on the PS4.
 

"Our goal is to be the platform that embraces both ends of the spectrum; our role should be to offer a creative palette that's equally as engaging to a team of seven people who are just emerging with their first console game as it is to a team of many hundreds backed by a large publisher, working on the latest instalment of a high-end blockbuster. The consumer wants both.

"The parallel you see is also in TV content: there were theories that the emergence of YouTube would ring the death knell for quality content – but now we have House of Cards and Game of Thrones. Consumers still want these engaging, long-form experiences. The same is true of games."

 

Mr. House sees Indie developers just as if they were AAA studios with publisher support. They can make amazing games just like those AAA studios. Mr. House ends with his view on the PS4 release date and how great competition can be.
 

"At the risk of sounding over-optimistic, I think there is a huge benefit for the industry overall in having two platforms launch very close together," he says. "It creates a large focus on our form of entertainment that wouldn't exist unless there were these two powerful organisations, both playing in the same space.

"I think it's already happening in that there's so much strong interest, so much excitement and demand – I mean, over a million pre-orders for PS4 at this stage before launch I think says something very powerful. Competition is a good thing for this industry, offering choice is a good thing. These are all positives."

 

And that's a wrap folks. I thought I'd try something new to spice up the News Section.

The interviewer of this article is Keith Stuart. The interviewee is Andrew House(President and Group CEO of SOE).

[Wesley]

I don't play on consoles at all but i can't below how well Sony is doing i mean E3 amazed me and even had me laughing in my chair i swear i should of had popcorn.  Gamescom was great minus the camera work which everyone is obvious.  Did you see the Gamescom coverage of the Xbox presser i mean they had papers in there hands at the start like they didn't know what they where presenting then one of there videos a Dev said that they wish Microsoft was more like Sony lol i thought that was hilarious lol.

[LonliestofAll]

I think the way that Sony did these jabs were a bit too uncompetitive. They started out first with the 2 Minute video on how to trade games and give games to friends, I want to ask why do you need to make this video, first of all they wasted resources, second of all it was a bit overboard. If I were to say that you can trade games without any DRM issues. The next thing they did was secretly reveal their own DRM policies, which they had gone at Microsoft for. Honestly I think Sony has been too uncompetitive against Microsoft.

 

Just as a note I will not be buying the PS4, until it is 2 or 3 years in after I get a Xbox One. I made this choice by looking at the games and services, and nothing else.

[SteepGnomeKing]

I think the way that Sony did these jabs were a bit too uncompetitive. They started out first with the 2 Minute video on how to trade games and give games to friends, I want to ask why do you need to make this video, first of all they wasted resources, second of all it was a bit overboard. If I were to say that you can trade games without any DRM issues. The next thing they did was secretly reveal their own DRM policies, which they had gone at Microsoft for. Honestly I think Sony has been too uncompetitive against Microsoft.

 

Just as a note I will not be buying the PS4, until it is 2 or 3 years in after I get a Xbox One. I made this choice by looking at the games and services, and nothing else.

 

That video 100% was a jab at Microsoft. A waste of resources? Maybe but funny non the less and got a lot of traction and press and help solidify the point about used games and trading policies on the XB1.

 

I do feel that the negativity toward the XB1 is a little strong and that is unfortunately also enforced by gaming press. The PS3 reveal at E3 while I enjoyed it was a sad display of professionalism from the crowd at policies the PS3 had. The cheering and chanting was quite un-needed and shows a great amount of disrespect even if you are not in favor of a certain feature.

[EChondo]

I think the way that Sony did these jabs were a bit too uncompetitive. They started out first with the 2 Minute video on how to trade games and give games to friends, I want to ask why do you need to make this video, first of all they wasted resources, second of all it was a bit overboard. If I were to say that you can trade games without any DRM issues. The next thing they did was secretly reveal their own DRM policies, which they had gone at Microsoft for. Honestly I think Sony has been too uncompetitive against Microsoft.

 

Just as a note I will not be buying the PS4, until it is 2 or 3 years in after I get a Xbox One. I made this choice by looking at the games and services, and nothing else.

The trading games jab wasn't really a waste of resources, two guys are in a room handing a game case over to the other, cut, render, upload to YouTube. Maybe 30 minutes tops.

 

I've been a Xbox gamer since 2001. Been playing Doom 3 and Halo: CE since I was very small and I grew up with that console. Now 10+ years later, I just don't see the benefit of Xbox Live Gold anymore and the exclusive games on Xbox feel very bland(and I'm a big Halo and Gears of War nut). I'm personally not getting either console until two years from now(unless there are really not that many games). I have a PS3 but rarely use it more than just a Blu-Ray player, so I have a lot of catching up to do for games.

 

Uncompetitive, not so much. Childish, more than likely.

[LonliestofAll]

I agree that the Xbox One made some bad choices, but it seemed way to overboard with the jabs and negative press.

[Vitalius]

I enjoyed this. 

I am glad they know what they want and how they want to do it.

The interesting thing is that Microsoft is the exact same way. However, That way is very negative to consumers, so the choice, imo, is obvious. Pick the one that is on my side. 

[gill2k]

All these jabs at Microsoft is fair.  If it forces the opposition to up their game, consumers/gamers win in the end.

 

I haven't seen this kind of aggressiveness from a console company since the SNES and Genesis days when Nintendo & SEGA would constantly bash each other.