Phil Harrison Resigning? Confusion will be my epitaph...

It's finally here: Sony's Swan Song for the Playstation 3, and no, I don't think it's going to be a great new exclusive series. Phil Harrison, shiny head behind so many videogame conference speeches not only belittling the competition, but also introducing all the Deus Ex Machina designed to catapult the PS3 to the front, is resigning. Rumor has it (according to Kotaku) that Mr. Harrison is joining third party software developer Atari. I think this is terrible for Sony, perhaps an action which is as good as a political concession speech about the inferiority of the PS3, and I'm about to tell you why. (Hint: it has to do with Sony's credibility)

The Console War Begins - First, we all know that Sony has struggled. Microsoft took a big risk releasing the Xbox 360 much earlier than the other two current generation (if you consider horizontal innovation to be a possible form of measure instead of standard "raw power" benchmark used by the industry, then the Wii would count) systems. However, Microsoft was able to all but kidnap the vast majority of third party support by displaying the system's power and potential. It boasted the same type of technology as the Playstation 3 - a cell processing unit capable of an exponential increase in processing power and system multitasking over the previous generation of systems as well as integrated internet technology, high definition graphics, and a legitimate branch out to other media outlets (TV shows, movies, music, etc.) They came in early, stole the game market from under Sony's feet, and have sat there laughing ever since, knowing that they have been victorious over the console which might eventually bring us Killzone 2 and Metal Gear Solid 4 (the two "big" PS3 exclusive games prior to launch of the system, but if you think about it, their predecessors were not key exclusive games, nor did they look half as good as the prospects for the Xbox. Sony would have been smarter to get Square-Enix into motion earlier [prior to system launch] and get the ball rolling for Final Fantasy XIII trailers; a game which now may not be exclusively a PS3 title seeing as how Squeenix has openly criticized the PS3 for underperforming and has called it a failure of Sony's marketing team.) Also, it's laughable that Sony is not able to outperform a company who has released millions of defective units - several people (myself included: #3) are not on their first console!

The Third Party Vicious Circle - For Sony, this is one of the key reasons why the PS3 hasn't gone anywhere. Third party software developers, (think Epic, EA, 2k, Rockstar, Bioware, etc.) were convinced that the hardware of the 360 was the easiest to develop games for and given their presence in the market early, would develop for the 360. Also, the gamer base was seen to be diverse enough to provide these companies with enough means to develop exclusive game and exclusive series for the 360; some of these at the detriment of Sony's previous third party base due to the overwhelming triumph of the Playstation 2. Anyways, now the situation is that software companies will not develop exclusive titles or series for the PS3 because they don't see it as profitable enough. The irony is that the Ps3 is underperforming due to a general lack of exclusive titles and series, making the problem fatal for Sony. In a market where game companies are largely living "game-to-game," no developers (with the exception perhaps of EA, who is absurdly large) can afford to take a risk on a PS3 exclusive series. Proof of this, by the way, can be seen in all the gamers choice awards where the choice for best Playstation 3 game was none other than Call of Duty 4 - A Multiplatform game!! Xbox 360's game of the year was Bioshock, native to the Xbox and PC (not mutiplatform.)

So wait, what does Phil Harrison have to do with this? - Phil Harrison was the man who introduced many of the games designed to lift the weary heads of PS3 owners (that bought the system exclusively - many of the PS3 owners also own either a 360, a Wii, or both due to their financial capacities) is moving to a third party software developer? This is the man who introduced Little Big Planet, a game which was supposed to be the next big thing for the PS3 (which, quite frankly I have no idea why - it looks like some puppets running around, the game looks like N+ except far less minimalist and infinitely more hype) and he's jumping ship? With Kaz Hirai leaving earlier this year for another internal position and now Harrison, Sony's executives have all but said "Ok, so this one was our fault, we get it, we're slowly going the way of the HD DVD" and acknowledging their shot credibility. The people you see introducing games at confrences now won't be the same ones you've been seeing in the past. Why is that, you may ask? Because they've either left or been "redistributed" because they were failing miserably at their mission and although the Mythbusters can raise a sunken ship with ping pong balls, Sony's not going to be able to salvage the PS3 with anything short of a purely unadulterated (except for graphically, obviously) Final Fantasy VII remake. Isn't that sad, a remake is the only thing that could, while perhaps not "save" Sony, buy them time and perhaps credibility to gain some of their third party support back. Either that or they're going to have to give up on the PS3 and get ready for the next round.