Interveiw with Ken Kutaragi about Sonys Online plans

from Coremagazine
Sony president Ken Kutaragi and vice-president Akira Sato fielded a series of questions from the audience following today\'s \'PlayStation Meeting 2002\' in Tokyo. Below is a preliminary recap:

Question: When the PlayStation 2 broadband service goes online in May, what games will be available for players?

Kutaragi-san: One of the first titles available for the network will be Square\'s RPG \'Final Fantasy XI.\' It\'s up to third party developers to decide the release dates for their own titles. Certainly the number of games supported will grow from May onward.

Question: What about the problems associated with broadband networks, such as bottlenecks?

Kutaragi-san: Bottlenecks really depend on the infrastructure and the hardware being used, but as the network spreads, we anticipate some strain on the server side. We\'re already working with IBM and Toshiba to alleviate those potential problems.

Question: Will the contents of the network differ depending upon the Internet Service Provider the user chooses?

Sato-san: No, the network contents will be universal. The service fees for accessing the network however will vary depending upon the ISP.

Question: What\'s your target number of users for the broadband network?

Kutaragi-san: Ideally, our goal is to have every PlayStation 2 owner utilize the network. However, we realize the spread of an online services can take time. For example, it took six months before there were 1 million i-mode subscribers. We anticipate a low level of acceptance for the network at the beginning, but that will gradually increase.

Question: Are there plans to release a PlayStation 2 model with built-in networking components such as the hard-drive and Ethernet?

Kutaragi-san: From a consumer standpoint, there\'s no difference whether the components are built-in or separate. There\'s a possibility of bundling the hardware for sale together in the future depending upon demand from the market.

Question: Can you explain the Instant Messenger functions of the network, and will users be able to access the World Wide Web through the PlayStation 2 broadband network?

Kutaragi-san: The network will support an Instant Messenger service and will allow email to addresses utilizing devices such as cellphones and PC\'s. We believe the network should be relatively open. Television\'s however aren\'t suitable for displaying proper HTML webpages.

Question: For the average consumer, what kind of initial investment can the expect in order to access the network?

Kutaragi-san: In order to minimize initial costs, we plan to offer rentable hardware for about 1000 yen per month. At that price level, I don\'t think players have to worry about the cost of accessing the network.

Question: What percent of the PlayStation 2 software lineup will be broadband compatible?

Sato-san: That depends on the users and how well the network is received, that\'s what developers will be looking at.

Question: What about the threat of Microsoft\'s Xbox?

Kutaragi-san: Microsoft has made it clear that they plan to pursue a broadband network for the Xbox. Rather than a threat, we view them as partners progressing towards a similar goal. Albeit separate, we\'re happy to be heading the same direction at the same time.

Question: For players worried about their personal information, what kind of priacy measures can they expect?

Kutaragi-san: Legally and morally, the outflow of personal information is prohibited. We don\'t have a business model based on obtaining or selling such information, and will protect the privacy of our members.

Question: Will all broadband compatible games be supported through each Internet Service Provider?

Kutaragi-san: In theory, every ISP will be able to support all the broadband compatible titles. However, that may change depending upon the release lineup and the rise in users through each ISP.

Sato-san: It also depends on the third party software developers. Although a developer could decide to support only one ISP, fundamentally all games can be played through different providers.

-- Translation Asst. Tsuno Okashi

Its gonna be FREE??
I like..

Just hope they choose the right price for this. Anyways, I would probably pay the necessary price for all these features. (If they are free)

Originally posted by fastson


Its gonna be FREE??
I like..

Just hope they choose the right price for this. Anyways, I would probably pay the necessary price for all these features. (If they are free)

Where did you see "free?"  There\'s gonna be a monthy charge for accessing the network.

Originally posted by Troglodyte


Where did you see "Free???"  It said "1000 yen a month."

No.. I mean the features.
The Hardware Im prepared to buy of course.

Originally posted by fastson


No.. I mean the features.
The Hardware Im prepared to buy of course.

Sorry. . . misread and edited my message. . . see above.

The service fees for accessing the network however will vary depending upon the ISP.

As I understood it, the ISP takes a monthly fee for you to access the internet through them. (Like normal)

I pay about $33 for my ADSL connection.

Will Sony then charge and extra fee upon that based on what ISP I use?

Im confused.

Originally posted by fastson


As I understood it, the ISP takes a monthly fee for you to access the internet through them. (Like normal)

I pay about $33 for my ADSL connection.

Will Sony then charge and extra fee upon that based on what ISP I use?

Im confused.

I remember Square sugesting that there would be a $5 a month additional fee for using their PLayOnline service.  That would cover all PlayOnline games (SquareSoft).  I thought it depended on the company that sold the game, and not the ISP.  Unless some ISP\'s throw in "gamers-deals," where you only pay $10 a month for all game networks or something.

Originally posted by Troglodyte


I remember Square sugesting that there would be a $5 a month additional fee for using their PLayOnline service.  That would cover all PlayOnline games (SquareSoft).  I thought it depended on the company that sold the game, and not the ISP.  Unless some ISP\'s throw in "gamers-deals," where you only pay $10 a month for all game networks or something.

Yeah.. But that’s Square
I think Sony’s network will be free, just that you pay your ISP to access it (like you do now.. You pay them to access the Internet).

That’s how I understood it at least.

SOE (Sony Online Entertainment) will have MOMG (Massive Online Multiplayer Games) that will cost something to play online.
Games like GT4 with an online option will probably be free to play online. (Just like PC games are now. Everquest costs because it totally online.. Return to Castle Wolfenstein or Operation Flashpoints are free to play)

That’s how I see it working.

So hold on.. I\'m still a bit mystified. There\'s a LOT of rural and urban PS2 users who can\'t get broadband service. Is Sony\'s online plans focusing on broadband only or will there be other games available which utilze 56k modems?

I remember Square sugesting that there would be a $5 a month additional fee for using their PLayOnline service.

That\'s almost right.  They said there would be a monthly cost for their games (like FFXI), but the actual PlayOnline network would still be free.  There are things you can do on PlayOnline other than FFXI (I think that card game will be free ).

So hold on.. I\'m still a bit mystified. There\'s a LOT of rural and urban PS2 users who can\'t get broadband service. Is Sony\'s online plans focusing on broadband only or will there be other games available which utilze 56k modems?

All games will be playable on 56k.  That is one area where Sony\'s plan surpasses Microsoft\'s (but Microsoft\'s plan surpasses Sony\'s in other areas).  FFXI has been said to work with 56k modems.  And the Dreamcast online network used 56k modems, and I heard it ran very smoothly.

It did. Actually, most all online games for the Dreamcast ran pretty smoothly. I wasn\'t even using Seganet which was supposed to be quite a bit more lagfree than most ISP\'s. QIII runs nice and smooth except for the ocassional blip where 3 or four people were in very close proximity firing rockets. You almost can\'t tell PSO lags at all. Only on rare ocassions do you see stuff like your teammates slicing air, but still killing monsters... or items that are on the ground that you can\'t pick up because someone else already got them.

Set up right, I don\'t see why Microsoft had such a big problem with allowing 56k users to use the Xbox online. They should have had a removeable modem like the Dreamcast\'s that could be easily upgraded to broadband if you wanted. Would it really have killed them to allow more than 18% of it\'s userbase go online? Sure reletively lag free servers are great... but come on now... at least give us narrow band users a chance!

wow, great, cause i live in a small village and I can\'t connect by ADSL or broadband... I hope your comments are right... if not... I won\'t be able to play online with all you