aaaaND the rats start abandoning the ship!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

slappyMCslappy

Er, guys, why do you think he did few interviews at GDC, no keynote and played hard to get? Because he already knew he was going. He probably fired that warning shot at Sony knowing he was more free to speak his mind now his resignation was accepted.

I believe this was pre-planned and known by all parties.

As for Kaz taking over, well.......

Rrrrrrrrrrrrrrridge rrrrrrrrrracer 8 anyone?

A disastrous appointment to WWS.

DelSource

What a sad day. Phil and Ken are both awesome guys, and now they are both gone.

I heard he is going to Atari, What the?!?

k3nji

@FoxHoundADAM:

Honestly, Kaz is turning SCE around. Quietly, competently, and with a lot of hard work. Harrison is just Sony's pit bull. Tho' the Sony fanboys certainly loved him, I think we need to give credit where credit is due.

If you love the direction Sony is going in, thank Kaz.

SeeOne

damn.. they sacked him just he said something bad abnout his own company.

rich8606

@Barf#1: Buy two copies of RESISTANCE!? I WOULD'VE NEVER THOUGHT OF THAT! I better go pre-order another one.

Knight-Zero

he will be missed

Knight-Zero

Noooooo!

Huxle

lol you guys make it sound like the guy is dead. we're not having a funeral he's just leaving sony

featherblade360

@Archaotic:Look Im a total Sony Fanboy(look at my pic)but, JorgieX is totally right unless the ps3 starts selling consoles (which hopefully will occur)than Gears of War 2 is going to outsell any game on ps3 beacause the userbase on 360 is double the ps3's. It always makes me laugh when fanboys say things lIke OMFG 360 DOMINATED PS3 IN CALL OF DUTY 4 SALES. No Crap Dude! The only way ps3 could win would be if every ps3 owner bought 2 copies for the hell of it. Im just pointing out he's not being fanboy he's just stating the obvious.

Barf#1

@JorgieX:
Secret projects that Microsoft has this year? If they had them, they would public knowledge by now. Especially if these said projects were to be coming out this year. Has anyone even saw that Banjo game yet? Yeah, I'll withhold judgment on that one. Oh, and you absolutely have to count pack ins as sales for a game, I don't care what you say. What about that pack in deal that Microsoft had last year? That doesn't count?

As regards to Harrison leaving, I think it's a good thing because Sony has been lead by the same people forever and they need new blood. I'm curious to see if Kaz is just a filler until they get someone else in there.

Sollus

dang Phil is leaving? I really want to know the reason to why he made this move?

boots555

This sucks so bad. Phil seemed like one of the only higher-ups at Sony who seemed like a rational, and really friendly person. His presentations were really entertaining.

.endejas.

He really has become the face of playstation, i remember him with his plush bald head when he walked on stage to show of central london on the ps3 thinking wow.

He's the j to microsoft's Moore, Hes iwata to nintendo's reggie, and hes certainly Phil to Sony's Kaz.

Im so sorry to hear of his passing.

HarmanSmith

@JorgieX:
I don't think you are trying to start console wars but I do think your views are a little simplistic. I don't think counting 'pack ins' as sales is anything new or Sony-only, especially when they are a selling point. I recall them doing this for PC games that were bundled with cards.
If you are talking about attachment rates than perhaps you have a point, but if I'm buying a bundle it's usually because I'm interested in the game being bundled with it.

Numbers are so dangerous when you start trying to interpret them toward an interpretation.
A bit like intelligent design.
That's why spinning them is such a lovely art. The majority of people simply don't know enough to go beyond what seems the common sense interpretations presented by a company publicly.
As to how well any of those games will do is completely unknown. I suspect GOW2 and MGS4 will be big hits the others I have no idea. At this point in time I'm personally passing on all the ones for 360 you listed(accept GOW2 and possible too human if it gets insanely good reviews butso far t looks very meh to
me). I will be getting all the ps3 titles you mentioned, though. Me saying that though means pretty much nothing.

I respected Phil and the directions he was working toward and his work was cut out for him. I am, however, always cautious about these business PR guys. Moore seemed likable as well, but I kept feeling like there are definite areas where they are 'not your friend' and they are a company mouthpiece who are paid well to do just that. They are always going to have a bit of that ol' bias that may or may not benefit me at all as a gamer.
I recall someone from here (was it?) getting a bit of Phil's ire for asking a 'negatively' slanted question after a presentation (E3 I believe). Judging from the comments then and now it seems opinions are far more favorable toward Phil presently.... Moore skirting the well known HW failure rates for the 360 also made me wince.

It's their job to damage control, and set the public perspective. Just cause they might be great to hang with and talk to, doesn't mean I trust them in regards to their own company and my best interests.

Ehardergardens

@Zuiyo:

haha nice one. While it will sell pretty well in the next couple of years I extremely doubt it'll become the market leader, and definately not by a large margin if it does.

Ouenben

Oh, he's clever. Resigning on a day that DOESN'T EXIST

Fitz Rhapsody

Wow. MS lost Peter, Sony loses Phil....sucks for watching E3 presentations. :P

GorbyGipper

And there goes 33% of whatever faith I had in Sony.

remanance

I liked Phil, he seemed a lot more intelligent than Reeves, or Tretton and will be missed. Kaz is a pretty smart guy too but he can't handle everything himself. Will this have an impact on the PS3's sales? Not really Will it have an impact on their image? Possibly

LittleBigPlaneteer

@EnigmaNemesis: No he's not. He's currently the only one out of the three who's got next to no worries.

@The Konamunist: Have you forgotten why she quit? Wasn't Reggie.

Foxstar Sixtail

@djricekcn: Maybe Nintendo will get someone who we can actually pronounce the last name of...

Shaoko

"I am so proud of everything PlayStation has achieved and will continue to support its future in every way I can."

Yeah watch he'll be working for Microsoft or Nintendo within 6 months.

Deozaan

this is a bummer. phil harrison was always the most honest of anyone at sony

Squamden

Where's the trusty Sony Volcano graphic when you need it?

DaveKap

Oh, wow. This man has done so much good for Sony and even gaming, and he's such a good public speaker. I wuldnt be surprised if this really is directly related to his comment about SCEJ.

dgonchild

Phil and Peter Moore are just as bad as other PR people, they just seem to cover it up alot better like Nintendo does.

zonetrooper5

Man, I really liked that Phil. He's a british giant! So rare. Hopefully, he'll continue to have success whereever life takes him.

Buttah

Good luck Phil. You did good things for the PlayStation brand.

DigitalHero

Blu-ray wins the format war. PS3 exclusives rampant this year. Sony stock finally turning around.

Yep, goin' out on top, sir.

TruPhan

In my opinion Phil was a great guy. Him and Peter Moore both seemed that they were enjoying what they did and were great community figures. In my mind Phil Harrison will be the rightful face of Playstation and Peter Moore the same with Microsoft.

Nereos

The chances of Phil going to Microsoft are probably about the same as MGS4 getting a 360 port. (In case that still needs clarification: not gonna happen.)

Toasticus

Hmmmmm i wonder how Kutaragi will handle SCE now that Harrison is gone......hmmmmm

CenatorC

Great loss for Sony. I really had respect for the guy, great speaker that usually gave fair and well informed opinions on the industry.
He'll be a great asset for any Company that he moves too, I hope he's involved with boosting the European Game Industry in some way.

SjM221

Good bye Phil, even though I've never liked you personally.

But then again, I'm an avid supporter of Nintendo.

KM91

Someone make a Phil Harrison theme!

Friend

This sucks to hear. Phil Harrison is a gaming badass. Perhaps Motorstorm 2 got canned. I jest.

I'm sure Sony will keep up the great games regardless, but they need a new face that can handle the public speaking better. Kaz and company are a bit too shy to get the audience worked up during E3.

sascha23

Would be pretty surreal if Moore's departure from MS and this guy bolting from Sony led to MS having Harrison in their ranks.

KaneRobot

If he goes to Microsoft, He can do amazing things with the XNA and community, He can push them to bring amazing games to us.

Sony, you have lost what could of made you win this console war.

flukielukie

Noooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!

You will be missed good sir.

hezz05

I could never stand him after he tried to tell me that rumble was just a "last-gen feature". I don't like being told a) what to think, and b) stupid, ignorant, out-of-touch lies

Ungruntled

Certainly wasn't expecting this considering Sony is supposed to be doing awesome, but I guess he and Sony Japan had different ideas for the console. Well, we'll see what he does next. I'd lol if he went to Microsoft.

psychobaka

Surprising, but not really.

Sony is in serious waters on their console gear, one day they own the world ,the next microsoft snatches half of it away. it is painfully clear that sony was not ready for the "next gen" console era , i think if they could have they would have continued to mine the PS2 ,that is until the 360 dragged everyone into the new era. clearly the ps3 is not ready for a heavyweight fight with M$,who have a far far superior online service and game support, after all this time the Ps3 is still vapid in these areas,and the promise of the app "HOME" still is unfulfilled , I dont think sony japan are that thin skinned - if they can get shredded by M$ in the console war , i dont think a few harmless blurbs by phil would cause drama. something else is going on for sure , maybee the japanese masters are finally upset over the erosion of there player base by the likes of M$ and nintendo?, years of gain have been eroded in just 2 short years .and the sony game developers have struggled to produce a game exclusive that can hold a single spot near the top of the metacritic lists.

well all we can do is guess but at Phil's level executives move around all the time , maybee the best answer is the simplest one?, maybee someone made him an offer that financially was too good to refuse? and if thats so who can blame him for taking it.

Good luck Phil!...

Instinct187NY

I liked Phil, but I'll be happy to get PR from Kaz.
Phil always seemed a bit TOO professional. Very distant, sticking hard to the official press release and saying exactly what he was supposed to. Even when he showed something new it seemed like he wasn't telling us anything IMO. Cool guy though otherwise.

Hopefully Kaz Hirai will be a bit more... sociable?

fuchikoma

@JorgieX:
Well, I'm not ripping on you, I just think there was NO point in bringing up shit like Gears 2 in a thread about a Sony executive's resignation. Know what I mean? It DOES reek of fanboy, even if you didn't really mean it that way. Thanks for the clarification though.

@Toasticus:
We'll see, we'll see. Maybe he was just frustrated at Sony's (truly) slow response time to public opinion and frustration. They've finally started listening to consumers and fixing the problems from the PS3 launch, but it took them an extremely long time to do it.

I dunno, though, there's probably a bit more to this than we know. Or it could be as simple as him just wanting a change of scenery after 17 years with Sony. We'll learn the truth eventually.

Archaotic

@Archaotic: Harrison's no dumbass. He was a very public face for the company, and he chose to critique his employers and praise the competition (Nintendo) in the same breath. That is not a sign of a happy employee. Which is more likely, that he decided to leave Sony prior to making those remarks and thus felt free to make them, or that he decided to badmouth his own employer at a huge event on a whim? If frustration is what led him to decide to leave Sony then that does not speak well of the state of the company.

Toasticus

@Archaotic: No no not at all I was merely stating what's in the horizon for both platformas and you can see I own all and like all systems in there own way. I know how reading a post can get pulled out of context but I didn't mean to sound as a fan boy because I play on my PS3 as often as possible if not just to give it some love. Please people don't think this is a dis on SONY it's just the massive amount of information I take in on a daily basis. Those block buster hits for SONY will do very well but with the small US market it is only so much success that those nitch games can gain. I even like Killzone on PS2 since I am a fan to FPS games but the game was poorly excuted so I'm hoping for KZ2 to do great but to many people play FPS games on the 360 more I know from my huge friends list on both the PSN and 360 mostly games like God of War, Heavanly Sword and Ratchet and Clank are the type of games that do well on a SONY system that is not to say times are changing so here's hoping for the best for SONY. Once there's in game XMB and a much better voice in games (better mic support) then this can become more viable to SONY since the service is free and then can start being actually comparable to Live! which right now there is no comparison just to say you play online for free. That being said it is hard to argue that the 360 games listed are garuanties that those will sell well into the millions no dought there. That is all I was saying. So no I'm not a fanboy unless you consider a being a fanboy to videogames in general then yes I'm a fanboy to videos games were ever they land even on PC.

JorgieX

Well, this bald-headed guy with his British accent was cool.
Now, who's next? Reggie? THAT would be a real blow for Nintendo's fans...

Nexus-6

Go Kaz. RIDGE RACERRRRRRR

y2kenjination

Shame. I always liked him the most (or disliked him the least) of the Sony mouthpieces.

I'm guessing that this planned departure is why he talked with such rough honesty about a lack of cooperation between SCEE and Sony Japan. He knew he was leaving and so he didn't have to worry about repercussions for saying that stuff.

It also kind of gives the impression that he's leaving out of frustration rather than out of positive career considerations. We will see what kind of effect that will have on SCEA and SCEE in the coming months.

Toasticus

@JorgieX:
Since when did a post on a Sony executive's resignation become an excuse to post system wars bullcrap, man? As far as we know, the most likely scenario here is that Harrison said some rather un-characteristic things about Sony Japan at GDC this past week and was "politely urged" to resign. Or perhaps he was just tired of working the same job for 17 years.

Sony's doing fine this year, let's not try to make this into a "SEE? LOOK! MICROSOFT IS SO MUCH BETTER" argument, for everyone's sake.

Archaotic

Damn. Good luck Phil, you will be missed. I hope you are not leaving Sony for Atari though.

slomo788

I guess my thinking of this move is that SONY is not doing as good as we all would believe. As the system is selling better than last year and that's do to the much lower price and the win over HD-DVD the system is by far not doing so good as a video game console. (In the US)So Phil knew this and was just fedup with the spin Sony loves to do. Even in the war on HD-DVD in reality HD-DVD was outselling actual hardware units with so in essence there are still more stand alone HD-DVD units out in the market than there are Blue Ray sland alone units (this does not include the PS3) I forget the numbers but if you google it you will find many articals now on the web with the truth behind this whole BR vs HD battle. I know to little to late to complain now but the facts are the facts. Sony on the PS3 are not selling quite as many games as it would lead you to believe as I watch sales figures all the time and not the ones posted on blogs or forums. Also if you look at the million+ seller MotorStorm they count the pack-in MotorStorm games as sold when in actuality was just a free-beeeeee pack-in. Things like this is what really bugs me out about SONY. I never really know what is the truth or what is spin. One more thing, sorry for the long post. The whole notion that "08" will be the year for SONY is really a stretch as far as being a true winner since the only hot products (that I know of) comming this year are MGS4, Little Big Planet, Haze, Kill Zone2, and Resistance2 which all will do well but not anywhere "near" the sales numbers of games like GearofWar2, Too Human, Fable2, and Banjo Kazooie3 on the 360..Not to mention other secret project that MS has in store. I own all three current gen systems so for me this is gonna be a good year but for people that only own a PS3 it will ok if you settle for the slim pickings. P.S. and NO HOME is not considered a game.

JorgieX

I'm glad he is gone. I first heard about him in an interview he did with Edge magazine in 1997. Throughout those 11 years i've had to listen to so many lies from this fool.

Fuck off Phil

You will not be missed.

Grave of the Fireflies

Not good. I always liked Mr. Harrison.

Xaltmas

When your system is in transition publicly, it's not a very good time to change management. I honestly feel this could go either way for Sony. Harrison was a very public face for the system -- and, I'm not sure Japan get's the American market this cycle. If they're having a problem listening to their players, hmmm ... like I said, we'll see the repurcussions from this in a couple of quarters, for either good or ill.

jayntampa

Oh my god. Don't leave us alone with the two crazy japanese men and jack tretton. Oh god...

ohhello

I personally don't see what the big deal is, this doesn't mean that the PS3 will stop producing & selling games. All I ever really heard of this guy was in the "PS3 Song" on Youtube, lol, that was funny. Well, I didn't cry or worry when P.Moore left Microsoft, this isn't a big deal either.

Collapse The Control

O.M.G.

neednorespect

This really is too bad. Phil was all about finding new ways to play, buy I guess Sony Japan just wasn't trying to hear it.

No matter which of the three consoles you have you gotta believe that big publishing is hurting the intellectual growth of the industry. Phil was one of those people that was giving the time of day to the little guys.

B1S1

@Sugaray:
Let's not get into an argument like that, man. The Japanese studios are working just as hard as the Western ones, the just might not be making the kinds of games you want to play.

Anyways, sad news, and I'm hoping Kaz Hirai won't screw this up...maybe he'll drop the whole "uptight suit" persona he's put on for the past couple of months and go back to being an actually amicable guy. What the games industry needs nowadays is outgoing young people with an eye for forward motion, not stuffy business people whose only concern is the bottom line.

Archaotic

Who cares about this guy? He never really was any good at PR and unless you have some ultra love of Sony then only there gaming maskots should really matter. The guy was a little boring in my opinion.

I kinda liked Peter moore but when he left it didn't matter to me much either because it's hardly like he's the man who made the Xbox. These guys just talk them up and in Sony's case lie a few times.

-Sigil-

@EnigmaNemesis:
For sure. All the angels have left and now only devils remain...

Reggie, the man who convinced even Perrin Kaplan to quit...

The Konamunist

@kylo4:
That's silly. A sale is a sale, regardless of price. Maybe if the Sony diehards would stop proclaiming the PS3 as God's gift to gaming and would rule all, then maybe they'd stop needing to be dragged back down to reality.

The BPM Scrolls IV - Knights of the Nine

Bad news for Sony. This guy was their public voice and spoke well (much better than Kaz).

ReyDEEEEZY

I think he upset SCEJ with his comments at GDC and they made him quit.

Good luck Phil we will miss you <3

HarshCargo

I say they just give me Phil Harrisons job. Huzzah!

KYLE_ELYK

@slingblade:

You are a sick individual.

Reggie is a tool!

EnigmaNemesis

@slingblade:

Fail? He's been with Sony since 1992, how long has Reggie been with Nintendo again? However, Moore has certainly been flaky.

SG79

Then there was ONE: the Reggie-nator.

Peter Moore: FAIL

Phil Harrison: FAIL

Reggie at home: WOOT!

slingblade

Modern day Harakiri?

JUBEI21

We all love you Phil best of luck to you and I hope you dont be a stranger to us. I hope Kaz does the right thing taking his place and continues in his footsteps.

Streeks1984

PHIL PLEASE Go to Microsoft!!!!

JUBEI21

Good riddance to bad rubbish.

Marasai

Man, I'll miss Phil. He was a cool guy and had a real passion for the brand. Another company is going to be really lucky to snatch him up. Good luck, Phil ^_^

WillSerenity

@Witzbold: Heh, yup, he just gets credibility and respect from what he's done in the past. He's a legend.

Candlejack

Is it me or is the whole industry in a state of upheaval? Its like they don't know what to do now that video games are the most profitable entertainment medium. High ranking execs leaving, companies merging/being bought out...its madness. I just hope that this isn't a harbringer of bad things to come and is just the industry adapting/evolving.

Gray665

@Candlejack: The only problem with Kutaragi is I think he kinda lost it with the PS3. So was a bit glad to see him replaced with someone who had a proper "OS" upgrade.

The fact that his speech on the PS3 was almost exactly the same as the PS2 bothered me. And the other crazy shit he said.

Then again thats just how that diamond shines I guess eh? :D

Witzbold

Wow, I guess the friction between him and SCEI was a bit more serious than one initially thought. Harrison was such a great asset to SCE and has been the face of the PS brand as much as Kutaragi and Hirai.

Hopefully this won't be the last time we hear from him.

SG79

Going from Sony to Atari seems somewhat crazy. Ok, more like dancing in traffic crazy. But he must have thought it was the best call for this point in his career. I'm sure he'll be a lot closer to the top at Atari and probably have a lot less people second-guessing his decisions as well. Plus, Atari can pretty much only go up from where they currently are in the market!

New "next gen" Atari system confirmed? ;-)

NateN

good luck with Kaz

rodsky

@Witzbold: You can never mention it often enough. I'll join you. I'm sad to see him leave! He is British too. That makes him cool++ :)

Also, I like Kaz. But Kutaragi....man he is just awesome. His face has PlayStation written all over it.

Candlejack

This is sad news, Phil knew what the gamin community wanted in North America and Europe and fought for them in Japan. I can't see Kaz Hirai or Jack Trenton doing anything but towing company line.

Kinburn

dammit...phil was the man..im pissed.

qBIRD

First peter, now Phil. If Mia goes next from Nintendo, I think the Moon is gonna start crashing down ah-la Zelda

Gaming is losing it's flagship idols, while they will be replaced and people will change, it's very unnerving as a whole to see the industry act this way.

huginn - No I will not give you a hug!

so can anyone apply for the job?

subterfunk

Wow. I just listened to the 1UP podcast where they discussed Phil's unusual comments regarding Sony of Japan. So is there some type of connection?

Also, I'm thinking tone has a lot to do with the wrath of the banhammer. I think you can come in here and legitimately criticize Phil, but you can't do it with thoughtless insults like asshole. That is bad commenting.

vanderblade

Oh fucking hell, please anybody but Kaz Hirai!!! He'll ruin Sony with future stupidity and Internet Meme material!!!11ONE

To be honest, will we actually notice a difference in how that department operates maybe?

-MoarPlz-

You gotta admit though with Kaz in charge things have been going on an upward trend though.

Still am sad about this news tho, third time Im mentioning this. :x

Witzbold

Well, I think it's a shame he is leaving. I think he might be one of the reasons the PS3 is doing better at this time. I don't see Kaz being in charge as a good thing. "Riiiiidge Racer!"...I'm not in the mood for anymore of that. I hope they find a proper replacement for him. I wish him the best of luck wherever he goes. If he goes to Atari, then I hope he makes an awesome DBZ game!

Sickofitall

Noooooooooooo :(

I liked him. And he was so smart. Everything he said I could relate to.

@okenny :): Weird, on my side, you've got the same avatar as I have.

Candlejack

As I see it, he could have left at anytime, but he waited until the PS3 had turned the corner and was on the up and up.

Sad to see him go, but hopefully when someone does take his place they have the same passion for the job as he did.

PirateThom

Bye bye Phil.

GHz

@okenny :): Sorry for the spelling errors... I just woke up and had to comment on this :(

okenny :)

@ FoxHoundADAM: too true.

where will the brand now go ??? he started with them. this will make for interesting times.

InEffectMode

@GameChad: I'm not sure why your opinions are so extreme (as confused as I am that they got you banned... trolling perhaps?) but Phil was seen by many as the more intellegent face of Sony whose execs, up till then, where making suicidal news blurbs. When he started heading the world wide studios, this just started to turn arround.
...
The thing I find strange now is that Sony's world wide studios wields a lot of power and I think it's power that Kaz wanted to real closer to home. Could this mean that the purge has begun?

okenny :)

Who's going to promote Home with such gusto now! :O

Tis a sad day indeed my friends.

Anaardvark

Phil was the only one of the 3 big Sony corporate guys that seamed to get it.

FoxHoundADAM

Wait, wait... so, pretty much Kaz Hirai -IS- Sony now?

Zero_

Whoa! First Peter Moore, now Phil Harrison...will the Regginator be next?!

Rebochan

I liked Phil. Oh well, good luck in whatever you do next

Lachoy

@The BPM Scrolls IV - Knights of the Nine:

I'm getting pretty sick of these Wii better than PS3 sales. Well, uh, yeah, for the price of the 80GB PS3 you can buy two Wii's. For fair numbers, why don't you cut the sales in half? Or better yet, say the DS is crushing the PS3 in sales!

kylo4

@GMC:
I think you're thinking of suit jacket+sweatshirt hoddie J. Allard.

To my knowledge Phil is a suit sans tie kind of guy. I don't think I've EVER seen him "try" to be cool like Allard. I've never seen Phil sit on a stage floor or use a singer's mic to give presentations.

incredibilistic

@GameChad: Bad commenting. Good bye.

Witzbold

@GameChad:
And that's the reason why I don't watch CBS because knowing that Robert Bridgewater is the senior executive assistant to the Vice Chairman's secretary to the Chief Financial Officer of bed linens at the hotel across the street from the CBS studio.

Give me a break. You won't make a purchase because of someone you'll likely NEVER meet?!?! Are you that caught up on the guy? That's a heck of a hard-on to keep over one person.

Phil Harrison was probably the most approachable and straight-up person Sony had. The rest of the Sony staff are basically evil marketing machines compared to Phil.

As for spin, well, I can only quote Morpheus and say welcome to the real world. This is a world where people say one thing only to follow-up and say something in total contradiction.

Unlike yourself, however, those that have either been in politics or held a job title with a company that didn't start with "customer service" knows that not everything can be revealed or some things have to be spun so not to reveal every card up your sleeve.

incredibilistic

Odd. What with the Playstation doing so well, and arguably the best game line-up for the rest of the year, and with the victorious blu-ray boosting not only sales of the Playstation 3, but also Sony's stock, you wouldn't think that their President would be inclined to leave the company. And, you have to love how absolutely no reason is given whatsoever. I wouldn't be surprised at all, if it turns out this is not so much a resignation, as an ousting.

MykalBloom

I'm saddened by this news, always liked Phil, he knew how to walk the line between being a bullish executive and a decent bloke. AND I believe he's a Marillion fan!
Semper Fi Phil, Semper Fi.

mrrobsa

i liked phil....its going to be interesting the next 8-10 months...hopefully its works out in the end..

champbeezy

During the last piece I read where he criticised SCEJ, I thought, this guy not gonna last long in Sony and gonna quit soon. BAM!! My instinct is right.

ahmeng

WOW! This is like SERIOUSLY the best news I've heard since Gears of War 2 is coming out. I fUcKInG HATE this dildo. His smug, arrogant snide personality is why it took me so long to buy my PS3. I freaking HATE this asshole and all his impossible SPIN. I hope they get someone who's not a Fony Fanboy to talk straight to the community. I swear- this tool embodied every negative aspect of Sony's public persona. Good RIDDANCE.

GameChad

Is it Phil, or his clone that's leaving? Either way I wish him the best of luck. Say what you will about the guy but he will be missed at Sony.

-EDGE-

"Ding dong the witch is dead..."

On a serious note, its quite sad to see one less Englishman as major mouthpiece in the forefront of this industry.
I hope he finds a good job elsewhere, Atari or not.

(this being banhammer day, i'll keep the rest of my flameworthy thoughts on this to myself ^__^)

joncoffee

@badasscat: Too right mate.

Witzbold

So much for a comeback in Europe.

I think I'll just get a 360 now, out of spite for the whole thing. I hear that if you treat it right, it'll never RRoD you.

Frank

This is eriously bad new for Sony.Not so much that Harrison is leavig than it is that Hirai istaking his place.We all know that western game developers are the ONLY ones making any quality games for the PS3,and Harrison was largely responsible for overseeign this.With ol' Kaz in charge things sure aren't going to go as smoothly as it has been.It also is pretty obvious SOJ wants more direct control over SCE of America.Not a good sign at all.

Sugaray

Ouch for sony... although I really have never much cared for Sony's PR hyperbole I always got the impression that Phil was fairly critical in the Playstation's brand success. It'd be a total waste if he went to Atari (who as a company need to be shot behind the chemical sheds)

I remeber commenting to my GF a while ago that it was intresting the 2 public faces of the 'big two' were english. But now Peter Moore's gone from MS and now big bald Phil is gone from Sony, shame.

NecronomiconUK

who will sony have to pair smart suits with casual converse sneakers now?

GMC

I'd make a comment about the next great Atari game being a PS3 exclusive, but I can't even begin to imagine what that'd be.

Moonshadow101

So is this a breakdown of volcano management or is Kaz using somekind of blame-proof grappling hook?

mysteryboy2k

@djricekcn: Reggie's not going anywhere.

Foxstar Sixtail

@InsaneBastard: It's not a "grudge" when your boss basically fires you for insubordination.

Bosses don't hold grudges. Employees hold grudges. Bosses hold the power.

badasscat

SCEJ holding a grudge against Phil Harrison confirmed!

InsaneBastard

I hope he does well in wherever he goes next.

On a related note i see that Kaz is taking over responsibilities from him at SCE... does that mean we'll get better localisation times leading to more games on a better schedule? Or does it mean that we'll have even less of a focus because we don't have one person managing SCE as a full time job...

Duoae

@infi: Someone set up them the bomb.

rebelphoenix

What happen?

:O

infi

I have a feeling this is related to what he said about SCEJ. Sony being an old Japanese company probably still has many ties to other companies as a keiretsu (although it has taken many steps away from being in a traditional keiretsu), which may have accounted for much of the friction between ideas he had as far as the direction of IP's and Playstation.

This is really too bad. Considering what he said about him and SCEJ he could definitely be viewed as someone in upper management who pushed forward instead of sticking with the same 'ol. On top of that he always came across as someone who was comfortable speaking in front of and to people, as opposed to Kaz and Jack Tretton who always seemed a bit shakier in front of a crowd.

amazinazihn

this is TRULY TRULY a sad day. He was great for the company. i hope its effect is as minimal as possible. :(

joelface

I wonder how much money MS is going to offer him to come work for them..

Rask

@rebelphoenix: That's not nice. :(

-----

This is so weird to wake up to. Like, "what the hell happened"!? Good luck to you, Phil.

Saint Anima: Kotaku's Poetic Massacre

dammit all... i'll miss him. he was like sony's hype man, like the other people on the stage at a rap concert for no obvious reason, but in his case very well established and full of purpose.

InEffectMode

@Flurp: His first name is Flurp?

Narynan

So how many different jobs can Kaz Hirai handle at same time?

Hansel

I'll echo the sentiment of disappointment. He was a great figurehead for Sony that really helped to recover their image after the PS3's launch.

This is just as much a loss for them as Peter Moore was for Microsoft. They were both great figureheads that would talk to the press fairly honestly and really put a face on the efforts of these giant companies.

You will be missed, Phil. Here's hoping Sony finds someone that can talk to the press and to gamers half as well as you did.

Kegwen

And the rats continue to abandon ship...

rebelphoenix

Phil Harrison is definitely one of the best spokesman, if not THE best spokesman for Sony. It's definitely a shame to see him go. He was a better speaker than Peter Moore and that's definitely saying something. Him leaving Sony will definitely impact future Conference's/Conventions just as Moore leaving Microsoft has.

crXss

@Gantz: Your Trusted Friend in Science.: You need skills technical / people, and a lot of luck.

Knowing the right person at the right time helps also.

Witzbold

how does one actually get snug into a company like Sony? i wouldn't mind getting a decent job at sony, i just don't get how, and what would a decent job consist of?

Gantz: Your Trusted Friend in Science.

Phil Harrison is one of the main reasons I got interested in the PS3, regardless of the corporate diarrhea that marred their pre and early post launch campaign. His work with worldwide studios has produced some of the highest quality games the Sony Platform has to offer, and I'm sad to see him go.

I hope that in his new endeavor he is in a position to produce product of even higher quality.

Best of luck to you Phil!

Bellamy

@TC: Perhaps you'll get your chance when he gets hired at Microsoft?

KIDDING.

But seriously, this sucks. Harrison had talent and a good grasp on what gamers want. His loss is going to hurt Sony, and I (like many others here) have to wonder what would prompt him to leave. Certainly it wasn't the inadequacy of his paycheck.

Captain Impulse

@Kanashimi: Well, I think his jabs at Sony Japan caused some people at Sony to say, 'Hmm Phil..we love you, but maybe you should take a "vacation".' Because when you're a powerful media speaker/icon (like Phil) and you make poor public choices, you never get 'fired', you only 'resign'.

rlh445 - Well, Everyone Else Is Doing It!

No!!!! D: I'm seriously faclempt. This cannot happen, he was the only drop dead gorgeous man from Sony I had ever laid eyes on and now that dream of making a game under his tenure or being his coffee bitch will never come to pass. What to do with my Phil shrine now and crushed dreams of making out on a sea of disk read errored PS2's are compeltely dashed. Wipe-tear-flick-oscar.

TC

Looks like something's going on behind Sony's doors, Sorry to see you go Phil but I'm hoping SCEE will now pull it's finger out its ass and get to improving the UK PSN

Shin-Kaiser

@Manny:
Dude, Kutaragi's been retired from Sony since Aprial of last year.

The BPM Scrolls IV - Knights of the Nine

A small piece of me just died... You will be missed, Phil. Sony isn't the same without you.

bobtheduck

He was by far my favorite Sony speaker. Too bad, and wherever he decides to go, I hope he stays in the industry.

Vicious-chan

I guess it's back to Ken "2 jobs" Kutaragi to fuck things up again.

Manny

I reckon that Phils frustration with Sony's lack of understanding in social gaming will land him a plumb job with Nintendo who at the mo are the kings. If what he said at GDC this year is true then slagging off your superiors is not a sensible thing to do. Yet as previous posts have said, he really did look like the only exec with the balls and brains to make PS3 a success. It's gonna be an interesting week next week.

pjmas05

@Tenchuu: The only resignation I'm waiting for is EA quitting the gaming business.
Now THAT would be something!

To come back to topic, I really have to say, that I don't like it a bit, that we will have to face Kaz now, every time a presentation is shown. I don't like his speeches a bit. Cause you see, the footnotes are the important stuff. Kaz Hirai is taking Phils place now. "Riiiiiiiiidge Raceeeeeerrrrr" anyone?
I don't want that, I don't like that.

tylerstyle

Gamesindustry.biz is reporting a possible move to Atari...

PhreneticGamer

@Tenchuu: Miyamoto is next that's who!!!

heckteck

damn, one of the better ones.

silentbob343

Ugh - that's a blow to Sony and to innovation in gaming in general. I hope they don't replace him with a suit that just watches the bottom line.

El-Suave

@djricekcn: LOL! It seems that this generation may be remembered for its resignations and movements of all its big representatives. The real question is who's next?

Tenchuu

Man its so weird though that hes going when things start to seem to be getting better for the PS3. D::::

Sad day indeed.

Witzbold

@djricekcn: I highyl doubt it. I mean, would you abandon gold in Fort Knox that reproduces asexually?

Fyren

I am shocked! I can't wait to hear his reasons for leaving. Although if it was due to friction between him and Sony Japan we may never hear the truth to this. Anyways, to me Phil was a pretty good representative for the Sony brand. I wonder who they'll find as a permanent replacement for him?

Tenchuu

First Peter Moore to EA, who's betting that Phil Harrison will be off to Activision? :P

Spik3balloon

What a shame. He was a pretty cool guy from what I've seen of him.
Sure is a lot of shakeup going on at SCE lately... Almost worrisome...

@Zuiyo:
1) Will people stop saying "next-gen"? It isn't "next" anymore when the systems are on sale and have been for over a year! It's current-gen!
2) "Unmistakingly dominate the market?" Wow, way to call the winner long before the war is close to being ended. Plus, last I checked, the Wii was in a clear lead in front of PS3, and rarely, if ever, has a system made a comeback.

The BPM Scrolls IV - Knights of the Nine

@Flurp: Hi frist name is Flurp?? How unusual!

sauvage

never really been a fan of the playstation systems, but phil is a hero of the industry imo - big blow for sony/ big gain for where ever he ends up!

Gypsie

yeah,i agree with the others,its sad he moves out just when the ps3 seemed to get rolling.
i also wondered what was up with sony at the gdc, compared to ms and even nintendo it seemed like they didn´t have any big announcments,no?
actually that cross platform engine is the only one i remember now.

tomsamson

all these big names in the video game industry are resigning....Microsoft, Sony, next is going to be Reggie

djricekcn

I really like his Press-presentations E3 and the like. He always had this aura of being a suit wearing guy, a decision maker, but at the same time, he struck one as a guy, who had fun doing, what he does. Unlike many others in this business, where you can tell from the start, that they dont have anything to do with gaming and are only there for the money. With Phil it felt different.
If Kaz takes over, my bet is, things will change. And not to the better...

tylerstyle

Will be sorry to see Phil go, if only to not have the joys of his Comical Ali-a-like comments about the PS3 that always made me chuckle.

Seems an odd time to step down given the recent "Victory in HD Day" Sony must be celebrating anyway but fair play to the guy, in his 15 year tenure I'm sure he's had some pretty amazing highs and lows...

delmorpha

I bet Phil ends up at Xbox in a few months, big blow for Sony though he did seem to be the only person with a clue over there.

ascully

that sucks, i liked hearing him speak at all these game conventions...im gonna miss ya phil

TriFF51

This is shit. To me he seemed like the only person at Sony who knew what he was talking about and one of the few who didn't talk out his ass half the time. Now we're left with Jack Tretton's red face and PR blurbs.

cheeses

Wow

SumDum_Guy

Oi this is pretty big news! D:

He didnt seem like too bad of a guy either. :x

Witzbold

Huh... I thought Kaz was banished from the public eye forever. He and Ken were like two insane guys.

Xiedo

wow, big news. I was starting to kinda like the honest, bald-headed face of the PLAYSTATION 3.

DigiMish

That's too bad. Here we had a young and extremely brilliant executive who made a real difference. If anybody, this is a person for Sony not to let go.

They also forced Kutaragi implying that he had made a huge mistake overdeveloping the PS3. This man is being vindicated a little bit more everyday now, and a year from this point in time, when PS3 will be unmistakingly dominating the next generation console market, letting these two dudes go will seem an even worst decision.

Zuiyo

I really wonder what it was that made him leave. I mean, was he just tired of the job after so long, or what? I dunno, I wish there was a better reason then just, "I'm leaving~!"

Kanashimi

Whoa, big news. And this at a time when PS3 is supposedly on its way up?

I don't get it. Do you think maybe his comments about Sony of Japan being difficult caused friction? Was he asked to resign, or do you think he resigned by his own choice?

This smells very fishy. ...like a giant enemy crab.

Highlander Wolf

Wow... Huge news, wonder where he'll head up next... Playstation as we know it would not be the same without his influence!

MikeSheehan

Damn i pressed submit to soon. So does this mean any change in the company? Or business plan restructuring? Will Kaz fire Reaves? These are the questions i need answers to!

Balance_In_Life (PSN)

Now he can devote himself to his role in Smallville fulltime.

JudgeNutmeg

Phil you will be missed!

Balance_In_Life (PSN)

It's a shame that he's leaving right when the PS3 is turning the corner.

silkylove

i really like Mr. Phil

especially because he has the same first name as me!

Flurp

That sucks, he was a great entertainer with the E3's I've seen him speaking at.

Coldbrand