About Jack Tretton
Jack Tretton, now managing partner at Interactive Gaming Ventures, has been speaking about the video game industry in interviews and public appearances. He has described gaming as "mainstream entertainment" that is "bigger than box-office and the music industry combined." Tretton has stated that he believes "competition grows the industry and makes everybody better," and that predictions of each console generation being the last have not come true. He has also commented on cloud gaming, saying that while the technology is exciting, he is most interested in understanding the business model, particularly how developers would be compensated for day-one releases on a streaming service.
Reflecting on his time at Sony, Tretton has said that he always believed "gamers paid my paycheck" and that it is important to "stay true to them." He has described the PlayStation 4 launch as a "runaway success" and noted that the company listened to consumers regarding used games and online requirements. Regarding competitors, Tretton has said that Microsoft's Xbox Scorpio has "great technology" but that it is "very, very difficult to catch somebody when they jump out to an early lead and they're doing everything right." He has also praised early access programs, calling them "probably the greatest thing that ever happened to gaming" because they allow developers to receive feedback and revenue while giving gamers a voice in development.
Source: AI-verified profile updated from Jack Tretton's recent appearances.
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Transcript (12 segments)
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Brian Ekberg0:08
Everyone, Brian Ekberg here and I'm here with Jack Tretton, who's the executive VP of SCEA. Jack, a lot of years went into the work that went to work tonight. How do you feel tonight with the launch of the PlayStation 3?
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Jack Tretton0:19
On normal days I feel like I've got the coolest job in the world, but it's a night like this when you realize that you're really a part of something that's much bigger than anything you could ever imagine. Thousands of people, billions of dollars, a year's worth of effort going into the PlayStation 3, and you hope that the consumers are as excited about it as you are. I think nights like tonight are just a testament to the fact that we're clearly on the right track.
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Brian Ekberg0:42
Well, certainly there's a lot of people excited right now, line up around the building. What do you think of all the people who are here and what they're going through to get a PlayStation 3?
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Jack Tretton0:49
Well, these are our most loyal consumers. We really appreciate the effort they went through to get one, and we're going to kill ourselves to make sure that each and every person that wants a PlayStation 3 gets one, and we're not going to rest until we accomplish that goal.
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Brian Ekberg1:01
Give us your thoughts on the launch in Japan and what we can expect from the launch here in the US, both in New York and on the West Coast, and what we can expect in the coming weeks.
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Jack Tretton1:09
Well, I mean, everybody is selfishly the biggest fan of their own market. In the USA, in North America, is the biggest market worldwide. This is where the battle will be won and lost, so this is clearly the most important launch for us of the three. Selfishly, that's my opinion, but there's no question about the fact that this is the largest. We have consumers camped out all over North America, small cities, big cities. Tonight, there are consumers somewhere in North America waiting to get their hands on a PlayStation. That's right.
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Brian Ekberg1:36
Seems like everyone has an opinion on the $500 or $600 price tag. How do you go about a year from now ensuring that people will still want to pay $500 or $600 for a PlayStation 3?
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Jack Tretton1:48
I think when you think about a gamer, they don't think in dollar terms, they think in game terms. The investment in a PlayStation 3 is basically the cost of about 10 games. If you're a hardcore consumer, you're a hardcore gamer, you're going to play this system for 10 years, like you've had the opportunity to do on the PlayStation and will be able to do on the PlayStation 2. A 10-game investment over a 10-year period is a drop in the bucket. People are going to spend hours, months, and years playing the PlayStation 3, and they're going to forget what they paid for it. Several years from now, they're going to see this investment return time and time again. I think they've all had experiences if they bought brands other than PlayStation where the initial investment went by the boards in less than five years, and that's got to be disappointing.
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Brian Ekberg2:29
Any particular games you're looking forward to personally?
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Jack Tretton2:33
Well, Resistance: Fall of Man is clearly the game that I'm most excited about because I think it shows off the technology and the promise of the PlayStation 3 better than anything else. But I'm also a big sports fan, and I've seen sports games go from little stick figures to now where you can see the sweat coming off the player, and it's in full 1080p. I think it's as close to reality as you're ever going to get.
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Brian Ekberg2:56
Jack, thanks so much. Appreciate it.
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Jack Tretton2:57
My pleasure. Thank you for coming.
