Topic: Sony E3 Press Conference: Impressions and Ratings?

1.Nintendo
2. Sony
3. Microsoft
No one can argue with that, unless they are just a fan boy and can't admit that they lost to the big N.

Yeah, except Nintendo barely mentioned what it's doing around online. Sorry, but unless Nintendo can step up and fix its online to compete with Sony and Microsoft, it will start to slip - digital downloadable games and online play are critical arenas moving forwards, in terms of the business of doing games, and Sony was the winner there.

They are totaly beafing up their wifi for the 3DS. Also all SONY does is copy and make the technology 3 years later and says that it rules (PS3 Move). Also the confrence had really cheese jokes. While Nintendo was anouncement after anouncement. I can tell that the 3DS just blew the PSP out of here. I'm sorry if you disagree with me but that is just the way alot of people see it.

"Beefing" up wifi is hardly competing with Sony or Microsoft when it comes to online. In terms of policy, Nintendo is behind. The other consoles allow the transfer of data, Nintendo attempts to lock it down in a primative fashion that Apple was forced to abandon years ago when it didn't work with music.

In terms of product offering, Nintendo has a few online shops, but they don't compete at all with the feature-rich premium offerings on both Sony and Microsoft, and they compete poorly with the free offerings from both competitors. There were no announcements around online at Nintendo's conference, other than "we're making it better" - on the other hand, Sony provided some very clear and intelligent guidance on where its online vision is heading, and how it will get there.

Nintendo might have made "announcement after announcement" but I walked away from the conference thorougly unconvinced that it is doing what is necessary to move into the online market - a market that just about everyone, from EA, to Square Enix, to Sony and Microsoft have acknowledged is critical to the future.

I hope I'm wrong, and I hope Nintendo has got a better approach and vision towards online, but this is the same vendor that has resisted making consoles online-capable when both Sega and Sony were experimenting, and this is the same vendor that has the third-ranking online service, and this is the same vendor that offered no new vision this E3.

If you stop thinking about things on such a simple level, and look past the shiny new consoles and games that Nintendo is promising, there wasn't actually much business weight in the presentation. At all. It just assumes that the market will continue to be the same market it has for the last 10 years, but in reality the market is changing rapidly, and as awesome as the 3DS is, it's not actually helping Nintendo move with the times.

I don't care how "lots of people" see it. I'm actually analysing the business potential behind what was announced, and that's something that "lots of people" don't do.

1) Welcome to y'know,welcome to LIFE. Businesses copy each-other.
2)No,you just didn't like the jokes,while I myself was laughing at them. PEW PEW PEW FTW!!!

But yes,Nintendo did win this E3,Sony came in 2nd no doubt.
Microsoft could not have botched it any better.
MS had a Kinect event before E3 and I thought we had all that done and dusted but no. They spent a whole hour talking about Kinect.
And a stupid name Kinect is might I add. NATAL was better imo.

As someone who feels completely neutral towards MS and Sony, I'd say that eventhough Sony had better announcements, the fact that their conference was so boring, long, full of EA and multiplatform titles that we already knew about and technology that looks way, way too similar to the WM+... I'd say I'd rate them about the same in the end - maybe actually preferring MS' because at least it was compact and watcheable and didn't make me want to fall asleep. A conference is no place for tiny details about the smallest gameplay elements and "exclusive content" that you'll spend less time playing than hearing Sony rave on about.

I dunno, I think Sony had a better show than Nintendo. Their demonstration of Move went flawless, unlike the glitched up Motion Plus. "You want an action adventure game with motion controls? Here's Sorcery. It's not a big name franchise, but you can do all the same stuff as Zelda, we've worked out the bugs in our demo, and it's graphics are a whole new level. You can play Goldeneye remade on Wii, but pretty much all of our big shooter franchises coming out are supporting Move as well, so feel free to choose which you want.

It's expensive, especially when it looks like some games will use two Move-Motes instead of a Move-Mote and Movechuck, but on the other hand, I'll have to buy a whole new console, when Nintendo finally comes out with one, to get that same experience. By the time Wii2 comes out, the PS3 will have significantly dropped in price, most likely, and still be relevent.

I also think it's a problem when the graphics on PSP trailers look sharper and clearer than the one for the flagship game on the "revolutionary, ultra-powerful" 3DS. How old is the PSP now? I know Nintendo's trying to be cost effective, but still, the tech is old.

I think that's why Sony's the big winner on this one. Yeah, nobody really cares about 3D now, but they made the point that if you buy a PS3 now, you won't NEED to buy a new console in the forseeable future. 5 years down the line, when 3D TVs are affordable, it'll still be relevant. It's expensive, but it's an investment compared to Xbox and Wii that don't have those capabilities.

Exactly. Sony is busy preparing for the future, while Nintendo and Microsoft are trying to wow people now.

I don't get this line of reasoning.

The cost of a PS3 remains relatively high for the features it provides right now. When I want a 3D console in several years time, buying it at that time will give me a much better deal than having the tech available but sitting unused until then. Gaming is all about short-term investment and maximizing the bang for your buck. Even though the PS3 is a pretty reasonable deal right now (and MUCH better than when it started) there is no reason to show off a feature set that people aren't going to use unless you are trying to placate an existing market instead of attracting new customers.

Also, suggesting that a console becomes irrelevant as new features become available doesn't sit well with me. Are the Dreamcast or PS or Genesys or NES irrelevant now? Maybe... but I still love playing many of games from those (and other) retro consoles whenever and where ever I get the chance. As long as it's still possible to play my Wii library then I consider the console to be relevant.

@ejamer

No the DC, PS, NES etc. are not irrelevant now, but are they still your main console? No, you bought a new one as technology improved. More importantly, they stopped making games for those older consoles, so in that sense, yes, they are irrelevent.

Thats the thing about PS3, if you get it with Move packed in it's twice as much as a Wii, but it will give you more than a $200 Wii will now. It also offers just about everything the Wii 2 will probably launch with, AND due to price drops, will likely be cheaper than then the Wii2 will be when it releases.

That's what's Sony's offering, the PS3 can be your main console for a long long time. There's no more need to build up a collection of previous generations under the TV. It's $400 now instead of $200 now plus another $250 or so in 3 years which is what Nintendo's going to do. You won't need to buy Wii2 when it comes out for 3D gaming 2-5 years down the line. You'll already have that on Playstation. You'll also have all the benefits, including HD graphics, better online, and more power and storage for games that PS3 already provides for the TV you already own.

I love my little Wii, but unless Nintendo can keep offering experiences with their first party franchises that can't be done by anyone else and keep them from getting stale (and with no new IPs this year and two 2.5D sidescrollers, it could be a real issue for Nintendo going forward), then it's pretty easy to see which is the better option long term.

See, this is the fallacy. You don't know what will come out in the future... but given the rate technology improves, Wii 2 will almost surely be cheaper and better than PS3 is right now. Consider the wireless N capability of PS3; people buying now are getting a good deal but anyone who bought earlier will either need to replace their (expensive) console or just do without. Consider how Sony made it easy to upgrade the hard drive because they knew that many people would need to do just that during the lifecycle of the console. Consider that Move add-ons that are almost as expensive as buying a Wii at this point by the time you add a couple of games into the package.

"Future proof" is a fallacy that Sony is selling, and I'm not buying. They don't know where technology is going, and convincing people to pay a premium for overpowered consoles that might or might not be able to handle future advancements is a losing proposition more often than not. Showing off 3D gaming as a prominent part of their E3 conference (along with selling features that either aren't currently available or generally accessible) is more about selling 3D televisions and giving existing PS3 owners a justification for their purchase than anything else.

If you want a PS3 for what it offers right now, that's awesome. There is a ton of great content available and the asking price is reasonable considering what the system provides. Not having to be afraid about a lack of software support in the short-term future is clearly a nice benefit as well -- but doesn't automatically make it the best investment. (Edit: It might be the best investment, and will be for some people... but definitely not for all and probably not for anyone who is price sensitive.)

Also, are you sure that 360 can't do 3D gaming? Wii probably can't because it's terribly underpowered... but I was pretty sure that 360 has the power to push 3D graphics. It seemed to me that Microsoft just wasn't as concerned about that agenda because they don't produce or sell 3D televisions.

I think you added this after I replied the first time, but I totally agree!

Nintendo is adding 3D which is new tech and very impressive by all first-hand reports... so there is value and innovation in the new portable console. But from a processing power and graphical standpoint, the 3DS doesn't seem to be much of an upgrade over what PSP has already offered for years.

How about factoring in the price of a blu-ray player as well with regards to the "investment" debate? How much is a Wii + Blu-Ray player that has roughtly the same capabilities of the PS3 versus the price of the PS3. That's another thing to consider imo if we're going to go down the investment route.

Your comment still strikes me as odd. Most people viewing E3 are gamers instead of investors - and as such they care much more about what is coming out over the next 4-8 months that will keep they busy and excited about their consoles. That is why I hear a lot of "Nintendo won" online... because their line up of announced games and hardware coming between now and very early 2011 was solid and all crammed into a relatively short presentation.

Regarding online strategy:
Until they announce the next console, Nintendo's online strategy is going nowhere. Trying to fix what is broken on Wii will require more than a band-aid -- more like a full heart transplant. So I fail to understand why you expected to hear about future online strategies for a console that isn't anywhere close to release.

On the other hand, Sony's switch to a subscription-based model for PSN with some minor perks and benefits for paying members is interesting... but as a gamer I wonder why they brought it up during E3. It really seems to benefit their business model more than my personal interests, and as such was a definite low-point during the conference. True, it's probably a direction that gaming across all platforms will take over the next couple of years. Maybe announcing it now to get existing PSN users accustomed to the idea is in their best interest since they need to find a way to convert free users into subscribers. (Nintendo will presumably do this with a new console; Microsoft doesn't have the same issue since subscriptions are already a known factor.)

Good point! Guess that depends on whether you already have an HD TV, although that is becoming less of a barrier as adoption rates continue to grow...

The 3D effect for 3DS will likely make it expensive enough. People are already guesstimating $200+ which would be as much as a Wii. I think it's premature to judge the processing power and graphics of a 3D system from a 2D trailer, but lack of HD doesn't bother me. Kid Icarus looked sufficiently beautiful even without 3D, which is what they're hanging their handheld hat on in the first place.

As for "preparing for the future" with PS3D... Star Wars said it best:

Of course, this is prequel logic, so maybe it doesn't apply. But Nintendo wowed me for the present, and I see no reason to doubt that they'll suddenly stop being awesome two years from now. Sony didn't really impress me with their immediate future, and it seems unfair to compare with the PSP when it was barely even featured. One step at a time, padawans.

"Future proof" is a fallacy that Sony is selling, and I'm not buying. They don't know where technology is going, and convincing people to pay a premium for overpowered consoles that might or might not be able to handle future advancements is a losing proposition more often than not.

I disagree. Big companies with big R & D investments pay big money to analyse where the market is going. That's why Sony and Nintendo have both, in their own way, thrown their weight behing 3D. It's no coincidence that both companies have come up with 3D solutions.

If they genuinely had no idea where technology was going, nothing new would come out, because it's simply not worth the investment to guess.

Most people viewing E3 are gamers instead of investors - and as such they care much more about what is coming out over the next 4-8 months that will keep they busy and excited about their consoles. That is why I hear a lot of "Nintendo won" online... because their line up of announced games and hardware coming between now and very early 2011 was solid and all crammed into a relatively short presentation.

E3 is a convention, not just a consumer playground. Investors do watch E3 closely, as do market analysts and anyone involved in making business decisions in the industry - distributors attend, retailers attend - E3 is about everything, not just showing off the latest and greatest. I've been to a lot of exhibitions in the past, and beneath the surface of showing off products and giving away pens, there are a lot of business discussions going on - to try and separate the business side of the gaming industry from a major event like E3 is crazy.

@Adam - 3D is Sony's present. Its online is its future. I think Sony is prepared best of the three for that.

3D is not a viable present. Very few gamers have 3D TVs. The cheapest 3D TV at bestbuy.com is $1800, with 3D glasses at $150, of which I'm sure you'd want several. Unless you live in a house made of money, you cannot ignore that cost. The online is here now, and we are already able to use it -- most PS3s are already connected and making use of this. I think you have present and future mixed up.

3D for home use is a very bad idea right now, if you ask me. I hate when tech is pushed out before its costs have really come under control, and before its features have been brought to a sufficient level. Given the price and the need for glasses, 3D for TVs just isn't ready yet. I hope it remains a niche concept until someone completely rethinks the tech from the ground up, and I don't care if that means another decade of 2D sets in the meantime.

Nintendo took the right approach, using the unique properties of a portable system to bring 3D into a usable and (presumably) affordable form. They also found a way for portable games to have something extra, rather than just simplified copies of their respective console entries, which will be a huge boon for the system going forward.