Exclusive: PlayStation President, Kaz Hirai

This is poorly done interview! The question isn't balance, irrelevant and focus on one side only, the bad side. GT5 and PSP Qs? This question should be for Philip Harrison, the head of Sony first party development. Hirai is the head of Sony Computer Entertainment, focus on Strategic issues like Pricing, Marketing, production and management. How did he find time to know every single game development? The interviewer didn't do his homework.

This is ambush interview see "Bill Clinton interview with Fox". Why the hell Hirai except an interview with those guys? Poor judgment call.

I disagree, yeah it focuses on the negative side of sony things but currently thats the thorn in Sonys paw, Hirai had an oppurtunity to turn things to a positive, but he choose to answer in a negative way, he didnt choose to turn the interview in favour of PSP or GT5, and personally i thought these questions should be able to be answered by anyone at sony head, not a specific person, Hirai maybe head of Entertainment, but thats not an excuse to not know information or dismiss it, he represents the comapny and therefore if he isnt correct for answering these questions he really shouldnt of agreed to an interview with SPOnG.

He should find time to know every single game development, after all just because the interviewer has a job as a journalist it doesnt lessen that fact he should have the knowledge of what he is promoting or reviewing, If Hirai`s job is to promote, market, produce and manage the entertainment division there is no excuse for not knowing anything relating to the games divisions after all arent they part of the entertainment division.

haritori, who are u kidding with? Sony has over 500 games in developments. U expect Kirai to know every single one of them?!?! That is not even his area of speciality. It is common practice in interview to give out the questions to the interviewee. If Hirai knows those were his Qs, I will be surprise he even show up.

Every human should be treated with respect, even interviewee. Not to mention, Kirai is the CEO of one of the most successful company. He did good in PS and PS2 era. Ask him a question, the interviewer know he didn't know. That's cheap shot. If is Bill clinton, he would have Walters for breakfast.

no Sony does not have 500 titles in development, Sony have far less that 500 includes 3rd party devs, he should know all Sony Development titles. and if Hirai took the decision to continue interveiw without knowing what the questions were that was his choice, but isuppose your right cos you say so?

Sony has 250 games coming to PS3. Majorities are first party game. It has three hardware platforms, PS2, PSP and PS3. Sony has first party development on all three platforms plus PSN. Can u tell me how many games Sony has in development right now?

Hirai's job is balance strategies, resources between Sony's different divisions. Another top responsibility is building Alliance. He rarely do interviews. What are wasting of opportunities here!

The question I would want to know:
1 What do Hirai think about competitors' weakness and strength?
2 How does Sony response to Xbox360's multi-platform strategy?
3 What is Sony's pricing strategy for 2007?
4 How Blu-ray strategy fit into PS3 without isolating 3rd party developers?
5 How is Sony's home strategy work with video download services?
6 How much is PS3 cost to make now?

Let me answer them for you, I have seen enough interviews with shareholder-concerned executives to give a 90% accurate guess at how your questions would be answered.


Kaz: Non-committal answer that basically says that Nintendo is doing it's own thing and doesn't worry us and that Microsoft is a worthy adversary but will lose in the end. Plus, we have our own game plan and aren't influenced by the competition.


Kaz: Non-committal answer that points to UT3 mod exchanging between PS3 and PC. Plus, we have our own game plan and aren't influenced by the competition. Have you seen Home? It has website integration.


Kaz: Non-committal answer that states that even though I can't discuss that with you, we do have one and we're happy with how things are going right now.


Kaz: Non-committal answer that says that Blu-ray gives much more room for artistic expression, sly dig at last gen DVD format.


Kaz: Non-committal answer that states that Sony has a movie studio and that SCEE is investigating the licensing issues. We may all be called Sony, but we're different departments you know! :-)


Kaz: Non-committal answer that states that even though I can't discuss that with you, we are making improvements in efficiencies and will be passing those savings on to the consumers at the appropriate time.

Honestly, these guys are so well trained that the only way you will get an honest answer out of them is if you ask a question related to what they are pushing at the time or if you go all Casino Royale on their man-parts (to use a Spam euphemism) and torture it out of them.

Hi, I've got to say that being compared to Fox News is one of the greatest insults I've ever received - so thanks for that - I am beaming.

Now for some context: our interviewer managed to get a very, very brief few minutes with Hirai-san, quite unexpectedly. In the time allowed, the idea was to ask questions (on the fly and without preparation as it goes) that would receive answers and not simply be met with media-trained blandness.

Rather than the Clinton vs Fox (or vice versa) situation whereby Clinton was prepared for an interview that didn't eventuate, but which was always going to come via the Fox agenda, our interview was - until a few moments before - not even expected by us!

As for our bias - we're multi-platform as you can see from the recent set of review scores for both Sony and Microsoft.

This was a case of grabbing an opportunity as it arose - more like Hunter Thompson and Nixon in the limousine in the lead up to the 1968 election. I guess, you'd be slamming Thompson for only interviewing Nixon about football rather than Bobby Kennedy.

The idea of not asking the head of a division about one of the biggest franchises that division has, strikes me as strange in itself.

As for the 'question isn't balance' - that's simply nonsense; it's also a classic confusion of 'balance' with 'positive'. We do not set out to ask, "Hi, why is everything going so brilliantly?", "Why are you so great?"


Cheers

Tim - Bill O'Reilly - Smith

I jest of course...

Sweet gods above - have none of you ever heard of "using your initiative"? Sure it's common practice in to 'get approval' on questions - it's a pain in the backside, but it's been the case since Brutus was interviewed about house-plants shortly after murdering Caesar. It's the game play out between media and subject. But it is not always the case.

Every so often a moment occurs when you just do the bloody interview because a potential interviewer is there in front of you, standing in the corridor, looking bored. Or maybe you've managed to get into an interview room with other hacks and pose a few questions that they haven't - and that haven't previously been prepped.

Sometimes large companies in our industry aren't so totally paranoid or distrustful of their senior executives that they demand to see questions in advance. Thank heavens for that - and well done.

If we don't grasp opportunities like that - hell, you all might as well just subscribe to press release lists. And I am not only talking about Sony here - it's the whole industry - it's all industry.



Well, if you're going to treat him with respect - then at least get his name right before pontificating about respect. Or are you confusing Hirai with Kutaragi? Either way, at no point do we even imply that he didn't do well.

What you're saying here is that we should only ask questions that we already know that the interviewer has a pat response to? Brilliant strategy.

So, I shouldn't ask William Clay Ford, Jr about the Ford Taurus safety rating because Billy is simply head of the company and that's probably too detailed for him? Rubbish. If he doesn't know, all he has to do is to say, "Wow, that's a bit too granular for me, I'll get someone to get back to you", and then follow up - showing respect for his consumers (and potential consumers) via the medium of... well... the media.

Read Hirai-san's answers once again. The things he can answer, he does. Those he can't, he doesn't. He is polite, unruffled and refreshingly frank when he can be.

As for Clinton having Stefan for breakfast - firstly I'm not contending with that image on a Monday morning. Secondly, if Clinton honestly didn't realise that he was going to get a hard time on Fox, then you've got to wonder about his judgement generally.

Cheers

Tim

Good stuff. There's an industry journalist budding away. Please feel free to email personally with any more thoughts.

Cheers

Tim@spong.com

Interesting interview, but I understand where the interviewer stands. Its not easy to interview within five minutes of an elevator ride or something.

There's questions I'd like to ask them.

What's the deal with Sixaxis and how did it come into PS3s plan?
Was it in responce to Wii, as many say?
What happens to Sixaxis once Dual Shock 3 is out?
Why do Sony react so badly to gamers importing games, when piracy is a worse non paying evil?
Payment for import games or free games, which is better?
Do they think their decision against Lik Sang help or hindered them this gen?
Why does PS3 have such bizarrely priced skus, when compared to 360?
On PS3 backward compatibility, why can't your Sony consoles run every game while Nintendo's Wii can GC games?
What happens to Sony's future console development, if PS3 goes out like Betamax?
What have you best learned from the competition to your benefit?

Thanks foolz.

Its also terribly unoriginal...I did it first...and best.

To me, if I remember correctly. I was equally insulted. :-)

Roi! What can I say? I apologies for not being insulted by you first. Jeez, I feel as bad as Bill O'Reilly at a "Be Human" convention.

Cheers

Tim

Of course! You didn't even need to tell us - we all remember that, right guys!

Right guys..?

Guys..?

(Fade out)

"haritori, who are u kidding with? Sony has over 500 games in developments. U expect Kirai to know every single one of them?!?! That is not even his area of speciality. It is common practice in interview to give out the questions to the interviewee. If Hirai knows those were his Qs, I will be surprise he even show up.

Every human should be treated with respect, even interviewee. Not to mention, Kirai is the CEO of one of the most successful company. He did good in PS and PS2 era. Ask him a question, the interviewer know he didn't know. That's cheap shot. If is Bill clinton, he would have Stefan Walters for breakfast."

Man, you couldn't get anymore of that guys cock in your mouth if you tried??!!! haha.

i thought Spong done a good job of Giving sony the sharp end of the stick & highlighting the fact that...
things are looking pretty dark..