GDC 08: Phil Harrison Frustrated with Sony Japan’s Adoption of Social Gaming

Sony’s head of worldwide studios, Phil Harrison, is understandably frustrated with the Sony execs over in Japan. Long before the Wii came along and made a fortune for Nintendo off of the social gaming scene, Sony had a trio of social games in Europe that were tremendously successful – SingStar, Buzz, and the EyeToy. And despite Harrison’s insistence, Sony execs in Japan were hesitant to adopt social games, stating that there was no market for the genre in Japan.

“It’s a very interesting and frustrating thing for me to experience because I have been banging the drum about social gaming for a long time, with SingStar, EyeToy and Buzz,” he said at GDC.

“And our Japanese colleagues said that there is no such thing as social gaming in Japan – people do not play games on the same sofa together in each other’s homes. It will never happen. And then out comes the Wii.”

“What’s interesting with Nintendo adverts – and they are the same the world over – they always show the view from the television back to the sofa, which is very clever. And what do you see? A family or friends all on a sofa.”

Harrison also said he admires Nintendo’s success and thinks Wii Sports is a truly next generation game. I can understand where Harrison is coming from; Nintendo is clearly dominating the market right now with its casual approach, which is apparently a direction that Harrison wanted to go in. Having your colleagues say there isn’t a market for something – and then being proven completely wrong – is a formula that is bound to get under anybody’s skin.

via GamesIndustry.biz