Sony, the undisputed leader last generation and undisputed whipping-boy this generation, had a lot to prove this year. Would they maintain the unwarranted arrogance of last year's "Game 3.0" presentation? Would they fall on their sword and admit defeat and beg us to love them?
Happily Sony took a decently middle-ground approach this year: unlike Microsoft and Nintendo there was very little talk (and no PowerPoint!) about the business of gaming. This might be seen as a tacit admission that they had nothing to be pleased about but I think thatâs short notice. Sony, like Microsoft, could have worked up positive-sounding charts and stats but they choose not to. Jack Tretton, in his first big public speech I believe, was pretty amiable. While I'm sure both Peter Moore (MS) and Reggie Reggie Fils-Aime (Nintendo) are sweethearts they both have an indefinable hard edge that tends to put me off. Tretton on the other hand comes off like a goofy uncle: kinda cuddly, kinda bumbling but, at absolute worst, harmless. Of course none of these guys are truly skilled at public speaking, but neither are any of them comically awful either. The tone of the conference was much more humble than the others (as it would almost have to be with Sony's performance since November). Sony played to their strengths and addressed their weaknesses with something approaching frankness. In any case the conference started virtually, in "Home", with Jack's avatar. After a few minutes he appeared on stage in the flesh. This theme was repeated several times throughout the show with Kaz Harai and Phil Harrison also appearing both in the flesh and as Home avatars. It felt a little forced and was definitely goofy but it did show off "Home" which looked fantastic and, more importantly, looked like an interesting place to spend some time. Throughout the show they let details of âHomeâ out. Aspects of it would be available to some (presumably Sony, but possibly other) models of mobile phone. You would be able to, for example, take a picture on your phone and transfer it immediately and seamlessly to your Home apartment where friends could see it. Surprisingly there was no mention of similar features for the PSP but I have to assume theyâre coming. There will also be a general web component of âHomeâ which will include automated blogging, links to the apartment and other âMySpaceâ type features. You'll be able to start games from within Home (any game, not just the many in the âHomeâ environment itself) and manage your PS3's assets, watch TV and listen to music via a virtual PSP. The idea of public and private spaces is coming along nicely with the closed rooms of the early beta replaced with wide open outdoor areas. Some indications of how publishers might integrate with âHomeâ were hinted at. For example Harrison's avatar wore, at one point, a "Ratchet and Clank" costume. The idea that games could include (either on free disc, as rewards, or as downloadable extras) virtual objects for use in âHomeâ is insanely interesting and nearly limitless. Clothing, furniture, art pieces, wallpaper or whole decoration themes could all be provided. The service is looking better and better but I'm getting worried about what I'm not seeing. When adopting a physical, real-world metaphor in software you also adopt its problems. Home will have to address them. Modeling everything on real-world dimensions means real-world navigation problems. To get from my apartment to, say, the bowling alley, do I have to walk? How far? What kind of navigation aides/shortcuts will I have? When a popular game is released will there be crowd control issues in the virtual space? How will the service deal with thousands of virtual avatars trying to cram into a space apparently only able to hold several hundred? I'm cautiously optimistic but I think that the success or failure of "Home" depends on how Sony addresses these real-world problems in their virtual environment. If they do well then I see no reason that Home shouldn't become the premier online service in the current-generation console space. Of course Sony had more than Home on display. They displayed a new, marginally improved PSP with the ability to output directly to a TV. This is a feature that really should have been standard originally but it's nice to see nonetheless. The new PSP will be available in several accessory/game configurations. To introduce one of them, a new "Star Wars" game/ PSP bundle, Jack had an uncomfortable few moments with a guy in a "Chewbacca" suit. It was kind of sad, really. We saw several new games for the PlayStation Network. One of them, Echo Chrome, a clever perspective-based puzzler, is the kind of innovative game publishers should be crowing about (and Kudos to Sony for doing so). Another new game, "Pain", in which players must use their characters as human catapult ammunition, looked like a blast as well. Of course there was plenty of existing IP on hand as well and it all looked good, but the new IP really stood out. Sony reiterated that there will be a whole lot of games coming to the PS3 before the end of the (fiscal) year. Supposedly North America will see 120 new games with 15 first party titles. Personally I'll be happy (as somebody whoâs complete PS3 disc library consists of "Resitance: The Fall of Man") if a good dozen of them are worth buying. Luckily it looks likes there might be at least that many. We're finally getting some old-school action with "Ratch and Clank: Future" which looks stunning and doesnât seem to deviate much from its successful roots (this is a good thing). Unfortunately (in my mind at least) both Naughty Dog and Sucker Punch followed Insomniacâs lead: both are doing realistic games for their debut efforts. In other words no âJakâ or âSly Cooperâ for the PS3 for some time at least (I was really hoping for one or both of them to be announced). But those games, "Drake's Fortune" (Naughty Dog), a highly dynamic "Tomb Raider" style adventure and "Infamous" (Sucker Punch) a dark, gritty sandbox game, both look well worth the effort. "Drake's Fortune", especially, has me excited. Naughty Dog has always done well with mature, story-driven games with a sense of humor and this looks like no exception. "Heavenly Sword" for the PS3 and "God of War: Chains of Olympus" both look great and, despite the similarities, look like they'll provide fairly unique experiences. "Heavenly Sword" has an elegance, a style, to it that the brutishly beautiful "God of War" seems to lack. The stand out of the show for me, as it was last year, was still "Little Big Planet". The creation and customization aspects of the game were highlit this year. Even watching it you could see that it's clearly intuitive, simple and surprisingly powerful. The game looks to be succeeding on every level: visuals (awe-inspiring), music (instantly smile-inducing), physics (eerily life-like) and, of course, play (I'd sell a kidney to play this game right now). I predict, as I did last year, that this will be the stand out game, the defining game not only for the PS3 but quite possibly for this generation of hardware. Just as we talk about "Pong", "Pac Man" and "Doom" I think we'll look back and talk about "Little Big Planet". It's going to be all that and more. Sony ended, of course, with extended "Killzone 2" footage. The game looked amazingly active and alive in its desperate, war-torn way. I'm not as intrigued by this kind of game as most, apparently, but there's no denying that Sony made good on the visual promise at the very least. Still, there were at least a dozen great-looking, gritty, war-torn military games on display: this one will have to do something special to stand out. One thing that struck me during the Sony conference was how they're leveraging their platforms. Many of the games announced would be available both as PSN downloads for the PS3 and as UMD discs for the PSP. Others, like "Warhawk" would be available as a (presumably cheaper) PSN download or as a Blu-Ray disc with extra content and accessories. The level of customer choice is a refreshing trend that I hope to see more of. Speaking of customer choice another announcement was made, almost off-handedly, that has great potential: "Unreal Tournament" content for the PC will be fully compatible with the PS3. Youâll be able to design or download something on the PC then just use it on the PS3 (presumably via a memory card or the built-in browser). This is, I believe, a first for consoles and a clear sign that Sony is willing forgo some profit (from otherwise paid add-ons) in favor of customer choice and capability. I was disappointed that there seemed to be no (none, nada, zilch) mention of the PlayStation Eye. This, more than anything else, has the potential to bring the kind of experiences people crave on the Wii to the PS3. Coupling the motion control of the SIXAXIS, the resolution of the Eye and the processing power of the PS3 could result in some of the most engaging experiences ever. Where is it?! Many other widely predicted announcements never resolved: no rumble on PS3, no "God of War 3" and no movie/music download service. There were no truly unexpected announcements here, nothing groundbreaking, nothing that - in and of itself - would point to a reversal of Sony's sagging fortunes. Sony decided to stand on the promise of "Home" and games like "Echo Chrome" and, especially, "Little Big Planet". If Sony can keep their feet out of their collective mouth and let some of these games start talking for them we might see a legitimate three-horse race in a few months. Jim Davis ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Macromedia ColdFusion MX7 Upgrade to MX7 & experience time-saving features, more productivity. http://www.adobe.com/products/coldfusion?sdid=RVJW Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Community/message.cfm/messageid:238423 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.5
