NEWS

E3 2006: Sony's Press Conference, PlayStation 3 Pricing and Date

Written by Matt Paprocki
Published May 09, 2006
Part of E3 2006

After a nearly unbearable delay of close to an hour, Kaz Hirai heads onto the stage to begin the presentation. He begins to push media compatibility and hints at upgradeable firmware that would allow it to do more at a later date. He discusses the huge financial investment involved in the console and how they will not be about cutting corners. "Consumers are ready, and the future becomes reality," is an early tagline. He talks about the launch in November, which would be a critical feature late in the conference.

Sony continues with their typical number rundown, involving sales and consoles shipped. He announces strong support for the PS2 lasting many years, including games like Socom 4, and God of War 2. In total, there will be 216 titles by the end of year 2006. He moves onto PSP discussion, how they delivered on promises about producing an unrivaled device. The system would be the fastest selling in company history. Planned are 155 new titles, some of which were show in a brief video montage:

Killzone
PlanetPSP
Ape Escape Academy 2
B-Boy
LocoRoco
Syphon Filter
World Tour Soccer 2
Talkman Voice Chat
Gangs of London

He follows with the announcement of PSP Greatest Hits, which will launch with five games:

ATV Blazing Trails
Ape Escape
Twisted Metal
Wipeout Pure
Hot Shots Golf

He continues on with the sale of UMD movies, which have surpassed 18 million, firmware upgrades that will include RSS video, voice over IP, GPS, and a camera coming this year.

Hirai steps off the stage as a video montage begins featuring people who play PlayStation worldwide. Graphics are a definite focal point. Hirai steps back on stage to outline specifications, including the cell processor, a pre-installed/removable hard drive, support for a variety of memory stick formats, USB, Blu-ray, and backwards compatibility all with previous optical discs. Wireless controllers are mentioned with support for seven players. He confirms full backwards compatibility and wireless data exchange with the PSP. He begins to push Blu-ray and the importance of its size benefits. He again mentions the hard drive and its ability to store downloadable content, and its improvements to game play like lessened load times.

He confirms the early November launch will be world wide, and final dev kits are shipping now. Games will be fully playable on the show floor.

SCE Worldwide president Phil Harrison takes over and introduces Gran Turismo's Kazunori Yamauchi, a completely Japanese speaker with a translator. They begin playing a Gran Turismo prototype. This is Gran Turismo 4, converted to the PS3 while running in full Hi-Definition, 1080p. Motorbikes, scooters, and F1 vehicles are shown. While they claim it is actually being played, most of it is shown in a replay camera. They continue pushing the Hi-Definition and how the game is running in a higher resolution than average HD cable.

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Matt Paprocki is the reviews editor for Digital Press, a video game website with an appreciation for the retro side of the industry. The deep game collection which spans nearly 30 systems and 2,000 games line his walls for research purposes. Matt strives to bring credibility to video game journalism, and take it in a new direction to aid the industry in becoming respected with all forms entertainment media.
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E3 2006: Sony's Press Conference, PlayStation 3 Pricing and Date
Published: May 09, 2006
Type: News
Section: Gaming
Filed Under: Gaming: News
Part of a feature: E3 2006
Writer: Matt Paprocki
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Comments

#1 — May 9, 2006 @ 00:35AM — Ken Edwards [URL]

That "fantastic innovation" quote is priceless. Can you say "Wii-mote?"

The $500 model isn't even worth buying, "the $499 model does not include wi-fi, memory stick support, or HDMI output."

That makes that $400 Xbox 360 purchase in November look pretty good, an entire $200 less that a properly equipped PS3.

And Nintendo is going to be sitting pretty with a $250 price tag for the Wii. I am sure we will get that confirmation tomorrow afternoon.

I was underwhelmed by the games, shocked by the blatant rip off, and quite frankly Sony did a better job at building PS3 hype at the 2005 E3.

#2 — May 9, 2006 @ 01:15AM — Senor Hurt

Hate to sound Cliche: Been there done that!
Wii looks awesome. Nintendo brings innovation. Microsoft brings Xbox live 2.0. What does Sony bring to gamers? Blueray...HUH? And I used to love Sony as a brand for gamers because they brought entertainment to gaming. Now they're doing what I was afraid they would do. Instead of bringing value to gamers they're trying to fool gamers into buying some of their product (blueray) that gamers don't need or want. What does PS3 bring to us gamers that the others aren't? Seriously, I'm asking I'm desperate for Sony's answer. They didn't give it to my today.

#3 — May 9, 2006 @ 08:34AM — Armin Siljkovic [URL]

I think Nintendo will price the Wii at $250 or less. It might not become the first choice of hard core gamers, but it will definetly be the 2nd console in my living room.

Also, $250 will appeal a lot more to parrents buyng a console for their kids and non-gamers in general.

#4 — May 9, 2006 @ 11:51AM — Dynamo of Eternia

PS3 is just seeming very unimpressive.

They are copying Microsoft's idea of releasing 2 versions of the system, which I didn't think was a great idea to start with. But, at least with Xbox 360, even if you buy the less expensive, bare-bones unit, you can still buy the hard drive and other options at your leasure, and eventually build up to everything that you would have gotten in the more expensive unit.

However, with PS3, you don't have that option. If you get the cheaper system with the reduced features, you're stuck. You can't upgrade it or add things on to eventually have what you would get with the more expensive system. I think this is going to upset a lot of people. You know that when this launches, everyone will want it, the more expensive units will be the ones to go first, and people will be mad that they have to choose between the cheaper unit with less features or nothing.

Then there is the controller, which now has the same essential feature as that of Nintendo. Can we say rip off? Now, I know it is common practice for one company to use a good idea that another one came up with. But usually there is a period of time between the two. In this case, they come out and say the controller has this motion feature, acting like its something completely new, original, and innovative, and trying not to bring up the issue that its essentially the same thing that Nintendo announced quite a while ago.
Even if Sony had been planning this for some time and didn't actually copy Nintendo's idea (Which I highly doubt), it really doesn't look good on their part to only just now announce it and try to make it seem like its original, after another company has been saying for some time that they are doing this.

At any rate, I have Xbox 360 now, I plan to get Wii. I doubt I will get PS3 at launch. I may get it eventually if the price goes down. The one thing that I may consider doing is buying a PS3, selling it on ebay while they are in high demand, doubling my money, then putting the profit cash I get off of it aside to eventually get a PS3 of my own when they are readily available. It all depends though. I really don't want to support Sony because they burned me and many others too many times.

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