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Sony Cancels PS3 Showing

Posted by Zonk on from the something-is-afoot dept.

Gamespot has word that the planned pre-E3 showing of the Playstation 3 console, to be held in Japan, has been canceled. From the article: "Sony told Reuters that it decided to cancel the PS3 meeting because it 'would pressure game publishers' if held in March, but it left the door open for another pre-E3 event. The company also emphasized that the cancellation is not a sign that the PlayStation 3 development is falling behind, and it still intends to unveil the machine at E3 at the latest."

46 comments

  1. NES by MyLongNickName · · Score: 2, Funny

    You'll pry it out of my cold dead hands.

    --
    See my journal for slashdot ID's by year. Mine created in 2005. http://slashdot.org/journal/289875/slashdot-ids-by-year
    1. Re:NES by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You'll pry it out of my cold dead hands.

      I'd really rather not. If that's okay with you.

  2. So... by Daetrin · · Score: 1

    What was their real reasoning for this? I'm failing to understand what the issue with "pressuring game publishers" is. If they're not actually behind schedule the only other reason i can think of is that they're worried if they reveal too much now then the PS3 will be old hat compared to the X-Box 2 and Nintendo Revolution when E3 comes around.

    --
    This Space Intentionally Left Blank
    1. Re:So... by badasscat · · Score: 2, Interesting

      If they're not actually behind schedule the only other reason i can think of is that they're worried if they reveal too much now then the PS3 will be old hat compared to the X-Box 2 and Nintendo Revolution when E3 comes around.

      Tin-foil hat conspiracy theory:

      The "leaked" images of the PS3 were real. Sony is now redesigning the system so that competitors don't have time to "steal their ideas" or otherwise capitalize on them. Either that, or they simply do not want to risk further leaks.

      Honestly, I can usually spot a fake pretty easily, but the images at the link above would be pretty difficult to fake. I've seen the images that some people think were the originals (before alteration into the PS3 image), one of which is actually at the bottom right of that brochure page, and the angle of the shot is different, the textures are all different, there are no chrome reflections, no reflective plastic finish, I mean these are hard things to alter/add to an image. If this is a fake, it was done by a real pro.

      Just because there are a lot of fake mockups floating around the net doesn't mean that all of them are. My bet since I first saw that image is that it's real, and that it was a real leak. The timing of this announcement, putting off the PS3 unveiling, now seems incredibly suspicious to me, coming just a week or so after this photo hit. There are two things you can do after a major leak - make your public announcement immediately (to minimize the current damage) or lock everything down (to minimize future damage, and discredit the current leaked info as fake). It seems possible Sony has chosen to do the latter.

    2. Re:So... by badasscat · · Score: 1

      Sony is now redesigning the system

      Clarification: by "redesigning" I meant the cosmetic industrial design, not starting over from scratch on the system itself. I don't necessarily believe this anyway, was just throwing the possibility out there. There are always cosmetic tweaks made to game machines right up to the point of their release regardless.

    3. Re:So... by BoomerSooner · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Apparently you've never seen some of the stuff the Apple crowd likes to fake. The number one thing that makes me think it is a fake is the reflection on the front face. When was the last time you could remember a shiny video game console? I can't remember any. Kids are going to be rough on these machines and a gloss exterior would make it look like shit in no time when my 6 year old gets ahold of it.

      Faking images isn't that difficult, motivation is the hard part. Why the hell would someone want to waste their time doing it? That lends to the credibility of the images. I'd give it a 70% fake and 30% real guess.

      Personally I don't care because I hate the PS game controllers. The S-Controller for the XBox is by far my favorite (very similar to the gravis aftershock I have for my pc).

    4. Re:So... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Heh, that looks like a real interesting design... I can't figure out where on earth you'd place the controllers.

      And, based on the other Sony launches, we'd be seeing the controller somewhere in those pictures.

      Looks fake to me.

    5. Re:So... by Deliveranc3 · · Score: 1

      Feature cuts... games tend to be started with a HUGE list of features they want to put in, but when you do a demo you need to start cutting features.

      Features don't get properly explored and you end up shipping a game that isn't as original as it could be.

    6. Re:So... by ivan256 · · Score: 2, Informative

      I'm failing to understand what the issue with "pressuring game publishers" is.

      Perhaps they don't want to pressure developers into rushing something to be ready to demo at this pre-E3 showing. It's all well and good for them to have hardware ready to show, but they need software to demo as well, otherwise you just have a box.

    7. Re:So... by robbway · · Score: 1

      In a company where you set a standard, in this case PS3 hardware, it affects all of your business from there out. Once "revealed," all of your software and peripheral manufacturers have to pledge their allegiance to the new standard or else they will be considered "old-fashioned." It does pressure developers. They have to pump up a demo at the next major event because "everybody else will have one." Even though these are just simulations and animations on a PS2 or PC.

      It is a genuine nuisance for your top-level PR reps to have to pitch something that won't be around for a long time while we have perfectly good products coming out soon.

    8. Re:So... by SkyWalk423 · · Score: 2, Insightful
      When was the last time you could remember a shiny video game console?

      I just bought one last week, as a matter of fact... "PSP", I think it was called? I forget who makes it.....

    9. Re:So... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There are two things you can do after a major leak - make your public announcement immediately (to minimize the current damage) or lock everything down (to minimize future damage, and discredit the current leaked info as fake). It seems possible Sony has chosen to do the latter.

      You think that Sony's announcement is part of a plan to discredit the images, and you believe that constitutes evidence that the images are real? I don't know how to tell you this, but your syllogism is broken.

    10. Re:So... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > The "leaked" images of the PS3 were real.

      A real something, perhaps, that doesn't make it the real PS3 design. I count five different designs on that one shot alone. It looks like a concept model to me, perhaps a finalist.

    11. Re:So... by urbaer · · Score: 1

      It is a genuine nuisance for your top-level PR reps to have to pitch something that won't be around for a long time while we have perfectly good products coming out soon.

      But it does beg the question as to why Sony actually planned and announced the event in the first place? Really, if you plan (and announce)an event and then don't decide to do it, there must be a reason. Did they not realise that it would have put pressure on the developers when they announced it?

    12. Re:So... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      God, I hope that isn't the real design. Looks like an old slide projector.

    13. Re:So... by lemnik · · Score: 1

      PS3 controllers will probably be wireless, hence no controller ports.

      It does look like a fake though, since putting a UMD drive in the PS3 would push the price up rather drastically, and you'd have to provide emulation for the PSP.

      It looks very fake to me. (and ugly to boot)

    14. Re:So... by Maserati · · Score: 1

      I'm calling 'fake' on these. Not for any detailed examination of the image, but merely a look at the design. It doesn't look like any other Sony product - and not in a good way. That's enough for me.

      --
      Veteran, Bermuda Triangle Expeditionary Force, 1992-1951
    15. Re:So... by Frodo+Crockett · · Score: 1

      Look at the edges of the unit in this picture. Most of them are blurred, and the degree of blurriness is not consistant. Fake, fake, fake. *puts on tinfoil hat* Or made to look fake on purpose.

      --
      "The newly born animals are then whisked off for a quick run through a giant baking oven." --heard on Food Network
    16. Re:So... by hph · · Score: 1

      Oh fuck. The problem with wireless dongles is they have got shitty response times. Hope Sony have worked around this.

    17. Re:So... by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      It looks substantially similar to a high-end sony VCR, except that there's a UMD where the jog wheel would normally go. granted, the end is rounded and that's kind of a departure, but remember sony is a japanese company and they are not so addicted to symmetry as we are. (The PS2 in particular is kind of lopsided in both the old and new designs.) I'd say it's a feasible design, but I think I'll wait for some official images before I get a hard-on.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    18. Re:So... by PhoenixOne · · Score: 1
      >"The "leaked" images of the PS3 were real."

      Every year at this time the same stories, every year at this time the same people "buy it." Look at the date people and relax for 24 hours before trusting anything you see on the intra-web.

      I'm living Groundhog Day...

      --
      Spell cheek you've failed me four the last thyme!
    19. Re:So... by scabb · · Score: 1

      Have you tried the wavebird, Nintendo's wireless controller? Response time is excellent, it's a brilliant little device.

  3. What this is really all about by mrbaggs · · Score: 4, Insightful

    As VG history shows us, when a company releases a system they like to wait until others have shown their hands first, hoping to trump them. PS1 did it to Saturn, PS2 did it to DC (just as it was gaining steam) and they are hoping to do the same to MS at E3.

    1. Re:What this is really all about by superpulpsicle · · Score: 2, Interesting

      That is very possible. Though I can't help to think it also has something to do with overlapping PSP sales. Which realistically won't take place until major price drops in mid to late 2006 sometime.

  4. Darn. by Rod+Beauvex · · Score: 3, Funny

    I was getting all excited, thinking that had said Sony cancled the PS3.

    1. Re:Darn. by ElVaquero · · Score: 0

      things just aren't going sony's way these days, what with the psp sucking and not selling plus the ps2 dual shock bit. oh, well.. everyone still loves nintendo and doesn't care about microsoft.

    2. Re:Darn. by solowCX · · Score: 1

      Then why is the Xbox outselling the GameCube (at least in the US)?

    3. Re:Darn. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      One word: Halo

    4. Re:Darn. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Sony might not, but if it still uses DualShock, Immersion might.

      And then I'd get all excited too.

    5. Re:Darn. by SkyWalk423 · · Score: 1
      ...what with the psp sucking and not selling...

      Nice stealth-troll.

    6. Re:Darn. by bigman2003 · · Score: 1

      Two words: Halo 2

      --
      No reason to lie.
    7. Re:Darn. by Chess_the_cat · · Score: 1
      Then why is the Xbox outselling the GameCube (at least in the US)?

      Source?

      --
      Support the First Amendment. Read at -1
    8. Re:Darn. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Three words: Halo 3.

  5. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  6. Re:If I had a nickel... by Jarlsberg · · Score: 2, Interesting
    Don't know that the market really works that way, but here's my conspiracy theory. Regular "announcements" must buoy stock value more than regular "delays" devalue it. I can't imagine any other reason for Sony's usual (is it "traditional" after three generations?) behavior.
    Definitely - as long as they actually come up with a product in the end. :)

    I guess they've picked up the tactic from Microsoft, who habitually announce their products and its feature sets way before the products are in development.

    But this time around, with a strong competition from Microsofts Xbox 2, delays could really hurt Sony. I hope they get the console out in time, so that we'll still have a competetive console market.

  7. Cell problems? by cwestpha · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I am sure if they wanted to they could show off the basic packaging. I have two theiories as to why they are delaying: 1) Cell is a chip that is so complex that only now are they begining to be able to get half decent runs of. They are probebly more concerned getting those processors ready for the development kits then to make demonstration units of the consle. They could always show off the development kit, but it doesnt have the same appeal as showing the real consumer product. Lets face it Cell doesnt need to be comercialy viable until the end of this year. With how radical it is of a design it will take some time to get the process up to where they have spare capacity and teach the developers how to code for the new architecture. 2) Due to the lawsuit with Immersion there is a chance they may be forced to axe the dual shock controler. If so you will see a controler re-design and perhaps even a port re-design. It would look bad if they had to do another re-design of anything they show before their launch.

    1. Re:Cell problems? by ivan256 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      How about just that they just don't have any software ready yet that they feel shows off the hardware in a way they like?

      Is there a reason that anything one of these companies says has to be a lie? Perhaps they're telling the truth. They don't want to put pressure on developers to get something that looks good out the door in time for this demo.

    2. Re:Cell problems? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Wrong on both your theories. You have no clue.

    3. Re:Cell problems? by Rallion · · Score: 1

      Is there a reason that anything one of these companies says has to be a lie?

      There is a reason. That reason is that the company's name begins with an "S" and ends with an "ONY".

      Read your history. They never tell the truth if they can help it.

    4. Re:Cell problems? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I hope I will be able to use my existing dual shock controllers though...

  8. Re:If I had a nickel... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The reality is that almost all consoles launch late ...

    I've been saying for a while that if you expect the PS3 to be out before spring 2007 you're dreaming ...

  9. Redesign by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Two words: Patent Infringment

  10. Re:If I had a nickel... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    spring 2007

    Looks like you're the one who's been dreaming for a while now...

  11. Needs New Controller by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Oh, the system is fine and running, but they've got no controller for it.

  12. Come on... by hackwrench · · Score: 1

    That picture's clearly a digital creation
    It contains both hard reflection edges, and digital generated "randomized" glare.

  13. Re:If I had a nickel... by Maserati · · Score: 1

    Looked at another way, 100% of Sony console divisions have had at least one late project.

    --
    Veteran, Bermuda Triangle Expeditionary Force, 1992-1951