Time to let new Sony management shine, says Deering

Former Sony Europe boss Chris Deering has backed his old company, telling GamesIndustry.biz that now is a good time to let new management breathe fresh life back into the company.

The entertainment giant has taken some well-publicised knocks recently, with the game division suffering a 68 per cent drop in operating profits due to the launch of the PlayStation 3, slow manufacturing of the crucial Blu-ray diodes and criticism over perceived poor sales of the luxury home console.

But with highly-regarded names Ken Kuturagi retired and Kaz Hirai taking on a CEO role, Deering says that the time is right for background players at Sony to step forward and help the company shine once again.

"I'm optimistic about PlayStation. Of course there was the changing of the guard with Ken [Kutaragi] retiring and Kaz [Hirai] moving," said Deering in an exclusive interview published today.

"There's a resource of very experienced management in PlayStation which perhaps up to now hasn't been fully tapped, and deserves to move into executive status and to strut their stuff.

"I think it's appropriate that there's a new energy, new faces and an approach that's contemporary," he said.

Although the PlayStation 3 has been criticised for its EUR 599 / GBP 425 price tag, Deering believes Sony made the right decision, comparing the latest home console to the original PlayStation from 1995.

"The price, which has clearly been circled as a major issue for PS3, is a bit of a sticker shock compared with traditional game devices," he said.

"But if you think about PlayStation 1, which launched at GBP 299 in 1995 - that's 12 years ago, when the price of a pint of beer was a pound... Really, it's no more expensive in today's money than a PS1 was back in 1995."

The full interview with Chris Deering can be read here.