Phil Harrison’s Replacement Talks Worldwide Studios and Recent Cancellations

Shuhei Yoshida, the recently appointed replacement for Phil Harrison as head of Sony’s Worldwide Studios, has had a lot to say this past week with regards to how things have changed since Ken Kuturagi’s departure, what his plans are for Worldwide Studios, and what the deal was with the cancellation of Eight Days and The Getaway.

“[O]ne focus that has been and will be key is how we use the online technology and PlayStation Network to involve more consumers in participating,” Yoshida told Develop Mag. “LittleBigPlanet is a major, major step forward in that this year. Prior to that we released SingStar, and I’ve been checking out people’s videos – it’s been very interesting to see that people enjoy publishing their performances. And the Buzz channel – I can’t wait to see the strange questions people come up with for that! So that’s the major common theme that we are trying to enforce with all our projects.”

A major thing that Phil Harrison always focused on was products like EyeToy and SingStar that had a broad appeal, and Yoshida believes things won’t change under his guidance. He said, “We have always been a fan of adding new interfaces to the core platform to create some unique experiences, so we will definitely continue do that. But there are also new users coming into the space – many of them choose Nintendo Wii for the first platform as it is easy and fun, but when they have fun, some of them will think ‘Perhaps there is something more out there I can play.’”

You can check out the full interview with Yoshida at Develop.