In an interview with TheStreet.com, Jack Tretton, co-chief operating officer of Sony Computer Entertainment America showed that Sony's recent insanity isn't just restricted to Europe and Japan. When asked about the poor perception of Sony's E3 presentation, Tretton stated that Sony was very pleased with their performance and that they accomplished everything they set out to do at the show;
"If we were trying to do a PR blitz on our announcements, we would have perceived it a little bit differently. But we really saw this as an opportunity to announce some very important details to the trade. And I think if you ask the trade, meaning the retail constituency and the third parties, they came away pretty pleased with how everything went." -Jack Tretton
When pressed on the fact that the general public came away with an apparently different opinion than Sony, Tretton stated that Sony is now in the process of trying to explain to consumers why the system is right for them;
"We are in the process of reaching out to the consumers to try to explain what our platform's all about and why they're going to want one between that May and November time frame. But I think six months out of any platform launch, it's a little bit early in terms of being able to roll out all the details." -Jack Tretton
"Well, I guess if price is the only consideration, then we've won the war, because we've got a $129 PlayStation 2 that outsells the Xbox 360 today.
If you look at the cost of the components and more importantly, the value to consumers, you have everything in the box at $399 on the Xbox 360; and it still falls well short of what the PlayStation 3 offers at $499. " -Jack Tretton
On Microsoft's early lead in units sold;
"It ultimately came down to the system and what consumers preferred. At the end of the day, what you do in the first year, and whether you do 6 or 10 million units does not determine whether you're successful or not. We're looking to sell 100 million-plus worldwide. We're looking to sell 50 million plus in North America." - Jack Tretton
On Microsoft's ability to compete financially with Sony;
"There's no question they have a higher pain tolerance. I think most companies, if they'd lost the billions that Microsoft has lost on the Xbox, would question whether or not they belong in the business. Obviously, they have a different standard of success." -Jack Tretton
And finally, on the impact of Grand Theft Auto IV releasing simultaneously on the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3;
"There's no question that having the Grand Theft Auto franchise helped us a lot and helped us sell some units, but I don't think the battle would be any different with or without Grand Theft Auto.
If you look at our first-party library and the franchises that we've brought to market over the course of PlayStation 2, we have a very formidable first-party library of exclusive software that will help define us. " - Jack Tretton
Well you certainly wouldn't expect him to have anything negative to say about his own company, would you? Still, regarding the comments about public perception of the PS3, you have to wonder just what exactly they're putting in the coffee over at Sony. Check out the full TheStreet.com interview here and judge for yourself.
