NEWS

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

Written by Matt Paprocki
Published May 09, 2006
Part of E3 2006
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Heavenly Sword, an impressive action title with some wild moves, gets the stage next. This extended showing shows off some quick-time events in addition to the brutal and varied action. A video montage of games further out is then played featuring:

LAIR
Getaway
Afrika
Hot Shots
Monster Kingdom

He then introduces two major releases, a 3rd person action game called Eight Days and a new game from Naughty Dog, a Tomb Raider-ish unnamed piece.

Ted Price, Insomniac CEO, is invited on stage to showcase Resistance: Fall of Man. Set in a past alternate reality, this FPS shows a bleak world dominated by mysterious creatures trying to overtake mankind. It will feature 32-player online game play.

Kaz is back to discuss third party titles, and he does so with a video montage showing us:

Assassin's Creed
Gundam
Coded Arms Assault
Ridge Racer 7
Brothers in Arms
Tekken 6
Sonic the Hedgehog
Virtua Tennis 3
Virtua Fighter 5
Stranglehold
Armored Core 4

EA's CEO, Larry Probst, is introduced and brings up the NBA Live director. A direct comparison from the PS2 to PS3 is made, showing the PS3 character model looking around at a cursor. EA is calling this "procedural awareness." They show another tech demo of accurate stepping and freedom of movement. They give a demo on the hardware. It shows the same basic menu screen from the Xbox 360 version released earlier this year. It's an animation showcase, though no game play inside a stadium is shown. Next is an animation demo showing Tiger Woods. This clip used "You Cap," a new way to animate facial expressions. It's undeniably a feat.

EA is then given the monitors for their own video clips featuring:

Madden 07
NBA Live 07
Tiger Woods PGA Tour
Need for Speed Carbon
Army of 2
Medal of Honor Airborne

Squaresoft gains the attention of Kaz Hirai as he debuts the trailer for Final Fantasy XIII and mentions Final Fantasy Versus XIII, though fails to disclose exactly what that is. This latest chapter features a female lead in a futuristic setting.

Hideo Kojima is mentioned before showing of the latest trailer for his upcoming Metal Solid Gear 4, which is running on the dev kit. As expected, this was incredible footage with a shocking ending and a surprising appearance from Raiden.

Ken Kutaragi is next, and it's his job to make the big reveal of the PlayStation 3 controller. The crowd is silent as he pulls a wireless Dual Shock from his breast pocket. However, not is all as it seems as Phil Harrison demos new features. Inside the controller is a motion sensor, and no external devices are needed. Everything is contained inside the Bluetooth wireless enabled controlled. He claims it is lighter than the Dual Shock 2 and it is a "fantastic innovation."

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Matt Paprocki is the former 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. He currently freelances for GameArgus.com and MultiPlayerGames.com.
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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
Matt Paprocki's BC Writer page
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#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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