While I don't really believe in throwing in the towel before the first round is over, I'm going to say that Sony would be best off to go into hiding and wait for NEXT-generation.
I watched the Sony Pre-E3 Conference last night like most of the hardcore gaming community, and I've got to say I went to bed disappointed. One thing that personally made me feel a tad angry was the presentation of the PS3 controller. Sony seemed excited to present some "new" technology to us that will "revolutionize" gameplay. What is worse than using low moves? Openly admitting you're playing low.
While I do expect to be supporting the PlayStation 3, I don't expect that support to come soon. One thing that worries me was WarHawk being used with the motion sensing tech in the controller. 6 degrees? Sony, if you're going to steal, at least steal as much as you can. I don't necessarily think Sony needed the external sensor or location sensing features of Nintendo's Wii, but I do think that Sony should have put a little more effort into their technology and improved the quality of the motion sensor currently used in the PS3 controller. WarHawk looked to play awkward and that worries me, especially if Sony plans to incorporate the motion sensing ability of the controller into their bigger titles (Getaway, Socom).
I'm afraid I haven't explained why Sony should run away just yet, and while I'm sure you all know where I plan to head, it's going to wait.
While I think the "surprise" in the PS3 was quite disappointing, I'm worried that things we expected from the get-go could end up making things worse for us gamers. Sony's new online plan looks good, but I expect restrictions on online play. I can see messaging, rankings, and the other non-essential features being free, but I'm not entirely sure we'll be able to PLAY the games free, or at least whenever we'd like. Tack on the fact that Sony will probably be throwing in heavy downloadable content for their games (at the cost of the game itself. We can see features and maps being held back from the retail version of the game so Sony can overprice them and shove them to us later) and the company could have a serious problem on its hands, especially if Microsoft continues to find sponsors for "Free Xbox Live Weeks" or if they just cut the cost altogether. Sony can sort this whole dilemma out very quickly if they can provide some lists detailing what CAN be done on the PS3 for free online and what cannot. We need absolute clarification and these things should be set in stone fairly soon.
Now, to the main point of this whole blog: Dual SKUs.
Sony, what the hell were you thinking?
It's not necessarily the price that kills the deal for me, it's the features not included in the "core" pack. No HDMI? Sony is trying to push the blu-ray format onto us, yet they do not plan to include the necessary HDMI feature into the cheaper PS3 unit. Blu-ray games, not blu-ray movies.
No MemoryStick/SD slot? Sony wants the PS3 to be seen as a "media hub" and not necessarily as just a "game console". How do you expect to change the world of PlayStation when you're hurting half the people that want to get there?
And what about features Sony DIDN'T mention in the conference that were promised to us earlier? What happened to multi-monitor support, Sony? I don't see that in the future. And when the PS3 was first unveiled, we were told to expect the PS3 to allow up to 6 controllers to be used while playing a game at once! Judging by the four lights on your new Dual Shock (without the shock, I must add. The controller lacks rumble) it looks like we'll only be using four controllers. While I do believe six was a tad too many, falling back on your promises isn't cool.
When the PS3 launches in November, Microsoft will drop the 360 Premium Pack price to 299. The .75 version of the PS3 will cost 499. Congratulations Sony, even if you stick around, you're bound to go down sometime.
i went to a family dinner last night at my aunt's house and my sister did not cook the pork well enough and i was told this after i consumed vast amounts and now i will surely die
also a friend of the family has been missing for around two weeks, and we found his car alongside the conneticut river. we could use some prayers.
