I had no idea that the big guy walking my way was going to punch me in the face.
It was dramatic yes, and completely unexpected, and before it happened I was actually in a pretty good (read: drunk) mood. The funny part was that it really didn’t hurt, since I had successfully murdered many brain cells that night by imbuing in a concoction that someone called an “Ohhh I’m dyyyying.” This particular concoction was named after Bugs Bunny’s incredulous exclamation of having to take a penguin all the way to the North Pole. The ingredients of this concotion were a mixture of whatever was found lying around.
But I digress.
Anyway with said alcoholic beverage running through my body, the pain from the punch was nearly non-existent, and I probably wouldn’t have fallen over if it wasn’t for the vibration. See when you are particularly drunk, you can feel all the fluids in your body as they move around. It can be off putting in that condition, but anyway, when the punch hit, I felt all the liquids in my body kind of swirl around the way a wine conasuir swirls a glass of wine before tasting. I lost my equilibrium and landed flat on my ass.
This was exactly the sensation I felt when Edie and Kyle told me they were buying Xbox 360’s.
When Sony..
Oh, what happened after I fell on my ass? Yeah sorry about that, I guess I should tell.
I fell on my ass, and when the punch-ie demanded my wallet, I just started laughing in the way that really drunk people laugh. I stood up, still laughing my head off, and the bastard took off before I could tell him to go to hell. (Or some such derivative)
But I’m not here to talk about funny memories right now.
When Sony announced it’s pricing, my initial reaction was probably the same as nearly everyone else, “Ouch!” Once the initial sting was over, I gave it a lot of thought and just figured, “Well they pretty much lost the casual gamer, but the hardcore should make up for it.” They’ll probably still pull ahead down the road a ways, but the announcement just leveled the playing field between them and Microsoft that much more.
As most loyal visitors to the site know, Edie, and even more so Kyle, have made their allegiance to all things Sony very well known. They enjoy the system, the controller, the games; I hold nothing in the world against anyone who feels that one console is all they need. If you find something that works for you, you tend to stick with it, and that’s fine.
When Edie started talking down about Sony during our first E3 podcast, I was shocked. This is the same lady who dared Andy to try her PSP in trade for the Xbox 360, and who had really nothing nice to say about Microsoft in general. I knew she didn’t have the “fanboy mentality” but this was different.
Which is why it shocked me, she had been determined to stick with Sony into the next generation right up till the two price points were announced, more so, when she found out that the $499 pack didn’t have HDMI or WIFI, or the Media Card readers. Some would say she had a red pill moment of “Welcome to the real world” others could argue that she was never really a true fan; we’ll get to that in another article.
Kyle on the other hand is proud of his allegiance to Sony; he makes no bones about it and thankfully doesn’t have the mentality where he feels the need to defend his ideas on the subject. He loves his PS2, and he felt for sure that the PS3 would give him more of the same and a bit more.
Kyle almost sounded CRUSHED when the pricing was announced, and when the games on display didn’t live up to the infamous “E3 ’05 Killzone Trailer.” Kyle didn’t go running to the Xbox 360 like a lost son finding his mother, he went to it like a beaten dog going to the arms of a new owner.
It made me start to wonder if Sony had really splintered its fan base so deeply, that they may have inadvertently given Microsoft the one thing they needed, an advantage.
I talked to my brother in law about it; he’s as casual a gamer as I could find that I know personally. After hearing what I had to say, he put it succinctly:
“I’ll wait two years.”
I can’t imagine that’s the tune Sony wants to hear. Two years is nearly half a console’s lifetime, and by that time Microsoft could conceivably have thirty million Xbox 360’s in homes.
I felt as if I wasn’t getting a fair idea, it seemed clear that casual gamers would wait, but what about the faithful, the ones who were always there for the PlayStation product line, to splinter them would be a death blow.
I decided to find out what the faithful felt. So I went to the PlayStation forums, and asked:
Has Sony's E3 showing caused you to rethink a Day 1 purchase of a PS3?
All told I got 32 responses:
No – 21
Yes -10
Unsure – 1
That comes to about 31% of responders saying that they have rethought a Day 1 purchase. Granted this isn’t scientific by any means, the majority still was going forward with their plan to purchase the system on day one. Not to mention that in retrospect, that question could be taken one of two ways:
Did E3 make you decide NOT to purchase a PS3 on Day 1?
Or
Did E3 make you decide TO purchase a PS3 on Day 1?
My mistake, but it turned out ok, because while wondering around the forums, I noticed that another user, Georgemode had a similar poll going for much longer. I asked, and was given permission to use the results. As of May 18th at 9:36 EST the results showed:
Yes 20 GB PlayStation 3 – 17
Yes 60 GB PlayStation 3 – 121
No not buying the PlayStation 3 – 27
Undecided – 18
That’s 183 responders, with 138 still buying, 27 not, 18 unknown. Now if we use some manipulative percentage math that comes out to about 14% not buying.
That’s what Microsoft is going to say, that Sony has lost (at least) 10% of its base. With the PlayStation 2’s sales of 100 million, that’s 10 million that Microsoft feels will switch to the Xbox 360. That’s 10 million not including the 3 million head start they have. To Microsoft, it’s game over.
But really its not, you can manipulate as many numbers as you want, the bottom line is: the majority of PS2 gamers will purchase a PS3 on day one.
So Edie and Kyle appear to be the exception, not the rule. Be that as it may, it’s still not indicative of what the average consumer/gamer thinks. Forums are for the hardcore, and the people there tend to be fiercely loyal to their product.
Considering the amount of gaming press that feel Sony stepped in dog poop then wiped it on their pants during E3. Perhaps Sony needs to do more then simply try to convince people that the PlayStation is a bargain because a Blu-Ray player is 500 and 400 dollars more then the tard box and super-box.
To say to a gamer that they are getting it at a bargain because of Blu-Ray is not enough. Most people (myself included) have a huge DVD collection and aren’t really interested in re-buying just for a clearer picture. So that’s not the value to add to it. And you can’t use the Cell processor as a selling point, when you haven’t even explained exactly how it will work and improve your experience, just saying its more powerful is not enough.
In actuality the mistake that Sony made at E3 was not the price, but the lack of graphic powerhouse looking playable games. There was nothing on a “Killzone trailer” level, which was the bar that they set for themselves last year. Unless Sony spends the next 6 months showing the gaming community just exactly what they are getting for their money, there is very little chance that the PlayStation 3 will do better than sell out of its initial stock.
The game play experience on the PlayStation 3 will be incredible, no doubt about it, but as of right now, it has one distinction over Microsoft, the Blu-Ray drive, and even with Kaz Hari’s carefully chosen words of “developers wanting more”, (implying that developers asked for more software disc space) there has not been a SINGLE developer who said that Blu-Ray is the savior of the gaming software industry thanks to 50 gigabytes over 9.
If you ask me, what Sony needs to do is show gamers and consumers what the PlayStation 3 does when it’s NOT a gaming machine. There have been rumors of DVR style functionality, if that’s true; they need to release it to the public. $699 for a next generation gaming console with a built in DVR works not only for gamers but for average consumers as well. DVR sales are starting to pick up, and this would be the perfect opportunity for Sony to have the whole “it dishes, it slices!” spiel.
Microsoft has Xbox Live, which enhances the game play experience. Nintendo has the Wii controller, which enhances the game play experience. Take away Blu-Ray, what’s unique about Sony right now?
I’m not talking exclusive games because that’s a matter of personal taste. I am talking about: From a hardware respect; take away Blu-Ray, what separates Sony from Microsoft and Nintendo?
Nothing. Sony says they are going to have an Online service comparable to Xbox Live and for now we will take that at face value. According to Andy and others that have used the new controller, it works very well with Warhawk, so we’ll see how it’s handled by developers. However a 6 degree controller is not worth a $600 upgrade.
Sony is not a company to be taken lightly, in many ways they are like Microsoft, they want something, and they will do whatever it takes to get it. They know that right now they managed to piss off a lot of consumers and they are not TOO arrogant to think they can simply ignore it. If Sony makes no additional announcements about the features of the PlayStation 3 outside of gaming, it’s quite possible that they will not catch up to Microsoft this generation.
The faithful are strong, and support Sony, so a sell out of PlayStation 3 on opening day is certain. To have long term success Sony needs the Edie's and Kyle's of the world. So are Edie and Kyle deserting an old friend, or have they suddenly become smart consumers?
Honestly, there’s no way to tell at this time. They thought with their wallets, and there’s nothing wrong with that.
Is it a mistake? Again, hard to say.
Is this really the end of Sony?
hmm well i personally am not going to buy a PS3 on launch but eventually I will get one, but Blu Ray i couldnt really give a stuff about ive spent and invested so much into my dvd collection at the moment your right hawkes im not really ready to give up on that
Well, I wasn't gonna buy a ps3 and I'm still not gonna buy one.
I love my 360. I do not get payed enough to support 2 next gen consoles. I can just about manage keeping my 360 up to date with the latest games. I almost starved in march, this xmas is gonna be costly just buying games for the 360.
Damn , if only I was famous even though I have no talent, I wonder if MR Hilton will adopt me. ;)
But seriously Sony , have really slipped up and we may regard they as the new sega in a few years time.
Well I'm still going to buy a PS3 at launch but not for myself. I had planned on buying maybe two originally, one for me and one for ebay... but now it seems I'll just get one for ebay. Sony is charging out the ass for the ps3 mostly due to the blu-ray, which i couldn't care less about. It's not the leap dvd was and its popularity wont kick in for a while.
I have a 360, and might get a Wii. I should be fine for a long time and maybe once the price drops on the PS3 I'll consider getting it.
There this weird thing about me that always demands having the best product on the day it comes out.
So the $500 model is out of the question.
The truth is that none, that's right NOTHING, appeals to me on the PS3 launch list. In fact, the only game that looked good was MGS4 (my opinion) at E3 2006, and it was only a trailer.
This addiction to getting all the consoles and the latest video cards and hardward is going to be my downfall.
http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3150935
read this now hawkes.
Okay I read it.... what drugs are sony taking.
I assume they acidently drank some old bong water.
If Sony released the ps3 with no games except "RIDGE RACER" how many people would buy it.
Lets face it, its about the games. I'm just glad I no longer have to wait 6 month to get gta4 on the 360.
All those people that do buy it, well your as daft as Paris Hilton .
I think there's just too much drama surrounding the PS3 right now. Price aside I want to get one at launch. Though I'm sure a lot of people could say that.
I just never believe that anything important or awe inspiring could come out at launch for any system. I don't doubt there could be good games. But I think I'm going to wait for maybe a year after they release it to see what developers have come up with. I doubt I'll see a good Gears of War equivalent for the PS3 very soon.
Also, is it just me or does Warhawk look almost exactly like Crimson Skies but a little bit more shiny?
I'll still be getting a PS3, but I rethought my get-one-at-launch policy and decided to wait for MGS4 to drop.
We should really thank them for screwing up so badly, it means that the market will be much more even this time round, making for some more heated competition.
Thank them, that is, if it doesn't turn into another hardware arms race and result in more ps3-esque prices.
To keep the record straight:
1) I'm not ruling out buying a PS3. I always ruled out a day-one purchase. The mad-dash mentality was fun for the PS2, and nothing will ever replace the fantastic buzz I got when I opened one under the Christmas tree. Then came the first-generation bugs, the meltdowns, the recalls, the rebates. UGH. It was already getting old for the PSP, but I pulled some strings, made a few batches of cookies, and got two in the first week (Not day-of) with relatively little effort on my part. Nowhere near the amount Kev put into getting me that PS2. For this reason, I was never considering a day-one purchase of a PS3 unless it so freaking blew my mind at E3 that I couldn't wait an extra couple months to see piles of them mount up at my local Costco.
That being said, I'm still remotely considering a PS3 purchase somewhere down the line. Waaaaay down the line. Depending on what it does. Whis is a pretty sad freakin' thing to say when I was *at* E3 and I *watched* that press conference live and I *played* with one in my hot little hands. If I didn't walk away truly "grocking" what exactly makes the PS3 so unbelievably different from my old PS2 other than a bigger hard drive and more processing speed... well, mission FAILED!!
2) I have to be honest. My purchase of the Xbox 360 wasn't motivated by anything like Xbox Live, or games, or speed or even pretty pictures on my HDTV (although they're all very nice). It wasn't the community, nor was it the multimedia platform potential. It wasn't even Major Nelson cajoling me to go over to the Dark Side.
It was the cash. Bottom line, it all came down to how much more a PS3 was gonna cost me to invest in a "next gen" console. In many ways along these lines, I'm less "gamer" and more "mainstream" than I'd like to admit.
I did the math, and I realized that I could get into next-gen for about a $700 on the Xbox, while waiting and getting next-gen Sony would cost me more like $1,100 or $1,200. Blu-ray? Shit. I'll be honest. I don't even know, want to know, or care one heap of soiled skivvies wtf a blu-ray is. All I know is I have a DVD player already -- IN MY FREAKIN' PS2!! I got my DVDs that play in them. I got my iPod. I got my Powerbook, and I don't really think that all those little electronic bastards talking amongst themselves would make my life easier or more wonderful. I'm not really sure if I WANT them talkin' to each other, lest the Powerbook realize that it gets used too frequently as a coaster and dirty-dish holder and starts ratting me out to my television.
As ignorant and embarassing as point 2 sounds, I think that will pretty much sum up the thinking for the mommies and daddies of this country who are asked for a next-gen console for Xmas this year. Anything that requires a PhD to figure out what the fuck it does and doesn't do shouldn't be mass produced for average American consumption and expected to sell off the shelves. Period.
3) It's an eight-degree controller.
Damn. I should have written my own article...
Great read Hawkes. I won't be buying a PS3 at launch either, not because of some crazed loyalty to all-things Microsoft but because nothing I saw of the E3 footage made me feel like I needed to spend $600 on launch day. I'll wait for a price-drop and for a few "killer titles" before I even consider shelling-out that kind of cash.
Edie and All,
If I left the implication that Edie and Kyle were no longer purchasing a PS3, I apologize. I was just trying to point out that, like my brother in law, people are going to wait to purchase the PS3 until the price goes down, or until someone proves it's worth the price.
And that the wait could be what crushes Sony this generation.
I hope I made it clear that it's price, not system, that could cause this effect I speak of.
It certainly depends on the price tag, for me anyway. For a year I had it planned that I would buy the PS3 at launch, but after the price announcement, it's just not worth it, especially if it breaks because its a new product with unproved technology. I'm sure I'll be itching to buy one when I see some of their big guns on the market (MGS4, KZ2, other amazing new IP), but I will be enjoying the Xbox 360, and possibly the Wii, for a couple years before I decide to purchase a PS3.
Even though I have gone on many rants about how Sony has screwed up and how much I'm disappointed by them, if they were to magically change the price for the high-end version to $400, I would be buying their new console. Unfortuately, that's not gonna happen, so I guess its time to give in and purchase something that I will have fun with, for a cheaper price.
Sony, you haven't lost me completely, I just don't need Blu-ray yet. Like Hawkes said, it's the thing that separates it from the pack, and it might not be as crucial as Sony hopes. But, make it a DVR, and I will toss my Tivo out the window :)
For me it's simple economics (not guns and butter, either :P)
PS3 = a month's rent.
Launch PS3 title = a week's groceries.
One teacher's salary / Two teenagers = no freakin' way I can shell out that much money for a system.
We don't have a 360 either. Just too much cash.
I love the idea of intercommunication, I'd love to have the latest technology ... I like toys as much as the next geek ... and I would especially love to be able to give all of that to my kids but it's not going to happen. Not on my salary.
Now Wii, that's more feasible. I can rationalize it as a Christmas present for the whole family. PS3?? Maybe I'll pick up a refurb in a few years, but I doubt it.
I'm still undecided. I'm traditionally an early adopter but Sony never showed me anything to make me want one from launch day. I need to see the GAMES lads. I don't care about the card readers or other gubbins you've got on it, show me something that makes me want it over the second generation titles hitting the 360.
What do you mean you can't? I'll probably be able to get Ridge Racer 7 on the 360 and I'm not all that fussed for Singstar thanks...
If they show something good before launch I might pre-order, if not, i'm happy to wait until something good comes out.
I was wondering do you think it's going to be possible to use the External (USB)HD-DVD drive with a regular PC or Laptop, that would be HUGE, lets not forget Vista is comming with HD-DVD decoding built in, 200 bucks for an external HD-DVD drive for a PC is INSANELY cheap!!! Game over Sony!!! Dually for the win!!!
robotkio wrote: "Also, is it just me or does Warhawk look almost exactly like Crimson Skies but a little bit more shiny?"
Having played the game for a good twenty minutes i can safely say that it does indeed look and feel a heck of alot like crimson skies, and it's not even that much shinier. Volumetric clouds are nice but the tiny landscape is unimpressive and the water while good wasn't even a whole lot to look at. All though as a fairly devote sony hater i will admit that it was quite a bit of fun zipping around with the tilt control.
It's odd, the ps2 is the one system of the previous generation i absolutley refused to get simply on the basis that i could buy a significantly more powerfull 1.5 year newer xbox for the exact same price (or a slightly more powerfull gamecube for less!). Before e3 this year i had every intent to get a ps3 on day one though, as im a serious graphics whore and was expecting it to blow the 360 away. Now that i have seen it however i'm not only undewhelmed by the graphics but dissilusioned by the price. Sony nearly had a convert in me but in a strange way i am yet another lost sale. although it's ok, since im sure my GF will buy one anyway ;)
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