Harrison claims Sony invented Wii social gaming… then resigns
By Dave Parrack
Phil Harrison WAS the president of worldwide studios for Sony, until this morning when his resignation from the company was announced. Before he went however, he expressed his frustration at the company’s slow acceptance of casual and social gaming as a viable strategy to adopt: one which Nintendo then adopted fully with the massively successful Wii.
Harrison has been at the company since 1992, prior to the launch of the original Playstation console, and worked his way up through the company until he was crowned as head of worldwide studios. He will now be leaving the company this Friday, after resigning from his post.
Although it’s not known where he will be heading, there are rumours that he will be joining Atari, a company determined to capture the casual gaming market. Which means that comments Harrison made just last week at the Game developers Conference could explain why he’s leaving the Japanese giant.
During a private lunch at the GDC, he told GamesIndustry.biz about his frustrations at the lack of interest expressed by the Japanese division of Sony about social gaming. Sony Europe had already seen the popularity of the genre:
It’s a very interesting and frustrating thing for me to experience because I have been banging the drum about social gaming for a long time, with SingStar, EyeToy and Buzz,”
“And our Japanese colleagues said that there is no such thing as social gaming in Japan – people do not play games on the same sofa together in each other’s homes. It will never happen. And then out comes the Wii.”
SingStar, EyeToy and Buzz had already been developed and released before the Wii had even been thought of, and so in effect, Sony could have been the real architects of Nintendo’s console.
Maybe if Sony had seen the appeal in time, they could have veered the PS3’s development more that way, and taken some of the glory from Nintendo. Imagine a PS3 with its graphical and technical capabilities married to the playability and universal appeal of the Wii!
Regardless, it seems Harrison has had enough, and is now the second big name to have left the company in recent months. He said in a statement:
“The past 15 years at Sony Computer Entertainment has been the defining journey of my life so far. I am grateful to all the PlayStation family for their incredible support, guidance and friendship. It has been a privilege to serve as part of the team and be inspired by them on a daily basis. I am so proud of everything PlayStation has achieved and will continue to support its future in every way I can.”
Kazuo Hirai, President and Group CEO of SCEI, will immediately assume Harrison’s previous responsibilities in addition to his current duties.
Related:
Entry was posted
on Monday, February 25th, 2008 at 11:11 am
under
Read more entries by Dave Parrack.
Stumble It!
Tips N4G
February 25th, 2008
He’s got something there.
February 26th, 2008
I just hope this doesn’t mean the end for Playstation Home. Rumor has it that’s the reason he is leaving. Many at Sony aren’t sure about the adding of Playstation Home. I believe its too late to back out on Home now. Please Sony don’t make another mistake when the finish line is in sight.
March 11th, 2008
people playing at home… together… ha that’ll never happen! Why would anyone play with someone else in the same room?
When I buy a new console I immediately solder the other controller ports up so theirs none of this Multiplayer stuff going on… Ew “multi-player”.
Come on, if I’m gonna let someone else touch my ps3 they better pay me a deposit in case anything goes wrong, these things an’t cheap u’know.
Everyone who’s anyone knows when you buy a ps3 you immediately hermit yourself in a locked room far from society, and have no contact with the outside until the next gen (other than gloating on blogs about your new console).
For those of you who don’t yet own a ps3… you are all worthless human beings and I am a better gamer than you are.
March 18th, 2008
bye bye sony.
March 18th, 2008
with all there staff leaving or getting the sack its hard to trust sony’s future… sony is not a worthwhile investment any longer, and a lack of trust from the consumer means more people will buy an xbox 360 or a wii because they know money is going into good games and products at affordable prices. With a small reccession looming over us, this could be the last year for the PS3.