Ben-DutkaSony UK's managing director Ray Maguire has been a busy guy as of late, providing quote after quote for the industry journalists to print and for the readers to analyze. The latest batch of comments comes from a recent GamesIndustry.biz interview, where Maguire talks about the upswing of the PS3 and perceived downswing of the competition, and the trials and tribulations of creating something like PlayStation Home.
In talking about the current position of Sony's machine and how it stacks up to the competition, Maguire quickly reminds everyone of the PS3's upward trend in both sales and general popularity. And in a relatively diplomatic way, he suggests that the competition is faltering. "It [the PS3] is nowhere near even halfway through its lifecycle, and I could argue that some other competing formats are on their way down right now." Well, in looking at some of the recent sales numbers, this statement does hold water. In regards to Home, which has suffered through a few major delays, Maguire emphasized Sony's commitment to making sure "that things are born at the right time."
"We have to make sure that things are born at the right time, that the infrastructures are right and are tested, and that they actually work. It's one of the things that PlayStation has been known for – a plug-and-play mentality, rather than a patch-patch mentality. Getting it right is more important than getting it out quick, and I think it's very difficult to make that decision, to hold something up, but again I think it was the right decision to make sure that we were defining along the line where it is that we're trying to go to."
Yeah, we're not big fans of this patch-patch deal, either, so if they have to take longer to produce a fully functioning service right off the bat, than so be it. The same goes for games, too, in our minds. As much as we love the next-gen consoles, we still remember with nostalgic contentment the true plug-and-play days of the ol' Nintendos and such. No installs, no patches, no firmwares, no updates, no nothing. But hey, with advancement comes added difficulty…especially in the technical world.
