Phil Harrison looks back over the year, says... stuff
The PS3 has been released, so you'd think Sony's Phil Harrison would start to make statements that won't feed the flames, so to speak. For some reason, our buddy Phil spoke with MTV recently (yeah, seriously) and said a couple of things that can easily be misconstrued or taken as wrongly as humanly possible. We'll make a fun list, because they're fun.- Due to constant firmware updates and the nearly limitless possibilities available to the SIXAXIS, developers might never be able to exact the full potential of the PS3. In Phil's words, "nobody will ever use 100 percent of its capability."
- The term "video games" is too constricting. Because, he says, "games are supposed to be fun." He wants people to realize that games can be serious, grim storytelling machines, evoking fear, sadness, comedy, death and other sorts of things you humans call "emotions". Not to mention mature situations (like, er, "drug offenses"? Good example, Phil...).
Okay, so the list only had two things on it! No big deal, though. What he's trying to say is that the PS3 is constantly changing, so getting the 100% use of the system will be nigh impossible, with all the different ways to approach a game nowadays. Also, games are supposed to be fun, but they don't have to deal with light-hearted mascot characters parading around doing the same ol' lighthearted "save the princess" routine. Tried and true, yes, but there are other ways to "show" a game. What do you guys think? Flame-bait or valid observation?
[note: I couldn't get the MTV link to work, so I used 1up's version of the story]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
David @ Dec 20th 2006 11:09AM
"nobody will ever use 100 percent of its capability." ?
Isn't that what happened to SEGA's system?
Microdot @ Dec 20th 2006 11:19AM
phil is the king of 'open mouth, insert foot' but it looks like he finally got it right. i actually agree with everything he said and its shocking.
i honestly dont believe anyone will ever max out the ps3. after really getting into it via ydl, and seeing what the hardware is capable of... i can honestly say i dont think its going to happen either. its still possible, but highly unlikely. the ps3 is hands down the champ on hardware. this thing is a fucking powerhouse.
David: "*sob**wimper* sega? *whine**sob*"
what does sega have to do with the ps3? or were you attempting to be witty david? if so... mission failed. better luck next time. please pick up your complimentary hanky on the way out.
Tyler @ Dec 20th 2006 11:57AM
Can I marry you Microdot?
poseidon @ Dec 20th 2006 12:42PM
This site is starting to sound like Sony Defense Force.
Ben Hobbs @ Dec 20th 2006 12:51PM
"i honestly dont believe anyone will ever max out the ps3"
Yeah, I remember hearing that about 10Mb Hard disk drives , 720k floppy disks, DVD's and 512k RAM. If this was the case, why are they releasing new graphics cars every year, that seem to only just be able to run teh latest PC games, and are already at least 3 times as powerful as the PS3's graphics.
Can't help but feel sorry for all those that had bought the PS3, thinking that Sonys name alone could put them in front this generation.
Andir2.0 @ Dec 20th 2006 1:28PM
@Ben Hobbs: You forgot DVD9. I mean, games will never go over 9G.
Microdot @ Dec 20th 2006 2:53PM
ben... your logic is flawed. horribly. you are comparing an item with a definitive lifecycle (the ps3) to one that has no life cycle (memory... hard drives)
the ps3 will be replaced eventually. may be 5 years. may be 8. nobody knows. but we do know it has a lifespan. just like the 360, the ps2, the atari 2600, etc. they didnt make the console and state "this is it! the console to end all consoles! never buy another game console in your life!!".
that being said... by the time the ps4 rolls around, i highly doubt that anyone will have been able to top one out. its only weak point would be memory... if it had 1gb, i could almost guarantee it never maxing out. but running on 512 leaves the possibility open. still very unlikely... but possible.
but nice attempt ben. points for effort. maybe you should try finger painting instead of wit. i think it may fit you better.
Irwin @ Dec 20th 2006 3:59PM
"ben... your logic is flawed. horribly. you are comparing an item with a definitive lifecycle (the ps3) to one that has no life cycle (memory... hard drives)"
elaborate on why his logic is flawed...
what you said makes absolutely no sence. explain it for the dumb witted people please
Optimus Prime @ Dec 20th 2006 5:10PM
WOW
DEFENDING SONY'S ACTIONS ARE KINDA LIKE SAYING OJ SIMPSON IS INNOCENT!
BUYING A PS3 IS KINDA LIKE HELPING OJ SIMPSON GET INNOCENT
FAGCAKES
Microdot @ Dec 20th 2006 5:19PM
"elaborate on why his logic is flawed...
what you said makes absolutely no sence. explain it for the dumb witted people please"
ok... i'll give it a shot, but i dont know how to dumb it down any more than that. i'll try...
when dealing with a console, any console... you are dealing with a piece of hardware that WILL BE exterminated and replaced. its not an "if".. its a "when". its either that, or the company making it goes out of business. either way... support and production eventually cease on the product.
on hardware as mentioned above (hdd, memory, etc) you are dealing with an open ended product. its a one time purchase, and not meant to only be around "X" number of days, weeks, or years. if your computer never changes, there will never be a day that your hdd or memory just doesnt work anymore because things wont write to it. it is made with the intention of lasting forever, even though it probably wont. do you see an expiration date on your memory? how about when you cruise in to pick up the latest windows version... is there a "only works with seagate hdd's" sticker on it?
consoles DO have an expiration date. i cant walk into my local best buy and pick up the latest game for the ps1 can i? how about the n64? manufacturers dont like to openly give time frames at the start... but you can rest asured, when the new one comes out... support withers away. might be a week... might be a year... but eventually, games wont be created for it anymore. then you wont be able to find the games to purchase. and eventually, it sits and collects dust.
my point in this... is that BEFORE THE END OF LIFE ON THE PS3... i, like phil harrison, do not see anyone being able to push the boundaries of the machine. now... if the life-span of the ps3 were 15 years... then of course, it goes without saying that someone will. but its not. in sonys best dream, they are shooting for 10... but we all know that isnt going to happen. just like it hasnt for every other console, including their own. i would imagine it will be closer to 6 years.
any easier to understand irwin?
psfree @ Dec 20th 2006 6:06PM
"nobody will ever use 100 percent of its capability."
Well as a 20GB owner, I'm only getting like 50% of the capability. How about some firmware that allows us 20GB owners to download psp games via USB!!!
Mike @ Dec 20th 2006 6:45PM
Microdot:
You said "when dealing with a console, any console... you are dealing with a piece of hardware that WILL BE exterminated and replaced" and "on hardware as mentioned above (hdd, memory, etc) you are dealing with an open ended product. its a one time purchase".
What does that have to do with anything? Just because consoles are only made to last about 5 years means you can't compare them to memory and hard drives? Let me tell you a little secret: hard drives and memory are "exterminated and replaced" a LOT more often than consoles.
You claim that his examples have a "definite lifecycle". How long do you think 10mb hard drives were around? What about 720k floppies? Do you think it was even close to 5 years? Even if it was, it would only help in proving my point, as well as the the complete obsolescence of yours.
"i cant walk into my local best buy and pick up the latest game for the ps1 can i? "
No, Microdot, you can't. You also can't walk in and pick up the latest 512k ram chip for your x286, can you?
Does it make you feel special using the guise of anonymity to look down on others? "Points for effort"? Seriously, if you want to have a high school level "I-Know-More-Than-You" competition, there are many sites better suited to your needs.
Hobbs, you made some good points. I'm not really defending you or anything like that, I just have this problem with arrogant people attempting to force their misinformed views upon unsuspecting posters. It's not necessary and it's not fair.
As for you, Microdot, you can go ahead and respond if you feel the need, but I won't be coming back...better things to do, you know. ;) Merry Christmas!
Microdot @ Dec 20th 2006 6:54PM
"Well as a 20GB owner, I'm only getting like 50% of the capability. How about some firmware that allows us 20GB owners to download psp games via USB!!!"
you are aware that you can replace your hdd, right? throw in a 120gb, and your problem is solved. there were even instructions posted on this site i believe, on how to do that. very simple. three screws. sony left it out in the open for that reason. takes a stadard laptop sata hdd. (stick with a 5400rpm though. 7200 may get too hot)
but if you dont want to do that... use an external for backup and remove it once its downloaded.
Microdot @ Dec 20th 2006 7:17PM
mike... you sir, make even less sense than the original poster.
let me ask you mike... how many games are made for the ps2 right this second? how many are in production? (dont know an exact... but i can think of about 5 at the moment. for round numbers... we'll say 10)
now... in a year... how many new games will be made for the ps2 mike? my guess: none. would you not say that it hit the end of its lifecycle by then? maybe... maybe not. maybe you have one and are still playing it, right? sure. but without a new game... what will be pushing it further? what will be pushing the bounds of its capabilities? hmmm?
and no mike... i didnt claim his exmaples had a definite lifecycle. in fact, when you get mommy to reread it to you, you'll see that i said the exact opposite. they DO NOT have a definite lifecycle. consoles on the other hand, DO. they are either replaced, or obsoleted after 5-6 years. at that time... they are useless unless you ALREADY own one that works, and owned all of the games you wish to play. i still have a 4gb hdd sitting behind me at the office running damn small nix as a little file server. that hdd still does as intended... it still writes... it still reads... there is no time table on it, and i can put whatever new items i wish on it. in fact, this isntall is only about 8 months old.is there anything at all keeping me from doing exactly what it was created to do? no. my nes still works too... but i dont have new content. i cant play new games. i can no longer purchase anything at all for it. hence... its dead. i can still play what i wish, that i currently own.... but if nothing new comes along.... what pushes the envelope on its capabilities?
hmm?
and yes... for the millionth time on this site alone: i am the resident asshole. im a pompous ass, and i talk down to people. not everyone comes to this site to be a fucking idiot or with some ulterior agenda... and those get the respect of a decent answer, discussion, or help. (psfree for example... right above this post) but there are always a handful that wish to come in with a chip on their shoulder. i enjoy knocking it off. if you dont like it... so sorry. cry about it til you feel better, but personally, i could give two shits about it.
merry xmas!
RandyPinkw00d @ Dec 20th 2006 8:43PM
@14
microdot you're wrong, just accept it...
1. i think he meant to say "don't have a definitive blahblahblah" but it made sense to me, other than that one little error everything else is good. you and your "exmaples" aren't any better...
2. your logic supports what he says!
example: just as you have a 4 gig hard drive running in the "office", i have an SNES hooked up to my TV right now. It works fine. i played starfox on it the other day. i'm almost certain it's older than your little hard drive, but it still works like the day i bought it. so how is there a difference? why can't the two be compared???? huh?????
3. and one last thing: admitting that your an asshole doesn't make it any less of a problem, and the fact that you enjoy it is honestly a little disturbing - seek help, and happy holidays.
Microdot @ Dec 20th 2006 11:01PM
"so how is there a difference? why can't the two be compared????
huh?????"
can you not read? clap out the big words. im sure you can do
it.
go buy a new game for that nes and tell me how that works out for
you. what? oh... you cant? funny... i can still purchase items to use
on my hdd.
maybe its because ONE HAS A LIFECYCLE, AND THE OTHER DOES
NOT.... ONE HAS BEEN OBSOLETED, WHILE THE OTHER CANNOT BE AS IT IS AN
OPEN ENDED CONSUMER PRODUCT. but hey... ive only said that a few dozen times. maybe caps will help. remember... clap it out.
"admitting that your an asshole doesn't make it any less of a problem"
you have a problem with me being an asshole? funny... i dont. guess thats a problem for you to deal with then. maybe you should seek some help. : )
ouch. how does that wrong taste randy? you sure got a lot of it. good luck finishing it down. hahahahahaha
merry christmas randypwntwood
RandyPinkw00d @ Dec 20th 2006 11:43PM
you have a great skill, microdot, and you have certainly established your ability to make excessive use of it tonight. its called comparing apples and oranges.
they never made products specifically for your hard drive, they made them for ALL hard drives. i understand that this makes it an open ended product. i knew the difference before this conversation ever took place. it's really not that tough to understand, and if i recall correctly you're the one having trouble with "the big words".
the real problem is that you still haven't come up with even a single compelling reason why they can't be compared. the fact that one is an open ended product just isn't a good enough reason. why couldn't the ps3 be maxed out in much the same way as a computer product? in my opinion it can, and it will. if your opinion differs, so be it, but it really doesn't mean anything to the argument at hand.
in other words: i get your point, but your point sucks. its lame. it doesn't have any bearing on the conversation. get it? and you dwelling on this one little detail instead of the real argument kind of makes the argument itself pointless, doesn't it?
so go ahead, hit me back with your inevitably witty remark.
feel free call me names, suggest ulterior methods of entertainment, maybe get a little word play going. whatever childish means of criticism you need to use, feel free, as long as it makes you feel better. and no matter what, make sure you only respond the the parts of the post that are weak or flawed, while ignoring the rest of the post.
why don't you see just how terribly negative and off-topic you can make this next response? seriously, its quite entertaining.
Brian @ Dec 21st 2006 12:16AM
Whatever, I'm more conserned with the second thing he said. That's what excites me about gaming. I really don't think innovating gameplay is nearly as important as innovating storytelling anymore. I would go on but I don't have anything prepared - regardless I just want people to refer to an essay written in the 30s by playwright Berthold Brecht called "The Modern Theater is Epic Theater". Here he proposes to stop trying to force superficial innovations on the classic greco-roman model of theater and instead use his model of epic theater - marked by greater artistic intent and a distantiation between the characters and audience in an intent to seperate the feelings behind the play from the immediate emotions of the audience in some cases leading to self awae theater later adopted by Jean-Luc Godard and the New Wave film makers in France in the 1960s. Anyway, for examples of this look at Brecht's masterpiece "Treepenny Opera".
Anyway, hopefully game makers can start thinking in that way and pushing video games to be a real art form rather than be tricked by the Wii into making the same games just with different gameplay which may be fun but adds no real meaning or art.
Microdot @ Dec 21st 2006 1:07AM
"its called comparing apples and oranges. "
i am aware of what it is called. ive been making that point since my first post in this thread. im glad you finally caught up in the conversation.
"the real problem is that you still haven't come up with even a single compelling reason why they can't be compared. the fact that one is an open ended product just isn't a good enough reason. why couldn't the ps3 be maxed out in much the same way as a computer product?"
poor simple randy. you proved my point, reiterated it, and yet, are still completely unaware.
why? because one is an open ended product... the other has a definitive lifecycle. if the life cycle on the ps3 were 20 years, i certainly would agree. anyone who did not would be insane. but in reality... it is much less than half of that time span. a span in which, after pushing and pulling and prodding this system to death with kernel manipulations, drivers, banging the living bejesus out of rsx while slamming my fist into the wall (and this evening, running it as a somewhat hobbled server head sharing load balancing with the rest of the farm) i just dont see it happening. not IMPOSSIBLE by any means, but as i said... highly unlikely. while i would never agree with sonys use of the term "super computer"... i would be willing to agree that this cpu has potential that is far past what anyone has dealt with to date.
how about this... maybe this may make it a little more easily consumed by your slower brain.
- the avg consumer will never run out of space on a petabyte hdd. -
as of this moment, that statement cannot be proven false. it also cannot be proven to be true, so a theory stands.
now, if i knew that in 6 years, all forms of stored media would cease to be created for the hdd, and would only be able to be written to the new form, holographic media, then on that date, in 6 years, the hard drive would reach its end of life. gauging by patterns and general usage, i can theorize that the statement would in fact be true, as we would not excel to a point of needing that much room before the end of life was reached.
but alas, i dont know that there is an end of life for the hard drive, as it is an open ended product. when time is removed from the equation, anything becomes possible. certainly, one day the avg consumer WILL outgrow a petabyte of hdd space. it may be 500 years from now, but it will definitely happen.
catching on yet? i hope so. im calling it a night. 2 am here with a 7am teleconference. :/
(reminder: clap it out)
brian, somewhat off topic, but:
ENCORE! i was loosely (while missing large chunks as well) interpreted to as i sat and watched chalk outline on a trip to germany several years ago. amazing. since then, ive had a fascination with brechts work. died off a little as i got easily sidetracked, but your post was a great reminder.
ozymandias @ Dec 21st 2006 8:53PM
Microdot
256MB of main ram and 256MB or vram. The numbers cannot be totaled because main ram cannot be used as vram or vice versa
I agree with Phil, but for completely diffent reasons. He says because the unique SIXAXIS, but its really because of the same issue that plagues the best PCs. Bottlenecks.
matjet @ Jan 9th 2007 12:46AM
miyomoto whatsisname from nintendowhomadezelda said they were still using 100% and getting everything they could out of the gamecube and so he was happy with the capabilities of the wii.
i think phill and sony needs to get out there talking more to abate the tide of bias and skepticism generated by sites like joystiq.