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Sony's Conference The Day After 199

Posted by Zonk from the right-in-the-gut dept.
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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Sony's Conference The Day After More

Sony's Conference The Day After

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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...

    • Xbox isn't ALL graphics (Score:2, Interesting)

      by Donjo ( 797935 )
      The xbox 360 has brought a lot of new things to the table in addition to some sweet graphics and sound for the home theater/HDTV crowd. I would definately call the concept of Xbox Live arcade a success and it is something that hasn't been done before. Not only that but they make it easy for people to check out new games without having to buy the latest issue of "Overpriced Console Magazine Monthly" through the use of demos and trailers. Don't forget the fact that you can push the X button in the center o

  • 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

    • Of course, maybe that's why they "stole" the motion detection from the Wii?

      I think it is worth mentioning that the Sony controller is a poor pretender to the Wii's technology. An accelerometer (PS3's tech) will tell you the controller has moved some direction, which is fine. At least until you need to reorient the controller to a comfortable position. There are good reasons accelerometers haven't got a lot of attention outside of the occasional fishing title.

      The Wii (from reading press releases anyway) kno

    • Re:Sony overconfident? (Score:3, Informative)

      by drgould ( 24404 )
      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)
    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...
      • Allow it to become the Commodre64 of the 21st Century.
        It has a hard drive, network connection, and USB ports...

        So does the $200 weekly beige-box special at Fry's, at less than half the price. And guess what, TurboTax doesn't run on the PS3.

      • "Sony make it a also a PVR!" Wouldn't work--it would have to be able to record shows as you played games. This would mean that developers couldn't count on for instance a minimum harddrive performance, and possibly some cells of the processor wouldn't be available either.
    • It would be nice if nintendo supported HD, or at least widescreen.
      • "or at least widescreen."

        It's already been announced that the GameCube game Twilight Princess will be 16:9 when played on a Wii. No reason to believe that Wii games won't be able to do what GameCube games will.
      • HD is really a minority feature at the moment. The existing install base is small. The rate of adaption is similarly small, and can be expected to remain so (even if 50% of people buying a TV go for HD, TVs last for a decade or so. People don't buy a new one often). Thats not counting the people who put game systems on a second TV for the kids, who are unlikely to shell out for HD. It will be at least 5-6 years before even 20% of people own a single HDTV. Thats why they keep pushing the digital switch
        • True, but you are looking at the overall market. Regardless of Nintendo's target market, their main market is gamers. Sure, I'm sure the Wii will target more of the general market than the 360 or ps3, but their primary market is still going to be gamers and their kids.

          And I bet the HD adoption rate of gamers is higher than the general population by a significant margin. And while HD adoption rates right now are low, the price of HD TVs is approaching standard TVs, and the release of HD-DVD and blu-ray playe
          • You're missing a couple of facts:

            1)The harcore gaming market is a small percentage of the overall gaming market. WHile HDTV is higher in the hardcore gaming market, its still not high. A small portion of a small portion of a market isn't something you should cater to.

            2)Nintendo is trying to build a system for the masses- they want it in casual gamers and non-gamers hands. This means HD is less important to them, as those markets have lower HD penetration than average.

            3)No, the Wii won't look worse. Jud
          • "some xbox games had 720p and I doubt development costs were that much more, as even less had HD sets for the xbox" Every game that did had poor graphics. Anything that had good graphics couldn't be rendered in 702p fast enough.
    • All of a sudden, the Wii-volution looks a lot better.
    • That's all Nintendo can be criticized for since they don't seem to have released a price yet.

      That and the "Look I'm just like an iPod, I'm innovative too!" case design.

      How about all those extra features that aren't in the entry level PS3:

      Card reader
      Does anyone actually care that the barebones PS3 isn't going to have a card reader? Last time I checked the XBox 2 (or "360" if you must) doesn't have a card reader and the Wii only has SD. How many people will use card readers on a console? Doesn't everyone u
      • "Does anyone actually care that the barebones PS3 isn't going to have a card reader?"

        The people that want to use their old saved games from PS2 and PS1 games.

        "Well, the XBox 2 has that, but you have to pay an extra $100 for the privilege."

        But the price of a full Xbox 360 plus the price of a wireless adapter is the price of the bare-bones PS3.

        "I suspect that the vibration had to be taken out due to a patent troll."

        Justification doesn't matter to the consumer. It's a feature not only in both of Sony's compet
        • And the PS2.5 has a smaller hard drive than the PS2.

          What are you talking about? The PS2 didn't come with a hard drive at all. Do you perhaps mean the 40GB drive that came with the PS2 Linux development kit? I don't think that really counts.

          I would hardly call something a mere 0.5 increment if the full 1.0 increment has a couple of features that nobody would use.

          • "Do you perhaps mean the 40GB drive that came with the PS2 Linux development kit? I don't think that really counts."

            Actually, I was thinking of the 40 GB drive that came with Final Fantasy XI. There were also a few other titles that used the hard drive as an option accessory.

            "I would hardly call something a mere 0.5 increment if the full 1.0 increment has a couple of features that nobody would use."

            Aside from the fact that those features "nobody would use" are currently being used, I'd say it's a little to

        • "Does anyone actually care that the barebones PS3 isn't going to have a card reader?"
          The people that want to use their old saved games from PS2 and PS1 games.

          Actually, the "card reader" feature of the high-end PS3 is for memory sticks, SD cards, and the like... I haven't seen any mention of Sony omitting the slots for their own proprietary PlayStation memory cards. Indeed, the vaunted backwards-compatibility of the PS3 with PS1 and PS2 software wouldn't work very well without that support...

      • "How many people will use card readers on a console? Doesn't everyone use USB flash drives these days?" Neither my camera or my phone accepts USB flash.
  • Comment removed based on user account deletion

  • 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
    • "but I can't see why there couldn't be a $20-$40 adapter that plugs into a USB port."

      First off, who's going to have that much money left over after spending $500 on a console and $60 on their launch title?

      More important, though is the issue of backwards compatability.

      Hypothetical: I put a PS2 game into my PS3, intending to play it (even though there won't be any rumble). The PS2 game says "Please insert Memroy Card into slot 1." On the core PS3, there is no "slot 1."

      Rig the PS3 to automatically save PS2

    • I mostly agree but: There will not be a USB memory stick reader peripheral any more than there was for the PS2, on which it would have been equally possible. The fact that the memory card for the PS2 was just a memory stick in a different form factor didn't hurt PS2 sales any. Also, HDMI is critical. The lack of it means that practically no one is going to buy the PS3 as a blu-ray player. That feature won't even enter their mind, and here's why; DVD is not going away anytime soon and it's already better th

  • 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.
    • "The controller sucks. Well, I'd be very surprised if Penguin or MadCatz doesn't make a controller with Rumble to satisfy your needs."

      Umm, rumble support doesn't just happen by magic. It has to be built into the games, and I seriously doubt very many game-makers are going to waste precious resources adding in rumble effects for the tiny portion of the market using third-party controllers that support rumble.

      "The base unit doesn't do Wi-Fi. Well, how many of you who own an original XBox or PS2 don't already

      • Umm, rumble support doesn't just happen by magic. It has to be built into the games, and I seriously doubt very many game-makers are going to waste precious resources adding in rumble effects for the tiny portion of the market using third-party controllers that support rumble.

        Actually, I felt that 3rd party controllers would be most usefull when playing PS1/PS2 games that already had Rumble on your PS3. Whether or not new games for the PS3 are developed to take advantage of the Tumble-tilt or Rumble is for

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

      This statement implies that there will be a USB Storage Device driver on the console's base OS that won't be missing when the game comes up. Having said this, the rumors of Linux being the base OS coming from of the game dev community that have actual access to development units, you're probably right, so long as they put all the other systems support pieces for USB Storage hotplug in place. It also probably a

      • If Nintendo's console is effective enough, they could cherry-pick enough market share to make them closer to where they were back last iteration of the console wars... From what I'm seeing, that'd be the case- it should do well and it's priced cheaper than the other players and can accomplish most of what the others are striving for.

        The problem with Nintendo is the games. They in no way attempt to reach the same game market that Sony/Microsoft strive for, so any success for there console will be limited to

    • 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!?
    • It would be in Nintendo's best interests to build in a locator into their remote/controller. Press a button on the console and it beeps. Kinda like a cordless phone.
    • "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)"

      Irrelevent Nitpick: The Saturn cost more, and the PS's hardware still blew it away. Not a totally bad example, though. The Saturn's original goal was to improve upon the 2D 16-bit graphics, instead of wandering into 3D. Sony announced their move to 3D, and Sega over-reacted by trying to band-aid in some 3D processing hardware. The result was a more expensive machine th
    • Sega where are you!? ...

      ridiculously high price point (reminds me of the Saturn)

      Sega was on life support after the Saturn. Sony's massive hype machine surrounding the PS2 effectively pulled the plug.

  • Sony will win... (Score:3, Funny)

    by cliveholloway ( 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?

  • 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 clearl

    • 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.

      Except that it's not a reasonable equivalent. It's a joke.

      Nintendo has utterly nothing to worry about. They must have laughed all the way to the bank after Sony's presentation. What a letdown.

    • Well, if I was Nintendo, I would be alternating between two activities right now. Gibbering in panic and frantic consultation with lawyers.

      With the HUGE price difference between the systems, the PS3's lack of anything like X-box Live Arcade or Virtual Console, and the half-hearted motion sensing technology in the PS3's controller (apparently incapable of detecting tilt unless the controller is moved) with its inability to detect how it's being held in relation to the screen, which has always been Wii's true

  • 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?.

  • 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
  • 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.
  • 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

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