Sony never needs to worry about development costs. They let other companies do their work for them. After last nights E3 press conference, the Internet lit up with heavy and harsh criticism for video gamings leading seller, and all of that still isn't enough to give them what they deserve.
A Nintendo representative was famously quoted after last years E3 that they didn't reveal the controller for their upcoming console because other companies would steal it. Lo and behold, they were right. After what was already an under whelming showing, PlayStation developer Ken Kutaragi pulled a standard Dual Shock controller from his breast pocket to a silent audience of journalists. When the controller was put to use, we learned it had motion sensors.
Not really motion sensors though. What's inside is a tilt sensor. Phil Harrison, president of Sony Worldwide, proudly boasted about how innovative this controller would be during a sloppy, obviously almost impossible to control demo of Warhawk. No one in the audience believed a word of this, and the lack of any real cheering proved it.
It's stunning enough that he had the audacity to claim innovation, but the controller doesn't even offer as much as Nintendo's upcoming Wii. The PS3's Dual Shock only senses tilting, not actual movement that could move a character in and out of the screen. A press release later stated the controller wouldn't feature any vibration features either, something they failed to mention during the conference.
Adding to a list of things they must have "forgotten" about, it seems like a pretty important detail when the lower priced $499 model won't have HDMI support, Wi-Fi, or a slot for memory sticks. They indicated the price difference would be because of the hard drives, a fine way to try and slip by important facts to the press who may not read the rundown on paper.
Even without the lies though, the press event was abysmal. Other than the expected numbers (which of course use numbers shipped, not sold), a pointless video that ran for a few minutes showed gamers around the world discussing their PlayStation experiences. All they seemed to care about was the graphics, and the pathetic attempts to build up the brand name failed miserably.
Sticking with the numbers, a Gran Turismo HD demo went on for ages. Showing the Grand Canyon stage would have been enough to get the point across, but Sony felt it was necessary to keep going to tell everyone the numbers. 1080p video was heavily pushed, a feature that, again, you'll only get in the higher priced model since it's the only one with the proper video port.
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - Ken Edwards
I know some people turn the feature off, but force feedback has been in controllers for a while now. They should have just licensed the tech. like Microsoft did for crying out loud.
Nice of them not to mention the lack of HDMI port, Wi-Fi, and memory stick ports on the cheap PS3.
I suppose I could live without the HDMI. Although I have it on my set, I might as well hook the PS3 up with it. I could live without the memory card ports, unless those will be used for game saves?
But since I have a PSP, I don't think I can live without the Wi-Fi on the PS3. The PSP-PS3 integration is going to be there. And if I don't have to run more Ethernet to my TV stand, I will be thrilled.
Isn't the PS3 going to act as a LocationFree player for the PSP? That is still a rumor, I think, but that is a pretty strong argument for Wi-Fi in the PS3, if you have a PSP already.
This means it would be dumb for me to buy the low-end model.
2 - Armin Siljkovic
Ken, If you plan on watching Blu-ray flicks you need HDMI.
And I agree, Sony stole Nintendo's idea. I don't care how much the PS3 costs, I'm probably not getting one.
3 - Ken Edwards
Yes, I intend to buy every Blue-ray disc that hits the market! [/sarcsm]
I would not think of buying a PS3 without HDMI, which was my point.
And in all actuality, Nintendo stole the idea from Microsoft and Logitech circa 1999. Or you could go back over 20 years and you have Le Stick from Atari. That is a great catch by a couple of bloggers.
But really, who innovates any more? Just a fresh can of paint, and re-brand it as your own. I mean look at what the Dual Shock got Sony into? They didn't innovate there either. In fact, they infringed on copyright.
Things are starting to sink in. $600 is a hell of a lot to spend on a system and still have to pay (most likely) $60 on top of that for just one game. Add in an extra controller and you are talking a 3DO, um, I mean $700. At that price, the online service better be free.
4 - Armin Siljkovic
Remember the N64 "Rumble Pack"? Now every controller has build in rumble effect.
Remember the N64 analog controller? Same thing.
Two Nintendo "innovations" that are used by Sony and Microsoft today.
I bet the generation after this all consoles will have Wiimotes. Nintendo always took risks and challenged the way people play games.
And by "innovative", it's meant that technology is used in a new way, sure it was there before, but does that mean Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo "stole" the idea of creating a games console?
It's just too ovbious that Sony waited to see what Nintendo had to offer, and then tried to copy it to an extent.
5 - Ken Edwards
And first hand accounts says of Warhawk say the technology was "tacked on." That demo of Warhawk was also less than impressive. When he turned the controller, the plane did not follow.
Would Sony have added motion tech. into their controller if Nintendo had kept its mouth shut? Who knows, because of that lawsuit, they just may have had this in the works all along. But I doubt it.
6 - Armin Siljkovic
You could see on the video that there was a clear latency prblem with the controller, he would turn it, and 1/2 second later the airplane turns.
And the guy demonstrating it looked, quite frankly, like an idiot.
Do you think it possible to hook up a keyboard and mouse to the PS3?
7 - sal m
it seems like this was a total disaster for sony...i'm not disagreeing with anything matt or other critics have said about this event, but it boggles the mind that sony could screw this up to this extent.
8 - Joey Joe Joe Shabadoo
I'd like to get in a thought before all the fanboys take up all the comment space.
Isn't it conceivable that it is possible that maybe the whole reason for the design of the Boomerang controller was so that it could take advantage of the tilt sensor? I mean, it was kinda shaped like half a wheel. Perhaps their tilt sensor was in the works before Nintendo revealed the Wiimote. Too bad they didn't announce it first.
On second thought, prolly not. But think of it this way, everyone was gonna copy the Wiimote eventually, right? This is just the first step.
9 - Mysterio
Yep, it has finally come down to this, Sony stealing other peoples great innovative ideas and then claiming that they came up with those ideas themselves. And to think I was actually going to buy a PS3 this Nov, but now I'm not.
I was going to buy a Nintnedo Wii no matter what and still am, just was going to buy a PS3 as well but now I'll only get a Nintnedo Wii.
Maybe once PS3 goes down to like $200-300 then I might think about it.
Anyways, bad move Sony, bad move.
10 - Avanost
What? ... way to tell people what to think. I already knew the facts of your article but disagree with your opinions. I buy a console for the games. I want to play the games coming out on this console. Case closed.
11 - Mulldarran
Sony's press conference sucked, no doubt about it. Last year they had all these exciting things to show, but this year.... It's rubbish! Nintendo clearly had it going hard all the way and knew what to say and when to say it.
12 - ern k
Sony may have stolen Nintendo's idea but they have improved on it significantly by not requiring any external sensors. Also the fact that the demo was hard to control is utter bullshit. If you watch the demo stream you will know the man did an apt job with it.
13 - Geoff
Sony's PS3 controller with "6 degrees of freedom" isn't really a copy of Ninteno's Wii remote at all. It's a much, much simpler update to an old idea. It's fine with me. The card game demo (and I dont like card games) was cool. The $600 isn't cool.
I'll have a Wii first. A 360 some time after a price drop... and maybe eventually a PS3. I usually buy my consoles closer to launch but not at the prices we're all looking at.
14 - Tonicboy
"This is more of what they should of showed."
'should of' should be 'should have'
Sorry, the grammar nazi in me just couldn't take it.
15 - Caboose
Sony has not improved on anything here. The Wiimote is motion sensing. Full 3D movement. It detects on all planes except for time! And it work perfectly. The Sony controller detects tilt. Just like how Marble Madness works by tilting. BIG difference there.
After watching the Sony Press Conference, and then the Nintendo one, Nintendo got more done and said in 45min than Sony did in almost 2hrs. Sony's was bland and boring. The gameplay was rather unimpressive. More of the same old BS of showing Pre-rendered CG. Nintendo knows how to make a conference. Rending the largest theater, and everything was fast paced, very little idle time, and each person knew what they were doing and what they were saying. Unlike the Sony conference.
The only thing that Sony showed that was impressive was the card game. That looks like fun. Sony is going the way of 3DO.
16 - KaiSer
Come on ... integrating new sensor modalities like gyroscopes or accelerometers in game controller devices is not "stealing" from Nintendo. I mean, after itoy it was obvious that they would jump onto stuff that is used in the research community for years now (look at SIGRAPH).
And I guess we will see if Sony is successful or not with their new console .. I bet they are ... Not to mention that they already won the price for the better name PS3 vs. Wii ???
:-D
17 - David
Complete agreement here. Here are some of it's horrible downfalls.
The "cheaper" $500 PS3 will have many downgrades that can not be updated at a later date. $600 is for the better system
In comparisson the upgraded Xbox360 is $400 and I am betting there will be extremely little difference between the graphic capabilities between either system.
The its "innovative" tilt sensitive controller
An obvious rip off from nintendo's truely innovative controller that can sence ANY motion at all; in 360 degrees of turning and movement around the game system
I was wary about the price of the Xbox 360 but I eventually bought it. I am definitely going to get the Wii due to its cheap price and awesome controller. As for sony, I am staying far away until MANY truely spectacular games comes out that I can't get anywhere else and the price drops considerably
18 - Ballz
Caboose said: "It detects on all planes except for time!"
You're just being obstuse, right?
19 - 0mar
I don't care if Sony execs eat babies, if the PS3 has good games, I'll buy it.
20 - Solid Snake
Whoever wrote this article, I have only two words for you. First one starts with "F" and the second one starts with "Y".
21 - rtf
bottom line - most gamers don't care where the ideas come from, they just want the best games out there. sony playstation has the best sports and action games on the market. i don't really care if they are innovative or not...their product is the best out there.
22 - Mo Money
1 - Sony Execs eat babies
2 - They have no good games
23 - littlekid
xbox and nintendo for 5-12 year olds
24 - sony games
sony has the best sports/action games: madden, nhl, tiger woods, socom etc.
if you like the xbox/nintendo games, you must be reliving your days of dungeons and dragons...hahaha
25 - God
You playstation fans can have your rehashed prettier looking sports games.
I'll be playing something different and innovative.