Sony's E3 2006 Press Conference

[slimscane]

Did any of you watch it? There was a number of impressive things, like MGS4. FFXIII (yes, 13), and this game called Heavenly Sword. The controller is basically a wireless dual shock two, with motion sensors (6 degrees) in them (think cheap wii knock off), and with no rumble. The system will launch with two SDKs, a 20 gig one for $499 and a 60 gig one for $599, also, the 20 gig version lacks HDMI, wifi, and the ability to read memory sticks.

Personlly I think that Sony is kind of dropping the ball, and this might be a great chance for MS, especially if they give the 360 a price cut and drop the core pack. $660 for a good console and a game is just too much money for the average consumer.

[GrandpaT]

I just read an article on it this morning. Sounds like Sony just said "Hey, what's cool about our competitors' machines? Rather than think of anything innovative on our own, let's just do whatever they're doing." The frustrating thing about the article was that it showed a picture of the old PS3 with the boomerang controller, and then said in fairly tiny print "the controller has been redesigned because no one liked this one" (not exact wording).

But hey, I'm kind of jaded about these things. A few years ago at the E3 unveiling of the DS and Reggie, I listened to his speech and thought it sounded like "Sony, Microsoft, you're all stinky doodooheads. We're the bestest, and you're dumb." Or alternatively, "Nobody gives us any respect. We're the greatest, but everyone hates us and thinks that we suck. Well they all suck. So there." Then there was some "You may THINK that the numbers show that our competitors are selling a lot more consoles and games than we are, but if you look at them THIS way... then you'll see that our competitors are outselling us by so much that our home consoles are pretty much just paperweights [ok, they didn't really admit that], but if you look at the handheld market, where we don't have any real competition [this was also the E3 where PSP was shown for the first time], you'll see that we're selling tons of those. There's no way that Sony will put a dent in our handheld market." I thought it was a stupid, stupid speech, full of marketing bull, just like I think this new one from Sony is.

These guys are, in the end, sales guys. They want to come out and sell us something expensive, and they'll be happy to feed us a nice, heaping bowl of half-truths if it'll get us to buy what they're selling.

Gee, can you tell I don't like sales guys much?

[GrandpaT]

OK, this is a double-post, I know, but this one's actually a reply, not a rant. :)

The system will launch with two SDKs, a 20 gig one for $499 and a 60 gig one for $599, also, the 20 gig version lacks HDMI, wifi, and the ability to read memory sticks.

Personlly I think that Sony is kind of dropping the ball, and this might be a great chance for MS, especially if they give the 360 a price cut and drop the core pack. $660 for a good console and a game is just too much money for the average consumer.

What's an SDK? Is that just another way of saying there are two versions? And I agree - it sounds like the "core" PS3 is even less worth your money than the Core 360. At least the Core 360 can be upgraded to be the same machine if you buy a hard drive. Sounds like the "core" PS3 would be a different version of the hardware that just doesn't support some of the functions the good version does.

As to the price, it's right in the ballpark of where a lot of analysts predicted. I was hearing between $500 and $800. I agree, though - $660 is way too much to spend on a video game console and one game just so that Sony can push their proprietary Blu-Ray format on people. They need to either get over it and jump on the format the rest of the industry wants to use or invent something that's so radically better than the other options that everyone else will be willing to pay them to use it (because you know they'd make people pay to use it).

[XboxEvolved]

Well if you look at it this way though, the Xbox 360 with wireless cost $100 more, and with a HD-DVD drive probably another $100--so it would end up being $600 total. The PS3 is pricey, but it still is a bargain.

[GrandpaT]

"A bargain"? Sorry, John, but I can't find any way to think of it as a bargain. I do see what you're saying about the price being equal when you add on the extras to the 360... but $600 isn't a bargain in my book for either system.

[slimscane]

Oh, also, the $500 dollar version can't use wireless controllers.

You could buy a bunch of add ons to equal the price of the PS3, but the fact of the matter is, you don't have to. I don't use wireless internet, and I don't (and won't for a while) use HD-DVD or BluRay, so why should I have to pay $200 more for things that I won't use? It is stupid.

[XboxEvolved]

I thought it could use wireless controllers it just didn't come with them? I remember Sony saying they couldn't see themelves doing two SKUs because it would confuse the consumer, but this shit is even more misleading than the Xbox Core and Xbox 360.

[GrandpaT]

I also thought it could use wireless controllers, although it can't use WiFi for playing games.

[Quezcatol]

600 euro = 780 $ you think europe is happy?

Sure they have MGS4 and FF13 probably coming late 2007,but games like bioshock,alan wake,halo3,wolfenstein,mass effect,too human 2, and fable2.

Bioshock became the game of e3,and halo3 is a must have,so is mass effect and fable2,and alan wake is created by the finnish people behind max payne,so looks intresting.