Slashdot Mirror


Preview of Sony vs. Microsoft at E3

kukyfrope writes "After Sony stole the show last year with their dazzling game trailers, will actual hands-on impressions of the PS3 stand up to all the hype, or will Microsoft's second wave of Xbox 360 games (HALO 3 anybody?) show Sony why 360 is not Xbox 1.5." From the article: "While the Xbox 360 is off to a great start, Sony is not stupid. The company knows that the PlayStation brand name is extremely powerful, and that a lot of hardcore and casual gamers are waiting on the PlayStation 3 before deciding on a next generation console. In addition, if you want a cheap Blu-Ray player, the PlayStation 3 will be the only way to go. Stand alone units are looking to run $1500 or more, but it's unlikely the PS3 will release at anything higher than $500."

23 of 146 comments (clear)

  1. Given the choice by Threni · · Score: 5, Insightful

    > Given the choice between a $400 Xbox 360 and a $400 PS3 that doubles as a next
    > generation DVD player, consumers will flock to the PlayStation 3 in droves.

    Surely most of the people hanging on to see the PS3 have already made up their minds. They want a PS3 and will only get the Xbox if the PS3 really disappoints. Presumably Sony are going to make sure that it won't.

    1. Re:Given the choice by RoadDoggFL · · Score: 2, Informative
      2. Nintendo's Revolution really wows at E3 and follows through on rumors of being under $300.
      Uhh... rumors of under $300? I've heard (convincing) rumors of $100-$150. Yes, $100-$150 is less than $300, but it's still a more noteworthy claim.
      --
      "This is considered plagiarism."
  2. Pricing... by softspokenrevolution · · Score: 4, Insightful

    That has been one of the foremost questions on my mind, how do they rationalize charging $500 for a gaming platform/blue-ray player but $1500 for the stand-alone blue-ray player. I mean, if the job of a cheap console is to recoup the money on games, can't it be the job of a cheap DVD player to recoup money on DVD sales?

    1. Re:Pricing... by EMH_Mark3 · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Unlike with games, DVD Player manufacturers don't get a cut off of the DVD sales.

      --
      Burn the land and boil the sea, you can't take the sky from me
    2. Re:Pricing... by szembek · · Score: 3, Insightful

      This is because of licensing. Any company can make a DVD player, DVD sales don't have to kick back licensing fees to a DVD player manufacturer. However only Sony can make PS2s, and game developers must pay to be able to make a PS2 game. Therefore Sony gains cash-flow from game sales, where DVD manufacturers obviously don't get DVD sales income.

      --
      nothing
    3. Re:Pricing... by apoc06 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      well, considering that sony also owns the patent and licensing for blu-ray media, its in their best interest to take a loss on the player to ensure that blu-ray movies catch on. every blu-ray disc made will line sonys pockets just like dvd sales did, since sony had a part to play in dvd tech as well.

      one of the major reasons why the xbox and the gamecube did not natively allow for dvd playing capabilities is so that they wouldnt have to pay sony a licensing fee for each xbox or gamecube they manufactured.

  3. Nintendo? by Shadow+Wrought · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Wasn't it at E3 last year that Nintendo dropped the bombshell that is their controllers? I wonder if they something upt heir sleeves again to take some of the spotlight away from Sony and M$...

    --
    If brevity is the soul of wit, then how does one explain Twitter?
    1. Re:Nintendo? by dividedsky319 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I wonder if they something upt heir sleeves again to take some of the spotlight away from Sony and M$...

      Well, they haven't shown any actual Revolution games yet... so I'd be willing to bet that's their main strategy, reveal Revolution games at E3. And have a release date.

      Nintendo announced their controllers at the Tokyo Game Show in Sept '05. It was a fairly closed door affair, not shown to the public.

      I expect Nintendo to have the Revolution fully functional and usable by the public at E3. They stole the show at TGS just by their announcement, lets see if they can do the same at E3 when they actually show some games. The public being able to get their hands on a Revolution controller will be a pretty big deal.

  4. Well.. by darkmonkeh · · Score: 5, Funny

    Sony is not stupid

    I beg to differ.

  5. There's more than two dogs in this hunt by rAiNsT0rm · · Score: 4, Informative

    I wouldn't be so quick to say that E3 2006 will be a SONY Vs. MS battle only. More like a royal rumble. New information has come out to show that Zelda: Twilight Princess may be carrying a dual edged sword... litteraly.

    I covered this today in the article: A Plan Emerges Nintendo may have the biggest ace up their sleeve of any console launch in history. Zelda may just be a final swan song for the Gamecube and a launch title of sorts for the Revolution... as well as a little of both! Fairly substantiated talk has surfaced showing the release date for Twilight Princess may also be pushed to November '06 and that it may feature the ability to control the action on the GC with the Revolution controller.

    We know the Revolution controller can work with the GC from the demo's in New York with Metroid Prime 2 on a GC. Even if not on the GC, the fact that the Revolution can play GC titles means it could grow new abilities by playing it on the Revolution. Either way this is an artful marketing move, and may prove to be the show stealer in May.

    --
    http://teasphere.wordpress.com - A little spot of tea
    1. Re:There's more than two dogs in this hunt by rAiNsT0rm · · Score: 3, Informative

      Most likely there will be graphic upgrades when played in the revolution. The truth is that the GC's graphics chip was insanely powerful (8 layers of texture per poly), but the system was not and it was never really utilized. With the Revolution's GPU based on the GC's you can be sure any graphic updates would be very simple and natural to implement.

      I could not see any reason it would *not* offer graphical upgrades when played in the Revolution. This is a big move, and if my predictions and piecing of this puzzle are correct... could be a show stopper.

      --
      http://teasphere.wordpress.com - A little spot of tea
  6. Tokyo Game Show by Omega697 · · Score: 2, Informative

    Nope. That was the Tokyo Game Show.

  7. No, not literally. by Omega697 · · Score: 2, Funny

    New information has come out to show that Zelda: Twilight Princess may be carrying a dual edged sword... litteraly.

    You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.

  8. PS3 & HDCP by jbeaupre · · Score: 3, Interesting

    For a lot of folks, myself included, HDCP will negate the Blu-Ray. If you get downgraded content for not having the correct cables and TV, what's the point? Sure, next time I buy an HDTV it'll have more than component input. But by the time that happens players will be cheap and people will be looking forward to the PS4.

    --
    The world is made by those who show up for the job.
  9. Sony didn't "win" E3 last year... by Cutriss · · Score: 2, Informative

    After Sony stole the show last year with their dazzling game trailers

    Say what? I was at E3 last year. Sony was getting mocked for those same trailers, while Microsoft did have playable games.

    Seriously, even those without a historical perspective on E3 should be able to read this line and say "WTF?". Game trailers can be dazzling, but they *never* steal the show.

    --
    "Mod, mod, mod...and another troll bites the dust."
  10. Given^H keeping the choice by dpilot · · Score: 2, Insightful

    But it's in all of our best interests that neither Sony nor Microsoft "WIN" this console war, at least not conclusively. It's better for us that any "win" be press-only, hotly disputed, and that in a few years we repeat this whole argument with the XBox3 and PS4. For that matter, it's best the Nintendo remain a player, too.

    Having "a winner" in the conclusive sense, no matter who it is, is the worst option.

    --
    The living have better things to do than to continue hating the dead.
    1. Re:Given^H keeping the choice by dpilot · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Imagine for a moment that Microsoft WINS, though the situation would no doubt be similar if Sony were to WIN.

      Right now, Microsoft is subsidizing the XBox with other revenues, and I don't mean just game sales. If they were unfettered by competition, they'd bring their games division back to at least break-even. They'd be nuts to do anything else. They'd probably also cut development resource to the minimum - just enough to keep competition from forming. (Or they'd cut below that, and restaff once it became apparent that a new competitor was coming on.) Prices would rise, progress would slow. Kind of like the way DOS 3.3 stagnated, back before DRDOS heated things up, again.

      --
      The living have better things to do than to continue hating the dead.
  11. Sony stole the show? I think not. by Casharelle · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I think the honor of 'stealing the show' at last years E3 went resoundingly to Will Wright and the rather stunning presentation of 'Spore'.

  12. Re:Can't wait to see what Sony has up its sleeves by LightningBolt! · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Maybe you were living under a rock or something.
    No, I was developing games at the time.

    Sony toted the Emotions Engine as the next greatest thing.
    Pretty standard marketing stuff.

    Talked it up, saying it could do things that I have yet to see.
    Such as? Before the PS2, I'd never seen anything quite as nice as SSX.

    They also said it was so powerful, that they would be releasing graphic workstations to compete with SGI and Sun.
    Maybe you've been living under a rock, but the specialty graphics workstation market has essentially disappeared, devoured by commodity PCs and graphics cards.

    Where are these graphic workstations based on the emotion engine? Oh, that is right, there are none because Sony talked big and couldn't deliever on their claims.
    My guess is that they saw no business case for manufacturing graphics workstations.

    --
    Old people fall. Young people spring. Rich people summer and winter.
  13. For the Nintendo fanboys by RyoShin · · Score: 4, Insightful

    And before you ask, the Revolution is not included here because it wasn't really a factor last year and we're hearing that even with the console hitting this year, it won't be Nintendo primary focus at E3.

    Are you freaking kidding?

    You're telling me that the Revolution, Nintendo's stop gap console with a radically new controller, 20 years of backwards compatability, and easier developer programming (or so I've heard), which is coming out sometime this year is not going to be a primary focus?

    Can we revoke the gaming journalism liscense for these guys?

    The Revolution wasn't a focus last year because Nintendo like to keep things under wraps until the last possible moment. The used E3 last year to show off Twilight Princess and the GBM.

    Even Nintendo knows that you have to have a big showing before the release to get people fired up and interested (well, those that aren't already.) Nintendo's main focus will most likely be the Revolution. I'm sure we'll have some DS and GBA goodies, as well as TP, but the Revolution will be pretty much all anyone will be interested in, especially because they will have playable demos on E3.

    I'm sure that Sony wil have a big showing, but everyone will want to at least give the Revolution a try, just to see what it will be like.

    Here's hoping they have cover a good number of genres with their setups, even if the games are just demos. I think that, right now, getting people in on the idea of using the remote in different ways is really important.

  14. Re:lol internet by theJML · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Ahh! Sarcasm at it's finest!

    Seriously though, I hope we see something from all the major players at E3. Not only new games and ideas to make the 360 actually worth the price of admission, but something from Sony and Nintendo to show that they aren't going down without a fight. I think if Sony is smart, we'll have some playable demos of the PS3 as well as maybe an announcement of some games that are planned for the system in the future. I am really interested in seeing what they're going to do with not only the power of the PS3, but the space of the Blu-Ray medium.

    As far as Nintendo, I think it's time they shift into high gear and do the same thing instead of just pulling a controller or a random system photo out. I know all the Nintendo Fan-boys/Fan-girls are drooling over the controller, but I don't think the controller is that cool unless there is a kickass system and games to go along with it.

    --
    -=JML=-
  15. Re:PS3 by oGMo · · Score: 4, Interesting
    That E3 show set Sony back. The trailors were nothing more than CGI movies of what Sony hoped their games would look like.

    Then their hopes were pretty realistic. Compare Old Snake from MGS4 which we know to be realtime with the Killzone demo shown, and you'll find that if anything, MGS4 is looking better. (Compare the high polycount, beads of sweat, skin texturing, and hair on Snake to what's in the KZ shot.)

    And these are just the first-gen showings of the PS3.

    The hardware no where near resembled what will really be in the PS3.

    The... hardware? This is assuming you, a chronic Microsoft troll (mods: see poster's history), actually have inside information. Which is doubtful. This also assumes your statement makes any sense. What are you claiming? The specs Sony gave are false? That it won't have a Cell or nvidia GPU? That the box might look different? Seriously. If the games look like what Sony claimed (see Project Offset for some more impressive realtime videos), what else matters?

    Also the PS3 will not launch any less than $500 without absolutely massive losses per unit. The 360 at this point will have markdowns to around $250.

    You know this for a fact, do you? When it's already been confirmed long ago that the PS3 will launch at the same price-point the PS2 and PS1 did?

    The PS3 will win this generation only if they can convince the average family that the PS3 is worth 2x the price. The normal fanboys will buy it no matter what the price, but these sales will be limited.

    The PS3 will win this generation because they have all the games. That's what matters.

    --

    Don't think of it as a flame---it's more like an argument that does 3d6 fire damage

  16. Excuse me... by CaseM · · Score: 2, Insightful

    But has anyone even SEEN a Blu-ray movie on the shelves at a single store?

    What's that? No??

    A standalone player even? Not yet.

    This is NOT the same situation that the PS2 was in when it was released in 2000. DVD's were out and had their first hot holiday in 1999...plenty of time for the PS2's DVD-playing capabilities to be relevant. Blu-ray is still, for all purposes, vaporware at the mass-consumer level. It is not going to be the reason people buy a PS3.