Sony Europe Boss Knows Times Are Changing, Needs to Stay in Touch
Sony Computer Entertainment Europe boss Jim Ryan has reached out and spoke about Sony’s position in the market and that the age of closed platforms was coming to an era and the era of interconnected devices in the gaming space was more important now than ever:
It’s definitely the case that the old model of these very siloed platforms is breaking down a bit. It is function of now having proper connected devices. PS2 was not a connected device. PSP was not really a proper connected device. PS3 is and PS Vita most definitely is. So we have the ability now to have devices talk to each other.
There are obviously lots of people, whether it is on a tablet or a smartphone, playing games. Sorts of people who a number of years ago were simply not doing that. We see it a real opportunity to take that constituency and offer them a PlayStation experience, whether that is with an emulated virtual dual shock, or whether it is the use of PSN functionality, which will come in the future.
It’s taken a few years int the current generation before Sony has grasped the model, with only their new handheld device, the PS Vita, providing that interconnected functionality with the PS3. The old model since the PS1 days are gone and it’s time for Sony to think of a new approach as to how they’re next generation consoles will embrace the change.
This is new ground for us. It didn’t seem it at the time but these walled gardens are actually nice, cosy places, and we are now going out into the big bad world where there are no rules. We are trying to set those rules.
We are having to reset a lot of our thinking. And I am enjoying that. But it is a challenge, because we’ve been pushing PS1, PS2 and PS3, basically the same way, and then all of a sudden we are like ‘You have to forget that and think differently’.
This generation has definitely been a big learning curve for Sony, and it’s only now into the late lifecycle of the PS3 and 6 months after the PS Vita launched that these ideas have come together with the Playstation products.
Source – MCV
