Sony America Boss Says Gaming Is Like Wine - The Good Stuff Costs More

Andy Chalk

One Flag, One Fleet, One Cat
Nov 12, 2002
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Sony America Boss Says Gaming Is Like Wine - The Good Stuff Costs More


SCEA President and CEO Jack Tretton says free-to-play and mobile gaming have their place, but there will always be people willing to pay more for a better experience.

The PlayStation 4 is now available, raising hallelujahs from many quarters but also dire predictions [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/129617-Pachter-Predicts-PlayStation-Domination] here and there that this is the last console generation the world will ever know. Between the rise of digital distribution, "micro-consoles" like the Ouya and mobile gaming, high-priced consoles like the PS4 are dinosaurs that can't survive in the dawning new era.

But Tretton doesn't think so. "It's funny, I've heard about the 'last console' since 1986, and only because that's when I entered the business. I've managed to ride the 'last console' wave for the last, what is that ... 27 years or so?" he told All Things D. "There's a reason the console came about: Sitting in front of a big-screen TV on a couch with your friends. To get the immersive depth in gaming and to get the social experience of sitting around the living room, we're not going to huddle around a tablet. We're not going to huddle around a smartphone."

Tretton described mobile gaming as "additive" and compared it to the PC, which he said is "alive and well" but just a part of the overall ecosystem. Sony wants to get its games out to as many of those platforms as possible, but there are limitations to what can be done with them; Tretton said Gran Turismo 6 on a tablet would be "a lousy experience," but it's perfectly possible to play Angry Birds on your PS3. "It's easier to migrate up. I've seen some great videos on YouTube, but I don't confuse them with Hollywood Oscar-winning hits."

"It's like wine. Your first wine tastes good, and you start drinking more of it. You go from white to red, and you go from $10 bottles to $50 bottles. Some people just stop at $10, but some people become wine aficionados and, all of a sudden, if it's not Screaming Eagle, it's not good enough," he said. "People don't drink Screaming Eagle because it's $800 and they want to throw away $790. They perceive that that's a much better wine than the $10 bottle. Smartphone gaming might be good enough for somebody. For other people, they find themselves wanting more, and they're looking for better controls, more technology and a more immersive experience."

Source: All Things D [http://allthingsd.com/20131114/is-this-the-last-console-generation-and-nine-other-questions-for-sonys-jack-tretton/]


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Teoes

Poof, poof, sparkles!
Jun 1, 2010
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No way - Sony admits the Xbone is better. Also, gateway drugs. Duck and cover!
 

CriticalMiss

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Jan 18, 2013
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Oh, so the PS4 is worse than the Xbone? Interesting to hear that from a Sony man but his honesty is admirable.
 

Kurai Angelo

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Teoes said:
No way - Sony admits the Xbone is better. Also, gateway drugs. Duck and cover!
Ninja'd already...

Expense = Quality.

I suppose I should rethink my console choice.
 

JamesBr

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Nov 4, 2010
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Terrible analogy as studies have shown that even professional tasters can't tell the different between a 10$ bottle and 800$ bottle. If you're buying an 800$ bottle of wine over a 10$ one, you ARE doing it just to waste 790$, you THINK you're getting something better, but that's just a placebo effect.

On the other hand, there might a valid point there, just not he one he's trying to make.
 

TiberiusEsuriens

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Jun 24, 2010
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He's forgetting the other side of the coin - the $10 stuff might not be as good, but enough of it still gets you drunk. There's a store down the road that sells entire liters of Wine for $7-10. I wonder how that fits in to his metaphor...
 

deathbydeath

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Jun 28, 2010
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Biospider said:
Sony Exec: Train Simulator 2013 is the best game ever made!
QOTY right here.

In other news: This makes PC gaming a mixed bag. On the one hand, you have people dumping the GDP of a small country into a single machine and on the other hand, Steam Sales.

EDIT:
TiberiusEsuriens said:
He's forgetting the other side of the coin - the $10 stuff might not be as good, but enough of it still gets you drunk. There's a store down the road that sells entire liters of Wine for $7-10. I wonder how that fits in to his metaphor...
Steam Sales.
 

Ralphfromdk

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Mar 26, 2009
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And here I thought Sony had all kinds of boners for indie games. Those games are the games that tend to end up in the 10-15$ price range. Now they're saying that those games aren't all that good.


I'm a bit confussed now.
 

wrightguy0

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Dec 8, 2010
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not all that true, i've had cheap wine that's tasted better than the expensive stuff, just like i've played inexpensive games that have been fantastic. better does not always = more expensive
 

Something Amyss

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JamesBr said:
Terrible analogy as studies have shown that even professional tasters can't tell the different between a 10$ bottle and 800$ bottle. If you're buying an 800$ bottle of wine over a 10$ one, you ARE doing it just to waste 790$, you THINK you're getting something better, but that's just a placebo effect.

On the other hand, there might a valid point there, just not he one he's trying to make.
Indeed. I think he's making a completely different argument than the one he intends to make.
 

Reed Spacer

That guy with the thing.
Jan 11, 2011
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Biospider said:
Sony Exec: Train Simulator 2013 is the best game ever made!

I like tra*CRUNCH*

Seriously, though, it's easy enough for this putz to say 'eckbeziv is teh bezzt', he has a few million dollars for pizza money. Some of us have to make do with less.
 

ToastiestZombie

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Mar 21, 2011
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So the £15 price increase on all PS4 games means they're better? All those people saying Knack is shit must be wrong then...
 

The Grim Ace

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I totally agree with Mr. Tretton, the more expensive option is better, that's why an $1000 gaming rig is better than a PS4 and an Xbox One.

[small]Oh wait...=p[/small]
 

Raziel

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Jul 20, 2013
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I think he's totally right. I spend hundreds on games every year, sometimes closer to a thousand and none of it goes to phone games. And almost none to pc. I want high quality games with real scope that take advantage of the tech capabilities. Not something that looks like it could run on my old snes. Sure some indie games are good. But there is not enough there to satisfy me. Its like youtube. Yeah there is great stuff there, but I'm not going to give up tv or movies for it. Its an interesting add on not a replacement. And not something I'm willing to pay for.

And I'm totally lost as to people whining about how "expensive" consoles are but hey you can totally buy games on $800 phone thats outdated every year or $600 pc (assuming you can build it yourself) thats outdated in 2. God forbid you need to drop $400-$600 on a console every 6-8 years. Seriously maybe Sony and M$ just need to switch to the subscriber model M$ started on the 360 like the phones. Because apparently things are not expensive as long as you can pay in bit size chunks.
 

StriderShinryu

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I think I see what he's getting at, but I'm not sure he's saying it clearly. And I agree that, basically, there are different types of experiences for different types of players. I do, however, think it's a mistake to try to tie it to price.

For one, games developed by smaller teams with lower price points can often be just as full and compelling experience (and value) wise as more expensive games developed by large studios.

Secondly, the prices of games themselves are variable, as is the price of hardware. A $500 bottle of wine can't really be compared to a $60 game simply because at launch you can likely get the game for less if you shop smart, and a few months down the line you can almost definitely get it for less, never mind a few years down the line. If anything, a $500 bottle of wine will only go up in price over time.

At the end of the day, though, there is truth in saying that the experience of playing a casual game on your iphone is vastly different from playing a core title on your console (or PC). For some people (many, in fact), the first experience fits their needs/tastes just fine. For others, like those using this website, we do demand more and I don't see that sort of experience going away at all regardless of how popular/widespread the iphone/tablet style of game gets.
 

Andy Chalk

One Flag, One Fleet, One Cat
Nov 12, 2002
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It's easy to disingenuously twist up his words but the point is very valid: You cannot duplicate a full-on console experience on a mobile phone. There are some great experiences to be had on mobiles and tablets and free-to-play, but they can't do what consoles can do. If you want that level of experience, you have to be willing to pay for it - and plenty of people are.
 

DrunkenElfMage

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Ralphfromdk said:
And here I thought Sony had all kinds of boners for indie games. Those games are the games that tend to end up in the 10-15$ price range. Now they're saying that those games aren't all that good.


I'm a bit confussed now.
He didn't say indie games, he specifically was talking about mobile and free to play games. While some of those may be indie games, he wasn't talking about those specifically.

On topic, I am inclined to completely agree with Tretton on this one. Free to play games and mobile games are nice but they most often provide shallow or short experiences, while micro transactions in a game tend to limit just how immersive a game can get. Traditional games are worth the extra pay if they provide what those other games can't, at least to me they are.

Never thought I'd hear a statement from a CEO that wouldn't make me think that they didn't have their head far up their ass.
 

Fox12

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Jun 6, 2013
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How about an edit. Games are like wine, the good shit takes longer to produce.