Q&A: Sony Australia boss Michael Ephraim on PlayStation 3

Hot on the heels of Sony's PlayStation Day media event in London last week, we spoke with Sony Computer Entertainment Australia and New Zealand managing director Michael Ephraim about issues closer to home. We also took the chance to ask him about where the PlayStation 3 will be at the end of 2008, future PS3 hardware bundles, and when we can take to the streets in the Sony/Nissan GT Academy Gran Turismo 5 Prologue competition.

GameSpot AU: At Sony's PlayStation Day media event in London last week, SCEE President David Reeves said the PS3 has been outselling the Xbox 360 since October 2007. Is this also true for Australia?

Michael Ephraim: We're very happy with the [Australian] sales, and I can say that since Christmas 2007, PlayStation 3 has definitely increased in market share. We're definitely outselling one of our competitors.

GS AU: Which one?

ME: Well, you look at true competitors, you look at devices, I would think PS3 and Xbox are the two products with price-point offerings at the same area. I think in that space we're definitely doing extremely well in the first quarter of this year, and the momentum at retail is indicating that in that space we're going to have a very solid year.

GS AU: Will Sony have a larger hardware-install base than the Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii consoles in the Australian market by the end of 2008?

ME: I can't discuss some things right at this point in time, but we'll be more than glad to do it at a slightly later date.

GS AU: Last week Killzone 2 was officially delayed to February 2009. Is that an anticipated global shipping date?

ME: All the dates you heard in London will apply for Australia. We follow the European release date to the tee--we just sometimes adjust a week for freight issues. All the information you got there is a ditto for Australia.

GS AU: Only 8 million of the global 10.5 million PlayStation 3 owners have registered for the PlayStation Network. Are you surprised by what could be seen as low uptake despite the service being offered free?

ME: I think that's pretty amazing when you think that not every house has broadband, and not every house has wireless broadband; to get 100 percent connect would be virtually impossible. If you look at other devices, and all you need to do is look at our competitor, I think they announced a while back that something like 50 percent of people are connecting. I think 8 million on a base of 10.5 is a fantastic result.

GS AU: What are Sony's plans to launch the Nissan-partnered GT Academy driving competition to Australian gamers?

ME: I don't have a lot of details, but we definitely intend to be involved in that competition. I think it's a brilliant competition.

GS AU: Can you give us any indication of a rough time frame?

ME: No, to be honest that was a project that was fairly new, but we will do everything we can to include Australia. In all global competitions in the past, including Formula 1 and Tekken competitions, I think one of the finalists was an Australian, so we intend to bring that out to the Australian consumer as well.

GS AU: PlayTV, Sony's take on PlayStation 3's PVR functionality, has been confirmed as a September release at 99 Euros. Is Australia any closer to a date and price announcement?

ME: No, the first tier regions are France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the UK; we are the next cab on the rank as one of the next territories. There's some issues regarding Electronic Program Guides (EPG) and classifications for broadcast and all that stuff, but we're definitely putting a lot of resources behind that, and we hope to deliver it this side of Christmas. Currently it's still to be confirmed, but it's slotted for the last quarter of the year. We probably won't make any further announcements until the end of July or August when we have everything locked down, but we're very excited about the product and we're working hard to bring it to Australia.

GS AU: How successful has Sony's BRAVIA promotion--where you've given away a free PS3 with the purchase of new screens--been to date?

ME: Very. I think publicly everyone knows about the promotion with BRAVIA, Sony went on to sell 33,000 BRAVIAs with a free PS3 and took something like 70 percent market share in the month of January for high-definition TVs. I think what's it's saying is that consumers who are looking for a high-definition solution for their home are understanding the benefits of a PS3 connected to a high-definition panel. So we are definitely exploring more of those promotions. Mobile-phone promotions; we've always done those historically and now it's starting to pick up momentum, because PS3 is a product that people do attach a higher value than just what the recommended retail price is. As I said, it really enhances their high-definition experience in the home. There are plans, nothing I can talk about right now, but those 33,000 by the way, those PS3s weren't even included in [Australian games retail tracker] GFK figures, so we'll have to have an asterisk for all the promotional take-ups because they're starting to make up a reasonable quantity of PS3s going into homes.

GS AU: Recently we've heard anecdotal evidence of consumers waiting months after the purchase of a BRAVIA or mobile-phone deal for their promotional console to be delivered. Do you have any insight into the issue?

ME: That's something you'd need to talk to Sony about, but I think now that core issue has been resolved. The take-up was bigger than expected, and the take-up at retail [for PS3] is also growing, and I don't want to comment too much because it's not my promotion. We were the added value, but I can say that we have now delivered all the stock to fulfill all the prizes, and it was unfortunate, and again it wasn't my promotion, but the sheer uptake was beyond everyone's expectations. We have fulfilled every unit requirement now for the BRAVIA offer, and there are no shortages for any phone or broadband deals or anything of that nature.

GS AU: Given we fall in line with Sony Europe releases, does that mean Australia will receive the Metal Gear Solid 4 hardware bundle?

ME: Metal Gear Solid will be bundled here as well and will launch, we hope, at the same time as the game. We've got a bundle--the product with the hardware and the price point will be A$749, the same price as our GTAIV bundle, which did very well. We are definitely supporting that in Australia as well.

GS AU: How successful has the GTAIV hardware bundle been in Australia?

ME: GTAIV has gone extremely well. If you look at the total combined sales of the GTA [software] SKU (Stock Keeping Unit) with our bundle which we sold, I can tell you in the week of launch, we sold through 5,000 units of our bundle. Those are GFK numbers. But the fact that EB numbers are not in the GFK numbers, they don't give software, but I'm willing to say that Steve Wilson, the managing director of EB, did say to me that in Australian EB stores, the PS3 SKU outsold Xbox 360. In addition to our bundle and what was done on the stand-alone SKU, clearly PS3 outsold the Xbox SKU--it definitely gave us a lift. If you look at the week of launch sales, we were two to one over Xbox in hardware, so all those figures point to GTA. I think really GTA has benefited the whole industry; it has been a fantastic result. But if you want break it down by format, PS3 is the one that has benefited most, and as is the case in most European territories, in Spain, Italy, Germany, the PS3 SKU was ahead.

GS AU: What are your plans for more game-hardware bundles in future?

ME: We'll look at all the opportunities. We think titles like with GTA, MGS, and GT5, where there are consumers keen and waiting for those titles, we will do our best to deliver a bundle and make a value proposition as well. We're looking at all things, but right now we can confirm MGS in June.

GS AU: What are Sony's plans to launch the 80GB PlayStation 3 console in Australia?

ME: I can't comment on that, but there are plans, all kinds of plans are in place. We have no plans that the 80GB is coming here, but we are obviously looking at things over time.

GS AU: Michael Ephraim, thanks for your time.