Ex-Warner Chief Savages Sony, Follows Own Agenda, Sees Widespread Mis-reporting
Failure of HD-DVD with Hollywood frustrates – journalists shame selves.
Warren Lieberfarb speaks
Warren Lieberfarb, former head of Warner Home Video since 1984, now CEO of media, entertainment and technology consultancy, Warren N Lieberfarb & Associates (contrary to incorrect reports you may have read elsewhere) has savaged Sony Computer Entertainment over its tactics surrounding the emerging Blu-Ray DVD format by making a speech that has left video industry and game industry-watchers alike agog.
“If I were to put Blu-Ray in PlayStation and I don't license it to Microsoft for Xbox and then get all the studios to only publish on PlayStation, I'll beat Microsoft in the next-generation games market,” Lieberfarb said in an address to the Perspectives in European Video conference yesterday in Biarritz. “and we've been sucked into a case of PlayStation versus Xbox…”
Opening up a long-sidestepped debate on the tactics employed by Japanese companies compared to those in the West, he continued, “If you have ever read The Art of War, you will see all of Sony's moves, including that of taking all its enemies into a single tent and then leaving them empty-handed. These are things that they have always done historically. They did the same thing to Matsushita and to Betamax and they did the same thing to Matsushita on compact disc. They did the same thing to Matsushita on the digital video camcorder too. They compete like Samurai and it just is not the way we compete in the West.”
The speech has sent shockwaves through the video industry with a similar battle to that between VHS and Betamax now rearing its head. “Hollywood blew it and they got duped,” continued an enraged Lieberfarb to a stunned audience. “They could have created the format that optimized their creative interests. It looks like we lost, because there are six studios supporting Blu-Ray and only three supporting HD-DVD. But you know, there's always surprises.”
Of course, one must ask why Lieberfarb is so impassioned, so anti-Sony. Put simply, his consultancy is a key proponent working with Microsoft on the HD-DVD format, a fact some games industry reporters completely missed. They also missed the fact that Lieberfarb left his role at Warners in 2002 and missed, well... loads of stuff. But there you go.
“Convergence is here. Everything is digital. The Internet is going to deliver video and you are going to want to pass information from one device to another and HD-DVD versus Blu-Ray is really the first battle in the issue of who controls the home.” Convergence being a key word, especially given Paul Campbell, Director, Business Development, Media Entertainment Technology Convergence Group at Microsoft Corporation, is a known associate of Lieberfarb’s. Indeed, Lieberfarb made a presentation to Paul Campbell back in December of 2004 at the Caltech/MIT Enterprise Forum, entitled Entrepreneurial Opportunities in Entertainment, another point of consideration widely missed.
Of course, the sensational nature of Lieberfarb’s coments were too much to resist for many ‘journalists’ simply copying one another in a frenzy without checking - checking anything at all really, with the prize for most worthy journalistic performance again heading to a certain writer at a certain games industry business site.
So, what are we to make of the former Warners man’s anger at Sony? Simply that he seems frustrated to have lost the battle and is now crying "Foul".
“If I were to put Blu-Ray in PlayStation and I don't license it to Microsoft for Xbox and then get all the studios to only publish on PlayStation, I'll beat Microsoft in the next-generation games market,” Lieberfarb said in an address to the Perspectives in European Video conference yesterday in Biarritz. “and we've been sucked into a case of PlayStation versus Xbox…”
Opening up a long-sidestepped debate on the tactics employed by Japanese companies compared to those in the West, he continued, “If you have ever read The Art of War, you will see all of Sony's moves, including that of taking all its enemies into a single tent and then leaving them empty-handed. These are things that they have always done historically. They did the same thing to Matsushita and to Betamax and they did the same thing to Matsushita on compact disc. They did the same thing to Matsushita on the digital video camcorder too. They compete like Samurai and it just is not the way we compete in the West.”
The speech has sent shockwaves through the video industry with a similar battle to that between VHS and Betamax now rearing its head. “Hollywood blew it and they got duped,” continued an enraged Lieberfarb to a stunned audience. “They could have created the format that optimized their creative interests. It looks like we lost, because there are six studios supporting Blu-Ray and only three supporting HD-DVD. But you know, there's always surprises.”
Of course, one must ask why Lieberfarb is so impassioned, so anti-Sony. Put simply, his consultancy is a key proponent working with Microsoft on the HD-DVD format, a fact some games industry reporters completely missed. They also missed the fact that Lieberfarb left his role at Warners in 2002 and missed, well... loads of stuff. But there you go.
“Convergence is here. Everything is digital. The Internet is going to deliver video and you are going to want to pass information from one device to another and HD-DVD versus Blu-Ray is really the first battle in the issue of who controls the home.” Convergence being a key word, especially given Paul Campbell, Director, Business Development, Media Entertainment Technology Convergence Group at Microsoft Corporation, is a known associate of Lieberfarb’s. Indeed, Lieberfarb made a presentation to Paul Campbell back in December of 2004 at the Caltech/MIT Enterprise Forum, entitled Entrepreneurial Opportunities in Entertainment, another point of consideration widely missed.
Of course, the sensational nature of Lieberfarb’s coments were too much to resist for many ‘journalists’ simply copying one another in a frenzy without checking - checking anything at all really, with the prize for most worthy journalistic performance again heading to a certain writer at a certain games industry business site.
So, what are we to make of the former Warners man’s anger at Sony? Simply that he seems frustrated to have lost the battle and is now crying "Foul".
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Comments
config 8 Dec 2005 16:02
1/10
“They could have created the format that optimized their creative interests. It looks like we lost, because there are six studios supporting Blu-Ray and only three supporting HD-DVD. But you know, there's always surprises.”
Hang on. Isn't it the movie studio and distributors that are pushing for a new format, claiming it's needed to handle HD content when in fact it's just a ruse to get us all buying our favourite movies on yet another format...
Hang on. Isn't it the movie studio and distributors that are pushing for a new format, claiming it's needed to handle HD content when in fact it's just a ruse to get us all buying our favourite movies on yet another format...
ohms 8 Dec 2005 16:13
2/10
The whole 'art of war' and 'samurai' thing, thrown in to his speech, smacks a little of racism.
(and I knew microsoft had to be involved somewhere along the line)
(and I knew microsoft had to be involved somewhere along the line)
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OptimusP 8 Dec 2005 16:45
3/10
*sniff sniff* i smell moneyhats... lots of them *sniff sniff* why can't i have one of those... c'mon i'm a gamejournalist, bribe me!!
DaPistolPat 8 Dec 2005 17:04
4/10
Holy crap people you forget the moral of the story.
Sony is full of sh!t and is gonna lose alot of money this next gen., unless you morons fall for their B/S.
I mean fck if you don't buy Sony crap then we wont have to worry about Sony's over charging a$$.
You really cant go wrong if buy a 360 and a Revo, if you buy both of those then your set.
Sony is full of sh!t and is gonna lose alot of money this next gen., unless you morons fall for their B/S.
I mean fck if you don't buy Sony crap then we wont have to worry about Sony's over charging a$$.
You really cant go wrong if buy a 360 and a Revo, if you buy both of those then your set.
ohms 8 Dec 2005 17:24
5/10
Pistol-Pat wrote:
You really cant go wrong if buy a 360 and a Revo, if you buy both of those then your set.
unless you wanna play MGS4 :)
TigerUppercut 8 Dec 2005 17:36
6/10
ohms wrote:
unless you wanna play MGS4 :)
See how long that exclusive lasts if Sony doesn't get its act together with PlayStation 3. Konami will jump shap as fast as other publisher. Especially with Microsoft courtship.
DaPistolPat 8 Dec 2005 17:38
7/10
ohms wrote:
Pistol-Pat wrote:
You really cant go wrong if buy a 360 and a Revo, if you buy both of those then your set.
unless you wanna play MGS4 :)
That game is gonna be ported and it will most likely be ported with an expansion added to it.
DaPistolPat 8 Dec 2005 17:38
8/10
ohms wrote:
Pistol-Pat wrote:
You really cant go wrong if buy a 360 and a Revo, if you buy both of those then your set.
unless you wanna play MGS4 :)
That game is gonna be ported and it will most likely be ported with an expansion added to it.
jordanlund 8 Dec 2005 21:58
9/10
I don't like the way the article implies that the format battle is over and Blu-Ray won when neither machine has even been produced yet.
It doesn't matter how many studios support Blu-Ray if the product comes to market and the public finds it either too expensive or too intrusive.
What about the rumors that Blu-Ray devices will require an internet connection so they can be shut down remotely if the hardware company doesn't like the way consumers treat their machines? What about Sony's recent problems with DRM technology?
It's not a simple matter of 6 studios vs. 3 if the public looks at the product and goes "Ummm... meh." At it's height the Circuit City fiasco known Divx had support from 1/2 of the major studios including people like Disney. In the end it tanked because the consumer wasn't convinced.
It doesn't matter how many studios support Blu-Ray if the product comes to market and the public finds it either too expensive or too intrusive.
What about the rumors that Blu-Ray devices will require an internet connection so they can be shut down remotely if the hardware company doesn't like the way consumers treat their machines? What about Sony's recent problems with DRM technology?
It's not a simple matter of 6 studios vs. 3 if the public looks at the product and goes "Ummm... meh." At it's height the Circuit City fiasco known Divx had support from 1/2 of the major studios including people like Disney. In the end it tanked because the consumer wasn't convinced.
Joji 8 Dec 2005 23:12
10/10
Funny news post. I would be happy with normal DVD for games consoles but the ever hungry developer has an insatiable appetite for more canvas space, which in the end still has duffer games being produced.
PS3 including Blu Ray will just make people flock to it like normal DVD originally did for PS2, and that's why it'll sell like hot cakes (as an entry level product in a similar way that 360 will be an entry product for some to HDTV). It's a cunning plan but one that will work for Sony. And fairplay to that, it's just business. I'd prefer to buy from Sony than bloody MS anyday.
If too much security is involved like DRM and stuff then I'd just use a normal DVD player to watch what I want. Perhaps Blu-Ray, HD-DVD and normal DVD might be able to co-exist in the game and film markets, since not everyone will buy the two newbies in town. Don't forget everyone is moving from DVD players to Recordable Hard Drive DVD players now and with recordable VHS on it's knees, they won't go quietly.
Look like Nintendo have the right idea with GC and Rev disks (perhaps UMDs for Sony too), their own adjusted format that they control for games only, without any bs.
PS3 including Blu Ray will just make people flock to it like normal DVD originally did for PS2, and that's why it'll sell like hot cakes (as an entry level product in a similar way that 360 will be an entry product for some to HDTV). It's a cunning plan but one that will work for Sony. And fairplay to that, it's just business. I'd prefer to buy from Sony than bloody MS anyday.
If too much security is involved like DRM and stuff then I'd just use a normal DVD player to watch what I want. Perhaps Blu-Ray, HD-DVD and normal DVD might be able to co-exist in the game and film markets, since not everyone will buy the two newbies in town. Don't forget everyone is moving from DVD players to Recordable Hard Drive DVD players now and with recordable VHS on it's knees, they won't go quietly.
Look like Nintendo have the right idea with GC and Rev disks (perhaps UMDs for Sony too), their own adjusted format that they control for games only, without any bs.