Hirai apologises for PS3s "difficult" first year
Humble president acknowledges disappointment of Home delay, but says 2008 will deliver key titles
Speaking at the PlayStation Day yesterday, president of Sony Computer Entertainment Kaz Hirai apologised for teething problems during the first year of the PlayStation 3 and the disappointment of delaying social networking application Home.
He acknowledged that the the software line-up was underwhelming for some consumers, and that competitors enjoyed a more successful year during the first 12 months of release for the company's luxury console.
"It's fair to say that the first year of PlayStation 3 was somewhat a difficult one," offered Hirai. "There were some teething problems, success from our competitors, and our customers were a little underwhelmed by the range of titles that were available."
"This was something that we were very much aware of, and something that we were confident we could over come," he said.
Last month Sony made the decision to delay Home, the PS3 social networking and online gaming space, but Hirai reiterated that it would not be released until he was personally happy with it.
"I realise this announcement was disappointing to many people, from TGS where we were aiming for a spring launch, so please accept my apologies for this delay.
"But as I said at Tokyo Game Show, I would not open up Home until I was completely happy with it, and I still stand by that statement.
"We've been testing Home for some time and I simply feel that as great as Home currently is, it needs a little bit more time before it's ready for the wider public - something we firmly believe we can provide in the autumn," he added.
Earlier at the PlayStation event, David Reeves, president of SCEE revealed the PlayStation 3 has now sold more units in Europe than the Xbox 360, and Hirai noted that 2008 has been a good year for the company so far, even with only two key titles – GT5 Prologue and Grand Theft Auto IV – on release.
"Things have improved since the Christmas season and 2008 has gotten off to a fantastic start. What fills me with even greater pleasure is that our year so far has only seen the launch of two of our key titles," he commented.
Some of the titles on display during the London event included Home, Little Big Planet and Motorstorm Pacific Rift.