I've slowly been digesting what was Sony's conference and I'm wondering who they've had a bet with and how drunk they were when they made it. It's as if they set out to one-up Nintendo's "Wii" announcement. All the negative press that got was astounding. It was run everywhere and I guess Sony felt they needed to muscle in.
This conference seems to be unlike Sony press conferences of the past. I see a Sony press conference as a load of hyped up nonsense. We've seen it with the Emotion Engine nonsense and last year we had loads said about how the PS3 will do everything you expect and more besides, such as making you breakfast in bed.
This year, well everyone seems to be very disappointed. They have come away feeling that Sony have completely lost the plot with an underwhelming conference. I've not been a Sony fan and I've long looked at them as being able to hype things up to the extent that people report like mad at how great things will be, despite never ever delivering what they state. This year it seems everyone is seeing things properly for the first time. There is no hype there for people to go nuts with speculation at how great things will be as we've just seen what looks like a company clutching at straws.
So I guess the first thing we'll get to is how Sony have created a "brand new joypad" for their new console. What we have actually is the same sub-standard controller they've used for 10 or so years but with a big button in the middle, akin to the 360's dashboard button. So they took a pinch of Microsoft and then added a dash of Nintendo by bundling motion sensing capabilities. So the Sony that said "we don't do gimmicks" has just gone and added a great big gimmick of Wii-mote capabilities. If you see the thing in motion, it looks a million miles away from NCL's offering with the Wii-mote. It looks clunky and very uncomfortable.
On top of this, they announce two SKUs for the console. Not so bad, Microsoft did this with the 360. Sony have again decided to one-up the negative press that Microsoft got with the so-called "Tard pack". Instead of offering a bare-bones system, Sony shall be offering you a cheaper, less feature packed console. You will miss out on the HDMI port, wifi support (goodbye PSP wireless interactions) and then a 20GB HDD (opposed to the 60GB in the full priced model). If Microsoft got lumbered with having one package called the "Tard pack" I'd hate to see what the Sony pack will be called, considering it's far more botched than Microsoft's offering.
Basically, the main points I've taken from this conference is that Sony, for once, have decided to be straight with us. Just given us the news as it is rather than coating them in hype and marketing puff. However, this year they've really run out of ideas. Whereas they may have had a few interesting things to go with the hype, this year they've not got anything to create a buzz and I'm not sure that this will do anything to help them out like it seems to have done to an extent with the Wii.
Sony seem to have stolen ideas left, right and centre and not added anything to them. They've really gone and taken what have been the best bits of NCL's and Microsoft's machines (the Wii-mote and Live respectively) and diluted them to be left with hardly anything substantial to draw people in. I'm not sure how the other companies will fare but they really must be relishing their chances at creating a big buzz around their consoles now.
Saying this, I am now slightly worried. Sony have the top spot right now and it was thought they'd hold it with the PS3. It did seem they were trying to push some things on earlier but it doesn't seem to be the case now.
If you look at NCL, with the Wii they are trying to do what they did with the DS but in the home console market, expand the market by attracting those who wouldn't play video games. Microsoft has gone in the direction of appealing to harcore gamers and pushing Live. With Live they've really created something very special. So two companies, two ideas which seemingly is trying to attract a larger audience.
Sony right now seem to be stuck in limbo, why it seems as though the PS3 is not only designed to be a games machine but to get Blu-Ray accepted as the format of choice for HD DVDs and for them to push their HDTVs. We've got two companies trying to push games, whereas the other seems to be content to push anything else. The reason why I am scared, is that I hope the two companies that are pushing for some innovations don't get lost and swept up by Sony's half-arsed attempts to muscle in on their visions. That Sony don't somehow again manage to be the biggest company this iteration of consoles without earning that by actually pushing and innovating itself. It'd sure be a sad day, if on the basis of this showing, Sony keeps on top by badly copying other good ideas and excuting them badly.
This conference seems to be unlike Sony press conferences of the past. I see a Sony press conference as a load of hyped up nonsense. We've seen it with the Emotion Engine nonsense and last year we had loads said about how the PS3 will do everything you expect and more besides, such as making you breakfast in bed.
This year, well everyone seems to be very disappointed. They have come away feeling that Sony have completely lost the plot with an underwhelming conference. I've not been a Sony fan and I've long looked at them as being able to hype things up to the extent that people report like mad at how great things will be, despite never ever delivering what they state. This year it seems everyone is seeing things properly for the first time. There is no hype there for people to go nuts with speculation at how great things will be as we've just seen what looks like a company clutching at straws.
So I guess the first thing we'll get to is how Sony have created a "brand new joypad" for their new console. What we have actually is the same sub-standard controller they've used for 10 or so years but with a big button in the middle, akin to the 360's dashboard button. So they took a pinch of Microsoft and then added a dash of Nintendo by bundling motion sensing capabilities. So the Sony that said "we don't do gimmicks" has just gone and added a great big gimmick of Wii-mote capabilities. If you see the thing in motion, it looks a million miles away from NCL's offering with the Wii-mote. It looks clunky and very uncomfortable.
On top of this, they announce two SKUs for the console. Not so bad, Microsoft did this with the 360. Sony have again decided to one-up the negative press that Microsoft got with the so-called "Tard pack". Instead of offering a bare-bones system, Sony shall be offering you a cheaper, less feature packed console. You will miss out on the HDMI port, wifi support (goodbye PSP wireless interactions) and then a 20GB HDD (opposed to the 60GB in the full priced model). If Microsoft got lumbered with having one package called the "Tard pack" I'd hate to see what the Sony pack will be called, considering it's far more botched than Microsoft's offering.
Basically, the main points I've taken from this conference is that Sony, for once, have decided to be straight with us. Just given us the news as it is rather than coating them in hype and marketing puff. However, this year they've really run out of ideas. Whereas they may have had a few interesting things to go with the hype, this year they've not got anything to create a buzz and I'm not sure that this will do anything to help them out like it seems to have done to an extent with the Wii.
Sony seem to have stolen ideas left, right and centre and not added anything to them. They've really gone and taken what have been the best bits of NCL's and Microsoft's machines (the Wii-mote and Live respectively) and diluted them to be left with hardly anything substantial to draw people in. I'm not sure how the other companies will fare but they really must be relishing their chances at creating a big buzz around their consoles now.
Saying this, I am now slightly worried. Sony have the top spot right now and it was thought they'd hold it with the PS3. It did seem they were trying to push some things on earlier but it doesn't seem to be the case now.
If you look at NCL, with the Wii they are trying to do what they did with the DS but in the home console market, expand the market by attracting those who wouldn't play video games. Microsoft has gone in the direction of appealing to harcore gamers and pushing Live. With Live they've really created something very special. So two companies, two ideas which seemingly is trying to attract a larger audience.
Sony right now seem to be stuck in limbo, why it seems as though the PS3 is not only designed to be a games machine but to get Blu-Ray accepted as the format of choice for HD DVDs and for them to push their HDTVs. We've got two companies trying to push games, whereas the other seems to be content to push anything else. The reason why I am scared, is that I hope the two companies that are pushing for some innovations don't get lost and swept up by Sony's half-arsed attempts to muscle in on their visions. That Sony don't somehow again manage to be the biggest company this iteration of consoles without earning that by actually pushing and innovating itself. It'd sure be a sad day, if on the basis of this showing, Sony keeps on top by badly copying other good ideas and excuting them badly.
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