Sony Pre-E3 2006
Sony’s pre-E3 press conference held today finally gave the public what
they wanted: solid numbers. Playstation CEO Kaz Hirai, dwarfed by the
words “November 17” went on to say that the release of the PS3 would
entail two different systems. Sony fans will have to choose between a
20 gigabyte hard drive and a 60 gig drive each sporting a $499 and $599
price tag respectively.
Though the official pricing didn’t come to the end of the conference,
there was plenty to show off leading up to it. First up, the PSP.
After starting nearly an hour late, Sony announced plans to offer voice
over IP (VOIP) services to their portable unit as well as a GPS add-on
called PlanetPSP for world travelers and a camera attachment for anyone
lacking that ability on their phone. A slew of new titles are nothing
new, but a service to download old games, Playstation Archives, is
deffinately a shocker. PSP owners can download classic PS titles, as
demonstrated with the original Ridge Racer, to their memory sticks and
play without having to boot from a seperate disc. Home-brew gamers have
been doing this for some time, but these games would be legal, and will
come with a yet-unannounced price tag.
Aside from the price, Sony unveiled the final control design…again.
Gone is the boomerang, flying wing, silver abomination. Instead, the
PS3 will ship with a blue-tooth enabled wireless controller that has
little-to-no physical differences with the current Dual Shock.
Certainly a new feature however is the angle detection features.
Imagine flying a plane using not the analog stick, but with the tilting
and twisting motions of your hands.
In order to compete with Microsoft, Sony talked about their
online community service, available to all users free of charge. Video
chat, news, a friends list, ranking, voice and text messaging and
player profiles were all highlighted as was a plan for in-game
marketplaces. Any 360 owner will tell you that these features are no
brainers, and simply expected from Sony. Similarly, Sony will begin
offering ‘The Playstation Card’, multi-denominational plastic currency
purchased at retail stores and redeemed for game and related media
content on the PS3.
The one other demonstration that pops out in my mind was the technology
jump made for the Eye Toy. Phil Harrison, President of SCE Worldwide
Studios, showed off what could be done when a card battle game,
combined with optical recognition bye the PS3’s camera would bring the
card monsters to life on the screen. Using simple finger motions,
players pit their collections against each other and fight in what has
been called an augmented reality.
Most of what was announced today for the first time was impressive, but
at the same time, nothing spectacularly innovative or revolutionary and
with the console’s price being as steep as some feared, only time will
tell how succesful Sony’s next-gen will be.
