PlayStation 3 Week » 2006

L.A. Update: We’re having trouble letting go

Tuesday, May 9th, 2006

It’s been a long, hard day of trashing Sony’s PlayStation 3 announcements, but the hardest adjustment for us PS3week staffers is communicating in person — in spoken words — now that we’re in the same city for a week. We’re so used to our long-distance AIM relationship, that we’ve been IMing each other across the apartment for hours. Here’s a clip:

yp0pgo (rob): omg did u hear about ps3?
san t0 alt 5 (dave): what are the features?
yp0pgo: shit shit and shit, then u need the $100 upgrade
san t0 alt 5: how much is the $100 upgrade?
yp0pgo: 9,000 yen
san t0 alt 5: is that in US dollars?
yp0pgo: euros
san t0 alt 5: i seriously think it should include a memory card i love those
yp0pgo: nah those are for rich kids
san t0 alt 5: loook where ur at biatch
san t0 alt 5: im craving buffalo wings
san t0 alt 5: did you hear me?
san t0 alt 5: dont make me open my mouth

God, we’re nerds. And we’re going to get some wings.

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Somebody Else’s System

Tuesday, May 9th, 2006

Sony made two huge announcements today — a new controller and an official launch scheme. Too bad neither one was their idea.

THE PRICE

The two-tier pricing system, pioneered in the console world by the Xbox 360, is a dubious plan at best. Does Sony really need to lure deep-pocketed gamers to a $600 system with the promise of some extra hard drive space? Are those extra 40 gigs really worth the cost of two launch games?

FULL STORY:

We’re guessing no — at least not until a few years down the road, when you’ll probably be able to buy an add-on for less than the $100 tag of the higher-end system.

The top-tier PS3 costs $600 — and in Europe, it’s gonna be more like $760. So now Sony’s not just releasing the most expensive console ever, it’s releasing the two most expensive consoles ever. There’s probably some element of economic reverse-psychology here, intended to make the expensive PS3 even more coveted than the normal one. But it comes at the expense of simplicity, and we’d much rather have a bunch of gamers with 20-gig systems and two extra games than a swarm of confused moms wandering around Best Buy.

Update: The lower-tier PS3 lacks a few more options that we didn’t pick up on during the press conference. No WiFi, no HDMI video output, and no memory stick slots! The PlayStation 3, as it is meant to be, really does cost $600. (Full specs on the last page of this press release.)

Consumers already have plenty of consoles to choose from this Christmas. Confusing the issue with two PlayStation 3s is one trick that Sony should have left up Microsoft’s sleeve.

THE CONTROLLER

We never thought it’d come to this. The boomerang controller got a lot of bad press, we know. And the Nintendo Wii’s real-space controller is awesome, there’s no question. So rather than create something new or innovative, Sony tacked on a last-minute addition to the Dual Shock 2 — it’s now equipped with a Wii-like (or, perhaps more accurately, a Nintendo DS-like) gyroscope. So when you “steer” by moving your controller through space, your spaceship turns appropriately. And when you steal ideas from your more innovative competitors, you look like the corporate behemoth with hardly a breath of wind left in its creative sails.

Sony couldn’t have given Nintendo a greater compliment today, and the guys on stage couldn’t have sounded more disingenuous when they were playing it off as their own idea. We’re excited about this new technology too, Phil. That’s why we call it the Revolution.

Update: By the way, the addition of the motion sensor means the controller will no longer rumble.

Sony shouldn’t be feeling this much heat — after all, they’re still riding the hugely dominant PS2 into the next generation. But apparently they’re scared. That’s why they’ve slapped together Microsoft’s price structure and Nintendo’s controller. Maybe if they rip off everything the other guys have, and throw in some Blu-ray, it’ll be worth $599.

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Launch Dates and Prices

Tuesday, May 9th, 2006

Japan: November 11
• 20 GB – 58,900 Yen (US $536)
• 60 GB – Priced by retailers

North America: November 17
• 20 GB – US $499, CN $549
$bull; 60 GB – US $599, CN $659

Europe/Australia: ~~November 19~~ No date yet?
• 20 GB – 499 Euros (US $633)
• 60 GB – 599 Europs (US $760)

Got that? The only difference between the two “models,” apparently, is the size of the hard drive – 20 gigs vs. 60 gigs. That translates to a $100 price difference for the American PS3 … for comparison’s sake, that’s the same as the difference between a 30-gig and 60-gig iPod.

(Also, we didn’t hear a price in Australian dollars… did you?)

Who knows if it’ll be worth it to pick up the larger hard drive right away – or when an add-on to soup up your storage space will come along. The two-tier price system, however, is obviously ripped off from Microsoft’s Xbox 360′s similar price structure. We’ll get into what else they ripped off (think boomerang) from their competitors a few posts down the road.

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Sony’s E3 Press Conference

Tuesday, May 9th, 2006

We’re not there, but we’re liveblogging from a nearby couch!

Kaz Hirai defends the delay in a roundabout way, and adds, “The next generation doesn’t start until we say it does.” Or until we get bored and buy an Xbox 360.

Bunch of stuff about PS2 sales, yada yada yada. Sony will be making new PS2 games for many years to come.

By the way, G4 TV, which is supposedly “covering” E3 this year and is probably somewhere around channel 150 on your digital cable, is running an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation right now.

Let’s take a look at some PSP titles. Ape Academy 2??? No way!

PlayStation commercial featuring 20-somethings in Times Square, an older dude in London, some people in Australia, talking about all the awesome things about the PlayStation brand and the PS3. We’re sure these are real interviews. A girl in a Japanese shopping mall is “looking forward to how graphics will evolve on the PS3.” This commercial may actually have been filmed at Epcot Center.

On to PlayStation 3… sweet.

FULL STORY:

(Woo, we’ve never seen this Star Trek episode before. Hope the holodeck doesn’t malfunction!)

Ken says a bunch of technical jargon, followed by, “so, what does all this mean?” Good question. Tells us how great Blu-ray is. PS3 will ship with a hard drive. 10,000 dev kits have shipped. Playable games at the Sony booth, awesome.

Phil Harrison’s up. God, his accent is hot. The creator of Gran Turismo will now speak in translated Japanese and show off a GT prototype. Scattered applause. Several minutes of race footage prove that the graphics are good. The big thing seems to be that it’s all done in HD. Also, the load time is faster than on PS2.

The Grand Canyon track is pretty cool, especially since the spectators lining the road run for cover when you swerve toward the edge of the track. And the view’s not so bad either. GT HD will hopefully come out “not too far from the launch of the PS3.”

Phil’s back, and he has some playing cards in his hand. The creator of eyeToy will now show off the “eye of judgement.” This is pretty sweet. A videocamera recognizes each real-life playing card as a character, and manifests them on screen. Like all those magic card games, but in 3D.

Ken talks about online gaming, Star Trek goes to commercial. PS3 will create an online “society, or community.” PSP will be able to directly download and emulate old PS1 games from the Sony network. Gee, which game is it? IT’S RIDGE RACER! RIIIIIDGE RACER!

Apparently you can buy new levels and weapons and stuff through PS3′s online system. Is that good or bad? Phil shows off Singstar, which is playing a Good Charlotte song. You can download and buy music for this karaoke game in an iTunes-esque way. Includes music video in HD. (He’s chosen Destiny’s Child’s “Survivor” for song 2.) Oh god, you can also record and upload your karaoke video… I guess they’ve been checking out YouTube.

Now on display, a game where you kill lots of things in Dynasty Warriors fashion. “First I’m going to have to defeat this large enemy character here.”

(Dave adds from the other side of the apartment, “I think I’m more impressed with the Gamespot octopus.” Captain Picard looks pissed.)

What the hell? In the new Formula 1 game, you can use your PSP as a rear-view mirror while playing PS3 on your TV. A REAR VIEW MIRROR? That’s what the “content producers” made from all this cutting edge technology?

Phil describes Lair, which we thought was a launch title, as one of the “games that are a little further out.” Out of this world? Or out of time before launch? Trailers for “Getaway” and “Afrika.” Hey, there was a giraffe. And now, crazy cartoon golf, which is actually the most interesting trailer we’ve seen thus far.

Here we go, two new titles: Eight Days looks like a pretty cool hitman / mafia / renegade game where two guys speed around in a bullet-ridden car fucking shit up in the Arizona desert and blowing up oil tankers. You’ve seen this in hundreds of movies, but still, it’s lookin’ good.

In the next game, a guy who is dressed like he just got out of a Ben Folds concert is running around jungle ruins knocking dudes out with the butt of his shotgun and searching for some lost treasure.

In another new-ish game, Resistance: Fall of Man, we get a cool revision of history where World War II never happens, but somehow Europe is overrun by aliens (or something) and you have to save England, the last free state. Looks like a Call of Duty upgrade. War is awesome.

(A new episode of Star Trek has begun.)

Now we race through some third-party titles with trailers about 20 seconds long: Assassin’s Creed, Gundam something, Coded Arms Assault (“commence hacking!”), something that I think was Ridge Racer, Brother in Arms, Tekken 6, Sonic, Virtua Tennis 3, Virtua Fighter 5, Stranglehold (starring Chow Yun Fat)… and our feed is dead! Damn you, Gamespot, don’t make us leave the couch!

EA big shot Larry Probst takes the stage. “The results … is inspiring.” And now, some EA Sports games. They’re working on a lot of cool stuff to make players move more realistically (and plant their feet correctly). Live basketball gameplay looks really, really good.

Next up, an alarmingly realistic “UCap” recreation of Tiger Woods, which looks great, but also lands about as deep in the uncanny valley as we’ve ever seen.

Wow, the new MGS4 trailer looks awesome, seems to involve AT-STs, and, at the end, Snake puts a pistol in his mouth. Does he kill himself? We’ll find out in 2007.

By the way, I’ve been calling Kaz “Ken” up until this point. Sorry, guys. Ken Kutaragi is up now, and he’s talking about the controller. Boomerang… or something better?

IT’S EXACTLY THE SAME! ZING!!! Screw you, boomerang. Let’s see “what it can do.” Apparently, you can control objects by physically moving the controller, obviously taking a page from the once-revolutionary Nintendo Wii. Phil keeps saying “six degrees of movement,” which basically translate to “if you wave the controller around, things will happen on screen, because buttons are so passe.”

A total Wii ripoff? Yeah, big time. We’ll opine in depth after we get to play them both this week. Man, it is exactly the Revolution controller idea. It looks cool, though, and now inexperienced gamers who try to “steer” their controller will actually get some results.

How can they honestly stand up there and pretend like this was their idea? Jesus. First the boomerang, now Grand Theft Controller.

One last thing: Global Launch.

The cheap PS3 tier will ship with a 20 gig hard drive, and the expensive version will have a 60 gig hard drive.

Japan: Nov. 11. 20 gig = 59800 yen. For the 60 gig, retailers will set the price. Thoughts on this coming soon.

US & Canada: Nov. 17. 20 gig = 499 US, 549 CN. 60 gig = 599 US, 659 CN.

Europe/Australia: Nov 19. 20 gig = 499 euros, 60 gig = 599 euros.

Sony will ship 2 million worldwide during “launch period,” total of 4 million by end of december. another 2 million during first quarter. total of 6 mil by end of march.

Not too shabby. And now, the people who actually showed up get to try out the playable PS3s. We’ll keep watching Star Trek. Watch out for more columns on the launch plans and the controller theft coming soon.

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Breaking! Sony Delays Something!

Monday, May 8th, 2006

Much like the new console whose secrets it will eventually reveal, the Sony E3 press conference is running a little late. We hear the event is overflowing with eager journalists and fanboys, and it’s been pushed back an hour to accomodate them all.

We, on the other hand, will be watching from the comfort of David’s apartment on this live feed, which hopefully will afford us a much better and more convenient view, whenever things get started. So while we recover from our collective cross-country flights and nights out in Vegas drinking ink-filled wine with Swedish twins, we’ll keep you updated on Sony’s announcements.

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We love the way you say “L.A.”

Monday, May 8th, 2006

We’re hittin’ the clear blue skies this morning on the way to E3 in Los Angeles, so watch this spot for updates throughout the week, and hopefully some debauchery totally unrelated to the giant gaming expo. Stay tuned!

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Archive for May, 2006

L.A. Update: We’re having trouble letting go

Somebody Else’s System

Launch Dates and Prices

Sony’s E3 Press Conference

Breaking! Sony Delays Something!

We love the way you say “L.A.”