Sony's Yoshida: MP3s Will Be PS4 Playable, Just Not Right Now
Games are more important at launch, says Yoshida; we didn't really think music was that high a priority.
"It's amazing how fast I get to know things, the worst things that's happening about PlayStation in the world," laughs Shuhei Yoshida, but he doesn't regret becoming Sony's public face, even though it means that every day, each morning, he's the one who gets the bad news first. One thing that did catch him, and Sony, by surprise was the reaction to the PS4 FAQ, specifically the bit where Sony admitted it wasn't going to support audio CDs, nor would users be able to play MP3s.
"I think the technology has shifted," says he, "and we're putting more and more emphasis on the software." Including, some grumbled, Music Unlimited, the PS4's cloud music subscription service that seemed to be Sony's preferred means of getting tunes to the populace. Since the announcement, Sony's been "tweaking" its priority task list for the PS4 after launch, Yoshida admits, partly in response to the outburst.
"The biggest surprise for us all," Yoshida says, "is how passionately people reacted to our announcement [http://blog.us.playstation.com/2013/10/30/ps4-the-ultimate-faq-north-america/]." The point was to let people know what features would be available at day one, and it wasn't Sony's intention to somehow trick people into using Music Unlimited by removing all other options. It's just that game features take precedence, at least as far as the first few weeks and months are concerned. Music was pretty low on Sony's list of priorities, given the other things it had to worry about, which was why the music controversy caught it on the hop.
"We're going to do it eventually," says Yoshida. It's just not a priority now, and the sudden outcry caught Sony off guard. "The systems guys are discussing how and when we're going to put these features on."
Source: Giant Bomb [http://www.giantbomb.com/podcasts/a-chat-with-shuhei-yoshida/1600-670/]
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Games are more important at launch, says Yoshida; we didn't really think music was that high a priority.
"It's amazing how fast I get to know things, the worst things that's happening about PlayStation in the world," laughs Shuhei Yoshida, but he doesn't regret becoming Sony's public face, even though it means that every day, each morning, he's the one who gets the bad news first. One thing that did catch him, and Sony, by surprise was the reaction to the PS4 FAQ, specifically the bit where Sony admitted it wasn't going to support audio CDs, nor would users be able to play MP3s.
"I think the technology has shifted," says he, "and we're putting more and more emphasis on the software." Including, some grumbled, Music Unlimited, the PS4's cloud music subscription service that seemed to be Sony's preferred means of getting tunes to the populace. Since the announcement, Sony's been "tweaking" its priority task list for the PS4 after launch, Yoshida admits, partly in response to the outburst.
"The biggest surprise for us all," Yoshida says, "is how passionately people reacted to our announcement [http://blog.us.playstation.com/2013/10/30/ps4-the-ultimate-faq-north-america/]." The point was to let people know what features would be available at day one, and it wasn't Sony's intention to somehow trick people into using Music Unlimited by removing all other options. It's just that game features take precedence, at least as far as the first few weeks and months are concerned. Music was pretty low on Sony's list of priorities, given the other things it had to worry about, which was why the music controversy caught it on the hop.
"We're going to do it eventually," says Yoshida. It's just not a priority now, and the sudden outcry caught Sony off guard. "The systems guys are discussing how and when we're going to put these features on."
Source: Giant Bomb [http://www.giantbomb.com/podcasts/a-chat-with-shuhei-yoshida/1600-670/]
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