SCE France pres. talks release, FFXIII

Apparently, even Europeans aren’t exempt from Sony’s hubris. I thought that the French, who seem so reasonable, would be a little more in touch with the real world. However, as Georges Fournay, VP of SCE Europe and P of SCE France, shows us, that isn’t necessarily true.

Let’s check in on the PSTriple’s European launch, shall we?

“Those who said that the console is too expensive will get their money’s worth: in France, the PS3 is already a success.”

On the subject of backwards incompatibility: “Right now, if you ask me if it’s a bad blow for the launch, I would say that we would be better off being sure that the console would be totally backwards compatible before releasing it. But hey, when the PS3 shows of its capacity, players won’t have any more desire to play the PS2…” 

 “What’s certain, for us, is that 2007 will be a record year in cumulative sales of the PSP, PS2, and PS3”

After the Charlie Foxtrot that was the U.S. launch, one would think that Sony would have learned how to improve their public relations. Asserting that 2007 will set new sales records with a total disregard for the financial limitations of its demographic sounds like the type of rhetoric that got them in trouble stateside.

And while I agree that people with a PS3 will want to play PS3 (as opposed to PS2) games, backwards compatibility nevertheless remains an important part of gaming. It’s a question of convenience, and a basic service that Sony should provide to its customers. I’ll go as far as to say that 50% of the time, I’m playing last-gen games, and I should be able to do so without pulling out an entirely different console. Sony cannot continue to alienate its consumers. It’s getting old.

Of course, this could just be yet another clever and sneaky viral marketing tacket, although I doubt it. Meanwhile, the U.K. launch is going swimmingly. 

But did Mr. Fournay say anything good? Why, yes!

“And we plan on avoiding a shortage phenomenon: we will put a million PS3s on the European market, plus 150,000 in France. 

On increase in revenues in the gaming industry as a whole: “That means that there is room for three … even if it’s always better to lead the race. 

Hey, alright, some common sense from the Sony camp! Supplying enough consoles to meet the demand seems like a good start for Sony’s campaign through Europe. Hopefully, this will discourage rogue eBayers from ruining everyone’s fun. Furthermore at least Sony Europe realizes that what’s good for gaming as whole is good for them.

Now that these boring semantics are out of the way … why do we care? Because Final Fantasy XII may or may not be exclusive anymore:

“The cost of game development has exploded and it’s becoming difficult to have exclusivity besides our own games … And, for Final Fantasy XII, I can tell you that exclusivity is being discussed.”

Bad news for Sony, good news for us. Bloggers and industry people alike, namely Hironobu Sakaguchi, would love to see FFXIII on the Xbox 360. But, let’s be honest, he has about as much say in the matter as I do. 

Other quick tidbits: Worldwide, Sony will lose 2 billion euros on the PS3 launch, hoping to recoupe it by game sales and accessories. By the end of 2007, Sony hopes to have 200 games out for the PS3.

You can find a Babelfish sloppy translation here. 

[via DNA]