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."

Comments

Given the choice

[Threni]

> 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.

Pricing...

[softspokenrevolution]

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?

Re:Pricing...

[szembek]

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.

Re:Pricing...

[apoc06]

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.

Well..

[darkmonkeh]

Sony is not stupid

I beg to differ.

There's more than two dogs in this hunt

[rAiNsT0rm]

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.

Re:There's more than two dogs in this hunt

[rAiNsT0rm]

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.

Re:Nintendo?

[dividedsky319]

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.

PS3 & HDCP

[jbeaupre]

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.

For the Nintendo fanboys

[RyoShin]

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.

Re:PS3

[oGMo]

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.