GameOn: What sort of digital content's coming for PSP owners in 2009? For PlayStation 3 owners? Will Sony offer additional direct-download Blu-ray titles through its PlayStation Store? What about PlayStation Home integration? Will we ever see Home avatars crossover to the XMB interface? I tracked down Sony Director of Network Operations Eric Lempel to get answers to those question and others in the following two part interview.
GO: Eric Lempel's vision for the rest of 2009? Where do you want to be by the end of the year with the PlayStation Network?
EL: I'd encourage people to really explore the value of PlayStation Network. There's a ton of stuff under the hood. It's not just online gaming, and it's not just the store. There's a lot of other stuff that gets overlooked. Just to rattle through the list, users who have a PS3 have free access to the PlayStation Network, they've got Wi-Fi built in so it's easy to get connected. Once you're connected, you've got access to a ton more stuff.
So just to go through the list, you've got the PlayStation Store, where you can demo a ton of PlayStation Network as well as Blu-ray games. Of course you can buy a ton of great content, some of the content we've discussed, but you know, there's add-ons for games, there are completely new and original games, there are classic versions of games that have been updated, there's free trailers, there are themes, wallpapers, music. I mean, there's a ton of stuff available on just the game side, and a lot of that I think gets overlooked here and there. And I also would say that the games we put out on PlayStation Network are not these tiny bite-sized games. They're quite deep, immersive experiences, made exclusively for the PS3. You know, high-definition, great games. Great content that's actually high quality.
Square Enix launches Final Fantasy X 25th anniversary site, revealing new Nomura art, books, music releases, and merchandise.
Look I know VIII has its issues and all that but how on earth can the do big anniversary events with new artwork and merchandise for VII, IX and X yet VIII got sweet f*** all.
They could have given it something during its 25th anniversary yet all it got was a single Happy Anniversary post on their social media.
they should know that we are OG fans of VIII as it sold truckload as well. not as much as VII or X. I personally didn't like IX but X and VI are my personal fav.
Shadow Hearts 2 covenant is another game I love. I hope one day someone can make remake, I would be delighted
Final Fantasy VIII is great and you are always the first to defend it in the comments
A brutal reset, a smarter story, and a return to what made it great—Mortal Kombat (2011) revived the series.
Underrated comment. I used to hate that game so much that any time my siblings asked me to play it, I just picked Hom and shut myself down mid-match.
15 years went by so fast. I remember playing through the story mode at launch.
Why did Sony push Shuhei Yoshida out of his role leading PlayStation's first-party games? He'd overseen some huge successes. Well, apparently, he didn't listen.
Yeah I can see that for sure. Shuhei Yoshida should have been in charge not Jim Ryan.
It should be free highway for him now.. but Sony are too stupid to see this, especially that moron Hulst
Wtf why all that anger. PlayStation is dominating on every level. Besides I think there is a little more to hiring a CEO than just who is available. Its not like its a athlete your team wants to buy.
S2Killinit
live service failures, chasing trends, closing studios. yes dominating
Sony is Dominating because competition is not existing. Compared to previous gens this is the poorest in terms of software offerings.
Last gen we got Uncharted 4 Lost Legacy and TLOU2 from ND alone.
This is so far a remasters gen, with no competition to lift up the quality
..."PlayStation is dominating on every level"....
...Really???
PlayStation are soon heading into a new generation in the not to distant future. They currently have the worst customer satisfaction they've ever sustained as a company. The company is heading for a huge crash while at the same time they'll need to be planning how they are going to try and win back that favour and the build up to their new releases.
Yes financially they're winning but they're going to have to ride out this complete public corporate disaster. No one has faith in the company or the product anymore. They've damaged their public image so much this generation. Greed can kill anyone.
He would've done the same thing and fire Jim Ryan and Shuhei would be the villain. Why?
Because Elite creates the narrative and distraction for gamers, users and citizens.
More confirmation that Jim Ryan is the culprit for what has happened to Sony. Hulst needs to go too. What sucks is that a lot of the good top heads at Sony are no longer there. I wish that guys that were forced out prematurely by Dumbo Jimbo like Shuhei and Layden came back.
Yep. Yoshida was responsible for bringing one of the best games of this generation to playstation (Stellar Blade). He is an actual gamer and is in touch with what gamers want (creative, fun games, not GaaS and agenda pushing). He also seems like a genuinely nice guy if you watch some interviews. Of course they got rid of him.
Makes you wonder if MS even thought about hiring him after Phil and Sarah were leaving. He certainly couldn't make their situation any worse.
All the gamer/consumer lead heads are gone across PS and Xbox. shuhei gone phil's gone (questionable) but gone. The future of gaming is somewhat uncertain across the board.
