DriveClub wasn’t the only thing PlayStation Europe President Jim Ryan and MCV talked about in their recent interview, with Ryan discussing the fact that the PlayStation 4 is the #1 console of 2014 in every single European market:
PlayStation has always been strong in Europe. Even with PS3 where we started late and were too expensive, we still ended up comfortably ahead. So when you go back to a world where we launched on time and at the right price, the underlying strength and popularity of the PlayStation brand has come back to the fore, whether it’s Northern Europe, France, Germany, Benelux or Scandinavia or Southern Europe where we were hugely dominant.
After noting that the Xbox One didn’t come out until in September in some of the markets, he said, “Germany is one market where we’ve achieved some sort of step change. We sold more in the FIFA week in Germany than we have in many Christmas weeks on PS3 and PS2. It was frankly unbelievable.”
Shifting gears, Ryan addressed the vocal, angry gamers of the world by saying, “Organizations such as ours need to be big enough to be able to deal with it, and if you can’t deal with it, go find something else to do.” According to Ryan, gamers’ passion and energy “is one of the things that separates what we do from something less exciting.”
Moving to the other Sony platforms, Ryan doesn’t think the PlayStation 3 will “last as long after the launch of PS4 as PS2 did after PS3 came out.” One of the reasons he believes the PS3 won’t last six years after PS4 launch (PS2 production ended in March 2013) is the price, which is still between €199 and €299, while the PS2 was down to €99 for a very long time.
Another reason he highlighted is the speed in which people upgrade their technology:
Also, generally, technology cycles are shortening. There is an increasing consumer willingness to make the jump from one generation’s technology to the next. Maybe that’s a consequence of the way people transition from one smartphone to another.
Ryan did add that the PS3 is “still really robust” in parts of Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, and will “continue to be for some time.”
As for the PlayStation Vita, Ryan just said they love it and will “look after it best we can:”
There’s a lot of indie content continuing to come, and the usage of the device as a Remote Play client or companion for PS4 continues to be very well accepted.
It will continue to play a significant role in our ecosystem – perhaps a different one to that was originally envisaged, but it’s still there. We love the Vita and we look after it best we can.
How much longer do you think the PlayStation 3 will stay in production?
[Source: MCV]
