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Sony's Conference The Day After

Posted by Zonk on Tue May 09, 2006 09:17 AM
from the right-in-the-gut dept.
Sony E3
I believe the best way to describe the reaction to yesterday's Sony Press Conference would be underwhelmed. The Guardian Gamesblog always says it well: "Jetlag means I'm not entirely sure what day it is, but what was Sony's excuse? Today's conference was a muddled mess that essentially confirmed widespread rumours of a problematic PS3 launch build-up. The games shown were of varying quality, with perhaps only Heavenly Sword really showing the undoubted potential of the PS3 ... Sadly, on today's evidence, 360 owners shouldn't worry about missing out, as the PS3's visuals seem broadly similar to their machine. Impressive then, but not the leap we had truly hoped for." Chris Kohler nails the real problem with the lower-priced model: "This just made Microsoft's $299 Core Pack look like a genius idea. At least it's possible to upgrade an Xbox Core. I don't know what kind of arcane magick will have to be executed to give a crippled PS3 actual functionality."
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[+] PS3 Launch Details Announced 796 comments
Sony's conference offered up reassurance that a number of their titles will be playable at this year's E3. The controller will sense movement, allowing the player to move an onscreen avatar 'naturally'. They also released the system's launch details. The North American PS3 launch will occur on Nov. 17th, 2006. The 20GB HDD version will retail for $499, and the 60GB HDD version will go for $599. They promise 4 million launch units by December 31st. Update: 05/09 03:57 GMT by Z : Apparently, not only does the $499 system have a smaller harddrive, but it has fewer features as well.
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  • The Day After... (Score:5, Funny)

    by GrumblyStuff (870046) on Tuesday May 09 2006, @09:21AM (#15292904)
    ...Nintendo's conference, it's revealed that the Sony's was fake and that they'd be doing whatever Nintendo said they would be doing.

  • Graphics 1, Gameplay 0 (Score:3, Interesting)

    by therage96 (912259) on Tuesday May 09 2006, @09:26AM (#15292940)
    I enjoy great looking games as much as anyone else, but I play games not just for the graphics, but to have a lot of -interactive- fun. If I just wanted to stare at pretty graphics all day, I'd go to the movies.

    I am glad to see Nintendo innovating rather than just extending their past consoles, which it seems like all Microsoft and Sony want to do ("MORE POWER, ITS LEET!!! WOOO!!").

    I was going to buy a PS3 for Metal Gear Solid 3 and Gran Turismo, but now I might just have to get the Wii.
    • "I was going to buy a PS3 for Metal Gear Solid 3..."

      I could be wrong, but I am pretty sure that it will play the same as it plays on the PS2 ;-).

      Seriously, though, MGS4 is the primary reason I am picking up a PS3 as well...
      • Adults generally don't use the word "grown-ups."
      • To bad really. I have both a GC and a PS2. The games on the GC tend to be more fun. My wife and I really enjoy MarioCart. I have noticed that many people confuse adult with grown-up.
        • See, that's the thing... no matter how fun "Mario Cart" is, I couldn't bring myself to play something like that. Would you play a "Rainbow Brite" game if it was really good? How about "Power Rangers"? See, the way I see it is if you're playing "Mario Cart", then you're just playing for the twitch action, and ignoring the content. I kind of want BOTH when I play a game. I'm not an obsessive gamer, but I still haven't run out of good PS2 games that offer good action AND content.

          • Re:Graphics 1, Gameplay 0 (Score:5, Insightful)

            by Directrix1 (157787) on Tuesday May 09 2006, @10:49AM (#15293605)
            He's having fun. Isn't that the whole point of games?
          • "See, that's the thing... no matter how fun "Mario Cart" is, I couldn't bring myself to play something like that. Would you play a "Rainbow Brite" game if it was really good? How about "Power Rangers"?"
            Yes I would. You see I don't care what anybody else thinks. I went to see Shriek and I enjoyed it. I can watch Twelve Angry Men, Citizen Kane, The Seven Samurai, and Bugs Bunny cartoons from the 40s and enjoy them all.
            You see when you are an adult you really don't care about looking like an Adult. The fact th
      • I personally have a similar thing with Nintendo, they're a bit like Disney, they make good games / films, but frankly you wouldn't want to soley watch / play them. As an adult I'd kinda like more variety in the general themes of the games, rather than near 100% "family friendly" fare.

        Nintendo seem rather unwilling to do it themselves (for fear of tarnishing the brand?) and leave it to 3rd parties, but lately they've been having a lot of trouble attracting them. Perhaps they should create a Miramax or someth
      • That might be a reasonable criticism if it weren't for the fact that having the same names on the games has nothing to do with whether the gameplay is innovative. Of course, anyone saying that Nintendo doesn't innovate after the DS and the Wii is not being reasonable anyway.

  • Sony overconfident? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by mikeisme77 (938209) on Tuesday May 09 2006, @09:27AM (#15292944) Homepage Journal
    From what I've read about the press conference (and from the various opinion pieces I've read on it), it seems that Sony has grown overconfident--and with over 65% market share, can you blame them? Sony is just as much a marketing company as they are a technology company and they know that for much of the mass market of video games, Playstation is the only thing these people know because to them Sony is like a god. They also know that the mass market goes "ooo, look how powerful" and buys it (*cough*PSP*cough*). However, that's the AMERICAN mass market. If the PSP has taught them nothing, then they should know now that having a "do everything" device that's "more powerful" than the competition isn't enough. Of course, maybe that's why they "stole" the motion detection from the Wii? Any way, it seems like a fumble (but more than likely not a crucial one). If Nintendo and/or Microsoft can pull some good tricks out of their hats, then Sony might at least drop down to less than 50% of the market share (and you better believe I hope they do--as this overconfidence is bad for the industry).
    • The reality is that Sony will easily blow through those 6 million units. $599 just isn't a steep enough price barrier.

      The real question is what happens to those people that are turned away in the long lines? Do they pick up an Xbox or a Wii? Sony is what it is... the real battle is between Microsoft and Nintendo this holiday season.

      As for the Sony's final market share, that will become apparent as early adopters let the world know if the system is worth it... or worth it at what price. People run ar

    • From what I've read about the press conference (and from the various opinion pieces I've read on it), it seems that Sony has grown overconfident--and with over 65% market share, can you blame them?

      I'm not so sure the problem is overconfidence. I think the fundamental problem is that blue-ray HD-DVD drive.

      I understand Sony is trying to make blue-ray drives the defacto next generation HD-DVD standard, but the problem is that the 1st generation drives are so expensive ($400 by one estimate I read) that it's p

  • Blam! There goes the other foot! (Score:3, Insightful)

    by AntiDragon (930097) on Tuesday May 09 2006, @09:35AM (#15293000)
    So let's get this straight. Instead of having two price points consisting of A:) The console and B:) The console with extras, We have *two different consoles*.

    Gee, I hope you know, that they weren't expecting anything innovative in the way of games that might rely of features that half of shipped PS3s won't have.

    This is the same shoot-yourself-in-the-foot mistake that MS made with the 360. Only, at least with the 360 you can actually upgrade your "core" system later. You know, buy a hardrive.

    Oh wait...I get it, Sony will release upgrade kits consisting of some prebuilt ICs, a hacksaw, a soldering iron and a 300-page manual!

    I'm not gonna mention the half-assed motion sensor implementation...

    I'm no fan of Sony, not since their arrogantly stupid root kit stunt in particular but I'm always interested to see what such companies can do in terms of pushing out new technology. But this is turning into a complete shambles so far...

    Bah..One console is gonna be a pile'o'poo, one violates my (admitedly shaky) code of ethics and the third sounds like part of my early morning wake-up ritual. Although it's clear which one I'll end up purchasing.

    So disapointing...I need a hug!

    • I'm not gonna mention the half-assed motion sensor implementation...

      Let me offer a contrary view: I'm looking forward to the half-assed motion sensor implementation.

      First, let's deal with half-assed. Is Eye Toy [wikipedia.org] half-assed? Yes. Is it fun when it works? Sure. It wasn't an original idea, but it was an attempt to take controls "to the next level," a layer of experimentation that I commend.

      Now, as far as motion sensors go, I can't wait to see. If it works half-assed, and is able to take advantage of

      • Sorry, I may have come across wrong there.

        I like the idea of alternative inputs. I own a DS and some of the stylus-based games are just fantastic.

        Likewise the console-formerly-know-as-Revolution appears to have a fantastic, full-spatial motion sensing system and, from video clips at least, is very responsive, natural and open to all sorts of innovative uses.

        Sony's implementation is poor by comparison. It uses a gyro and accelerometers to calculate movement. There is no absolute spatial positioning. And, mos
  • The very best thing about the PS3 is that it has provided the _only_ thing to make me happy about the name "Wii."

    That being of course "PlayStation ThWii" :)

    I'm still planning on getting a PSWii of course, well, once the price has gone down a bit anyways, which is sad because i got both PS2 and GameCube on the day of release. But regardless of the merits of the rest of the system you've got to laugh (or perhaps cry) at the blatant "me too"ism of the controller. On the plus side as someone else pointed ou

    • Actually, from the looks of it, Sony's controller just has motion sensitivity, while the Nintendo remote acutally knows where it is in 3d space relative to the television.

      So while the PS3 will sorta know how you're moving the controller around, the Wii will know how you're moving it, where it is relative to the screen, and probably most importantly, where it's pointing.

      The point is, Nintendo's set-up is far more useful, not to mention the years of R&D headstart they've had to get it working well.

      If anyt

  • Let's compare for a moment... (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Guppy06 (410832) on Tuesday May 09 2006, @09:52AM (#15293125) Journal
    Let's take a look at the negative reactions Sony has gotten so far from their E3 presentations:
    • Price point
    • Inability to upgrade bare-bones system to premium system
    • Lack of memory card slots on the base system
    • Tilt-n-Tumble
    • Sacrificing vibration to implement Tilt-n-Tumble
    • Problems with backwards compatability that removing vibration and memory card slots are sure to bring about

    And here's what Nintendo has been criticized for:
    • Name

    And on top of that, Nintendo's pre-presentation announcement of the name has gotten them far more attention than Sony's actual presentation.
    • The PS-3 like the PS-2 will have USB 2.0.
      Sony make it a also a PVR! Then come out with a video Walkman to compete with Apple!
      Another option is a really wild one. If it doesn't already run it put Linux on it. Allow it to become a simple general use computer as well as a Game machine. Allow it to become the Commodre64 of the 21st Century.
      It has a hard drive, network connection, and USB ports...
  • I love the original playstation and I love playstation 2...just wish they had made a different controller with something more unique than "pressure sensitive" buttons which are never even used anyway.

    I will not be getting a PS3 anytime soon what is sony thinking by doing this? It's definately Wii for me

  • PSwii60 (Score:4, Funny)

    by Bierhoff15 (960311) on Tuesday May 09 2006, @10:19AM (#15293345)
    The PSwii60 is awesome! $150 PS2 + $50 PS1 + $400 360 + $300 Wii = PSwii60 is HUGE SAVINGS!!!!1 Don't forget to buy a $100 PSwii60 online debit card so you can purchase all that awesome content that was left out of your $60 games. Such things as "the second level" and "the fourth wheel to your new car in GT4". This is truly next-gen!
  • Okay, we've already got people running around like Chicken Little and screaming "two different consoles!" and "can't upgrade the low end model!"

    Before the whining gets completely out of control, can we stop and look at the differences for a moment?

    Smaller hard drive - yeah, but at least unlike the 360, the low-end model still has one. Since this is going to be used for downloadable content and caching from the optical disc, I can't see how the extra 40GB is going to make much difference. And after all,

    • No wiffy

      Making the issue sound cute doesn't make it any less of a problem. No HDMI - and how many gamers even have TVs with an HDMI input? This should only be an issue for people who want to play BluRay movies on an expensive TV set. And if they can afford a $2000-$5000 plasma HD set, maybe they can afford the extra $100 for a premium PS3?

      This is true, but honestly it raises more questions than it answers. Sony's betting rather heavily that the cross-branding of the PS3 and Blu-Ray will help both te
    • So after buying the $40 WiFi reciever and the $20-40 memory card adapter you're practically made up the price difference :) Right after the announcement when i thought the only difference was the size of the hard drive i was wavering on which would be the better buy. After hearing about about the other missing features however it's become clear that getting the $500 version would be pretty dumb. If you can manage to set aside $500 for a console, what is after all a pure entertainment expense, you can either
    • Yeah, but if I'm going to be paying publishers $60-70 per game because their dev costs are so high because of all this high-def content, as well as paying for this ridiculous amount of hardware, I'm going to want to have the option of seeing it all perform in its ultimate glory. If not now, potentially down the road a bit. It's the principle of it all more than anything. I don't have huge HD TV right now, but three years from now? Maybe. Saving $100 now just so I have to spend a few hundred later to upgrade
  • Is the price point combined with the "expected" shipments totals of 2 million worldwide for the christmas season (slightly more than that since they "expect" 4 million by year end). But that is world wide. It was a given that no one would be able to get one but at a 499$/599$ price point those who would have held out have less reason to now.

    The PS3 will have the same exact problems the 360 had last year with production, maybe even more if they keep throwing everything into the system (motion detection??)
    • Four million seems a hell of a lot more than 700,000 to me... I don't think those problems will be in the same realm of reality.

      If the 360 wasn't compelling to buyers already, and the PS3 isn't doing it for them now either, it seems the winner becomes Nintendo.

      The lesson here, regardless of what happens, will be that the analysts were wrong, and we listened to 9 months of obnoxious fanboy flamewars about what the analysts were saying for no good reason.

  • Everyone Panic!! (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Daemonik (171801) on Tuesday May 09 2006, @10:47AM (#15293588) Homepage
    For those bitching that the base model won't be upgradeable:

    The unit has 4 USB 2.0 ports, which would imply that a USB memory card reader can be added on.

    The unit has an AV MultiOut port, which would imply that HDMI could be added as a seperate dongle. Considering how many HD TV sets have been sold that don't have HDMI ports, I don't see what everyone is bitching about this for anyway. If the outputs include an Analog HD cable, then you're pretty much set. Sony and all the movie studios are already backing away from enforcing their movies to downgrade themselves because they know the public backlash from people who don't own an HDMI capable set would kill their chances of selling HD movies, so this really seems like a non-issue.

    The controller sucks. Well, I'd be very surprised if Penguin or MadCatz doesn't make a controller with Rumble to satisfy your needs. Unless the PS3 comes with 2 controllers you'll likely end up bying an additional one anyway.

    The base unit doesn't do Wi-Fi. Well, how many of you who own an original XBox or PS2 don't already have some kind of Wi-Fi adapter around the house, if that's your thing? Considering how quickly Wi-Fi speeds change and that the lifespan of a console is around 5 years, who wants a locked in Wi-Fi anyway, you'll just be bitching about how slow it is 3 years from now.

    The price isn't cheap, but most of that's the Blue-Ray player. The higher price will help to ensure that the people who really really have to have a PS3 now will be able to get one while production ramps up and and prices can start to drop. There are many critics saying that the XBox360 is underpriced and it doesn't even have an HD DVD player.

    • You can sure tell who the fanboys are ... (Score:4, Insightful)

      by jchenx (267053) on Tuesday May 09 2006, @05:20PM (#15297192) Journal
      You can sure tell who the fanboys are by the backpeddling they do.

      Xbox Fanboy: "Uhh those shortages, it's going away next week. I heard they're bringing on another factory, I heard it myself from my sister's-boyfriend's-coworker's-friend-of-a-friend . Yeah the shortages are good for business, it builds hype, umm yeah. Oh by the way, do you know if Walmart has any 360s yet?"

      Nintendo Fanboy: "Hey guys, it's just a name! Let's be mature now. The console itself hasn't changed. Guys ... guys? Stop laughing already!"

      Sony Fanboy: "Actually, having two SKUs isn't that bad, it gives the consumer more choices, yeah that's it. And you don't REALLY need HDMI or WiFi or rumble-features. Oh, and the high price means that you'll really be proud once you finally afford that premium PS3! Blu-ray forever!"

  • The Next Generation (Score:3, Interesting)

    by C0R1D4N (970153) on Tuesday May 09 2006, @10:58AM (#15293677)
    Wow this console generation is sounding pretty crappy all around. PS3 - We have what could be an awesome console that's going to be handicapped by a ridiculously high price point (reminds me of the Saturn) 360 - We have a rehash of a previous generation console only with slightly better graphics and a few hundred dollars more and no good games Wii - A system where many of us will no doubt lose the controller to wherever the TV remotes vanish to. And this is honestly sounding to be the best of the three. Sega where are you!?

  • Sony will win... (Score:3, Funny)

    by cLive ;-) (132299) on Tuesday May 09 2006, @11:06AM (#15293775) Homepage Journal

    After all, how can they lose when the logo is basically two men staring at a pair of breasts [googlepages.com].

    Or am I the only one to see this?

  • Things aren't that bad for Sony... (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Bellewether (972797) on Tuesday May 09 2006, @03:09PM (#15296195)
    I'm no Sony partisan; I own all three of this generation's consoles, and I have a soft spot for Nintendo. Last night I thought the PS3 was going to be a fiasco for them. Half a day later, though, I've changed my mind. Consider:

    Price, short term. The 360 and DS Lite launches prove that early adopters are willing to shell out twice the MSRP or more to get their grubby game-mitts on the system at launch. The h4rdc0re, Sony whores, and simply free-spending are going to be all over this thing, and the money goes to Sony rather than the secondary market. Of course, the higher price means any shortages-and-hype situation, if any, is going to be less impressive than the 360's, and time will tell whether it was a smart tradeoff, but it's not some kind of crazy gamble.

    Price, long term. Anybody else expecting a price drop next spring? I wouldn't be suprised if they cut it to match whatever price the 360 is at by then. If they don't, yeah, it's probably gonna hurt them badly, but if the high price is just Sony planning around launch-day demand, then we can expect that they're not going to cede this area to Microsoft.

    Crappy cheap version. For some gamers, the cheap version could actually be a good deal. In fact, I could imagine this being the case for a lot of people. No wireless IEEE? Statistically, only a tiny minority of console owners take them online in the first place- I think it was like four percent? Being limited to a 20GB hard drive probably isn't going to make a big difference for anyone- especially if you're one of the vast majority who aren't downloading any content. What's more, the hard drive thing, IMO, means the cheap PS3 is actually LESS crippled than the cheap 360.

    The motion-sensor thing. I really think this is a bad move on Sony's part- but still, there are at least a couple ways this could work out for them. In the first scenario, Sony actually gets its motion-sensing shit together between now and launch. The controller still can't compete with the dedicated Wii controller that Nintendo spent so much time and money on developing, but if its basic functionality is solid, we could see ports of some Wii titles- at least, the ones that use the technology in fairly simple ways that the PS3 can emulate. The 360 would end up being the third wheel in this scenario, since everything on it that isn't exlusive (and Sony's probable exclusive properties are at least as strong as Microsoft's) is going to end up being ported to the PS3.

    Second possible scenario? Sony's motion-sensing technology sucks ass but hurts Nintendo by confusing the market. Breathtakingly cynical and twisted if things do work out this way, of course, but what are you gonna do?.

    • Is that seriously the PS3 logo? I had never seen it before... I was assuming it was just going to be the same old logo with a 3 at the end. If that's the logo, then that's just BAD. What the hell were they on at the time?
      • I'm a bit unconvinced about it, Sony themselves still seem to use the "Spiderman movie" logo, like here [playstation.com]. The old PlayStation text is gone, long live PLAYSTATION (why do companies keep on doing stupid things with capitalisation? We know your logo is all upper / lower case, you don't have to keep on using it that way in your press releases, it looks stupid...)

    • Anonymous physician, heal thyself (Score:4, Insightful)

      by ianscot (591483) on Tuesday May 09 2006, @09:34AM (#15292989)
      Okay really, get over your fanboyism...

      Seriously, wait for PS3 to launch, and since it packs everything you need in your life so "tightly" and you can't afford one, put money together with some friends and Buy One!

      Glass house. Stones. Throwing discouraged.

    • Re:Okay this guy is a total retard! (Score:5, Funny)

      by jferris (908786) on Tuesday May 09 2006, @09:38AM (#15293017) Homepage
      Okay really, get over your fanboyism Pot, meet Kettle. Kettle, Pot.
    • A few thoughts here...

      Okay this guy is a total retard! "Happiest are those working for Mr. Gates?" Um, hello? The PS3 just blew the competition away, are you scared?

      What does the PS3 have to do with the happiness of Microsoft employees, exactly?

      I'm pretty sure that "blew the competition away" is a blatant lie here. From what I've seen, the response to the conference was "underwhelmed" at best, if not just plain let down.

      He's whining about features the controller has and what it can do; Wow motion sensory t
    • My problem is that Sony hasn't done anything to differentiate itself from the pack this iteration, aside from bet the farm on Blu-Ray- a decision which could be suicidal if Blu-Ray demand is lower than they've expected (which is likely- I can count the number of people I know with HDTVs on one hand). They've even stolen Microsoft's multiple SKU system (which everyone criticized), but made it worse. You can upgrade a core 360 to the same thing as the full package, but once you buy the $500 PS3, you're stuck
      • They've even stolen Microsoft's multiple SKU system (which everyone criticized), but made it worse. You can upgrade a core 360 to the same thing as the full package, but once you buy the $500 PS3, you're stuck with an inferior system.

        The problem with Microsoft's two versions and the reason everyone criticized them for it is that only one of them has a HD which makes it highly unlikely that developers are going to use the HD.

        The differences between Sony's two versions make no difference for the games.

        The

    • Re:Okay this guy is a total retard! (Score:4, Funny)

      by MobileTatsu-NJG (946591) on Tuesday May 09 2006, @10:31AM (#15293438)
      "The Playstation 3 Was F'n AMAZING"

      Well, I agree with you there. Everything about the PS3 was amazing. The price was amazingly high. The controller was amazingly ripped off from Nintendo. The game demos were amazingly unamazing...
    • I think there should be some sort of fanboy metric, based on the number of exclamation points used, with maybe some sort of multiplier if the word "total" or "totally" is used in the subject.
      • I'd be surprised if you won't be able to buy some form of HDMI dongle from Sony for something like $50. Given that Sony most probably delayed the PS3 launch for half a year because of Blueray issues, I think it's a good bet to assume that they want the PS3 to be a good Blueray player.

    • Re:Wha...? (Score:3, Informative)

      by Qzukk (229616)
      It's still got a bluray drive in the cheap version, it just doesn't have HDMI+HDCP, so you can't watch (some of) your bluray discs in full resolution.

      • It's still got a bluray drive in the cheap version, it just doesn't have HDMI+HDCP, so you can't watch (some of) your bluray discs in full resolution.

        I guess this explains Sony's prior announcement [arstechnica.com] that their movies wouldn't force down-converting on analog outputs. At the time it looked like it was just an attempt to improve Blu-Ray's chances against HD-DVD, but now it looks like the decision was driven by the limitations of their low-end PS3.

    • Well, I think some of it is just the fact the EU prices include VAT. Although using the UK rate (17.5%) that did leave about 40 shortfall between the US and EU prices for the /$500 system, so there is a fair amount of rounding up as well.
    • Wait, wait.

      You're saying that the PS3 is junky and that irrational Sony fanboyism is more prevalent than irrational MS or Nintendo fanboyism?

      Hahahahahaaaa

      snort

      (wipes tear from eye)

      Thanks, I needed that.

          • Normaly I don't read/respond to AC comments, but I'm not sure that the Motorcycle is more likely to kill you. The PS3 weighs in at a mighty 5Kg. Serious head injuries waiting to happen. It could fall or be thrown thrown out a window (I know a guy with a temper).

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