Sony's Phil Harrison arrogantly denies arrogance

by Nick Doerr { Jul 15th 2006 at 5:40PM }

Phil Harrison, big boss of Sony Computer Entertainment, sat down for a short session with Joystiq's Conrad Quilty-Harper and cleared up a couple of the more embarassing quotes from other members of Sony. About Sony's arrogance, he said: "There's always going to be a risk when you are market leader for ten years that we start to lose perspective; and we have to make sure that we don't lose perspective." He then reassures Conrad Sony is not being arrogant, but are always in the spotlight and any quotes will be dissected into whatever spin is being sought.

About the statement "Microsoft is copying Sony"? Phil claims the quote was taken out of context, which is kind of hard to do when it was practically verbatim. Even so, as being the leader in the industry for about ten years, not only is it easier to get more hate than praise (if you think bashing President Bush is bad now, imagine how it would spiral out of control in four more years!), but it's also easier for the leader to get an inflated ego. As such, less people may support the PS3, but saying Sony's arrogant? Taken out of context, indeed. Really, this interview with Phil Harrison did not seem to clear much up at all except the people at Sony really believe in what they say. But should we?

[via Joystiq]

Tags: Joystiq, Phil Harrison, PhilHarrison, Playstation 3, Playstation3, PS3, Sony

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

R0DJOh @ Jul 15th 2006 8:22PM

Well its not like they are gonna say yeah we are arrogant, deal with it.

Murphy @ Jul 15th 2006 9:30PM

A sentence, however exact it's copy is, can still be taken out of context, because the context is the content that surrounds the statement or idea you are borrowing from.

The sentence very well could have been taken out of context, as is most of what the media does a story on. Taking snippets of the general statement in order to sway the polarity of the beliefs or messages that are originally attempted to convey is common practice these days.

Vince @ Jul 15th 2006 10:53PM

I doubt there's many PS fanboys who could give a shi'atz about Sony's perceived arrogance.
It's starting to sound like another one of those American obsessions, like money.

Kid Muscle @ Jul 15th 2006 11:06PM

Well what company doesn't present arrogance (or being confidant)? SHould they be the opposite and go around saying:

"Well maybe out console is not the most powerful"

"Maybe BD isn't all that revolutionary"

"Cell isn't special"

"With our $600 price tag, we won't sell any PS3's"

Just cause they are confidant in their moves, doesn't mean they have to do a 360 and start talking down about themselves.

Mutsch @ Jul 16th 2006 2:21AM

I know there are not many news around these days. It's summer guys. Get out on the beach and get a break ;-)

semi @ Jul 16th 2006 4:55AM

is this a fanboy blog or some ps3 hate site?

jeez!

give it a rest!

SK @ Jul 16th 2006 10:16AM

When the company that a fansite is based around starts making stupid comments, you have to talk about them. I mean, do they think before they speak? http://www.joystiq.com/2006/06/29/kaz-sez-ms-copies-sony/

Fan @ Jul 16th 2006 10:29AM

In other news it has recently been confirmed that there will be a sepprate version GTA4 for the Ps3. A custom buildt engine will take advantage of the HDD, Blu-Ray and the Cell.

Rejoice

Paul @ Jul 17th 2006 7:46AM

Fan- link to this? I doubt that R* will be making two versions of the same game- double the devel team, double the man hours but not double the profit? unlikely

Paul @ Jul 17th 2006 7:46AM

Fan- link to this? I doubt that R* will be making two versions of the same game- double the devel team, double the man hours but not double the profit? unlikely

Fan @ Jul 17th 2006 10:00AM

"New York, NY – May 9th, 2006 -- Rockstar Games, the universally-renowned publishing label of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (NASDAQ: TTWO), is proud to announce Grand Theft Auto IV, the next-generation console debut of the genre-defining Grand Theft Auto franchise. Developed by world-class designers Rockstar North, Grand Theft Auto IV will be simultaneously available for the PlayStation®3 and Xbox 360™ and is currently planned to be in stores in North America on October 16, 2007 and in Europe on October 19, 2007."

- Take2 Press Statement

Grand Theft Auto IV will be simultaneously available for the PlayStation®3 and Xbox 360™ and is currently planned to be in stores in North America on October 16, 2007 and in Europe on October 19, 2007.

Microsoft and Rockstar Games have announced a strategic alliance to provide exclusive episodic content for Xbox Live®, giving the community ever-expanding gameplay experiences that aren't possible on other consoles.

There is no doubt about it - if Rockstar decide to go for a European setting, London will be the main focus. Based on everything we've seen and heard so far, a British setting is likely. London is the capital city of the United Kingdom and of England. It produces 17% of the UK's GDP and the City of London is one of the world's major financial centres. The former capital of a global empire, London is pre-eminent in the culture, communications, politics, finance, and arts of its country, and has considerable influence worldwide. Alongside New York City, Paris, and Tokyo, London is often listed among the four major global cities. London's high crime rates and vast multi-cultural society, coupled with it's great mix of old and modern architecture make it an ideal location for GTA4.
Rockstar North received their PlayStation3 game developers kit in August 2005 and have since then been working on a brand new game engine for what the October issue of PSM is calling, a next-gen GTA title. Eye-candy aside, they are supposedly aiming to create a photo-realistic city for GTA 4.
"Rockstar North is creating a specialized game engine for PS3 that will bring GTA 4 to life to a degree that PS2 games could only hint at. Specifically, they're going to be using the high data transfer bandwidth of the Cell CPU, RSX GPU, and Blu-ray Disc to use several streams of game info simultaneously. The game's city - unfortunately yet to be even hinted at - will still be free roaming and seamless, but broken down into smaller, more deatailed areas at the engine level, into which the game designers are going to be able to pour more textures, more oject variety, and tons of details (such as discareded soda cans with their own physics), just for starters. The goal is a city that's less repetitive and where everything - and everyone - looks and acts more like they would in the real world on every level."
-- PSM Magazine USA, November 2005
Multiplayer - There were signs of multiplayer development in the GTA3 (PC) data files. GTA: San Andreas featured something very similar to multiplayer known as 'co-op'. Most recently, GTA: Liberty City Stories featured seven multiplayer game modes with each supporting upto six players. This evidence (and more) suggests that Rockstar are keen to develop a fully functional GTA multiplayer in future releases, so multiplayer is indeed a strong possiblity in Grand Theft Auto 4.
Setting - Due for next-gen systems, sources close to the project suggest the team is looking beyond the US for the setting of the next title, with Europe being a strong contender.
Images - A fake screenshot of Grand Theft Auto 4 surfaced on the 29th of June, 2005. Its source is to-date unknown, but we were able to confirm with Rockstar on September 21st that it is fake:

Sony's Phil Harrison arrogantly denies arrogance