Santa Monica (CA) - Opinion - Sony had something new to say about the PSP, PS3, and Playstation Network, but instead of being blown away by all the stuff that was shown, it felt like a bunch of mildly upgraded content was being shoved down the audience's throat.

Sony's E3 briefing was more like a blind guy throwing a bunch of darts, hoping some will actually hit the board.

Sony really should have taken a page from Nintendo when it comes to portable console redesigns.  The DS Lite caught the attention and acclaim of gamers, causing it to be one of the top sellers of last year's holiday season.  The new PSP, on the other hand, was not met with as much excitement.

The slimmer PSP has got to be the blandest console redesign in video game history.  A front-on view of the lighter handheld looks just like its predecessor.  The video output feature is definitely a great addition to the handheld's functionality, and is almost an incentive for existing PSP customers to buy the new model.  However, a $170 portable device is a tough purchase for people who already paid $250 for essentially the same thing.

As predicted, a huge part of the company's 75-minute event was devoted to Home.  A new addition to the online service gives a fresh set of scenery but not much else.  Home was a gimmick to add some humor to the press briefing, which masked as a reason for Sony to not need to talk a lot about its new features.

In typical Sony fashion, it talked at great length about every little project it could, and many were not newsworthy.  Announcing that NBA Live 08 will have 1080p support, a slight upgrade from the more standard 1080i, is not earth shattering news.  80 new games are in production for the PS3's digital distribution store, but the selection Sony showed make this seem more like a new platform for the current Sony fans and not an attempt to bring in new customers.

Sony even mentioned sales numbers for UMD movies, which have been off of major retail store shelves for months.  Yet, according to Sony their sales went up 30% from last year.

The only "Whoa!" moment came from a product that wasn't even made by Sony. Konami sort of stole the show with a live demo of Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (see the trailer from our point of view). Anticipation is high for the final installment in the series that will be headed by the icon Hideo Kojima.

Sony made a quick note of the success of Blu-ray Disc (BD) movies, and seemed to stress the fact that PS3 games used BD technology more than past years.  Yet, of the 120 BD-based games heading for the PS3 by the end of the year, only 15 are exclusives.

Sony's press briefing leaves gamers with nothing more than the look to the future for games like Unreal Tournament 3, MGS 4, and other unnamed online games Sony won't talk about yet, which is pretty much where things stood before.  And even at that, the audience is pretty constricted.  It seems like Sony doesn't want to move into the casual gaming space, with the force of Nintendo and the casual gaming attempts by Microsoft.

Midway???

Jul 11, 2007 20:19     

Midway made metal gear???? It's konami not midway.
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yet, life goes on

Jul 11, 2007 20:47     

i think this is a REALLY anti-sony article without much base. I saw the most of sony's presentation, as well as nintendos. the sony presentation wasnt half as bad as you make it sound, and were you sleeping during the other new games they showed??? what was so exciting from nintendo, them trying to convince us that they too have learned the importance of online play? that is what you're giving nintendo credit for. this is a pretty poor job of journalism, you should have discussed both sides, if somebody who hasn't seen the conferences read this they would think that Nintendo and ms had earth shattering news on the other hand.

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Mark Raby, you are full of it.

Jul 11, 2007 21:32     

Midway? You didn't mention UT3 or Haze exclusives? Why didn't you mention the awesome Killzone trailer?
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Hunh?

Jul 11, 2007 21:43     

Wow, no shortage of invective and superficiality in this opinion piece, eh? I think most of the darts actually did hit the board, and some the bullseye. And I'm pretty sure that the purpose of the PSP redesign is to make the system more attractive to those who have not purchased the original. The PSP already looks good. Now it's 1/3 lighter, a bit thinner, and will allegedly provide faster load times and longer battery life. Sounds pretty good to me. As for upcoming games? (PS3:) Drake's Fortune, Ratchet & Clank Future : Tools of Destruction, Heavenly Sword, Killzone 2, Lair, MGS4, SOCOM : Confrontation, Warhawk, GT5 Prologue, LittleBigPlanet, Haze, Folklore, a series of NCsoft MMORPGs, Wipeout HD, Burnout : Paradise, Medal of Honor : Airborne, Call of Duty 4, Resident Evil 5, Assassin's Creed, (PSP:) SOCOM US Navy Seals : Tactical Strike, Wipeout Pulse, Syphon Filter : Logan's Shadow, NBA 08, God of War: Chains of Olympus, Silent Hill : Origins, Patapon, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08, Sonic Rivals 2, Sims 2 : Castaway, SWAT: Target Liberty, Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions, Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles, and so on. Again, sounds pretty good to me.

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Sony fan-boys so far...

Jul 11, 2007 22:22     

have been the only people to post comments here. Though there is a slight slant to the negative towards Sony... but not that much of a slant as comments above are suggesting. Yes they have some decent games... but most listed here are on both 360 and WII. I think "what is Sony doing different" is what Mark is trying to point out and has a problem with (of which I share). Personally, I think ALL new consoles have disappointed to some degree... but WII takes the cake for being something new and truly "fun". But then again, maybe I'm just old in affinity to having fun. :)

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how much fun is Wii REALLY?

Jul 11, 2007 23:29     

ok, i am not going to take anything away from nintendo, i love the innovation they are doing, and have successfully done, BUT people who keep on saying that Nintendo is far ahead must realize that not everybody thinks that mario kart is the height of innovation and "FUN" some of us cant get enough of games like haze, and assasin's creed, and so on, thats why to me it doesn't matter whether xbox 360 and ps3 both have the games, the more the merrier, I dont understand why another console cant also have the game that you are enjoying on your console? how is this a bad thing.

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Agree with some people here

Jul 12, 2007 01:18     

Sony does get criticized a lot and I don't like Sony much (just because they make everything). Many of the same Sony games are also ported to/from other consoles. SO! If the PS3 is more high-tech/high-end, do the game look much better? I don't see the PS3 looking any better than the 360. I'll stick to my PC.
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I think the diapointment comes from the PSP

Jul 12, 2007 01:57     

Honnestly, I expected better from the PSP redesign. I was considering buying the PSP if the new redesign was actually smaller , but if it's just thiner I'll go for a DS lite. Beside that there was little new stuff from sony. They showed the progress on games, but that is pretty much all: no new accessories, no new concepts etc... Where are the guys who brought us the Eye toy, Buzz and singstar? If they had made the new PSP with a detachable UMD drive and the possibility to buy some PSP games online and dowload to the to MS, that would have been a revolution.

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not a fan-boy, just impressed

Jul 12, 2007 07:14     

They're all pretty cool systems, actually. If I had the $$$, I'd purchase all three AND the PSP to add to my collection of SNES, N64, GameCube, Xbox, PS2, and DS Lite. The Wii is fun in ways that the PS3 is not. The PS3 is fun in ways that the Wii is not. Etc. I'm a fan of good games, not of a particular brand. And unlike some, I'm not actually rooting for the failure of any system. When did gaming become so political?

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New PSP sounds better than DS update

Jul 12, 2007 07:17     

Did anyone with a DS "upgrade" to the Lite? This seems to be implied, and sounds strange to me. The new PSP looks like more of an upgrade to the original than the DS Lite was to the DS. Frankly, I don't think either are meant to sell to existing owners (though the PSP perhaps more, since it brings a feature that was often requested), but to draw a new crowd of gamers. The new PSP does look more attractive to me than the original, especially now that there are more titles for it that at release time. (Note: I'm not a console gamer, though I own a Wii, but I do have access to consoles, and from what I tried of the PSP, it looked pretty nice. If this version indeed has a better screen, plus TV out and a faster drive, it sounds pretty appealing at $170.)

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Umm, did anyone actually read....

Jul 12, 2007 08:35     

...the "article" is an OPINION piece? I.e. it is not a news report of the event itself, but rather an editor's OPINION of it. It's fine to post your agreement/disagreement with the author, but anyone accusing him of poor journalism/bias needs to first read carefully. P.S. Sony sucks. ;) Disclaimer: The previous comment was the submitter's opinion and his opinion only. It does not reflect the opinions of TGDaily, TG Publishing nor Tigervision Media.

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To all the Sony fanboys...

Jul 12, 2007 09:25     

The PS3 sucks, it's games suck and nothing about it is new or original. If Sony is such a great console maker then why can't they do anything new or original? Anyone can make a faster console with better graphics but it takes real creativity to produce something like the Wii. Blu-Ray was unjustified and would have lowered the cost if they made it an option. But since Sony has so much invested in Blu-Ray they chose to force it down the worlds throat in hope that they will buy movies in that format. They don't care about their fanboy gamers that are to blind to see what Sony is really doing here. I might have actually purchased a PS3 if the Blu-Ray drive was optional and the price was lower. Either way I agree with Mark Raby; Sony's show was weak and boring and untill I see any of the games in person they are nothing more than talk and hype.

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PS3 will be a success

Jul 12, 2007 10:13     

The PS3 is what it is, multimedia system that is waiting for games {and vibration}, and those games are coming soon. Wii is not about performance, it's about the controls, that being said: then controls still need to be improved, the accelerometer in Wii sports really does suck, it some cases it's impossible to get the thing to put. The aiming leaves much to be desired, you can simply point and shoot like to good old days of duck hunt, it more like using a mouse in mid air. X360 is great, but the manufacturing quality has been low, I'd buy one when I don't have to attach a cooler to the back. I think this round will be a smooth even race, and third party exclusives will transition to a thing of the past.

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Not very impressed

Jul 12, 2007 10:24     

"Why didn't you mention the awesome Killzone trailer?" That was "awesome"? It looked like a dumbed down version of the previous trailer (totally CG), but still getting some non-realtime "help." I'm just not impressed with or excited for this game. The first Killzone was hyped up as well, and was pretty lame. I'm interested to see how Heavenly Sword turns out. The MGS4 preview seemed cool, but WOW, did the graphics take a dive. The textures are seriously low-res, hopefully they will upgrade this (although, it looks right in line with the previous MGS games). I downloaded these three (KZ2, HS, MGS4) from the PS Store last night. I really wasn't too happy to see more Raiden and Vamp, either. They did make Meryl look pretty, though, even if her hair was solid. (It's been a while...didn't she die?...)

J report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

PSP, we actually gonna see some games for it?

Jul 12, 2007 14:36     

Seriously, I got a PSP when it came out, and the only two games I have for it are launch titles! The dearth of decent software for it is a sad joke. I'm most likely selling it and buying a DS...
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Seriously don't ever write about video games again,...

Jul 12, 2007 18:00     

Seriously don't ever write about video games again, you obviously know nothing and writing Midway stole the show with MGS just tops it off
Paul report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

PSP, PS3 = teh lose

Jul 13, 2007 11:05     

Seriously. I bought a PSP while I was stationed at Fort Gordon not long after launch and I haven't bought more than 1 game since. It's got almost no good games out for it. PS3 is...well...nothing special. It's got nothing unique or innovative going on, the online system isn't as good as Live and it's got few Exclusive games (most of which I can live without.)
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the Truth as seen by an engineer/game developer

Jul 13, 2007 23:14     

I happen to be an electrical engineer (you know those people who make cell phones and gaming consoles and HDTVs and such) and a programmer. So, here is the TRUTH for all of you to ponder. 1. Wii: literally has the same video card as the Game Cube so you just paid $250 for the freakin controller and so-yester-year graphics. If that suits you, goody for you. 2. Xbox360: 3 old school Intel Pentium 4 CPUs and a POS ATI graphics card that is NOT capable of doing true Hi Def games (1080p). It's not even HDCP compliant. 3. PS3: An impressive piece of hardware that is, unfortunately, very difficult to develop games for due to the complexity and limitations of multi-threading game source code for an 8 core machine. 4. The good old PC: Lets, see. We have been able to get 1200p resolution with stellar lighting and shading capability on the PC for nearly a DECADE. Currenlty, I can get an 8800GTX (for less than the 360 Elite or the PS3) that can pump out 1600p resolution at 60 FPS with DX10s new phenominal lighting and texturing capabilities... so why are we bickering about consoles that have a hard time putting out 720p resolution and whose lighing and texturing capabilities leave much to be desired??? Why? Seriously? NO CONSOLE WILL EVER BE ABLE TO MATCH THE CAPABILITIES OF THE PC!!!!!!!! What a tough choise... 1600p or 720p??? Hmmm.

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reminds me of the saturn

Jul 15, 2007 02:45     

the last comment about ps3 reminds me of the sega saturn. While the hardware was superior the complexity of it meant no one wanted to develop for it and it failed. I was in engineering school for two years and it seems to me like this is the same problem. 2 teraflops of throughput is great but writing code for multiple cores takes a lot of specialization. I'm not sure if the developers of today are willing to expend that much effort to harness the power. However seeing as ps2 took a while to reach its full potential I would like to see ps3 make it long enough to reach its potential.

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Don't know why u compared the xbox360 to pentium 4....

Jul 15, 2007 14:02     

Don't know why u compared the xbox360 to pentium 4. That makes no sense being that it's a IBM PowerPC design. I guess only a true engineer would note the difference. Agreed that PC is the best platform. FPS shooters play much better on it and are much better than any of the console offerings. Halo series pales in comparison the quality of PC FPS. Half Life, Doom, Unreal Tournament series are most notable...too bad hardly any console gamers even ever heard of them. Also PS3 does not have 8 cores. 1 is disabled cause yields were shit awful and the 2nd is used for os management so you got 6 stripped down cores available. They had to pay nvidia for the RSX GPU because they realized the 'Cell processor' that was so-called equivalent to a supercomputer was shitbox and offloaded all graphic duties to RSX. Add in the fact that Sony shits all over its customers with the myriad of formats they release, shoddy product, and crappy customer support, I'd be surprised any is still interested in their product offering

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Calm down people...

Jul 15, 2007 21:56     

I've been a gamer for as long as i can remember and never in my long lived control pad mashing or mouse clicking have i seen just a community divided. It's like people either hate or love one specific console nowadays. May it be PC vs. Console or Nintendo vs. Sony, people have bickered to the point where it is dumb and redundant. Yes you might be displeased with a specific platform and have perfectly good reasons to too but making absurd blogs or comments about a platform sucking just doesn't sound respectable. It's ok to voice your opinion in a decent way but most people just want to bad mouth something so that they could sound like they really know their stuff or sound cool. Today's gamers aren't willing to overlook stuff anymore. Outrageous fanboys out there are definitly destroying the once good reputations of gamers and are just showing to the world how crude our lust for gaming can be. Gaming was made for fun and hopefully it will stay that way. Our only responsibility is to enjoy it, on whatever platform it may be. So stop fighting and just enjoy what technology has wrought for us.

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reasons for console hatred

Jul 16, 2007 11:06     

For me, it seems the reason to "hate" a console is not the machine or even the company behind the machine, but the fans. I'm from New York, I have lived in Massachusetts, and I want the Red Sox and Patriots to fail. Not because I don't like those teams or that I'm some sort of diehard Yankees fans, but because I know the New England fans (Boston fans for the most part) are so damn obnoxious. This time it's the SONY/Blu-Ray fans. Yes, XBOX fans can be pretty bad, too. (Some sound like they are "getting off" when SONY screws up.) I buy multiple consoles so I can play the best quality games. Exclusives are inevitable. Although, I haven't bought a Nintendo console since Super NES. I've outgrown most of their games and having 3 contemporary consoles when I barely have time to play two would be silly. I bought a 360 at launch (a week or two later) as well as the PS3. The main problems with the PS3 are 1) the price, 2) it's way too similar to the 360 in terms of effective power 3) SONY. Many people on either side see the Blu-Ray player as hurting the PS3 sales (too pricey and unnecessary), but in my selfish case, I'm glad it's there. It was a way for me to get a "cheap" and early jump on Blu-Ray movies. (I have the HD-DVD player for 360,too.) Also, it distinguishes the PS3 from the 360 in my eyes, giving me an excuse to drop $600 for a redundant game system (already being a 360 owner). What I did not anticipate is the extent to which console exclusivity has diminished (and MGS4 is 6 months off at least), i.e., I should have waited to buy a PS3.

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Wii

Jul 16, 2007 11:12     

I talked to some friends who are more casual game players, about 30 years of age, about the Wii this weekend. Or rather, they brought it up. It seems people are very excited about this thing. I guess it's the level of interaction and the method that draws them in. The Wii is almost like a home arcade (Dave & Busters, Jillians) machine. (Wii Skeeball? Hmmm...) Many people can't be bothered with the complexity of today's controllers (or don't have to skill for the types of games on 360 or PS3). With the Wii, playing the game is more intuitive, and it's really drawing in casual players of all ages. I myself have no intent nor desire to buy one. However, if my friends were playing, I would play with them.

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Leaving somethings out

Jul 16, 2007 15:50     

I'll agree Home was talked about a little to much. And to be honest I'm not that excited about it. But Killzone 2 was by far the most impressive game shown at E3 and along with MGS4 I got pretty hyped
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Killzone 2

Jul 17, 2007 10:39     

I am really not excited about Killzone 2 (I guess I don't really get too excited about any games anymore). I'm more looking forward to MGS4, which is the reason I bought the system (along Blu-Ray movies). I could do without the Vamp vs. Raiden scene, though. I could be that I played through much of the original Killzone, which was also way overhyped and billed as a "HALO-Killer". It turned out to be a mediocre game. Maybe the new one will be different, as they have a powerful machine and apparently are taking their time with it. The first trailer was obviously CG, and SONY lied repeatedly about it. SONY excels at lying and exaggerating, and now they are in a position where they may feel there's no other option. The new trailer looks, IMO, to be a composite of in-game engine with CG after efects. Maybe I just don't trust them anymore. I didn't see any hints of it being realtime (frame rate jumps & drops, stuttering, tearing). Then again, I only saw the trailer and not the controlled demo. I don't know if they have video footage of the demo. We won't know for sure until KZ2 is released. If it looks and plays well, that helps validate my spending $650 on the machine. Right now all I have is Resistance, VF5, Pirates 1 & 2, and Talladega Nights.

J report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

*sigh*

Jul 23, 2007 16:11     

The comment on divided gamers was lame, nobody cares, go hold someone else's hand. The sad part about a lot of the comments here is that some of them are probably placed by Sony contractors. In the end this article hit point, for the biggest show of the year, Sony was quite disappointing. They just give this sense of barely keeping their heads above water, definitally polar opposite from the company's outlook 6 years ago. Remember when Sony was cool and unique? /sigh

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