Sony's Conference The Day After

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."

One thing to consider.

During the discussions of market shares of the next-gen consoles, there's one thing people don't consider.

The Logo.

Thats right - the logo is going to decide who will win the next-gen console war. Have a look at the three logos side by side [googlepages.com] and it becomes apparant who is going to win.

The Day After...

...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

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.

Re:Graphics 1, Gameplay 0

He's having fun. Isn't that the whole point of games?

Sony overconfident?

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).

Blam! There goes the other foot!

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!

What saddnes me

IS that at least two people I have talked to are buying it SIMPLY cause its a Playstation, it can do no wrong, and refuse to see how just overpriced and junky the system really is. There is such rampant fanboyism that its just sickening that people think all this will equal good games and not well Good GAME DESIGN.

The best thing

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 out, this might do a lot to legitimize the Wii controller to a big segement of the market. With Sony saying right up front that they're "not interested in gimmicks" and then wrapping up by announcing a motion sensitive controller they've made it a lot harder for themselves or anyone else to critisize Nintendo's controller.

Sony may actually have helped change the perception of the public from Nintendo being out on the fringe to Nintendo being at the forefront of, well, a Revolution :)

Let's compare for a moment...

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.

sony has gone to the dogs

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

European market

I'm surprised no one has mentioned Sony's complete shaft of the European market. Looking at numbers shipped, Europe is a big portion of sony's sales. Most Americans I know are unwilling to pay 500-600 dollars for a console. Now take that to Europe where they are facing 500-600 euros (636 dollars to 764 dollars). That's an even higher level. When you look at the cost of computers, is there any advantage in picking up a console over your standard PC?

I think Sony's playing with fire this round, I only hope they know what they are doing. On to the next conference.

PSwii60

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!

Overpriced, but models not that much different

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, isn't the 360 hard drive only 20GB? I wouldn't be surprised if you could (unofficially) upgrade it by simply dropping a bigger laptop SATA drive into the box.

No wiffy - oh no, it's the end of the world, now I'll have to buy a $40 WiFi receiver and plug it into the gigabit ethernet port! Seriously, how is a game even going to know the difference? What kind of game would have a problem with a lack of wireless networking anyhow? Shut up, get a hub and a 50' Ethernet cable if that's what it takes to hook it up to your cable modem in the other room. I don't care, I wired my house for Ethernet, so I already have gigE in the living room.

No memory stick slot - maybe Sony's shooting itself in the foot here (since they love to put their own proprietary interfaces on everything in an attempt to shill their stuff - hell, I have a memory stick slot on my freaking Sony TV set), but I can't see why there couldn't be a $20-$40 adapter that plugs into a USB port. It is USB 2.0, you know, so it's not like it'll take an hour to fill up a memory stick.

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?

With the exception of the card slot, I wouldn't need any of that stuff, and I don't have any problem with paying $100 less to not get those things. But it's still too expensive for me. I'll be playing Twilight Princess on my new Wii-volution, and still have $150 left over. And that's before you shell out $60 for FF13, which will probably be about 25% pre-rendered cutscenes, 70% mindless leveling up, and 5% boss battles.

The most distressing thing about the PS3..

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??) at the last minute. What makes this even worse is that christmas buyers get to stare at the cheaper and in stock 360s sitting on the shelves, waiting to be the alternate choice. Nintendo will do well but you won't see those sitting on shelves for very long either. Microsoft might just sell 10 million by year end that will definatly make them a player this generation.

Ves

Should have known better

Sony has a rich history of lying and stealing. People should have steal Sony's lunch money.known better than to trust anything they say.

If anybody is "disappointed" by the Sony show, then you must have been living in fanboy fantasy land. The writing has been on the wall for quite some time. Nintendo and M$ are going to eat Sony's lunch.

Everyone Panic!!

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 ...

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

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!?

$500 PS3 = PS2

Exactly what is the main reason to buy a next-gen system, according to Sony (and MS): Hi-Def NOW it turns out Hi-Def is not such a big deal? That not many people have HD televisions, so you can release a version of the console without HD output? On St-Def, the X360 and PS3 look basically as good as the GCN and the Xbox. So... exactly why would I be playing $500 for a next-gen console to play the exact same games with basically the same graphics I can get for under $200? And to think Nintendo was booed for not having HD output on their new *$200* console. It seems more and more that they're right about graphics.

Sony will win...

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?

Two for One Deal?

It looks like I'm going to be able to buy a Wii and a 360 for about the cost of a PS3. Seems like a lot more console for my $, considering that buys me into 2/3 of the platform exclusive titles. After all, it's all about the games. I like GTA as much as the next guy, but Halo3 and Zelda/Mario will help me get over it. Besides, I just have to wait 6 months for the Xbox 360 GTA version anyway.

Console Length of Life

First off, I think Sony's price points are both outragously expensive... Having said that I think I might be able to justify another PS purchase. Why you ask? Easy. Out of the three top players in game consoles, the length of life of the both the ps and the ps2 have been substantially longer than either the N64, GC, Xbox.... What games are coming out for the XBox this year... ummm... nothing, and the Xbox came out well after the ps2 had been on the market for a while. At least GC has the new Zelda game. But the PS2 has God of War 2, Kingdom Hearts 2.... trust me the list goes on. To me this says that Sony is protecting your hardware investment a lot more than Microsoft who seems to think I can buy a console every 3-4 years.... try 6-7 years (Like the Playstation Brand :)

Slightly different perspective

I don't honestly think Sony's presentation was that bad. In some respects it was messy - it wasn't as slick as we've come to expect from the big three, with a slight air of farce in places. The "stripped down" version of the console is undoubted crap and I seriously hope they don't make this represent too large a proportion of the initial batch, or there are going to be a lot of seriously disappointed people come Christmas.

However, in other respects, I thought this was fairly promising for Sony. They clearly know the power of their own brand and how to exploit it, which could, I think, be important given the high price-point. I know it's easy to say that people won't pay over the odds for a console on the strength of the brand, but just look at what the average consumer is willing to pay over the odds on a pair of trainers to get a fancy logo on them. As for the controller features...

Well, if I was Nintendo, I would be alternating between two activities right now. Gibbering in panic and frantic consultation with lawyers. This episode starkly highlights one of the biggest flaws with Nintendo's concept for the Wii (even bigger than the name), namely that if you base your console heavily on the controller, you're screwed if reasonable equivalents of said controller turns out to be available for your competitors' machines. The competition doesn't have to be as good as the Wii's controller, it just has to be enough to remove the scent of exclusivity. The nightmare scenario for Nintendo has got to be launching against a PS3 which has a controller with most or all of the functionality of their own, along with the much better brand recognition and infinitely vaster range of games that Sony bring with them. You can bet your bottom dollar that this is the scenario that Sony are looking to achieve. If Nintendo have been playing their cards right, they will be able to slap Sony with some nice big patents at this point; it certainly wouldn't be out of character for them. However, there's something about the confidence and lack of subtlety of Sony's announcement that makes me suspect that they haven't.

As for Microsoft... I don't think that this demonstration was really a big gain or loss for them. They've known what the situation would be ever since they decided on an early 360 launch, trading early market-penetration off against a technological disadvantage. They've managed to get decent sales in most of the world, although not in Japan (although with the Japanese economy's continuing woes, you could probably make a case for the declining importance of the Japanese consumer), and Sony's technological advantage does not, on the face of what we've seen so far, look as though it's going to be vast. I suspect we won't know for another 18 months whether Microsoft's gamble worked.

Prices really not bad

When I bought my PS2 the week they came out, a DVD player was around $150. Instead I just got a PS2 which was my DVD player and game system for a long time. I finally picked up a $30 DVD player last year just because it was so cheap, but really the PS2 played movies fine.

Given that Blue Ray players this christmas are probably going to be around $500, I think the PS3 will be looking like a sweet bargain for those in the market.

I'm also glad Sony was forced to wait til this Christmas to come out with the PS3. That's a more reasonable life cycle for the PS2. Factor in a cost per year and the Xbox with it's shorter lifespan looks alot more expensive.

Things aren't that bad for Sony...

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?.

A few counterpoints...

Firstly, let me say that I was singularly underwhelmed by the Sony conference -- it was too long, dragged, and nobody involved was a terribly good speaker. That said, there are a handful of points being made about the 'crippled' PS3 that need some clarification:

1. Yes, the smaller box won't have HDMI. That doesn't mean it won't have HD. The fact sheet doesn't specify the non-HDMI formats with any precision, but it does specifically say 'DIGITAL OUT' for both versions, and it's also explicit about the A/V output supporting everything up to 1080p in both versions. While there certainly aren't many displays that could support 1080p over component, there aren't that many displays right now that can support 1080p in any form, and I suspect that even a couple of years from now at best most people with HD will have 720p sets. It's something to be annoyed about, certainly, but this hardly feels like OMG SONY IS DEAD stuff.
2. There's nothing out there about the minspec box not supporting memory cards. For that matter, there's nothing out there that says that the beefy box will support memory cards. What the spec says is that the larger box will (and the smaller box won't) support Memory Stick -- i.e., the flash memory format Sony backs for most of their products. (For the record, they say the larger box will also support SD and Compact Flash). However, both boxes offer USB2.0 support, and from the way that both USB and the other media formats are grouped together under the heading of I/O, it suggests that USB flash drives may be used as a 'memory card' equivalent for both versions of the box, with the bigger version also offering support for the various media formats... almost certainly as a way for people of viewing photos/video off of their digicams etc, the way that some DVD players are starting to come with slots for such now.
3. 802.11 support -- yeah, this is a pain in the ass. But the flip side is, none of the current consoles (including the XBox 360) supports it either -- that's not a crippling of the small box, that seems like a legitimately added feature on the large one. If you're a gamer and you want to wirelessly connect your low-end PS3 to your network, you can easily enough plug it in to the same damn WAP+hub that your XBox and your 360 (and maybe even your PS2) are already plugged in to.

Yeah, the cheaper box is weaker -- there's no question about that. But unlike the 360, none of those differences has any impact on the way games are designed for the system; I can tell you that designers would love to rely on the 360's hard drive, but the existence of a low-end system without one makes that explicitly against Microsoft's rules. That assurance by itself gives Sony a legitmate boost.

No mention of linux

The one thing that intrests me is that the PS3 is supposed to be able to run linux officially with the addon of an HD. In theory that should give you a memory limited super computer. Yet I don't see any mention of it. Ofcourse the average gaming journalist would know about OS'es as much as eh, what is more ignorant then a gaming journalist, a politician.

Disappointing Show Sony

First and foremost, there is no way I'm going to pay $200 more for a system that arrived a full year later than the 360 and cannot offer either superior graphics or something innovative like the Wii.

I frankly don't care at all about HD-DVD or Blu-Ray - as has been stated often on \. that is not a feature that most people are clamoring for and I certainly feel no need to upgrade all my media at this point.

Maybe Microsoft and Nintendo are collaborating on this. It will be far too convenient for them if the price of a PS3 ends up being the exact same as the price of both a 360 and a Wii together. Maybe they'll have joint marketing and commercials. "Why get a PS3 when you could have both of us instead???"

Most annoying of all to me has been Sony's constant scrambling to avoid letting the details on their system out as long as possible. Any gamers that would have purchased a XBOX360 but were deterred by sony marketing are just going to go out right now and buy a Xbox360 now anyways. Maybe we'll see a bunch of Sony rumors in the next few days that they are changing their minds and the PS3 just "might" be given away free next november, so consumers better wait to buy a system until then so they can find out for sure??

"crippled" is such a misnomer

The actual released specs list only 4 differences:

1. 20GB vs 60GB HDD - the XBox360 is a choice of 0 vs 20GB. How is the XBox360 upgrade genius here?
2. Memory stick, etc - no other console has it or has had it. Not missing much unless/until Sony actually writes software that would use it anyway.
3. no 802.11g - no other console has it, and you can always add it via a gaming adaptor.
4. no HDMI - no other console has this, and it will still support HD output via component.

From TFA: "I don't know what kind of arcane magick will have to be executed to give a crippled PS3 actual functionality." That is just plain stupid. So it's missing HDMI, and that means it's useless??? Besides, BluRay will only refuse to play HD over component if the studio sets that flag on the disc, and Sony has already said they don't have plans to do that with their movies.

http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/home-entertainment/sony -wont-downconvert-bluray-hd-on-old-hdtvs-160358.ph p [gizmodo.com]

Actually, one HDMI issue I am surprised there has been no mention of - Sony was bragging previously about dual 1080p capable HDMI outputs, that seems to have quietly disappeared from even the higher end box...

PS3 fanboys missing the point

Sony promised HDMI, a digital media reader, wifi, etc. They promised it. And they kept mum on pricing.

It went from "we'll have everything and 0wnz" to "we'll sell you xb360-like graphics with a wii-like controller for $200 more".

Anonymous physician, heal thyself

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!

Okay really, get over your fanboyism Pot, meet Kettle. Kettle, Pot.

Re:Wha...?

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.

Re:Okay this guy is a total retard!

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 that "wasn't" invented by Nintendo...

Nintendo didn't invent it, but they're the first to use it in a console to thos extent. And it's awfully fishy that Sony makes the announcement so long after we learn that it's a key part of the Wii playing experience.

Okay really, get over your fanboyism, if you even looked at any of the games (and, ahem I watched them in Low-res for Hecks sake) they ARE impressive!

Not $600 worth of impressive. They look like Xbox 360 games, for all intents and purposes, and you can get Microsoft's console for half the price.

And why pay that much money for another Metal Gear title when the PS2 is capable of playing three of them?

Seriously, wait for PS3 to launch, and since it packs everything you need in your life so "tightly" and you cant afford one, put money together with some friends and Buy One!

Oh yeah...like THAT would work. What would you do with it...keep it in a central location equidistant from everyone's houses? Game consoles aren't exactly the kind of thing you can split like that, buddy.

I've got a few issues with your use of "needs" here too; I don't know about you, but I don't need any more video games or a blu-ray DVD player.

Next, don't complain that Sony is entering the online realm. They may be boasting what Xbox Live has to offer, but there's one thing that Sony thought of that Microsoft didn't. That's free online service.

Just like Nintendo?

And for $600, you'd better expect free online service. I don't think there's any way Sony could justify a subscription when the initial setup costs that much.

Take that "I have One gamertag!" and that "I have one Friend's List" and tell yourself: "I don't have to pay for any of it..." Good, now march out there and work!

I don't know the details of the service, but I'd be willing to bet that Sony's going to limit the number of accounts a person can have, possibly by console. Anything else has a ton of potential for abuse.

Every GameCrazy in America will continue to rant about the 360 because its American-manufactured and joke about the "Wii" and bitch about how Sony can't come up with anything new.

I've never once heard someone in a game store complaining about Microsoft's American roots, and the Wii jokes are already getting old. Complaining about Sony, on the other hand...

But you wait and see what happens before making judgement. The Playstation 3 Was F'n AMAZING!

Thank you for defeating your own argument in the next sentence. :)

Re:Okay this guy is a total retard!

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 with an inferior system. Making people buy a whole new system to upgrade is bad business, especially considering that they're taking a substantial hit on the hardware to begin with.

The tilt sensing, to me, seems like an indication that Sony is scared. Rather than innovate or, more specifically, continue on their path of "we don't innovate, and that's fine", they've included with seems like a half-assed and rushed imitation of the Wii controller functionality. It may not be Nintendo's invention, but they've put a lot more R&D into refining it than Sony ever could. So you're going to wind up with an unused piece of technology that drives up the price of the hardware, but doesn't really do anything for the customer (kinda like the FireWire ports on the PS2, or the serial port on the PS1, or the HDD for the PS2...).

HDMI

I'm curious, why is the cheaper price point version of the PS3 a "cripple". I'm certain that a vast proportion of the market will not think that they need HDMI support, because they don't have an HDMI TV. Even if they do live to regret that sentiment when/if HD becomes the norm.

Re:Okay this guy is a total retard!

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:Okay this guy is a total retard!

"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...

Re:Okay this guy is a total retard!

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.

Re:Okay this guy is a total retard!

I don't know why I am even taking time to reply yo this, but heck...
Just droppin in to say that the Xbox Live Silver services does EVERYTHING the Gold service does *except* allow you to play your games only. So with Silver you can still access market place to buy cool little games that are a one time buy (like their store counterparts), you can actually chat in game with a friend while he is playing some other game, you can still plug-in a keyboard to type in a message to IM a friend. You can still download demos and trailers (especially this week since about every e3 trailer for the 360 are on Xbox live, plus a couple of demos including Lost Planet which looks awesome, downloading it as I type this.)

Seriously, I wouldn't consider myself a MS fanboy, nor would anyone who knows me. But the only thing I see the PS3 have over the 360 is the standard hard disk. Blu-Ray playback will probably be poor like PS2 playback was. And for motion sensing, I'll buy a Wii for that. Considering the Wii is probably going to launch at 250$, 360+Wii is 650$, a bit more than the PS3 but at least I get access to the best of both worlds instead of a me too console.