PS3 is a no-show at Sony's PlayStation Event
by Vladimir Cole 
{ Mar 2nd 2006 at 12:30AM }
With just one day remaining before the end of Sony's invite-only "Destination PlayStation" event in Miami, video game industry insiders at the event remain "very much in the dark" about Sony's launch plans for the PlayStation 3 console, reported Consumer Electronics Daily.
This could be interpreted as another
data point supporting the theory that the PS3's launch schedule has slipped. Or it could just be all part of a master
plan to catch the world by surprise with a surprise unveiling. Either way, our impatience grows.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
bd @ Mar 2nd 2006 12:42AM
Sony, we're sick of waiting. Get ready already.
Ritz @ Mar 2nd 2006 12:44AM
Is any news about possible PS3 delays surprising or even interesting anymore? Not to hack at Mr Cole, but the PS3 news never seems to be any different than "one more notch for PS3, 2007!". Sony is playing a very wierd game with our minds...
Watership @ Mar 2nd 2006 1:02AM
I really think Sony doesn't consider Xbox a threat. In the least. They are playing the game like they don't even KNOW what xbox 360 is. All their rhetoric supports it. Especially Harrison saying "The Next Generation doesn't start until we say it does."
Jim @ Mar 2nd 2006 1:05AM
What is wild to me is that Sony was planning a press conference in March of 05, a year ago, in Japan to really get it rolling. The press from the US was all ready to get flown out to Tokyo for the week, and we were all expecting a lot more info.
Instead, it was canceled at the last moment and E3 was about the smallest amount of info you would've expected from a big press summit in Japan.
What happened?
theburn16 @ Mar 2nd 2006 1:06AM
this is seriously becoming a very stale subject. ok, maybe the spring release date has been pushed back but there has been no confirmation of that. you only have to look back to the release of the ps2 to know that sony doesn't like leaking information or even game trailers until just a few weeks before the launch. in fact they unveiled the ps2 just 2 weeks before it launched. so stop tryin to make a story out of nothing, they're not microsoft and obviously dont feel the need to show everything they have several months before its released
refinedsugar @ Mar 2nd 2006 1:17AM
Yeah the ps3 will launch when it's ready - it's better to just can the speculation for now. Especially since there's more important things to discuss... like how attractive women only date guys who read Autoblog. I mean - snap - I didn't know that before.
VOOK @ Mar 2nd 2006 1:19AM
Its going to get to the point were no one cares anymore.
shiftup @ Mar 2nd 2006 1:20AM
Ya. Sony doesnt consider xbox a competitor. And they are not, at least in japan. but what sony should really be worried about is north america. You can't sell consoles to Frat boys with Japanese rps. They like fps's like halo call of duty and pdz.
I feel sorry for the Sony fanboys. We Nintendo fanboys know what your going through
Bloo @ Mar 2nd 2006 1:21AM
I love how a few months ago people said PS2 didn't even show their games until 6 months before. And then a couple months ago it was 3 months beforem, then 1 month, and now we're down to 2 weeks. I'm guessing after the next PS3 will "be/won't be" we'll have people saying Sony didn't show PS2 games until the night before launch!!! I was at the E3 where they showed Gran Turismo 3 running for the first time and that was a year and half before it came out.
Isagani @ Mar 2nd 2006 1:22AM
I agree that this trend of no official info isn't good. The amount of speculation of a delay without an official Sony response might end up actually hurting PS3 sales in the short term as people might get fed up with waiting for just information on a release while Xbox360 units start to show up in stores for purchase. Sony really seems to not be worried by MS, but I would be since the 360 will start shipping games that really look and play next gen soon (GRAW, Obilivion, BF2, etc) while Sony still hasn't said a peep about when, where, and for how much the PS3 will ship. One can only wait and see... I'm glad I have a 360 to enjoy while waiting...
Jet @ Mar 2nd 2006 1:29AM
http://www.ctrlaltdel-online.com/comic.php?d=20051104
all I got to say.
Siraris @ Mar 2nd 2006 1:42AM
I highly doubt that major retail execs flew to Miami for Destination Playstation, and not a word about the PS3 was discussed. Just because nothing has been said publically, doesn't mean it wasn't privately.
I think that tomorrow being the last day for Destination Playstation, the recently announced event in San Fran, and tomorrow being the last day of Devstation in England, this could be the day. I could be wrong, and I really wouldn't care if I was. I know it will be out, and I can wait. It will give everyone more time to work on putting out a quality product.
theburn16 @ Mar 2nd 2006 1:48AM
"I love how a few months ago people said PS2 didn't even show their games until 6 months before. And then a couple months ago it was 3 months beforem, then 1 month, and now we're down to 2 weeks."
i dont recall anybody ever saying 6 months or any of the others for that matter. its a fact that it was only 2 weeks before the japanese launch that they released anything. the only way anybody could say it was longer is by going by the american launch date which is inaccurate because it launched in japan first
ali @ Mar 2nd 2006 1:52AM
correct me if i'm wrong but aren't there still a lot of great games being developed for PS2? why is there such a rush to release PS3 this spring? i'm not going to buy a PS3 anyway when i still have final fantasy xii and ingdom hearts 2 and metal gear solid 3:subsistance and a lot of other great games to play on my PS2. i think sony should keep the sony fans busy with the PS2 and take it's time to make sure that the PS3 launch goes smoothely (unlike the xbox360 and PS2 lanches).
theburn16 @ Mar 2nd 2006 1:52AM
"I was at the E3 where they showed Gran Turismo 3 running for the first time and that was a year and half before it came out."
i'm talking about videos that were actually running off of final hardware, not development kits like the gt3 video that you're talkin about was. i mean dang, we saw the fight night video running off of development kits if you really wanna put it like that
Furio @ Mar 2nd 2006 1:55AM
I have a feeling the PS3 launch date has never been pushed back, but rather has repediddly failed to be pushed forward to the new time they need it out.
Sony is riding high on the PS2, it is a Huge cash cow for them with great returns and minimal investment at this point. Sony understood this and drove to get as much life out of the PS2 as possible, makes sence so far.
Part of the plan for keeping the PS2's life as long as possible was the time to introduce the PS3,which Sony now says is spring, but I believe was originoally early 2007 for Japan/Holliday season for the US. This plan would serve many murposes: it would keep the PS2 around for as long as possible, It would give plenty of time for the final PS3 hardware to be Finalised, which would mean developers had longer periods of time to work on titles with final/near final dev kits. It would aslo give them the time for the main (expensive) components (Blu-Ray and to a lesser extent Cell) to have already started production for their various oher uses and would allow for both higher quality, greater yealds, and the price to come down due to the increacing economies of scale.
This was a good plan, even knowing that their compettitors were going to do anything necessary not to launch a year behind as they did before. I suspect that Nintendo's late 2006 launch was in line with what they were expexting (though nintendo may have moved earlier in responce to microsoft) Microsoft on the otherhand faces the opposite of sony's situstion and saught to cut their losses early and intro the 360 AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.
This Huge gamble bairely came off (as can be seen by perhaps the greatest launch console shotrage in history) but in real terms it has succeded. Sony now, and to a lesser extent nintendo, have to rush to market. Nintendo seems on track for their launch but sony's business model for 2005-2007 had to drastically change so that the PS3 would succede.I feel that the sucess of the 360 puts immense time pressure on sony to instantally put out a console that wasn;t even supposed to come out this year, but now it almost has to or their market share will REALLY start to go. So sony is doing everything they can to enable a speedy release. In this way the PS3 release date has essentally become
the same as software "When it's ready" Sony will start shipping them as soon as they possibly can, and until then will keep saying that it will be coming "In a few months" or" "Q2" while showing all the visually stunning demos they possibly can to keep you away from the 360 while you wait for the PS3.
And remember THIS HAS HAPPENED BEFORE back in the early 90s the NES is what the PS2 is now a hufe cash cow for Nintendo and they wanted to milk it as
long as they could. But then the Genesis came out and started stealing market share form Nin until they finally fought back with the SNES. Even then at the end the Genesis outsold the SNES in the US.
Sony knows this and are theirfore doing everything in their power to get out a real unit for consumers. Microsoft's WAY early launch changed everything for Sony. The PS3 is WAY overbuilt for 2005/2006 but not so much for 2007. THe PS3 will be
CRAZY EXPENSIVE in 2006 but probrably will be at least reasonably priced in 2007. and In 2007 will be the release date for all the GREAT games that couldn't come out in 2006 because all the developers were working on PS2 games then.
This also would explain why all we have seen of the PS3 is a "concept design". Sony got word that MS was gonna ubveil the 360 at E3 and so they had to put something together in order to maintain intrest and not concede the whole show, and buzz that came with it, to MS. Nintendo is in a similar situation
too (Never been shown what the OFFICIAL FINAL REV even looks like, much less does) but is in a safer spot having not built a maciene that is very hard and prohibitively expensive to produce at the currant time.
Microsoft threw a wrench into sony;s gears and it seems to be working for now. I feel weather sony launches now or later wo't have much of an impact, what will REALLY matter is Getting it out before christmass in US ( Even if only i n limited quantaties) and MOST IMPORTANT OF ALL AT A REASONABLE PRICE suer all of you reading this will pay whatever it takes but the mass market won't. the Single most important thing you have to do to get 3rd parties tp make games for your system. The XBOX or GC could levetate in mid air and do half the programming themselves, but the PS2 sold 100 million units so that is where most of the games will be no matter how hard it is to develop for. If PS3 launches for less more than $500 I consider it dead. not dead in the technical sence, but dead in the battle for market share and dead as sony's cash cow. In the end the only constant that you can allways compete on is price and that may be sony's downfall. (but hopefully won't be)
Furio @ Mar 2nd 2006 1:57AM
Wow, I feel like kizza with a comment that long. if only I had expounded on the PS2's Ultimate superiority in every firld known to man kind I might have passed for him
John @ Mar 2nd 2006 2:02AM
I really don’t think Sony thought Microsoft would get their product out so soon...so they scrambled and made some box, put some BS stats on it and called it ps3...even though they had no intention on getting it out anytime before 2007
Don @ Mar 2nd 2006 2:08AM
actually, they had an exact release date, a set in stone price, and had playable games on the show floor of the tokyo game show in 1999. a full 6 months before the launch of the playstation 2. where did you get your information from?????
http://ps2.ign.com/articles/073/073214p1.html
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#5 SAID THIS:
you only have to look back to the release of the ps2 to know that sony doesn't like leaking information or even game trailers until just a few weeks before the launch. in fact they unveiled the ps2 just 2 weeks before it launched.
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Darth Pixel @ Mar 2nd 2006 2:15AM
Sony does not need to hurry. It's very difficult to buy a 360 online or in stores.
I must also reiterate PlayStation 2 keeps on selling very well, at a profit. In fact, PlayStation 2 sales have picked up once more after all the publicity surrounding God of War and Shadow of the Colossus.
So, I guess they don't mind having Microsoft scramble.
Xbox 360 is still sold at a loss.
I also wonder if they would delay the release of PlayStation 3 until Xbox 360 breaks even. Just picture this: 18 months from now, Xbox 360 breaks even. It has been in the market for nearly 2 years. Sony releases PlayStation 3, it's 2 years "newer" than Xbox 360. It's perceived as a significant upgrade over Xbox 360. Gamers shift to PlayStation 3 and Microsoft never gets to capitalize on their newly profitable console.
It reminds me of the old Japanese proverb: "If your enemy bleeds before you strike, hurry not to strike."
ymmv @ Mar 2nd 2006 2:19AM
I concur with the idea that the PS3's design and specs are BS. The Sony execs needed specs at E3 that would put the MS console in the shade, so they came up with some ideas that were technically possible (like two 1080p-displays) but completely unrealistic in a real-life situation. The same goes for all those slots and USB connectors. The PS3 hardware might be able to drive so many slots and connectors, but I bet a dollar that most of those will be gone in the end product to save a few extra bucks. No need for so many connectors when two would be more than enough for 99% of all consumers?
gamer1 @ Mar 2nd 2006 2:22AM
At least, the extra time that Sony is taking allows their developers to build an online service to counter the Xbox 360's "Live" service. So, if this is the case, I don't think that Sony is discluding the Xbox 360 as a competitor. I would rather they take their time and make a great online service than rush the system and have a crappy one. I think it is all about community gaming this generation and if Sony doesn't have that implemented in the PS3, I will be really disappointed.
Oscar @ Mar 2nd 2006 2:35AM
I don´t care how long they take to launch it. I just hope they build a cool online service.
Teddy @ Mar 2nd 2006 2:47AM
Sony sucks, Blue-ray sucks, and the PS3 sucks. The PS3 won't come out until they can figure out how to lower their manufacturing costs. Yes the PS2 is a cash cow, but who's gonna pay $900 for a new system? Yes, some die-hard fans will... But ultimately it will be into 2007 because their cell processor and blue ray is too expensive... can we say PSX??
Nico @ Mar 2nd 2006 3:21AM
#24 Doesnt know how buisness works.
Theire subsidising the loss on PS3 with blu-ray royalties, they get paid for every blu-ray unit or movie sold. PS3 will act as a cheap 1st gen player to get consumers onboard with this format. And why blu-ray with 25gig or 50gig on one disc sux i dont understand...
They are also subsidising the PS3 with the money they will make from the Connect store. They are making an "ipod" for the livingroom so you can download music, films, tv-shows and so on.
And after that they are covering the costs by selling games.
Now im not crazy about this delay and no info from Sony but saying the PS3 is going to cost 900$ is just stupid. Teddy go get a degree in something or at least graduate from high school then open your mouth. The PS3 will sell for a little more than the 360 cost at launch, not counting stupid ebay prices.
Sorry for the spelling its early here and my second language sux in the morning.. =)
Zero_ @ Mar 2nd 2006 3:37AM
Some of you simply don't understand where Sony is coming from. I'm not trying to defend Sony or anything, but if you had a machine that made $100 everytime you turned a handle, would you go off to make a machine that made $1000 each turn? It's crap analogy, I know, but what I'm getting at is, what many have said. Sony is trying to milk every last ounce of the Playstation 2 when all the competitors are weak (XBOX dead, 360 shortages, GCN dead), it's simply the smartest move at this point and if they start releasing information on the PS3, people, especially those consumers who are not in the know-how will go, 'Oh, a machine that's twice as powerful? I'm saving my money for that!".
epobirs @ Mar 2nd 2006 4:28AM
Every month that passes is a blow to consumer confidence in this product. The idea that Sony would purposely wait until the 360 is profitable goes beyond silliness. Once Microsoft is able to solve their supply problems and deliver all of the 360's the market can absorb it will mean a rapidly growing installed base that holds a great deal of influence on publisher's decisions. A game being developed exclusively for the PS3 by a third party could be left in limbo by a major delay. The publisher might feel compelled to ask how quickly the assets could be up and running on the 360 and generate some return on investment before the board of directors start getting antsy about having so much capital tied up in a platform that has an installed base of nil and won't be increasing any time soon.
Sony has good reason to be confident in their strength but when the press isn't listening they aren't so foolish as to ignore the realities of competition. The failure of Microsoft to meet demand for the 360 was very fortunate for Sony but could become moot if the PS3 doesn't ship before certain events. Titles like Blue Dragon will greatly improve interest int he 360 in Japan, especially if the PS3 has yet to arrive when the 360 has a good range of titles geared to that market. It won't come anywhere near pushing Xbox 360 into even the #2 slot there but it could tie up a lot of consumer spending that had been intended for a PS3 purchase. That would have repercussions in the growth rate of the PS3 and draw away developer resources the PS3 as well. That in turn increases the game choices for 360 owners in the US and Euro markets, further degrading the PS3's growth.
Sony isn't in a death spiral but every delay in publicly demonstrating with hands on interaction that the PS3 is for real makes retaining the #1 spot that much harder. Microsoft and Nintendo don't have to take Sony's crown to enjoy huge growth in the next generation. They just need to even up the odds, take bigger pieces of the pie, and reduce Sony's lead to a small margin rather than the more than 2:1 gap over both competitors combined they enjoy now.
#21, the dual HDMI output was a bit outlandish. I suspect it was there solely because Nvidia had it ready to roll. If you look at the CES Press Event there really were no PS3 demos. There were demos for the Cell on its own from the period when they expeted PS3, to consist of several Cells doing everything, there were Nvidia demos that were just borrowed from their PC GPU work, and there were videos based on the proposed performance spec but generated by unrelated hardware. Even at the MGS4 demo with interaction it was admitted that the hardware was very much other than what would be in the retail product.
So the dual HDMI was a cheap gimmick to add some flash. That said, there is no reason to expect them to cut back on the ports and flash card slots. Card readers that handle every major format are now so cheap they're given away as promotional items and loss leaders. USB ports are certainly useful and not expensive. Besides the second HDMI port the only one I'd expect to see dropped is the second Ethernet port. It's hard to imagine any really valuable application for that which couldn't be as easily served by a USB connection. OTOH, if you're building an integrated solution the additional silicon for a secondary Gig-E port isn't that great. It would be measure in nickels and dimes in the cost of the still unspecified third major chip in the PS3, where one would also presume some hardware support for backward compatibility would be found.
Dick @ Mar 2nd 2006 4:31AM
Not sure how many people are aware but here in the UK the PS3 game developers for Sony are still only in the Alpha stages of developing games for the machine and I know they're having a really hard time developing for the platform. Also, my friend, who's a games tester for Sony mentioned they've only just got the machines in that they're going to be testing on and basically they're just PCs with comparible hardware in. That should be some indication of how far Sony actually are with the PS3! Don't expect to see it anytime soon.
Falafelkid @ Mar 2nd 2006 4:35AM
There are some mistakes in the fifth comment (theburn16) regarding the PS2 presentation and launch. Sony unveiled the console at the E3 in 1999. It launched in Japan on the 4th of March 2000, almost a year later.
epobirs @ Mar 2nd 2006 4:46AM
#26
By your reasoning Sony wouldn't have released the PS2 for at least another year after the date when it actually happened. After all, the PS1 was still generating excellent but declining revenue and Sega's Dreamcast had a long ways to go before making a serious dent in Sony's marketshare.
The fact is that Sony had been at work on the PS2 before the dreamcast was even announced. It is the height of stupidity in business to wait around for someone to beat your product. The best policy is to be your own strongest competition when the time is right. Introducing the PS3 while the PS2 still holds the top spot is the way to keep the competition at bay. If you let a competitor take your market, even briefly, you may never regain all of it or even most of it.
The Xbox is no longer growing its installed base but is hardly dead in controlling a good chunk of software sales in US and EU markets. It should be appreciated that while the PS2 remains available at retail it's growth as a software platform is also largely stalled. At this point a major portion of new PS2 hardware sales go to the replacement of failed units or to consumers at the extreme low end who may rarely or never buy new software but instead rely on the used and severely discounted games for all of their play. Still more PS2 owners are holding on to their machines to keep running their existing library but have few new releases to catch their interest if they've bought a 360 and prettier offerings are in the stores.
The PS2 can still move a hell of a lot of discs but the decline is underway. Sony's history shows they know perfectly well the time is ripe to offer a major upgrade before the market gets drawn away. Announcing at E3 2005 was something they were going to do regardless of when MS and Nintendo made their moves. Making good on the announcement is the hard part. If it wasn't hard everybody would be doing it.
soco @ Mar 2nd 2006 5:08AM
this isn't really a surprise, but i can tell you this much, stores get quite an advanced warning for when the unit will be on sale. they have to know, in order to move stocks around and guarantee shelf space in major retailers. they have to have time to clear out some older stock and prepare for setting up displays and set orders, and this can sometimes take months.
Repsode @ Mar 2nd 2006 5:58AM
There willl be no surprise announcement, that was THE time to do it before any kind of Spring launch. The PS3 isn't ready yet.It was NEVER ment to be released this early. The PS2 continues to do well, so Sony were prepared to give it another year(2006) before the big switch over. Essentialy Microsoft screwed Sony's plan up by releasing early, which puts Sony in an awkward position.Rush a console that's nowhere near what they wanted to compete or continue on their original course risking a 360 head start.
I think Sony's doing the latter, with the spring 2006 BS to try to minimise the 360's allure.
rob @ Mar 2nd 2006 6:05AM
They say that dukenukem will be a luanch title for the ps3
burgniel @ Mar 2nd 2006 7:40AM
On the 360...
Does anyone think that Microsoft did not really know Sony's plans? Of course they did, I mean they are the most powerful company in the world (in this field anyway). So, knowing that they had to rush out the X360 because they know that Sony is going to offer a better product soon. The only way they thought they could get market share was to release the 360 before the public knows about Sonys offering. Microsoft has constantly sounded like a school kid saying "they are both Ferraris" and "ours is just as good as thiers"... these are statments made by someone that knows thiers is not as good... otherwise they would be blowing trumpets saying that theirs is better.
Ps3..
Executives have said in articles (OPM) that their share holders with to keep the focus on current platforms in order to maximize revenues. This makes total sense in order to avoid a steep decline in sales. The Walmart crowd knows NOTHING about the PS3. Joe Public buying a new game system has no idea a PS3 is looming and Sony wants to keep it that way. He will say to himself "which console has the biggest library and most rounded games?" Ps2. and every PS2 sold funds the research into PS3.
Same goes for the PSP. They will be selling a crap load of PSP's once the PS3 is released due to the location free player and connectivity. Sony will want to "patch" up thier firmware prior to PS3 and get rid of the homebrew.
It's all about money. The later they release the better for them. More PS2s (pure profit now) sold, the x360 looks like older Technology, gives them time to fine tune the online service (worked on now for 3 years since the PS2 network adaptor release). Lets them setup the download service for movies/music, lets developers have time creating good games, etc. etc.
It was also only anounced last week the AAcs requirement for next gen storage.. so now Sony has to impliment that (delay not Sony's fault). The X360 only has analog output.. so the PS3 will be the only true console with digital output at HD resolutions... making it the only true future proof system.
There. thanks for reading that.
mike @ Mar 2nd 2006 8:04AM
Didn't Sony wait till like 2 hours before its release of the PS2 before revealing it??
bez @ Mar 2nd 2006 8:05AM
burgniel - couldnt have put it better myself sir.
burgniel @ Mar 2nd 2006 8:11AM
to further my huge post above.. here are the sales numbers from japan for the last week in Feb.
This shows that Sony should not worry at all about Microsoft..
PS2 sales : 24,104
Xbox360 AND Xbox combined!!! : 2,027 units
-------------------------------------------------------
The latest sales charts from Japan show Koei's new Dynasty Warriors game at number one followed by Suikoden V (pictured). Sales of Xbox 360 are still very weak.
Weekly ranking for February 20th to 26th.
Source: Mediacreate
Software:
1. Shin Sengokumuso 2 (Koei, PS2): 327298
2. Genso Suikoden V (Konami, PS2): 135289
3. Deathgaia 2 (Nipponichi Software, PS2): 104059
4. Motto Otona no DS Training: 64298 (1342757)
5. Oideyo Dobutsu no Mori (Nintendo, DS): 56806 (1957677)
6. Monster Hunter 2 (Capcom, PS2): 54358 (416531)
7. Initial D Street Stage (Sega, PSP): 51144
8. Otona no DS Training Eigo (Nintendo, DS): 44877 (521572)
9. Otona no DS Training (Nintendo, DS): 36723 (1590760)
10. Clannad (Interchannel, PS2): 28986
Hardware:
1. DS: 47462 (451363)
2. PSP: 31742 (369424)
3. PS2: 24104 (265377)
4. GBASP: 4964 (62854)
5. GBM: 3175 (38704)
6. GC: 1836 (34228)
7. Xbox 360: 1203 (25174)
8. GBA: 113 (1697)
9. Xbox: 61 (824)
Thomas Crymes @ Mar 2nd 2006 8:28AM
People. There is a really simple, simple explanation for all of this. If Sony did not consider the XBox 360 a serious competitor, the information would be out there right now. The simple fact is that Sony is going to hold off on telling an exact release date until the last possible minute, and keep quiet about all other details until then. Why?
Because Sony wants to keep as many people from buying an XBox 360 as possible. Those people that are on the fence might just go out and buy a 360 tomorrow if Sony announced a late 2006 or 2007 date. So they hold up until their announcement makes people think: "That's only a few months away, I'll just wait and get the PS3."
The following scenario is less probable, but interesting. It could be that Sony threw together some specs and concept just to take away the impact of the 360 at E3. Don't be surprised if the final production unit falls short of their previously announced specs.
The bottom line is that Sony does consider the 360 a threat because any business who wants to stay on top must regard all competition as a threat lest they lose their edge.
x23 @ Mar 2nd 2006 8:49AM
no mike... actually with the PS2 ... Sony released it. then like 3 months later they revealed it. so it was out and people were buying them. but they had no idea what it looked like or had seen any of the games. but once it was revealed everyone was like 'oh. okay. i get it now. awesome.'
striderhayasa @ Mar 2nd 2006 8:53AM
Well, I think the interesting thing about Sony's position is it is similar to Nintendo's tactics of old. Nintendo's biggest fault was being too arrogant to actively compete when needed. The SNES came out later than the Genesis and Sega's stellar marketing campaign helped to erode Nintendo's market share. Nintendo still came out on top by the end of that era but look at what it cost them. Some gamers had found that Sega was offering enough for them to walk away from the Nintendo camp for greener pastures.
When the 64 was announced Nintendo was being very secretive about the project and even Sony reps stated at one point that they knew if Nintendo released the 64 around the same time as the PS1, they would have a vicious fight at retail. But what did Nintendo do? They not only delayed the 64, they stuck with the cartridge format. The was the end of Nintendo's domination of the console world. Nintendo shot themselves in teh foot too many times to recover lost ground.
Sony was in the position that Microsoft is in now. Two major companies duking it out at retail (Sega and Nintendo), new upstart trying to shake things up for a piece of the pie (Sony.)
Sony did reveal much more information about the PS2 months prior to launch than they are about the PS3. If any of you remember, it was Nintendo that was constantly getting ridiculed because they were so secretive about the Gamecube aka Project Dolphin. Microsoft was getting recognition for being very open about the Xbox by comparison. Developers got fed up with Nintendo and their veil of silence and mostly ignored the platform in their deveopment schedules. Again, an example of silence hurting potential sales since third party support has never really caught on for the Gamecube.
I think Sony is making a mistake personally. One thing you have to remember is Sony is banking on the PS3 to help revive their failing Electronics and Movie Divisons. Sony still feels that the Gameboy should have been their product and they are feeling the burn from Apples dominance in the portable music market, a market that was Sony's with the Walkman. Nintendo lost much to Sony over the last two generations but Sony has so much more to lose if PS3 doesn't succeed like the PS1 and PS2 has. Sony needs to be forthcoming with information to keep consumers confident about their product. Microsoft is not Nintendo. With 30 Billion dollars + in the bank, you DO NOT ignore Billy Gates when he decides he wants in on your action. Nintendo is an entity that can be respected for surviving and in many cases thriving, but Microsoft is a monster to be cautious of.
shane @ Mar 2nd 2006 10:27AM
hi my name is shane, i am an xbox 360 fan and i just want to say that the xbox 360 hardware is as powerful as the ps3 so just quit talkin about the dam ps3 or piece of shit 3rd .... halo halo halo 3
yea yea you all know that is going to be bomb!!!
no halo for ps3 just the qerqer killzone 2 that looks like halo 2 just more prosseing power happening.
and more things going on but the same graphics as the famous halo 2.
i would compare the two of them in the stats of graphics but got to go if any ?s e-mail me talkin_2fast4u@yahoo.com
The Wallbanger @ Mar 2nd 2006 10:54AM
Has anyone ever considered that maybe Sony is sick of all three console makers getting to market at the same time every five years? Maybe they are considering staggering the release of the PS3 for a couple of years after the 360 and Revolution. This could be a new stratagy. Who says all three need to come out during the same year?
Pete @ Mar 2nd 2006 11:00AM
Sure, I'm still going to buy a PS3, but I think Sony may be a little too cocky with the PS3. The most impressive demo I saw for it was the Fight Night demo, and lo and behold it was released on Xbox 360. So what's the big to do with the PS3? I have a 360, I'm still going to buy it. But at this point, I'm not holding my breath for it, hell I may not even reserve it.
Art Guy @ Mar 2nd 2006 11:03AM
These was a very interesting article at Games Industry yesterday about this very subject.
Ultimately, the simple problem here is that nobody trusts a word Sony says about its launch schedule. While the paranoid and often overtly negative comments of some analysts and journalists have suggested massive delays to the PS3 for often entirely spurious reasons - and some of the price estimates for the console floating around are downright ridiculous - there's no doubt that Sony's already dubious track record for delivering hardware has taken a serious battering from the botched launch of the PlayStation Portable, and the firm's silence on PS3 isn't helping matters much.
[Sonys] current information blackout on PS3 is coming across as sheer arrogance to the rest of the market - and that the industry's implicit assumption is that the firm is lying about the spring date.
After all, if you're going to launch a brand new console platform in three months time, you'd rather if your partners - not just in publishing, but in development, in retail, and even in media - knew about it by now. Secrecy is all very well, but with each passing day the sales of Microsoft's Xbox 360 grow stronger, the software line-up improves, the supply channels become more robust and the company's offering becomes more attractive to consumers. If the spring launch isn't going to happen, or just as importantly, if the spring launch is going to see a dismal trickle of units released into the Japanese market followed by a wait of several before it hits the rest of the world, Sony needs to start telling people now, and letting them know where it goes from here.
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=14930
pawn0r @ Mar 2nd 2006 11:23AM
I kind of like the way this is shaping up. Maybe this will shake up the console release schedule enough that it's not all new consoles released around the same time everytime. If Microsoft and Sony can get a 2-3 year gap between their new consoles, then there would be no more waiting 5 years for new hardware. Every 2 and a half years there would be a new console to buy, whether it be the new Xbox or the new Playstation, that offers slight improvements over the competitors newest machine, and vast improvements over the last version of the same machine.
SuicideNinja @ Mar 2nd 2006 11:37AM
"in fact they unveiled the ps2 just 2 weeks before it launched. "
Today is different from 5 years ago. People are used to being able to get information NOW because of ease of access via internet. The same marketing tactics will not work as well this time. The only thing Sony has going for them is their brand name. The high hopes that the Cell and Bluray can catch on will probably not be realized.
"I feel sorry for the Sony fanboys. We Nintendo fanboys know what your going through"
Nintendo does their marketing much better than Sony. They don't release too much information, but they release enough to keep the public interested in their future products. They give the media something to talk about that isn't "Delay, delay, delay..." It even leaves room for realistic speculation. Consumers aren't that patient anymore, so if Sony sits back they are going to lose this round to BOTH other players in the competition.
"Its going to get to the point were no one cares anymore."
I'm already there. The only thing remotely interesting about the PS3 was Bluray, and to find out that A LOT of HDTVs will not be able to display Bluray or HD-DVD properly has me boycotting the new formats. Dealing with the HDMI & HDCP fiasco is not something I will choose to deal with. DVD will continue to please the non-tech-savy consumer. Furthermore, finding out that 1080p is a waste of time and developers will not be able to provide next-gen quality at that display level just shows Sony is still full of hot air.
Sony might do well to actually talk about gaming instead of treating their product like a popularity contest for grade-schoolers. Too much trash-talk and not enough results.
Wonderflex @ Mar 2nd 2006 12:20PM
#3 - If Sony is playing the, "xbox isn't a competitor," then it truly is a remarkable strategy; one worthy of every great boxer.
Pre-fight interviews, weigh in, locker room wrapups; no matter where you see a boxer before his fight they will always be very quick to tell you how their opponent has nothing on them. How they will immediately crush all those who step in their path. They'll take out this guy today, and anybody who tries to follow in their footsteps tomorrow.
Deep down though, way deep in their core, every boxer knows that there is a chance that they can go down with each fight, forever tarnishing their name. So what do they do to gear themselves, and bolster their psyche? The watch tape, after tape, after tape, of their opponents fights, and practice on avoiding blows, and landing the hard hits at the times that can do the most damage.
Once they know their opponents footing, their strengths, and their weaknesses, they don't run out telling everyboy their strategy. The second they did that it would give their opponent time to change up their style ever so slightly, which may be all they need to deliver a cripling blow, or a big enough wound to stop you, even if you are winning in the public's eye. (think Lewis vs. Klitschko - Klitschko had a cut that stopped the fight, but he would have KILLED lewis in a few more rounds. Or think about the Dreamcast.)
Maybe Sony is following this model. Tell the world that MS can't compete with you. Watch how the 360 rolls out, especially after the shortage crisis ends, and then find their weakness; but never show how you plan to counteract it, or else that will give Microsoft plenty of time to defend before the Playstation 3 comes out. Then once both systems are on the market, weave and dodge around 360's already established market until you are able to smash the world with your killer app.
Landing early punches may get you ahead on the judges score cards, but they won't mean a thing if you're lying on the mat looking up to the world with a stupid, glassy, look on your face.
Hollaback @ Mar 2nd 2006 1:17PM
I think Sony will miss the Spring Japan launch but they won't say that because it will drive more sales for Microsoft. The longer Sony can keep quiet the more they can keep people who are on the fence from purchasing a system. I know plenty of people who didn't try to get a 360 for the holidays because they though PS3 would be out in March.
thane_jaw @ Mar 2nd 2006 1:19PM
in answer to the people saying sony should not worry about microsoft and quoting japan figures.
Japan is a hard market for MS.
Europe is the current market which is not fully capitalised. The U.S. is still very important, easier to crack (language issues in europe) but has about 70 million less people compared the E.U. as a united entity. Sony have ballsed up if the current speculation that the PS3 won't launch in europe until March 2007 is correct. This would give Microsoft a lead of 2 holiday seasons. Also does anyone rememember that mock up video EA did for Madden on the 360, the one which doesn't look anything like the current one. I doubt I'll be able to see any significant difference in graphic capabilities between the PS3 and the 360 (and I'll stick my neck out here) ever.
Sony are playing a very dangerous game here.
Don @ Mar 2nd 2006 1:22PM
Why is there so much mis-information about the PS2 launch? Did no one here have the internet in 1999?
THE PS2 HAD AN EXACT LAUNCH DATE, AN EXACT PRICE FOR THE SYSTEM AND HAD PLAYABLE GAMES FOR THE PUBLIC AT THE TOKYO GAME SHOW IN 1999. 6 MONTHS BEFORE IT RELEASED!!!!
I would love to know why people think the PS2 was only shown before it's release since that couldn't be more wrong.