Pre E3 PS3 Conference Wrap Up

Well, Sony's Pre E3 press conference has come and gone and the gaming community is in uproar. I will try to break everything down for you guys.

First, the Launch details.

Sony has officially announced a launch date for the PS3. It will go on sale on November 11, 2006 in Japan and on the 17th in the US. But, that wasn't the most surprising thing. Sony has also released a final price point for their Next gen console. In a move similar to Microsoft's last November with the Xbox 360's launch, Sony will offer 2 SKU's. One package will feature a 20 GB Hard Drive, and the other "premium" version will feature a 60 GB Hard Drive. The prices are as follows.

$499 for the 20 GB version and $599 for the Premium version.

My personal take on this?

This is not surprising at all. I knew that the PS3 would be $600 from the beginning. It remains to be seen how the gaming community is going to take this price. My thoughts are that only the most hardcore gamers and Sony fans are going to pick one up on launch day until the eventual price drop. I think a lot of gamers and parents of gamers are going to see that price and the words "Fuck that" are immediately going to pop into their minds.

Moving on...

The PS3's controller has been revealed. It looks a LOT like the Dual Shock controller from both the PS2 and PS1. After seeing the "boomerang" controller from last years E3, As seen below, I am very happy that they have scrapped that design.



Sony has also revealed that the PS3 controller will feature motion sensing technology. This technology was showcased in a brief demo that showed a 3D version of the PS3 controller moving in real time with the movements of the demonstrator. This comes as a major shock to much of the gaming community, as the Nintendo Wii's most marketed feature is its controller's revolutionary motion sensing technologies.

Sony has long been criticized for stealing ideas from other compainies, particularly Nintendo. The two SKU idea , taken from Microsoft and the motion sensing technology stolen from Nintendo.

Personally, this is very shocking. I was expecting Sony to really wow me into buying the PS3. I have never liked Sony products, including the Playstation family of products. All I've gotten from this conference is more reasons to sit out on the PS3. The Xbox 360 and Wii (which is my preferred combo) seem to offer the same things as the PS3 for a cheaper price.

Until Sony shows me some really original and mind blowing things, I will sit out on the PS3. I also think that Sony had shot themselves in the foot with this conference. We will all see what happens as the convention progresses and come November when the PS3 will be available to the public.