13 replies to this topic

[8th lutz]

http://kotaku.com/36...gning-from-sony

SCE Worldwide Studios President Phil Harrison Resigns

SCE Group CEO Kazuo Hirai Assumes Responsibilities

TOKYO, Feb. 25 /PRNewswire/ -- Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. (SCEI) today announced that Phil Harrison, President of Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide Studios (SCE WWS), will resign from Sony Computer Entertainment Group as of February 29, 2008. Kazuo Hirai, President and Group CEO of SCEI, will immediately assume responsibilities as president of SCE WWS, in addition to his current duties.
Prior to the launch of the original PlayStation, Phil Harrison joined Sony Electronics Publishing, Ltd. in 1992, which later evolved into Sony computer Entertainment Europe, and since then, he has made a tremendous contribution to the company playing a strategic role in the launch of four PlayStation platforms, as well as building strong relationships with game developers and publishers throughout the world. Since his appointment to the position of president, SCE WWS, Harrison applied his considerable skill, knowledge and expertise to lead SCE Group's first party game development as well as aggressively pursuing the development of new online entertainment experiences.
"As one of the founding members of SCE, Phil played a key role in the development and growth of the PlayStation business and our industry," said Kazuo Hirai. "It is sad to see him departing from SCE, but I wish to express my gratitude for his many invaluable contributions and also wish Phil the very best of luck in his future endeavors."
"The past 15 years at Sony Computer Entertainment has been the defining journey of my life so far," said Phil Harrison. "I am grateful to all the PlayStation family for their incredible support, guidance and friendship. It has been a privilege to serve as part of the team and be inspired by them on a daily basis. I am so proud of everything PlayStation has achieved and will continue to support its future in every way I can."

Last year "crazy Ken", this year is phil harrision. I don't know if he is the last person that made outrageous statements to the gaming press from sony to resign.

I know there is a rumor of him joining Atari on Kotaku. Here is the link: http://kotaku.com/36...s-joining-atari .

Edited by 8th lutz, Mon Feb 25, 2008 8:41 AM.

[Gregory DG]

Guess he got tired of making excuses for the PS3's low sales numbers.

He might be good at Atari. Lord knows they could use all the help they can get!

And I prefer the Game Industry.com article on this. A bit more professional looking, IMO.

Edited by Gregory DG, Mon Feb 25, 2008 9:16 AM.

[Tempest]

That's odd that he's stepping down now. The PS3 is finally starting to make some inroads on the 360 (the Blu-Ray win should help that a bit) and the PSP is actually starting to sell in decent numbers.

Tempest

[EricDeLee]

I was thinking that as well.
The PS3 is REALLY starting to look up. After a decent Christmas... and now with the great games coming I'm surprised he's stepping down.

Shocked actually.

Bad sells at first... yes. But the PS3 is going to really shine by this summer. The PSP is catching on as mentioned above. Great sales in hardware numbers, and once again killer titles coming to the system soon.

With the titles that are coming... They are actual system sellers min you... I know I wouldn't have resigned. I would have at least rode through the next 12 months as it will be a very good time for the PS3/PSP

That's all without even mentioning and going into the whole HD DVD is obsolete thing.

[MCHufnagel]

Phil Harrison joining Atari (Infogrames?)? Why in the hell would he join that mess? I think this article is more accurate.

http://www.next-gen....c...87&Itemid=2

[Shannon]

Maybe he went broke on all those PS3's sitting on the shelf for more than 5 minutes.

Or was that Ken?

[Curt Vendel]

He's not going to Atari, Inc. He's going to Infogrames, the article is misleading as it doesn't clearly state "Atari Group" which is Infogrames, Atari, Inc here in the US is a separate company that Infogrames licenses the Atari name to.



Curt

Gregory DG, on Mon Feb 25, 2008 10:14 AM, said:

Guess he got tired of making excuses for the PS3's low sales numbers.

He might be good at Atari. Lord knows they could use all the help they can get!

And I prefer the Game Industry.com article on this. A bit more professional looking, IMO.

[MCHufnagel]

Curt Vendel, on Thu Feb 28, 2008 5:52 PM, said:

He's not going to Atari, Inc. He's going to Infogrames, the article is misleading as it doesn't clearly state "Atari Group" which is Infogrames, Atari, Inc here in the US is a separate company that Infogrames licenses the Atari name to.



Curt

Well Curt, you know more about the inner workings of Infogrames/Atari than anyone else here. So I guess my thoughts were wrong. But I still think it's a bad move and Harrison will end up regretting it.

[Curt Vendel]

Its going to be tough coming from such a large and well resourced firm such as Sony to the likes of Infogrames/Atari... We'll have to see how things progress.



Curt

MCHufnagel, on Thu Feb 28, 2008 7:44 PM, said:

Curt Vendel, on Thu Feb 28, 2008 5:52 PM, said:

He's not going to Atari, Inc. He's going to Infogrames, the article is misleading as it doesn't clearly state "Atari Group" which is Infogrames, Atari, Inc here in the US is a separate company that Infogrames licenses the Atari name to.



Curt

Well Curt, you know more about the inner workings of Infogrames/Atari than anyone else here. So I guess my thoughts were wrong. But I still think it's a bad move and Harrison will end up regretting it.

[Retro Rogue]

Yes, as Curt mentioned, Harrison is not joining Atari Inc. He's joining Infogrames and the "Atari brand", which is what he's referring to in those articles. Infogrames owns the Atari brand via its subsidiary Atari Interactive, and they have "plans" for the brand as an online portal. Atari Inc. is on its own, and simply leases the name and properties.

[8th lutz]

Shannon, on Thu Feb 28, 2008 3:15 PM, said:

Maybe he went broke on all those PS3's sitting on the shelf for more than 5 minutes.

Or was that Ken?

Howard Stringer is the one from sony that made outragous comments like paying for every ps 3 on the shelf.

Edited by 8th lutz, Tue Mar 4, 2008 12:21 AM.

[Retro Rogue]

And the final blow to Atari Inc.:

http://www.gamesindu...e.php?aid=33740

Infogrames has promoted Mathias Hautefort to head of global distribution for Atari products in the US, Europe and Asia.


That means they've moved all distribution regarding the Atari brand to France as well, which means they need Atari Inc. for nothing.

[mos6507]

If they "dissolve" Atari Inc then what happens to all that corporate debt?

[fdurso224]

Hi Guys:

Phil Harrison did hurt the PS3 the same way Ken Kutaragi was damaging the system to. Lucky Kazuo "Kaz" Hirai is in charge & fixing up the errors that those imbeciles left behind (-_^)

Anthony....