Preview of Sony vs. Microsoft at E3 146
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 (Score:5, Insightful)
> 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.
Re:Given the choice (Score:1)
But I see two exceptions to this (not including your exception):
1. XBox undergoes a Price reduction before or at the same time the PS3 releases. This could sway a few fence sitters.
2. Nintendo's Revolution really wows at E3 and follows through on rumors of being under $300.
Re:Given the choice (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Given the choice (Score:2)
Re:Given the choice (Score:2)
Really, Sony could charge $700 and there are enough idiots out there convinced that the Playstation is what console gaming's all about that they'd still succeed.
Re:Given the choice (Score:2)
Given^H keeping the choice (Score:3, Insightful)
Having "a winner" in the conclusive sense, no matter who it is, is the worst option.
Re:Given^H keeping the choice (Score:1)
> console war, at least not conclusively
I'm not a shareholder in Sony or Microsoft, so I don't care who wins. If it means I get to buy one console and effectively have all the choice I would have had if I owned all the consoles available to me then that seems pretty cool. And if that console was free from the tedious tax and approval requirements of Sony/MS etc then it's good for developers. Perhaps it's time for a Linu
Re:Given^H keeping the choice (Score:2)
Re:Given^H keeping the choice (Score:1)
If anyone could produce games for a console without paying the manufacturer of the console for the pleasure, why would that increase the price? Common sense suggests the price would be reduced.
> add to that, whoever
> produces the console wouldnt have any incentive to ever sell at a loss,
Clearly selling at a loss makes little sense if you're not going to make the money back on software sales, but in the scenario I've described they wouldn't be d
Re:Given^H keeping the choice (Score:1, Troll)
Yay.
Re:Given^H keeping the choice (Score:2, Interesting)
Right now, Microsoft is subsidizing the XBox with other revenues, and I don't mean just game sales. If they were unfettered by competition, they'd bring their games division back to at least break-even. They'd be nuts to do anything else. They'd probably also cut development resource to the minimum - just enough to keep competition from forming. (Or they'd cut below that, and restaff once it became a
Re:Given^H keeping the choice (Score:2)
Re:Given the choice (Score:1)
You're assuming everybody is a video-game fanboy who immediately buys one system, which isn't the case. There's plenty of people who don't buy video game systems the day they come off the shelf. That's especially true when the game system is still sold out everywhere you go.
Re:Given the choice (Score:2)
So, I am happy to wait, see if Sony can produce a system that I like better than the 360, and watch the price wars begin.
What does Sony need to do to sway me? They have to have an online component that can compete with XBox Live. A hodge-podge some game
Re:Given the choice (Score:2)
im probably your polar opposite in this regard. i am probably going to go with the ps3, but i am desperately waiting on that first killer x360 title that makes me want to hop the fence and get a x360 too. maybe i have to wait for gears of war, or maybe i have to wait for halo3, but
Pricing... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Pricing... (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Pricing... (Score:4, Insightful)
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.
OK, so why is the BPS-1... (Score:2)
Re:Pricing... (Score:2)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dvd#History [wikipedia.org]
Re:Pricing... (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Pricing... (Score:2)
Re:Pricing... (Score:1)
Re:Pricing... (Score:2)
Players are so expensive when released because their prices are artifically controlled--the manufacturers can get a certain percentage of the population to overpay for the privilege of being an early adopter. If the format is to catch on as the ubiquitous successor to DVD, Blu-ray players won't be $1500 for very long.
PS3's Blu-ray playback capability will probably be somewhat crippled, as was the PS2's DVD playback.
Re:Pricing... (Score:2)
Nintendo? (Score:3, Insightful)
Tokyo Game Show (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Nintendo? (Score:5, Insightful)
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.
Well.. (Score:5, Funny)
I beg to differ.
Can't wait to see what Sony has up its sleeves (Score:1, Troll)
While I don't see it happening, it would be funny if they release more than one version, just like the Xbox 360. Are we going to see a crippled PS3 unit in terms of blu-ray, one that can only play games but not movies. To play movies, that will add on extra money.
With Sony's hype train show at E3, just trailers of games that
Re:Can't wait to see what Sony has up its sleeves (Score:1)
"Emotion engine" is their name for the core CPU in the PS2. They've delivered about 100 million of them so far.
Re:Can't wait to see what Sony has up its sleeves (Score:1, Flamebait)
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.
Re:Can't wait to see what Sony has up its sleeves (Score:2, Insightful)
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
Re:Can't wait to see what Sony has up its sleeves (Score:2)
Re:Can't wait to see what Sony has up its sleeves (Score:2)
i disagree with you. the emotion engine is just as powerful as promised. the problem is they relied on the emotion engine to do it all. just cant happen. it does a decent enough job given the proper development team, but since the ps2 didnt have a dedicated GPU, t
Re:Can't wait to see what Sony has up its sleeves (Score:1)
i disagree with you. the emotion engine is just as powerful as promised. the problem is they relied on the emotion engine to do it all. just cant happen. it does a decent enough job given th
Re:Can't wait to see what Sony has up its sleeves (Score:2)
sony never made the toy story comparision. microsoft made that claim about the first xbox. to this day everyone still claims it was sony. eleventh paragraph: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&safe=off&c2 coff=1& [google.com]
Re:Can't wait to see what Sony has up its sleeves (Score:1)
The protective coating is because of a flaw in the disc design, they had to create it. It isn't a problem with HD-DVD because they didn't go the same route with the format as Blu-ray did. While is a "protective coating", it is
Re:Can't wait to see what Sony has up its sleeves (Score:2)
as for consumer savings due to factory retooling... im not much of a believer in trickle down economics. ill believe it when i see it. im all for saving on movies that are already too expensive, but i dont really see either format being more expensive than dvds were when they were released. but then again, what do i know?
Re:Can't wait to see what Sony has up its sleeves (Score:2)
you did mention wholesale, so forgive me if i have my figures wrong.
Re:Can't wait to see what Sony has up its sleeves (Score:2)
due to the legion of third party developers, sony has the most good games available to people interested in most genres, except for maybe first person shooters. [thats why most console FPS players tend to favor the xbox] sony is keeping with tradition and moving ahead with that same legion.
so this time sony will be late [not that late though, th
Re:Can't wait to see what Sony has up its sleeves (Score:1)
Re:Can't wait to see what Sony has up its sleeves (Score:2)
ever notice how very few complain about nintendos' proprietary formats? the revolution is going to be their first "open standard" system.
Re:Can't wait to see what Sony has up its sleeves (Score:2)
Re:Can't wait to see what Sony has up its sleeves (Score:1)
There's more than two dogs in this hunt (Score:5, Informative)
I covered this today in the article: A Plan Emerges [revolutioninsider.info] Nintendo may have the biggest ace up their sleeve of any console launch in history. Zelda may just be a final swan song for the Gamecube and a launch title of sorts for the Revolution... as well as a little of both! Fairly substantiated talk has surfaced showing the release date for Twilight Princess may also be pushed to November '06 and that it may feature the ability to control the action on the GC with the Revolution controller.
We know the Revolution controller can work with the GC from the demo's in New York with Metroid Prime 2 on a GC. Even if not on the GC, the fact that the Revolution can play GC titles means it could grow new abilities by playing it on the Revolution. Either way this is an artful marketing move, and may prove to be the show stealer in May.
No, not literally. (Score:2, Funny)
You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.
Re:No, not literally. (Score:2)
Re:No, not literally. (Score:1)
Re:No, not literally. (Score:2)
And according to whom does it mean only that?
The OED gives citations going back to the early 19th century for "literally" being used "to indicate that the following word or phrase must be taken
In other words, "literally" has meant "figuratively" for at least 200 years. How long does a word have to have a particular meaning before you'll accept that norma
Re:There's more than two dogs in this hunt (Score:2)
Re:There's more than two dogs in this hunt (Score:4, Informative)
I could not see any reason it would *not* offer graphical upgrades when played in the Revolution. This is a big move, and if my predictions and piecing of this puzzle are correct... could be a show stopper.
PS3 & HDCP (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:PS3 & HDCP (Score:1)
While I fully agree about Blu-Ray and HDCP, it was my understanding that HD-DVD will also make use of HDCP [wikipedia.org] (under 'Uses').
Of course, I was also under the impression that not necessarily all HD discs will make use of this protection.
Re:PS3 & HDCP (Score:1)
We won't be seeing any major releases without it. Only small time operations, that either don't have the time/money or don't know how to do it, will really only be the ones with out it.
Re:PS3 & HDCP (Score:2)
Re:PS3 & HDCP (Score:2)
Re:PS3 & HDCP (Score:1)
I am not happy that by being an early HDTV adopter, I am being screwed, left high and dry because of this HDCP and DRM crap.
Sure, I will be getting a new HDTV in about a year or so, but what about people that can't afford to get a new one. They are really limiting their market. If they want
Re:PS3 & HDCP - do I have to buy HDTV now? (Score:1)
This is a US problem only. HDTV has been out in Japan and Europe since the last century.
But, in a related question, is it likely that the PS3 release will coincide closely enough with the m
No, you're wrong (Score:1)
That's wrong, from wikipedia
"On January 19, 2005, the European Industry Association for Information Systems (EICTA) announced that HDCP is a required component of the European "HD ready" Label."
Re:No, you're wrong but what am I? (Score:2)
not
HDCP
Sorry, but both the PS3 and xBox360 will work with existing HDTV sets in Europe and Japan.
Re:No, you're wrong but what am I? (Score:2)
Re:No, you're wrong but what am I? (Score:1)
And my point was this is perhaps a problem in the US, but not in Europe or Japan.
Thanks for agreeing with me.
Re:No, you're wrong but what am I? (Score:2)
Re:No, you're wrong but what am I? (Score:2)
Re:No, you're wrong but what am I? (Score:1)
A new requirement for a label is not the same thing as "I can plug my PS3 or xBox360 into my HDTV if I live in Europe or Japan and it works".
Works. Not uses a new overlay of protocols.
Again, mountains made from molehills.
Re:No, you're wrong but what am I? (Score:2)
Any word on Japan?
Re:No, you're wrong but what am I? (Score:1)
But no, we had to go create our own version
Re:No, you're wrong but what am I? (Score:2)
And I take it you're from the States too? Otherwise, you have to define who exactly "we" is.
Re:No, you're wrong but what am I? (Score:1)
There is a slight problem with that, at least with Blu-ray, not sure on HD-DVD as of yet. Blu-ray is suppose to have a dynamic database that can be updated. They can tell it what it can send the signal to what can't. Meaning, they will find these devices and block them.
I understand them wanting to protecto their property, but the HDCP
Still wrong, that's what (Score:1)
Actually forget it. You're right. Keep on insisting you know what the hell is going on while you miss out on the actual conversation.
Re:PS3 & HDCP - do I have to buy HDTV now? (Score:1)
However, if you have a DVI input with HDCP, you can get a HDMI to DVI converter. You can also go from DVI to a HDMI input. HDMI carries audio, so when you do something like that, audio is lost.
There is yet one more evolution to
Re:PS3 & HDCP - do I have to buy HDTV now? (Score:1)
HDMI and DVI are video input types.
HDCP is a copy protection scheme (HD Copy Protection)
1080p is one of the HD resolutions, it is 1920x1080 in progressive scan.
If you are looking for a good 26" - 36" HDTV, go with a Sony, can't go wrong with a Sony tubed CRT. If you want a larger TV, above 36" and don't want to spend much. Go with a Sony A10 rear projection LCD (last three numbers on the model number), the 42" should be around $1,500. If you can spe
Re:PS3 & HDCP - do I have to buy HDTV now? (Score:1)
If it doesn't work out of the box, I just won't buy it.
And I'll buy it on sale for about $300.
Re:PS3 & HDCP (Score:2)
Re:PS3 & HDCP (Score:1)
Sony didn't "win" E3 last year... (Score:3, Informative)
Say what? I was at E3 last year. Sony was getting mocked for those same trailers, while Microsoft did have playable games.
Seriously, even those without a historical perspective on E3 should be able to read this line and say "WTF?". Game trailers can be dazzling, but they *never* steal the show.
PS3 (Score:2, Troll)
That E3 show set Sony back. The trailors were nothing more than CGI movies of what Sony hoped their games would look like. The hardware no where near resembled what will really be in the PS3.
Also the PS3 will not launch any less than $500 without absolutely massive losses per unit. The 360 at this point will have markdowns to around $250.
The PS3 will w
Re:PS3 (Score:1)
Re:PS3 (Score:5, Interesting)
Then their hopes were pretty realistic. Compare Old Snake [ign.com] from MGS4 which we know to be realtime with the Killzone demo [ign.com] shown, and you'll find that if anything, MGS4 is looking better. (Compare the high polycount, beads of sweat, skin texturing, and hair on Snake to what's in the KZ shot.)
And these are just the first-gen showings of the PS3.
The... hardware? This is assuming you, a chronic Microsoft troll (mods: see poster's history), actually have inside information. Which is doubtful. This also assumes your statement makes any sense. What are you claiming? The specs Sony gave are false? That it won't have a Cell or nvidia GPU? That the box might look different? Seriously. If the games look like what Sony claimed (see Project Offset [ign.com] for some more impressive realtime videos), what else matters?
You know this for a fact, do you? When it's already been confirmed long ago [ign.com] that the PS3 will launch at the same price-point the PS2 and PS1 did?
The PS3 will win this generation because they have all the games. That's what matters.
Reality check (Score:2)
Well of course, when you show the whole power of the machine focussed on a single head & shoulders, it looks pretty nice. The individual faces in the Killzone demo may not have looked that good, but there was so much more going on (multiple fullbody characters, detailed outdoor environment, explosions etc), it's not really comparable. Regardless, neither of them were finished games running on final hardware, so it's s
Keep Reading (Score:2)
If you keep reading and wield a greater attention span than a retarded monkey, you will see the quote "the site remarks that SCE has been telling its partners to expect the PS3 to arrive at below the 40,000 yen mark when it debuts in Japan in spring of 2006". This is down from an earlier estimate of less than 50,000 yen [ign.com]. This is still hinting in that it's not an exact price... but it's an upper bound.
Sony is not entirely stupid. Recall the infamous story where they blew past the Saturn with the $299 US
Re:PS3 (Score:2)
As opposed to Microsoft's demos last year, which used Powermac G5s pretending to be Xbox 360s?
Sony stole the show? I think not. (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Sony stole the show? I think not. (Score:1)
Re:Sony stole the show? I think not. (Score:1)
Halo 3? (Score:1)
With the news that Halo 2 is going to be the flagship game for vista [slashdot.org] I would be surprised to see Halo 3 before Vista is released. And the way things are looking, that will be significantly after the PS3 is released.
I can't imagine Microsoft wanting to remind PC gamers just how OLD Halo 2 is...it needs to appear to be 'sexy' and 'new' for the Vista release, not 2+ years old with a sequel already out...
Re:Halo 3? (Score:1)
If you want to play the newest Halo, it is plain and simple, you have to own a Xbox 360. Same as you needed a Xbox to play Halo and Halo 2 when they first came out.
Re:Halo 3? (Score:2)
Halo 3 will be released shortly after it is finished (which may be after Vista is launched, I don't know). Microsoft already said publicly that it will be their weapon against the PS3.
PC gamers will switch over to Vista in time since they don't have much of a choice (what are they going to do, buy a Mac? ;)), DX10 and Vista only video cards will make sure of that. But there is serious competition in the console market. Micros
Re:Halo 3? (Score:2)
If you're referring to the comment that Halo 3 will launch on the PS3's launch date, Bill Gates recently retracted that statement. He probably has less control over the Xbox division (and Bungie) than he likes to put on, and someone called him out on that. When you consider the fact that it took Bungie three years to finish Halo 2, it's pretty unrealistic to expect that they'll have a next-gen game ready in less than two.
Re:Halo 3? (Score:2)
My main point is that Microsoft isn't going to sit on a finished Halo 3 until Vista is launched.
For the Nintendo fanboys (Score:5, Insightful)
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.
For the Nintendo fangirls (Score:1)
Of course not. The focus will be on the handheld Nintendo games, and plans to make them more wireless group compatible, with more cooperative local team games.
Basically, so that people can play Nintendogs in a virtual dog park while waiting for th
MOD PARENT UP info:For the Nintendo fangirls (Score:2)
Thanks!
Still, it sounds like that's a pre-release, so we shouldn't expect more than canned script game previews, no working models with working games. That sounds like Fall 06.
Re:MOD PARENT UP info:For the Nintendo fangirls (Score:2)
They're definitely going to be allowing people to try out the Rev on the show floor, with real software and close-to-final hardware.
Re:For the Nintendo fangirls who have controllers (Score:2)
Dang. There go my plans to Rule The World with my Nintendo Revolution controllers used to order my virtual armies of Jedi Wookies!
Excuse me... (Score:2, Insightful)
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.
Re:lol internet (Score:2, Insightful)
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 on
Re:Dumping? (Score:2)
sony is allowing them to use the blu-ray license to make their players. they could drop the prices of their tech too, but they have no incentive in the way sony does with the ps3.
just like dvd players and the ps2, people will graduate from the ps3 to a "real" dedicated blu-ray player when the time comes. companies know that and will see to early adopters in order to create a demand which will then drop the c