Sony says PlayStation 3 sales better than expected [Reuters]

The first percentage of note is the 99% year-to-date hardware sales growth of the PS3. SCEA also wows us with a 206% figure, which one can apply to year-to-date software sales on that platform. Stop! We're already getting dizzy!

We'll just let the soothing words and overhyphenating of CEO Jack Tretton finish the post off. He says "Our year-to-date sales growth of 99% for the PS3 reaffirms that consumers are indeed embracing PS3 as their entertainment hub-of-choice with its feature-rich offerings like Blu-ray and our recently announced video delivery service." Full percentage peppered gloat after the jump.

PlayStation by the Numbers - July 2008

PS3 Continues to Experience Strong Momentum; PS3 Demonstrates Hardware Sales Growth of 99 Percent Year-to-Date; PS3 Software Sales Growth Exceeds 206 Percent Year-to-Date

Total PlayStation Hardware Unit Sales Top 602,176

PLAYSTATION®3 (PS3™) again posted strong sales in July 2008, selling 224,900 hardware units, driven by the continued popularity of the Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots PS3 bundle. From January to July 2008, more than 1.8 million PS3s have been sold in the U.S., representing a year-to-date hardware sales growth of 99%.

* Fueled by the introduction of 10 new first and third-party titles to the PS3 Greatest Hits program — including blockbusters such as MotorStorm, Warhawk, Resistance: Fall of Man and others — PS3 software sales showed growth of 206% year-to-date.
* SCEA will introduce an unmatched software line-up this holiday season and fiscal year with more than 140 first and third-party titles on Blu-ray disc for PS3, including SOCOM: US Navy SEALs Confrontation, Resistance 2, Motorstorm: Pacific Rift, NBA ‘09: The Inside, and the award-winning LittleBigPlanet.
* The popularity of PLAYSTATION®Network continued to grow in July with the new PLAYSTATION Network video delivery service on PLAYSTATION®Store, the release of the Qore's Episode 03 and the launch of highly-anticipated games such as PixelJunk Eden and Siren: Blood Curse. As of June 2008, there are more than 10 million registered PLAYSTATION Network accounts worldwide and approximately 200 million pieces of content downloaded worldwide.

PSP experienced solid sales in July with 221,651 PSP hardware units sold, spurred by continued sales of the God of War: Chains of Olympus PSP® (PlayStation®Portable) bundle. This represents a year-to-date growth of 16%.

PlayStation®2 (PS2) also had a solid month in July, selling 155,510 hardware units. More than 42.5 million PS2s have been sold in the U.S. as of July 2008.

Power of the PlayStation Portfolio

The PlayStation brand continued to generate impressive sales across all three platforms, earning $388.6 million in July.
· Year to date (Jan-July), the PlayStation brand generated almost $3.3 billion in revenue, representing an increase of more than 22% year-to-date.
· PlayStation total hardware revenue was $608.7 million in July, representing a year-to-date growth of 23%.
· PlayStation total software revenue in July was $183.6 million, representing a year-to-date growth of over 28%.

CEO Perspective

"Our year-to-date sales growth of 99% for the PS3 reaffirms that consumers are indeed embracing PS3 as their entertainment hub-of-choice with its feature-rich offerings like Blu-ray and our recently announced video delivery service. With an unmatched software line-up that includes LittleBigPlanet, SOCOM: Confrontation, Resistance 2 and MotorStorm: Pacific Rift, and the anticipated launch of our new 80GB PS3 model, we're confident in a strong second half of the year and look forward to quickly addressing any inventory shortages due to the transition.

- Jack Tretton, president and CEO, Sony Computer Entertainment America

Specifically, he talked about the promise that Sony's regions would be a bit more antonymous under Hirai.

"There is no question that Kutaragi-san ruled with an iron fist, but it was his vision," Tretton said. "In terms of how we went to market in region, that was anonymous."

But Tretton said that Hirai has a better understanding of the company's day-to-day operations and the challenges they face both in Japan and abroad.

"He's been in the regions. He's been in the trenches. He's been outside the towers in Tokyo," Tretton said. "I think there is a better understanding."

Tretton also touched on how SCEA and other regions had to struggle a bit with the perception of PS3 as a super computer created by Kutaragi and the reality that the console had to be a gaming platform first to sell.

"Kutaragi-san built the PS3 as a super computer for the home," he said. "We thought there was a risk of losing the game identity of the Playstaiton 3, so we tried to distance ourselves from that and we understand that credibility would be built with games."

See our other Tretton stories from E3:
Tretton Says No 360 Final Fantasy XIII Coming to Japan
Tretton Explains the Long Road to Home
Tretton: Sony Considering PSP with Harddrive

Sony was working their way through a dry run of the upcoming Playstation press conference when someone noticed that what they were saying and doing was showing up on an unnamed site.

"Everything we were saying was getting posted within 15 minutes on the Internet," Tretton said.

So Sony called in security to do a search of the place.

"They found some guy on the third floor balcony laying down taking notes and calling it in to a service," he said.

Sony declined to name the person or the site they are affiliated with. We've contacted the ESA to see if anyone had their E3 press credentials revoked but had not heard back from the organization as of press time.

"I think we definitely thought about it," he said. "I think that's the trend moving forward."

With the recently announced ability to purchase movies on a Playstation 3 and move them over to a Playstation Portable, and as the cost of memory continues to drop, the chance that a new Playstation Portable would include some sort of internal storage option is becoming increasingly likely, Tretton said.

New of the push toward digitally distributed movies through the Playstation Store is also like to impact UMD's already flagging movie sales, he added.

"I think the UMD has struggled," he said. "And that's an understatement. That's been a very frustrating thing. I don't think (UMD movies) were handled very effectively."

He said it seemed that studios said "lets see if we can get people to pay $20 or $30 for crappy movies with less content."

Digital distributed movies, he said, is either going to supplement the UMD movie's struggle or be the "stake in the UMD's heart."

Sony compared much of its performance to itself—well, its former self—as it touts 127% year-over-year sales growth on the PS3 hardware, with software up 410% over the previous April. That looks impressive! In other crazy percentages, Sony notes that 23.6% of PS3 owners bought a copy of Grand Theft Auto IV in April, a "29.0% higher attach rate for the title than Xbox 360." Stop! I'm getting dizzy!

"PS3 momentum is fueled by enthusiasm for Blu-ray as the definitive high def standard and the growing number of consumers gearing up for some of the most anticipated titles of the year, exclusively for PS3, including the June release of Metal Gear Solid 4, and other great exclusives in the second half on the year, such as Resistance 2, SOCOM: Confrontation and LittleBigPlanet to name a few," said SCEA prez Jack Tretton. "With exciting PlayStation Network innovations and our strongest console-driving titles of the year still on the horizon, PS3 remains on pace for a breakthrough year.” Enjoy the full statement after the jump.

PlayStation by the Numbers
April 2008

PS3 Continues Blockbuster Year:

PS3 Hardware Sales Growth Exceeds 127% Year-Over-Year; PS3 Software Sales Up 410% Year-Over-Year

Total PlayStation Hardware Sales Top 505,363 Units

PLAYSTATION®3 (PS3™) continued its benchmark year with 187,071 hardware units sold in April (according to NPD April 2008 sales data). This represents a year-over-year sales growth of over 127%. More than 2 million software units were sold for PS3 in April, representing a year-over-year growth of 410%.

* Spurred by the tremendous legacy of the Grand Theft Auto franchise on PlayStation, over 1 million copies of Grand Theft Auto IV for PS3 were sold in April in North America, with 23.6% of U.S. PS3 owners purchasing a copy of Grand Theft Auto IV, a 29.0% higher attach rate for the title than Xbox 360. Enthusiasm for Grand Theft Auto IV combined with the launches of Haze and SingStar for PS3, is expected to continue to lift PS3 hardware sales through May.
* Grand Theft Auto IV and Gran Turismo 5 Prologue mark the beginning of a monster 2008 software line-up for PS3, including the highly-anticipated exclusive titles Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, SOCOM: US Navy SEALs Confrontation, Resistance 2, and LittleBigPlanet to name a few. These blockbusters promise to further drive PS3 sales through to the holiday season.
* Fueled by the launch of Gran Turismo 5 Prologue on the PLAYSTATION®Network, approximately 6 million pieces of content have been downloaded from the PlayStation®Store in North America since this time last month, with more than 73 million pieces of content downloaded from PLAYSTATION Store in North America to date. There are currently over 3.9 million registered PLAYSTATION Network accounts in North America.
* The recently introduced DUALSHOCK®3 wireless controller for PS3 also proved to be a hot-seller, with sales exceeding $10.9 million in April.

PSP® (PlayStation®Portable) continued to boast strong sales in April with 192,696 PSP hardware units sold, representing a sales increase of 5.4% year-over-year. Fueled by enthusiasm for the exclusive blockbusters God of War: Chains of Olympus and Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII, the top two selling titles the platform of the month, more than 1 million software units were sold for PSP in April.

PlayStation®2 (PS2) also had another strong month in April with hardware unit sales reaching 124,376 units. More than 42 million PS2s have been sold to date in the U.S.

Power of the PlayStation Portfolio

The PlayStation brand continued to generate impressive sales, earning $387 million in April.

· Year to date (Jan-April), the PlayStation brand generated over $1.9 billion in revenue, representing an increase of 17.6% year-over year.

· PlayStation total hardware revenue was $126.2 million in April, representing a year-over-year growth of over 19.4%.

· PlayStation total software revenue in April was $215.1 million, representing a year-over-year growth of 68.6%.

CEO Perspective

“Clearly, the tremendous legacy of Grand Theft Auto on PlayStation, combined with the blockbuster launch of Gran Turismo 5 Prologue packed a one-two punch with consumers at retail this month. The proof is in the numbers and, in April, PlayStation 3 hardware sales experienced a 127% increase over April of last year. PS3 momentum is fueled by enthusiasm for Blu-ray as the definitive high def standard and the growing number of consumers gearing up for some of the most anticipated titles of the year, exclusively for PS3, including the June release of Metal Gear Solid 4, and other great exclusives in the second half on the year, such as Resistance 2, SOCOM: Confrontation and LittleBigPlanet to name a few. With exciting PlayStation Network innovations and our strongest console-driving titles of the year still on the horizon, PS3 remains on pace for a breakthrough year.”

- Jack Tretton, president and CEO, Sony Computer Entertainment America

The emergence of Blu-ray as the de facto high definition standard is one more reason why PS3 is a great value to consumers...The combination of strong sales, Blu-ray dominance and widely-anticipated games all point to 2008 as a breakthrough year for PS3.

The rest of the statement covers not just the PS3, but the PlayStation "brand" which, Sony says, was number one in both hardware and software in January. The company also chose to focus on its upcoming library, with SCEA CEO Jack Tretton commenting "We have an exceptionally diverse lineup of exclusive games, from Gran Turismo 5 Prologue, Metal Gear Solid 4 and Resistance 2 to more mainstream games such as LittleBigPlanet and SingStar." What? No Killzone 2, Jack?

For the full statement, packed with selective data, read on.

PS3 Outsells Xbox 360; PlayStation Brand Outsells Competition Combined

PlayStation Hardware Momentum
PS3 Outsold Xbox 360: PLAYSTATION 3 (PS3 ) demonstrated continued momentum in January 2008 with 269K hardware units sold in January, 17% higher than Microsoft.

o PLAYSTATION Network total downloads exceeded 7.9 million in January 2008, well above the 6.6 million in December 2007. Currently in North America there are more than 2.9 million registered PLAYSTATION Network accounts and more than 52M total downloads life-to-date from PLAYSTATION Store.
o The best is yet to come: The influx of exceptional exclusive and third-party games like Gran Turismo 5 Prologue, Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots and Grand Theft Auto IV, not to mention later releases such as LittleBigPlanet, Resistance 2, SingStar, to name a few, combined with current momentum for Blu-ray, are expected to further enthusiasm for PS3.

PSP (PlayStation Portable) continued its sales ascent in January 2008 with 230K PSP hardware units sold in January; representing an increase of 9% over January 2007. Also, with its new partnership with Skype and great upcoming new games, such as God of War: Chains of Olympus, Patapon and Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII, further sales growth is expected in 2008.

PlayStation 2 (PS2) also had an excellent month in January with hardware unit sales reaching 264K units. Also, the PS2 sold more software units than any other console on the market.

Power of the PlayStation Portfolio
According to NPD January 2008 sales data, the PlayStation brand generated the most U.S. retail dollars in the industry with $486 million, 25% higher than Nintendo and 61% higher than Microsoft.

o The PlayStation brand was #1 in both hardware and software in January.
o The PlayStation brand sold more hardware units than Nintendo and Microsoft combined (764K versus 530K and 230K, respectively).
o PlayStation total hardware revenue was $196 million in January; surpassing the total hardware revenue of Microsoft and Nintendo combined.
o PlayStation total software revenue in January was $224 million, 38% higher than Microsoft.

Industry Outlook
Coming off a great holiday sales season we see strong momentum behind PS3 in 2008, and feel confident about the year ahead. We have an exceptionally diverse lineup of exclusive games, from Gran Turismo 5 Prologue, Metal Gear Solid 4 and Resistance 2 to more mainstream games such as LittleBigPlanet and SingStar. Beyond that, we have Blu-ray emerging as the de facto high def standard, the developer community is hitting their stride, consumers are recognizing the tremendous value and innovative services such as PlayStation Home are all in the works, so this is definitely shaping up to be a breakthrough year for us.

- Jack Tretton, CEO, Sony Computer Entertainment America

I won't spoil number one, but it's certainly the most expensive of the lot. Let loose the finger pointing and HAHA-ing!

TOP 10 BLUNDERS OF 2007 [Next-Gen - thanks, Duane!]

As Takahashi writes, it's a decidedly different attitude, one that's been reflected in Jack Tretton's E3 presser speech and Kaz Hirai's Tokyo Game Show keynote. Both execs approached the opportunity to present a more humble Sony, with Hirai stressing that the company was working to bring down hardware prices and work more closely with third parties.

Is it too late? Many of Sony's PlayStation 3 exclusives have failed to light a fire under consumers and one has to wonder how this holiday's upcoming library contributions will fare in the face of what Microsoft and Nintendo have to offer. We'll soon know if cheap ass PS3s are really all it's going to take.

Dean's Take on NPD numbers for September [The Mercury News]

Instead, the handicapping of the PS3 was part of an effort to "encourage buyers of the entry-level PlayStation 3 to purchase more games designed specifically for the new system." If only there were some other ways of doing that outside of ripping out the PS3's ability to play PS2 games better than an actual PS2 in so many cases.

God, I just can't think of any. Obviously having better PS3 software won't work. Nor would working more closely with third parties to help them ship their PS3 ports of Xbox 360 titles day and date, feature for feature. I'll admit... I'm stumped!

Sony Slashes Price of PlayStation 3 [Wall Street Journal (subscription required)]

One of the big problems of software development given the costs is that companies are slaves to Wall Street and Wall Street wants results. If you have a long-term perspective on development, you have to be thinking two years out. To build a good game, you can't bring it to market in less than two years. If you react to what is going on here and now, you may find yourself with a different marketplace by the time you get there with the code. We have seen it time and time again. Tomb Raider was a revolutionary product on the PlayStation. Everyone tried to do a rip off. By the time they got there, it was too late. When Grand Theft Auto came out, everybody gravitated to Grand Theft Auto. Now the Wii is having success. They are touting casual gaming. Supposedly everybody is going to race over to casual games. The unfortunate thing is the fruits of those labors will show up two years down the road, and if the consumer tastes shift, they will find themselves all dressed up with no place to go.

Of course...we won't mention PSN, the SIXAXIS, or things of that nature.

An interview with Jack Tretton, head of Sony Computer Entertainment America [mercurynews]

However, the most interesting news was a preliminary look at PS3 sales following the pre-E3 pseudo-price drop to $499.

According to the company, sales for the PLAYSTATION 3 were up 135% in the two weeks following the price adjustment of the 60GB model, which went into effect on July 9th. Furthermore, all PlayStation products saw a sales increase during during that period, increasing 161% across the board.

SCEA president Jack Tretton attributed the PS3's improved showing to the new price as well as a "very strong software showing from E3." He added, "This jump in sales bodes very well for us heading into the fall as we launch an impressive arsenal of hardware and software, leading off with the new 80 GB PS3 in August along with the unveiling of highly anticipated games such as Lair and Warhawk. That will be followed by Heavenly Sword in September and six more exclusive first-party PS3 games in October, including Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction."

Yeah, but Jack, when are you guys going to put the GBA in its place? We want timeframes here!

I think the PS3 is the Surf 'n Turf. You want the lobster and steak and you're going to give yourself the treat of getting the best thing on the menu. The PS2 is your favorite burger restaurant — you go there for comfort food and it's just always good and is a good value.

[As for the other two consoles], one [Wii] is a lollipop, and I'm too old for lollipops. The other one [Xbox 360] I get sick from once in a while because the cook isn't always reliable.

You know what, Jack? This is one of those times where you should've deferred to Hideo Kojima's expertise on the subject matter. I realize GamePro unfairly backed you into a corner here, but the dude knows analogy and metaphor on a whole different level. Seriously. Kojima's legendary comparison between the Atari Lynx and a thousand year egg might just blow your Dockers off.

Feature: Sony's Jack Tretton: Wii is a "lollipop", 360 an "unreliable cook" [GamePro]

I had a chance to meet with Jack Tretton and Kaz Hirai during their now annual blogger event. It's kind of a neat idea. Sony gathers together a bunch of bloggers for an open meeting with an assortment of Sony executives.

The first such event, held at GDC, was quite amazing. Not only was there a pretty wide selection of Sony folks on hand, they were just as interested in hearing what we had to say as we were in what they had to say. So it was more like a chat than an interview.

This time around things seemed more like a straight-up interview. I ended up not really asking that much because Sony had been kind enough to set up a one-on-one interview for us with Jack Tretton earlier in the day.

Kaz had some interesting things to say, in particular he said that in his new role with the company he's trying to afford the regional presidents more control or at least say over what's going on in their area.

"One of the things I've tried to start changing is giving more autonomy, decision power to the regional headquarters," he said in the group meeting.

As always, I asked about the PSP download service, my now years long pet-peeve. Kaz said that they are "looking at a variety of ways of brining a video download service and a music service to the PS3 as well as the PSP." He also made a good point about the delay. He said that they couldn't launch a PSP service that didn't also include the PS3 and because of that there have been some hang-ups.

"Given the fact we want to make sure we are integrating the experience, we want to make it a PSP, PS3 experience, we can't look at it in a vacuum. It's is a bit of a hardware transition issue. This is the reality of being in the business of both a console and a portable... the ingredients are all in place."

Hit up Joystiq which was kind enough to transcribe a redacted version of the full interview, or you can check out or exclusive one-on-one interview with Tretton after the jump, broken down into bite-sized videos.

Jack Tretton On:
The future of the UMD
Metal Gear Solid 4 Exclusivity and its future
Sony's Take on Video on Demand
The new PSP
SIXAXIS Rumble
The Future of the Playstation Network
The Death of E3

Man, SCEA president Jack Tretton has a much easier time of it when his interviewer is a cue card. Unfortunately for Mr. Tretton, his interview on CNBC with host Bill Griffeth was a much different affair from the Sony produced explanation of today's price drop announcement. Griffeth takes Jack to task, asking fairly bluntly and with extremely windy "Why?"s just what we're supposed to infer from the price cut. It's probably the most exciting 3 minutes and 43 seconds worth of CNBC you'll watch today.

N'Gai Croal points out that the company also announced that they have a new video download service in the works that will let PS3 owners get movies and TV shows, much like what Xbox 360 owners can do. This new service, I suspect, is part of the download service for the Playstation Portable that Sony has been working on for more than a year. Croal says that he hears that while it will be announced at E3, it won't be unveiled, mostly because SCE Japan is still working on finalizing the guts of the service.

Croal had a phoner with SCEA head honcho Jack Tretton recently, talking about the price cut and how it fits into Sony's console history. Most notable, to all of your PS3 naysayers out there, is that SCEA cut the price of the PS2 eight months after launch, and this round is cutting the price of the PS3 seven months after launch. So it's not that shocking.

Tretton does a good job of explaining why both the PS1 and PS3 received early price drops, while the PS2 didn't"

When we talked about the original PlayStation to consumers, you're talking about a great gaming experience; CD-based technology; and oh, by the way, it also plays audio CDs. Once you digest that, what you see is what you get. In the case of the PlayStation 2, you had backwards compatibility factored in there, and you had DVD playback, which was certainly of great value, but again, a fairly simple message to understand. But when you're talking about Playstation 3, you've got the Blu-Ray movie player, which is obviously a new technology and something that people haven't fully grasped yet, although I think it's making great progress in the last six or seven months since Playstation 3's advent. You've got the hard disk drive built in with every device and the benefits that brings; but that's not something that consumers have ever had in a gaming system before, built in. You've got the implications of what the Blu-Ray drive does for gaming and the 50 of storage capacity. And last, but clearly not least, you've got all the downloadable content implications that the device gives you in terms of music, video, digital pictures.

These are things that I think people are fairly familiar with in a PC, but not necessarily familiar with and appreciative of in a gaming device. Like I said, if you digest all that, that's a tremendous value at $599. But if you look at it as just a gaming machine, it's a very expensive gaming machine.

Tretton goes on to talk abut the split between the 60GB and 80 GB models in terms of supply, 360 hardware problems and the Wii's impact on the PS3.

Sony Computer Entertainment America CEO Jack Tretton Chats With Level Up About the PS3 Price Cut, Its Slow Sales, And the Xbox 360's Hardware Woes [Newsweek]

The larger hard drive fits in well with what Peter Dille and I spoke about at Sony's last Gamer's Day, the way the company has decided to redefine what a game purchased through their online store will be like.

I was just talking to my brother about the fact that for Sony, online games don't have to be small and quick to play, they can be robust, they can be episodic and they can be, if they feel like it, those smaller Xbox Live Arcade titles. That's because of the console's much larger hard drive. Of course my brother said he'd still not like to fill up a 60GB with large games. But maybe he, and those like him, wouldn't feel the same about an 80GB.

I think Sony's Online Gambit could very well be the start of some really great things for the PS3. And I hope to see a lot more interesting PSN titles at E3. Good job Sony, good job.

In an interview with PSM, Tretton revealed that "We have a very different approach to exclusives than some of our competitors. We don't buy exclusivity. We don't fund development. We don't, for lack of a better term, bribe somebody to only do a game on our platform. We earn it." It's like respect, I suppose, but for publishers and hardware manufacturer executives. A rare breed of respect.

Tretton also evaluated the third and first party health of the Big Three, stating that "Microsoft is too dependent on the third-party community, and Nintendo is too [dependent] on first-party. We like to feel that we got a pretty good mix." You know what's a better mix, Jack? Those Planters party peanuts with the pistachios. Man, those are good.

Look for the full interview in the latest issue of PSM.

Thread: SCEA President: "We don't buy exclusivity." [GamesRadar Forums, thanks Tyler]

SCEA president Jack Tretton said the company is "open to changing the SIXAXIS controller." Similarly, Sony Worldwide Studios' Phil Harrison, instead of denying hardware changes to Slashdot readers, simply said "it's a little too early" to date the return of rumble.

Now Inner Bits, who revealed detailed info on SCEE job cuts, say that it's already in the works.

Many have suspected that since the agreement [with Immersion], Sony will have been working on a new controller with rumble support. We can now confirm that this is the case. We've heard from two independent sources at Sony that they have been working on prototypes for several months. Officially, the corporate line is still "no comment". Unofficially, Sony is facing some difficulties with battery life; i.e. Between the rumble and the wireless support, the batteries are draining too fast to be acceptable for consumers.

Bad battery life? Sounds familiar. Hey, Sony, anyone with a Wiimote is familiar with short battery life, so don't let that hold you back. Just pack in a sensibly long USB cable and we'll call it done, okay? Michael McWhertor

PS3 Controller with Rumble in Development [Inner Bits]

Jack makes his point, finally, a promise to the platform, after a quick history on the selling of hundreds of millions of PlayStation products:

We have to bring the games to market that will showcase what the PS3 can do and ultimately entertain you like no other games have. We need to provide proof of what the PS3 can do for you and work tirelessly to improve the value and justify your investment. At the end of the day, it's always been about the games.

He promises a number of PS3 exclusives, including a few surprises still due for E3, plus continued support the PlayStation 2 and PSP. And, look, you can Ctrl + F all you want, there's not a single mention of Cell or Blu-ray. Not even a lick about flying breakfast cars, either. Michael McWhertor

A Quick Look Back, A Strong Push Forward [PlayStation.Blog]

Would they be even having this conversation if we weren't doing it? I don't know. I would guess that the medical community would take help from anywhere they could get it, but the commentary that I heard is that Stanford isn't sure that [the Xbox 360's processing abilities] would help them very much, which is odd to me because if it helped at all, it seems like they would welcome it with open arms.

It's really ugly territory to get into, but let's take fighting a disease and see if we can get some credit for that. It's not a cool game to play one way or the other, so I don't want to even give the impression that that's our motivation, and I'd be very disappointed if they're looking for PR value or to try to suck off some of the goodwill that we're doing.

I'm not really allowed to swear here a lot, but this is the closest the definition of the word "bitching" I've ever heard. It's a charity! The more people get involved, the better, right?! It's not like Greenpeace goes around arguing with the Sierra Club about who should be saving the environment or how. They just do it because it's the right thing to do. Kim Phu

Sony Doesn't like Microsoft Joining Folding@Home for "PR" [Arts Technica]

Last year was about the hardware, the shootings and the gray market. This year, Sony's all about the games. With exclusives like Warhawk and Lair in the pipeline, big PS3 titles are coming. Points out Sony Computer Entertainment of America head Jack Tretton:

The content message will be addressed very nicely this year.

Oh goody! 'Cause I know my PS3 can do more than play Lost DVDs. How do you feel about competing with the cheaper Wii and Xbox 360?

There's no question that that's a challenge. Hopefully content helps to deliver the proof points and the justification behind the cost of the machine

Damn, I hope so Jack, I really hope so. Brian Ashcraft

Jack Talks About Stuff [Reuters]

But not everyone is as happy-go-lucky as the kids over at Sony. My vote for the first "OH SNAP!" quote-of-the-year goes to Kyoshi Shin of Japan's International Game Developer's Association who had this brief statement to say about the PS3:

When people talk about the PS3 on chat forums, they say it's like going to a very expensive restaurant and not getting anything to eat.

Ouch. That is cold. Hopefully Sony will bring a jacket on their 10 year journey, because I don't think "commitment" can keep them warm. Kim Phu

Sony Committed to PS3 for 10 Years and Beyond [Games Industry Biz]

For our one reader unable to purchase a PS3, good news. Sony says shortages will let up by May, and the company is on track to ship 2 million PLAYSTATION 3s to North America by March's end. Says Sony Computer Entertainment America honcho Jack Tretton:

April or May is when we feel like we're going to catch up to demand and have product fully in stock across North America and stay there.

But isn't it already staying there, Jack? There already are unsold consoles sitting on store shelves. Your thoughts?

It's a testament to the fact that we've been able to manufacture and ship units on a greater pace than any previous console.

Okay... So Sony's been able to crank out tons of machines? That's commendable, and if Sony had sold out every PS3, there would be a backlash. But Jack, aren't you interested in moving more of the existing machines?

Our goal is to fill shelves across the United States. Our goal is not to have empty shelves, it's to have full shelves. If we have empty shelves, that's one less consumer who could have bought a PLAYSTATION 3.

Did he actually say this? Out loud? In front of other people? Brian Ashcraft

Sony Out To Resolve "Shortages" [Reuters]

In a recent interview with EGM, SCEA President Jack Tretton claimed he would pay $1200 for any PS3s found on store shelves that had been there longer than five minutes. In classic style, Penny Arcade's Gabe and Tycho decided to take him up on his offer and put Jack's money where his mouth is. In a short hour of traveling around their local area to various major retail outlets, the boys managed to turn up no less than ten PS3s sitting on store shelves. If you're reading this, Mr. Tretton, you better pull out your pen and get ready to start writing some checks. I'm on my way out now to Best Buy to start photographing PS3s to fund my trip to Hawaii. Flynn De Marco

We Accept Paypal And Most Major Credit Cards [Penny Arcade]

Get ready to put your money where your mouth is, Jack Tretton. Just listen to the generous offer Sony Computer Entertainment of America's honcho makes in game mag EGM:

If you can find a PS3 anywhere in North America that's been on shelves for more than five minutes, I'll give you 1,200 bucks for it.

Oh boy! Back in January (when this EGM interview was done), we found about twenty plus PS3s sitting on shelves. That means Tretton owes us something like US $24,000. PAY UP. Brian Ashcraft

Thanks Jess for the tip!

The last generation, Sony kicked ass and took names thanks to a whole slew of exclusives. This time around, blah! Sony Computer Entertainment czar Ken Kutaragi took his sweet time finalizing business terms with third party developers, leaving the door open for Microsoft.

According to Newsweek, Take-Two and Rockstar were interested in continuing their exclusive relationship with Sony. Ubisoft, too, hoped to make Assassin's Creed a PS3 exclusive. But neither company could get a green light from Kutaragi, who was probably busy comparing the PS3 to a super computer. Says SCEA VP, Jack "Flying Breakfast Car" Tretton:

We really feel like we're well positioned to contribute platform-defining games from a first-party standpoint, and we're not dependent on third-party community to the degree that a Microsoft would be. That being said, you would be crazy to say that you would never entertain or not welcome exclusives. It's just a question of how deep into your pockets do you have to reach to secure that? Desperation breeds deep pockets. Confidence breeds the opposite. When it makes sense, you do the deal. When it doesn't, you pass.

Actually confidence breeds arrogance. And what does arrogance breed, Jack? Brian Ashcraft

Jack Tretton Smack Talks Again [Newsweek, Thanks Que!]

Such as:

Do you have a response for people experiencing backwards compatibility issues and/or television upscaling problems?

I would like my car to fly and make me breakfast, but that's an unrealistic expectation. We've reported problems on only 200 of the 8000 PlayStation 1 and 2 games. I would challenge the average consumer to say that there are significant problems with any of the games in their library.

Okay, Jack. We get it. It's a small number, but you don't have to be a jerk about it. Omelette making hovercars are long overdue, true, but come on. I know that your spokespeople said well over a year ago that we shouldn't expect 100% compatability, but be nice. We're risking life and limb, dropping up to 600 bones on this thing! Michael McWhertor

SCEA VP on Backwards Compatibility: "I Would Like My Car To Fly and Make Me Breakfast" [Wired]

"The honest answer is it's more of a target'' for PlayStation 3 shipments, Jack Tretton, co-chairman of Sony Computer Entertainment America, said yesterday in an interview. "Clearly we've had production issues.''

You know, as one of those chumps without a pre-order, this does not bode well for me and my future PlayStation 3 focused blog updating.

No indication other than "production issues" was given by Tretton, but considering the Blu-ray manufacturing problems the company has had, we'll just go with that. Sony did just delay their own BRD player this week. Michael McWhertor

Sony May Not Meet PlayStation 3 Shipment Targets

You know, someday, I'd love to meet the corporate voodoo strategists over at Sony, because whatever they are bubbling over in their pot, a sip from the ladle is obviously enough to blow your mind clearly right out of your head.

Need proof? Just check this amazing quote from Sony VP Jack Tretton:

[Nintendo and their DS] are appealing to the same audience that Game Boy has always appealed to. And if you look at the adoption rate of the DS over the first 17 months, not only does it trail the PSP but it also trails their other platforms ... They're potentially losing some of their core audience and they're not really expanding beyond that, and we think we're expanding into a completely new audience as we did with PlayStation ... we'll dip down to the younger consumer eventually, and we'll ultimately appeal to that vastly Earth wide audience we carved out with the original PlayStation.

Got that? Nintendo's DS is a dud. The PSP is actually trouncing it, not in market share, but in "adoption rate", which presumably means people who never have bought a console before. Brain Training? What's that? Eventually, Sony's handheld hegemony will extend all over this pitiful blue orb that you humans call "Earth." Florian Eckhardt

Interview: SCEA's Jack Tretton - Part 1 [Gamedaily.biz]