Following his keynote presentation at the Game Developers Conference, Phil Harrison invited select members of the press for a question and answer session over lunch. Below are some of the highlights from this session.
Question: There's been some question over whether the hard drive will indeed be included with the PS3. Can you confirm either way?
Phil Harrison: As head of the software studios I don't want to be the one comment on the hardware, but I'll say this: developers are all designing their games to support the hard drive. All of our games are absolutely using the hard drive.
Question: Considering that you are doing a worldwide launch, what sort of steps are you taking to ensure that there will be sufficient numbers of units available at launch?
PH: I'm in charge of the software studios, not the manufacturing plant, but as you can see from our history, Sony has been very good about supporting our hardware launches. Yes, some consumers will be disappointed, unfortunately. But our ramp-up of over 1 million units per month is the fastest we've ever had.
Question: Are you going to be at a competitive disadvantage with Xbox 360 having a full year head start on the PS3?
PH: We've actually never been the first platform to the market in what would be considered the generation shift. I think what you've seen today and in our previous announcements is that we have a tremendous powerful hardware coupled with an excellent software backing. We're not concerned.
Question: You've announced that you're going to soon offer PS1 games on the PSP via emulation. Will these titles see any sort of upgrades in the process?
PH: That's a good question, and I don't have any answers at this point. The PS3 is certainly going to offer high definition display when PS1 and PS2 games are played on it. Technically, it's possible, though the headroom is obviously less than what we can accomplish on the PS3.
Question: Are we going to see user generated content as part of the PlayStation Network?
PH: Absolutely. We believe the power of the network is a construct of the people within the network. We've never had that two way communication before and we're very excited about the possibilities.
Question: What do you see with downloadable content on PS3?
PH: I want to push beyond the traditional gameplay we see in retail. For example, we want to be offering downloadable episodic content, whether it's game, music, television - or perhaps some combination of those. The possibilities are endless.
Question: The PS2 was widely regarded as difficult to program for - will the PS3 be similar?
PH: One of the criticisms of the PS2 was that while it was very powerful, it was also to harness this power. I accept that it was difficult to program for. That came down to the proprietary nature of the processors - but when you compare that to the general nature of the PS3's processors, it becomes much easier to work with. You can use more general purpose programmers, for example. That's also being coupled with far better tools for the developers. Those two together mean that the developers can produce higher performance faster on the PS3.
Question: Why not offer more (or all) titles via digital download?
PH: There's no restrictions as to what you could offer to download to the PS3, but there's a big difference in the rollout of broadband in various countries. I think we'll see some markets with high distribution and thusly higher downloadable content offerings. But Blu-ray will be the primary distribution method for the triple a games that you will see on the PS3. As for how the eventual shift to downloads will happen, we aren't the ones to control that, the consumers will.
Question: Will the PlayStation Network also be available on other Sony products? Will you also be able to use micropayments for things other than games?
PH: With regard to the network platform, the focus is around the PS3, but shortly it will extend to the PSP. As it relates to formats that aren't part of the Sony Computer Entertainment fold, that's not currently part of the plan, but I see no reason why it couldn't extend into other areas. I see no reason why you couldn't use micropayments to pay for music or any other digital file.
Question: Would it be fair to assume that the titles you showed today are launch titles for the PS3?
PH: All of that will be answered at E3. It would be hard for me to speculate now, with the launch in November. I think it's fair to assume that the ones we showed you are going to be more advanced, though. In fact, that demo we showed of Resistance: The Fall of Man was created for a meeting in December; that code has been running since December. As you'll see at E3, you'll see some real innovations as they move onto the final hardware.
Question: Will the free PlayStation Network allow things like multiplayer gaming?
PH: While there will be content offerings that will be premium, we are aiming to have a free platform, so things like multiplayer gaming will be free. We have no plans to charge for that at the moment.
Question: Did you not show the new version of the PS3 controller because of the Immersion lawsuit?
PH: That has no impact on why we didn't show the controller. The controller will be revealed at E3.
Question: Are all models of the PS3 going to be region specific. What about the games?
PH: The thing that makes the games region free or not is different than what makes the hardware different. With the power voltage and things like that, the hardware will need to be specific to a region. Software, however, will be region free. It's possible for developers to put all the TV formats - PAL, NTSC, HDTV, and so on - on the disc.
