SI: SCEA™'s Jack Tretton Welcomes All To The Playstation Nation

[Christopher]

Jack Tretton is the President and CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment of America (SCEA), a division of Sony Computer Entertainment, which is a subsidiary of Sony Corporation. He is primarily responsible for the company’s United States market. After graduation from Providence College with a marketing degree, New England-born Tretton became a territory manager for the Duracell battery company from 1983 through 1985. He served as vice president of sales at Activision from 1986 to 1991, and as general manager of JVC Musical Industries’ game division from 1991 to 1995.

After joining the Sony Corporation in March 1995, Tretton became a key member of the team that founded PlayStation in September of that year. He was integral in the development and publishing of the PlayStation, PlayStation 2, and PlayStation 3 game consoles – as well as the PlayStation Portable, and their related products. In November 2006, Tretton was promoted to president and chief executive officer for Sony Computer Entertainment America, and has presented the Sony E3 2007/2008/2009 conferences.

There’s little doubt to myself and many other observers that Jack Tretton is one of the biggest believers of the total Playstation experience. I have seen him present nearly every time and his enthusiasm is truly that of someone who believes in something. Does that make sense? I just get the sense he is genuine. He is a powerful executive and a great player for Sony in the USA. It’s obvious that the USA has had great influence on the progression of video games compared to other countries, including Sony’s home country of Japan, and its difficult to manage such a phenomenon. And with the recent price cuts and PSP shakeup with the introduction of the PSP Go, alot of other people lately have been believing in the experience – the NPD Group’s September 2009 video game sales data, released today, says PS3 ranked as the top console sold for the month, beating out all our competitors. It was also the only hardware platform to realize an increase of 112% when compared to the same period last year, according to Tretton. PSP sales have risen 300%. Good work, Sony!

Jack wrote a great post on Sony’s Playstation USA blog that I will copy here called “Welcome to the PlayStation Nation“:

Nearly half a million of you purchased a

PS3

in September. Amazing. Welcome to the PlayStation Nation and to what will be one of our best holidays yet.

We are in the midst of one of the most exciting times for

PlayStation

as we continue to redefine entertainment experiences for consumers, both at home and on the go. Over the past few weeks we’ve launched several game-changers such as the sleek

120GB PS3

at a new price point of $299. We’ve also introduced more storage capacity with the

250GB PS3

, debuting November 3 at $349. We’ve made unprecedented strides in digital and mobile entertainment with the availability of

PSPgo

. Last week we launched the critically acclaimed

UNCHARTED 2: Among Thieves

which is receiving

rave reviews

. The best part is that we’ve only just begun an onslaught of relentless, rich content hitting throughout the fiscal year, including

Ratchet and Clank Future: A Crack in Time

,

God of War III

,

MAG

, and

ModNation Racers

.

We’re also seeing tremendous response to the great value of the newer, slimmer, lighter

120GB PS3 system

, which surpassed its one million unit mark worldwide just after three weeks on shelves. In

NPD Group

’s September 2009 video game sales data, released today, the PS3 ranked as the top console sold for the month, beating out all our competitors. It was also the only hardware platform to realize an increase of 112% when compared to the same period last year.

The

PSPgo

is driving additional momentum for the entire

PSP platform

. In its first three days on store shelves, top retail partners experienced a 300 percent lift in overall PSP hardware sales compared to the previous week. During this time, the

PlayStation Network

also experienced the largest number of downloads ever for a single week period. In addition, the new

250GB PS3

will provide the ample storage needed for what is expected to be a big

Blu-ray

holiday with blockbuster releases like Transformers 2, Star Trek and Hangover. And we’re continuing to stack the chips this holiday with great game content including

God of War Collection

,

LittleBigPlanet – Game of the Year Edition

as well as popular third party titles like

Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars

,

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

and

Assassin’s Creed 2

.

If you haven’t already experienced

UNCHARTED 2: Among Thieves

for yourself, this is a must-have this season. The

Naughty Dog

team has delivered a truly visually stunning and immersive game that is clearly only possible on the PS3. It has garnered an average review score of 96 with over 64 perfect scores by game reviewers. This game promises to be a system seller for PlayStation and we couldn’t be more pleased.

There simply has never been a better time to be part of the PlayStation family and we look forward to providing you with the best entertainment content and experience for many, many years to come.

Jack Tretton

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