Preview of Sony vs. Microsoft at E3

kukyfrope writes "After Sony stole the show last year with their dazzling game trailers, will actual hands-on impressions of the PS3 stand up to all the hype, or will Microsoft's second wave of Xbox 360 games (HALO 3 anybody?) show Sony why 360 is not Xbox 1.5." From the article: "While the Xbox 360 is off to a great start, Sony is not stupid. The company knows that the PlayStation brand name is extremely powerful, and that a lot of hardcore and casual gamers are waiting on the PlayStation 3 before deciding on a next generation console. In addition, if you want a cheap Blu-Ray player, the PlayStation 3 will be the only way to go. Stand alone units are looking to run $1500 or more, but it's unlikely the PS3 will release at anything higher than $500."

Given the choice

[Threni]

> Given the choice between a $400 Xbox 360 and a $400 PS3 that doubles as a next
> generation DVD player, consumers will flock to the PlayStation 3 in droves.

Surely most of the people hanging on to see the PS3 have already made up their minds. They want a PS3 and will only get the Xbox if the PS3 really disappoints. Presumably Sony are going to make sure that it won't.

Pricing...

[softspokenrevolution]

That has been one of the foremost questions on my mind, how do they rationalize charging $500 for a gaming platform/blue-ray player but $1500 for the stand-alone blue-ray player. I mean, if the job of a cheap console is to recoup the money on games, can't it be the job of a cheap DVD player to recoup money on DVD sales?

Nintendo?

[Shadow Wrought]

Wasn't it at E3 last year that Nintendo dropped the bombshell that is their controllers? I wonder if they something upt heir sleeves again to take some of the spotlight away from Sony and M$...

Re:Pricing...

[szembek]

This is because of licensing. Any company can make a DVD player, DVD sales don't have to kick back licensing fees to a DVD player manufacturer. However only Sony can make PS2s, and game developers must pay to be able to make a PS2 game. Therefore Sony gains cash-flow from game sales, where DVD manufacturers obviously don't get DVD sales income.

Re:Nintendo?

[dividedsky319]

I wonder if they something upt heir sleeves again to take some of the spotlight away from Sony and M$...

Well, they haven't shown any actual Revolution games yet... so I'd be willing to bet that's their main strategy, reveal Revolution games at E3. And have a release date.

Nintendo announced their controllers at the Tokyo Game Show in Sept '05. It was a fairly closed door affair, not shown to the public.

I expect Nintendo to have the Revolution fully functional and usable by the public at E3. They stole the show at TGS just by their announcement, lets see if they can do the same at E3 when they actually show some games. The public being able to get their hands on a Revolution controller will be a pretty big deal.

Re:Pricing...

[apoc06]

well, considering that sony also owns the patent and licensing for blu-ray media, its in their best interest to take a loss on the player to ensure that blu-ray movies catch on. every blu-ray disc made will line sonys pockets just like dvd sales did, since sony had a part to play in dvd tech as well.

one of the major reasons why the xbox and the gamecube did not natively allow for dvd playing capabilities is so that they wouldnt have to pay sony a licensing fee for each xbox or gamecube they manufactured.

Given^H keeping the choice

[dpilot]

But it's in all of our best interests that neither Sony nor Microsoft "WIN" this console war, at least not conclusively. It's better for us that any "win" be press-only, hotly disputed, and that in a few years we repeat this whole argument with the XBox3 and PS4. For that matter, it's best the Nintendo remain a player, too.

Having "a winner" in the conclusive sense, no matter who it is, is the worst option.

Re:Can't wait to see what Sony has up its sleeves

[LightningBolt!]

Maybe you were living under a rock or something.
No, I was developing games at the time.

Sony toted the Emotions Engine as the next greatest thing.
Pretty standard marketing stuff.

Talked it up, saying it could do things that I have yet to see.
Such as? Before the PS2, I'd never seen anything quite as nice as SSX.

They also said it was so powerful, that they would be releasing graphic workstations to compete with SGI and Sun.
Maybe you've been living under a rock, but the specialty graphics workstation market has essentially disappeared, devoured by commodity PCs and graphics cards.

Where are these graphic workstations based on the emotion engine? Oh, that is right, there are none because Sony talked big and couldn't deliever on their claims.
My guess is that they saw no business case for manufacturing graphics workstations.

For the Nintendo fanboys

[RyoShin]

And before you ask, the Revolution is not included here because it wasn't really a factor last year and we're hearing that even with the console hitting this year, it won't be Nintendo primary focus at E3.

Are you freaking kidding?

You're telling me that the Revolution, Nintendo's stop gap console with a radically new controller, 20 years of backwards compatability, and easier developer programming (or so I've heard), which is coming out sometime this year is not going to be a primary focus?

Can we revoke the gaming journalism liscense for these guys?

The Revolution wasn't a focus last year because Nintendo like to keep things under wraps until the last possible moment. The used E3 last year to show off Twilight Princess and the GBM.

Even Nintendo knows that you have to have a big showing before the release to get people fired up and interested (well, those that aren't already.) Nintendo's main focus will most likely be the Revolution. I'm sure we'll have some DS and GBA goodies, as well as TP, but the Revolution will be pretty much all anyone will be interested in, especially because they will have playable demos on E3.

I'm sure that Sony wil have a big showing, but everyone will want to at least give the Revolution a try, just to see what it will be like.

Here's hoping they have cover a good number of genres with their setups, even if the games are just demos. I think that, right now, getting people in on the idea of using the remote in different ways is really important.

Re:lol internet

[theJML]

Ahh! Sarcasm at it's finest!

Seriously though, I hope we see something from all the major players at E3. Not only new games and ideas to make the 360 actually worth the price of admission, but something from Sony and Nintendo to show that they aren't going down without a fight. I think if Sony is smart, we'll have some playable demos of the PS3 as well as maybe an announcement of some games that are planned for the system in the future. I am really interested in seeing what they're going to do with not only the power of the PS3, but the space of the Blu-Ray medium.

As far as Nintendo, I think it's time they shift into high gear and do the same thing instead of just pulling a controller or a random system photo out. I know all the Nintendo Fan-boys/Fan-girls are drooling over the controller, but I don't think the controller is that cool unless there is a kickass system and games to go along with it.

Excuse me...

[CaseM]

But has anyone even SEEN a Blu-ray movie on the shelves at a single store?

What's that? No??

A standalone player even? Not yet.

This is NOT the same situation that the PS2 was in when it was released in 2000. DVD's were out and had their first hot holiday in 1999...plenty of time for the PS2's DVD-playing capabilities to be relevant. Blu-ray is still, for all purposes, vaporware at the mass-consumer level. It is not going to be the reason people buy a PS3.