Ubisoft CEO Demands 'Significant' Price Cut on PS3

Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot (right) and EA publishing head Gerhard Florin have weighed in on the console battle. Guillemot called for a price cut on the PS3 while Florin stressed the importance of Europe in the outcome of the race. More within...

Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot and Electronic Arts' international publishing head Gerhard Florin both shared their opinions with Reuters this week on how the video game market is shaping up with the new round of consoles.

Guillemot, whose company has been one of the staunchest supporters of Nintendo's Wii from the get go, sees Sony's grip on the video game landscape loosening considerably, as the PlayStation 3 has failed to really take off while the Wii can barely be kept in stock at most retail locations.

The top Ubisoft exec echoed the sentiments of many in the industry; Sony must cut the price on the $600 PS3 and they must do it soon if they want to hold onto market share.

"For sure Sony will have a different market share ... lower than before," Guillemot said at the Reuters Global Technology, Media and Telecoms Summit in New York. "They have to decrease the price quite significantly."

Despite Guillemot's feelings about PS3's place in the market, he did note that Ubisoft is currently planning an exclusive for the platform in Europe. No other details were provided.

Meanwhile at the Reuters Summit in Paris, Florin stated that the most important battleground in this new console war is not North America or Japan, but Europe. Europe often gets the short end of the stick and is often overlooked compared to the U.S. or Japan, but Florin believes Europe will play a deciding role in the outcome of the race. From a population perspective it certainly makes sense. There are almost three-quarters of a billion people living in Europe compared to just over 300 million in the U.S.

"I believe the biggest fight will be in Europe," said Florin. "Whoever wins the hardware war in Europe, most likely will be the overall winner."

Florin also said that the industry needs to focus more on the experience of games and the ways in which games can leverage storytelling, rather than getting caught in a battle of one-upmanship over technology. "Everybody gets carried away with the technology. When the technology gets more usable ... then the story tellers get more to the forefront," he said. "My hope is, but I can't tell you when it will be, that we reach the peak in perfection so that the consumer doesn't see the difference in technology anymore - then it is a pure race for entertainment."