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SCEA’s Peter Dille Talks P
here have been a lot of questions that have popped up since the PlayStation 3 was launched in November. What’s up with the PlayStation Network? Has Sony forgotten about their PSP? Or even the obligatory “How’s business.” After his presentation during CES 2007, we caught up with SCEA’s Senior VP of Marketing, Peter Dille, and picked his brain for some answers.

Game Informer: So, how do you feel coming out of the holidays?
Peter Dille: Well, obviously great. Our big announcement today was getting to a million units sold. It’s a great accomplishment, and it’s something that we are very proud of. As I pointed out, we got there faster on PS3 than we did with PlayStation 2 or PS1. We really feel like we got some great momentum.
GI: Now you said its 2 million worldwide sold in?
Dille: It’s 1 million in North America. What we’re not talking about today is the Japanese numbers, but we will be announcing those soon in the Sony announcement that will come out of Japan.
GI: “Sold in” means the retailers have the units, correct?
Dille: Correct. What the sell-in number refers to is that we’ve shipped it, we’ve sold it to retail, and the fact that we got to a million was possible because we were air shipping these products in. If we had gone with a boat, there was no way we would have gone to a million. So we’re not playing games with the numbers. These were sold into retail, and you can image the retailer’s incentive: If they’re shipped on a plane, they can go up onto the shelves as quickly as possible. And really, as soon as they’re getting there, they’re evaporating. There’s a tremendous demand.
GI: Are you surprised that Microsoft has met their sales numbers of 10 million? What do you think of the early acceptance of Wii and their sales?
Dille: I’m not sure if they had gone to 10 million or if they had announced that they had. I know a lot of people were wondering if they would ever get there. I think initially, their bravado speech was: “We’re going to get to 10 million before they ship.” And then it was: “We’re going to get to 10 million by the time the year is over.” I haven’t seen a new announcement from them, but what we do pay attention to is that month in, month out, the PlayStation 2 continues to outsell Xbox 360. I think you see the consumers voting with their wallets on the PlayStation brand. But also, if people want to go out and buy a 360, their stacked pretty high at retail and yet, six-year-old technology is outselling it. I also think there’s another trend going on. Every Sunday in the paper, there’s a new deal with a free controller or a free game or $100 off all discounting the 360. I don’t think you take those measures if you’re selling as expected.
GI: What’s your road map for addressing some of the PlayStation Network issues that people are experiencing, like download speed, having background downloads or patching?
Dille: It’s all very important to us. What we have said is that the experience on the PlayStation Network on day one is very different than it is on day two and very different on day 102. These are all things we’re working on. I think that our competitor launched with a service that’s quite different today than what it was before. They addressed some of these problems as well. We haven’t talked about timing, but they’re all things we’re working on as well.
GI: There are talks that before the European launch that there’s going to big updates. Would these things happen before then?
Dille: You know I put that into the rumor and speculation category. As you know, we don’t usually comment on that stuff.
GI: Something a lot of people are experiencing as well is the Bluetooth drops with the wireless controllers. Is there any way that can be resolved through software patching?
Dille: That’s a technical question and probably a little out of my purview. We’ve actually heard it a lot from the gaming press. I think part of that is based on the proliferation of devices you have on your desktops. It hasn’t become a huge consumer issue.
GI: Last fall in San Francisco, Phil Harrison said that you had a huge back log of PlayStation titles that are going to be available for download. When do you thing we’re going to start seeing more of these. When will these be playable on PlayStation 3 and not just the PSP?
Dille: To answer your first question, we’re hard at work on a number of titles, and again, we want to come out with a catalogue of quality titles that will be meaningful. I think that initial batch of titles like Crash, Tekken, Hot Shots, these are all brands that PlayStation consumers know and love. So it’s a great start. Then what we want to do is have a steady diet of games week-in and week-out so there’s new stuff showing up on the PlayStation Network giving people a reason to say, “Wow, I didn’t know that was up yet!” We’re hard at work on that. We’re also working with the third-party community to make sure they understand that this is an opportunity for them.
With the firmware upgrade, these titles will also be playable on the PlayStation 3.
ost-PlayStation 3 Launch Details
GI: It was great getting Gran Turismo over the holidays to play with the family. Now, in Japan, they got Tekken. When do you think we will start seeing that over here?
Dille: Tekken is a grand brand in the States, and we’re looking forward to introducing that. There are a lot of other things we’re working on for download, as well. I think “stay tuned” is the best way to talk about it and keep coming back and checking out the site.
GI: If you had to pick one first-party title that would be the killer app here in 2007 and will really blow open the PS3 sales, what do you think that will be?
Dille: I think we have a good first half of the year. Games like Lair that people are really excited about. MLB is coming out and is looking great and is the best-selling sports game from a first-party studio. Motorstorm. Heavenly Sword. And don’t forget you have games like Killzone in the back half of the year. We’re not really saying that there is one game that consumers have to wait for. I think that the content is there now and the content is coming. It’s going to be a steady stream of really great PlayStation 3 content.
GI: Do you think that the market conditions are driving publishers to go multiplatform a lot more and do you think that Sony needs to make bold moves to shore up third-party exclusives?
Dille: Certainly, and initially to date, you’re seeing titles that are cross-platform, and the reason for that is simple: Our competitor’s platform was out first. Therefore, the development tools were in place and anything that was possible to get out from a third party perspective was started on another platform. That’s why you’re seeing a lot of titles that are cross-platform now from the third party community. I think the interesting question will be over time, as the developers and publishers understand the true power of the PlayStation 3, they’re going to start shifting the development focus and start the development on PS3 and port down. Let’s face it, from a game developer’s perspective, you always want to develop from the highest system and work your way down, not the other way around. So, that will change some things as we move forward and people become more comfortable with the PlayStation 3. I also think you know, there’s the economics of it involved and what our install base is.
GI: Your biggest challenge last year, at the end of the year, was the availability of the PlayStation 3. Now you can go to the stores and find a PS3. What do you think your biggest challenge will be during the first half of 2007?
Dille: The availability of the PlayStation 3 is still an issue that we’re focused on. It’s something that we talk about all the time--getting as many units into the country as possible from Japan. Don’t forget, we haven’t launched in Europe yet, and we need to make sure we get off to a proper launch. I do think you’re right. Because we’ve got a steady shipment of PS3’s, you can walk into the store and you have chance to find them. From a manufacturing perspective, once we get past the European launch, it will become less of an issue for us no matter what territory you’re in.
GI: Are you still on track for Europe in the spring?
Dille: Absolutely. They’re set for March and looking forward to it.
GI: Microsoft has made some strides with Marketplace and Apple now has the new iTunes Store with TV and movies. What are some of the things Sony will have to do to get people to go to the PlayStation Network and use the PlayStation 3 for movie, music and TV downloads?
Dille: That technology is in place right now. Downloading content like Gran Turismo HD versus downloading a song or music or a movie. It’s basically bits for bits. I just saw an announcement from Sony electronics on how they are working with AOL. That type of content will be available on the PlayStation 3. While we’re not making any announcements, we’re razor-focused on the fact that the PlayStation Network is going to be a lot more than just games. We’ve been talking about that since day one. If you like the experience you’re having today, wait until you see what we have in store for you down the road.
GI: Are you thinking about more Sony Connect stuff being available through the PlayStation 3?
Dille: Well it doesn’t just need to be Sony Connect or Sony. If we limit ourselves to just Sony product, we will have missed the broader opportunity. We need to make sure we talk to other content providers like Sony Pictures or other studios.
GI: As far as the PSP, how do you plan to reinvigorate the PSP market? You recently announced your sales numbers, but the PSP is being outsold by the Nintendo DS. Do you have a plan to pump more vigor into the PSP?
Dille: What I can tell you is that the PSP had a tremendous Christmas. The consumers really flocked to the PSP in big numbers. We’re really excited about the traction that we’ve seen in the PSP. We feel it’s a great platform and feel it has a great feature potential with what we’ve talked about here today, and there are some great games in development. We think PSP has a really bright future.
GI: Thank you very much, and have a great rest of the show.