Hirai: Home delay is "positive"

Nov 8, 2007

Sony's president and CEO, Kaz Hirai, has gone on record with Famitsu Weekly to explore some of the issues around recent goings on in the PlayStation universe.

In a translated article which has found its way onto the web via 1up.com, Hirai ranged over a number of issues affecting PS3, but perhaps most surprisingly told Famitsu that the delay to Home - PS3's virtual online space - could actually be a plus point for the company.

Hirai said, "If anything, we believe the delay would have a positive effect. I personally am not satisfied with the current version of Home. This is a very big project for the PS3 and we want to make sure that we deliver to our heart's content. We hope everyone will look forward to its spring release next year."

We've no beef with a delay if it's down to quality issues, but Hirai also told Famitsu that losing backwards compatibility on the new 40Gb PS3 was not such a big deal, as the company wanted people to play next-gen games on the console, not old PS2 titles.

"We have gone through many discussions but we concluded that it [backwards compatibility] is only one of many features of the PS3. What is more important is for the users to play PS3 games on the PS3, so our top priority is for them to be playing Bluray games and downloadable contents."

Finally, Hirai put a brave face on the recent loss of Monster Hunter 3, a massive title in Japan (and rated by us obsessives over here in the west) which has now defected exclusively to Nintendo's Wii.

Hirai said, "The series has helped in the success of PS2 and PSP. Capcom has plans to release Monster Hunter Portable 2G for the PSP in March '08 so we hope to continue our partnership with the company."

Source:1up.com