Shuhei Yoshida has huge responsibilities at Sony. After all, he's the President of Sony's Worldwide Studios, the man ultimately calling the shots for each and every one of Sony's 15 first party developers. Recently, the PlayStation Blog sat down with Mr. Yoshida to ask him about the PlayStation Vita. How does he feel about it? Is he excited about the games? What's Sony's long term plan with its new handheld?
Yoshida admits that PlayStation Vita has been in the works for a very long time. "Full development of PS Vita hardware started in Spring, 2008 when the semiconductor was complete... [Sony Worldwide Studios was] there at every stage and with every prototype, and we developed game builds to prove and, sometimes, disprove how each new feature was going to make for a great game system."
He continues to explain how Kaz Hirai, now Sony's Deputy President and Chariman, "brought in the approach of fully integrating software and hardware development," which created a sort of synthesis between the two sides that catered the hardware most to what software developers needed, while allowing software developers to create the best possible games for Sony's new handheld.
And it's the games that many PlayStation fans are most excited about with Vita. Indeed, PlayStation Vita launched with 24 games in Japan, a huge amount of launch titles essentially unrivaled in industry history. "Generally we look three years ahead when we work on games," Yoshida told the PlayStation Blog. "We have a fairly firm plan right up to 2013" with software, and readily admits that Sony won't repeat the same mistakes it did with PSP.
"In the past we launched PSP and then shifted our attention to PS3 when that came on the horizon, which we now concede was a mistake. So with PS Vita we are working on this huge range [of] titles and planning ahead for a constant supply of excellent games."
Mr. Yoshida was right. Hot Shots Golf 6 is Vita's hottest launch title.
But what about games still forthcoming for PlayStation Vita. Can gamers expect new IPs, or new iterations of established franchises? "People like to see their favorite franchises, partly because gaming is about learning a mechanic and developing a skill, and players want to use those skills that they have honed." However, Yoshida continued, stating that "when we introduce new hardware with unique interfaces and network options, it is almost easier to work on something completely new." Then again, with the likes of Resistance, Killzone, LittleBigPlanet and more coming to Vita, it's safe to say that a mixture of both new and old will ultimately be coming to PlayStation Vita in abundance.
Yoshida also speaks to a major concern with the core PlayStation audience, that perhaps PlayStation Vita is almost too gimmicky with some of its hardware offerings. "One thing I know about hardcore gamers," Yoshida responded, "is that they hate it when we try to shove new technology down their throats. There may be a perception that Augmented Reality is a gimmick, so we have to provide something that is robust and genuinely enhances the experience. You're right that AR leans more towards a casual or a younger audience but I don't think that's a bad thing; I think that it helps PS Vita to be more relevant to a wider group of people. The more we experience, I'm sure that we will see real gameplay benefits for hardcore players."
And what of those benefits? How are those future games coming along? "If you're keeping track of the third-party games that are being developed [for PlayStation Vita] then you'll be amazed at how quickly they are coming together," boasts Yoshida. "When I saw new developers coming in and getting straight to work on those systems... I could not believe how quickly they were getting their games up and running. I have never seen anything like it before."
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