The Post Conference Wrap Up

Sony

Without a doubt Sony had the most anticipation and pressure on them going into this year’s E3. After having the most popular and impressive showing at the 2005 E3 conference and after many PS3 pricing rumors, along with a 6 month delay announcement, all eyes were on Sony. They pretty much skipped all things PS2 and PSP related and just went straight to Playstation 3.

After some controversy over the legitimacy of the trailers at E3 2005, Sony actually had the developers come out and play the games with a controller for the audience. And for the most part the games were good but not that spectacular. Most games reached the level of Xbox 360 games but I don’t think any surpassed it, graphics wise. The first game shown was Grand Turismo HD; a high-definition version of GT4. The demo was not very impressive and only served its purpose in proving that the PS3 can run at 1080p.

Some popular titles such as Resistance, or as it used to be known I-8, and Metal Gear Solid 4 were also shown. However, the game that stands out the most from the Sony conference is definitely Heavenly Sword, which showcased very impressive gameplay and complex animation along with sharp graphics and physics. Sony also showcased some neat tricks with streaming info from the PS3 to PSP, along with a card eye-toy game. But, what surprised everyone is the new controller they revealed. At first it seems like a standard Dual Shock 2.0 controller, the Playstation 2 one, but as explained by Phil Harrison (Sony’s Head of Development), the controller features a couple of new additions. The major addition is the six degrees of motion sensitivity, and it also features new trigger like shoulder buttons, along with a new “guide” button in the middle.

Many people has been criticizing Sony for using a last-generation controller with what came to be known as “Nintendo’s features” (i.e. the motion sensitivity), and a Xbox 360 like guide button, while at the same time taking out force feedback, which they said was needed for the motion features to function. Sony announced a November 17th North American release date along with 2 SKUs (Stock Keeping Unit); a 20GB HDD version for $499.00 and a 60GB version for $599.00. It is also worth noting that the 20GB version has no HDMI ports and no WiFi – features that cannot be upgraded. This is unlike the Xbox 360 Core which can easily be upgraded to a Premium model with the purchase of a few accessories.

Overall, Sony’s press conference was good but definitely fell short of my expectations. Sony did not show or reveal anything new about their online system, except for being able to purchase songs for a game called SingStar. The price and the 2 SKU decision were a big shock to people, especially considering that Sony, at one point, criticized Microsoft for 2 SKUs.

Overall Rating (based on expectations): 65 / 100