Interview with SCEE President Andrew House
Tim Ingham from MCVUK recently had a nice little chat with the shiny new President of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe Andrew House.
Although a lot was covered during the interview, a few key statements regarding the state of the company and financial concerns for new and current hardware were brought up during the interview. Here are some excerpts noting some of the finer points
Networking gaming specifically is poised for tremendous growth. I think it needs something of a renewed focus for us, either organisationally or, more importantly, changing the relationship with the consumer....we have 24m accounts registered – and it has huge untapped potential.
On the issue of publisher support and piracy in regards to the forthcoming PSPGo
Yes, digital addresses things like piracy but it is more about responding to a lifestyle change amongst consumers, and choosing to do that at the right time, as opposed to being reactive – holding back might lead us down a bad path.
Regarding the high PSPGo Price tag estimated at $249 US
When you introduce a new piece of hardware you have the opportunity to say there is a certain premium that is associated with it, and we took that into account. As with all hardware launches you look at the business model, the cost structure, and the necessarily level of profitability, and you use that to set the wholesale price. Much as we do with any other hardware.
When confronted about a possible price drop for the PS3
Would people buy more when they are cheaper? Of course. But on the other hand there is an inherent marketing challenge. In Europe I think people do see the value of the machine, the Blu-ray and network services and take that all into consideration instead of just focusing on price. But we will look at price and will address it when the time is right.
What do you guys think? Drop us a comment and let us know if you think SCEE is on the right track. For the entire interview, click here.
