SCEA CEO Jack Tretton sees the App Store as an opportunity, not a threat
In for a penny, in for a pound
In a recent interview with Gamasutra, SCEA CEO Jack Tretton talked about the aftermath of Sony's recent hacking kerfuffle, Apple's App Store, and mobile gaming as a whole.
When asked if 59p/99c games represent a threat to Sony and the rest of the industry, Tretton didn't seem too concerned.
"If I open a movie theater next door [to another theater] and start charging 50 cents per ticket, but I'm showing you things I filmed with my camcorder, I don't think it's a threat to the theater charging $13 per ticket.
"It's about people having reasonable expectations. I don't think we're training people to pay $5 for games...The cream always rises to the top."
Although he did acknowledge the possibility of losing a few gamers to the increasingly popular mobile gaming market, he sees this as an opportunity.
"For every consumer you lose to a tablet or smartphone, there are three consumers that became interested in gaming in a simple form. And those people might be able to be migrated into a sophisticated gamer ... We look at that as being the opposite of a threat, but an opportunity."
Tretton's opinion on Apple's cheap offerings is the polar opposite of Nintendo of America's Reggie Fils-Aime, who believes, "One of the biggest risks today in our gaming industry are these inexpensive games that are disposable."
Only time will tell.
