E3 2011: Sony

Sony’s E3 press conference went about as much as anyone would expect. A complete showing off of the Playstation Vita, formerly NGP, confirmed that the handheld generation is shifting into Generation 8 of gaming. Amazingly, the Vita has power unlike any console we’ve seen before, and doubly so for the handheld market. The best part of the Vita comes at the surprising launch price- no doubt Sony has learnt the lesson from the E3 unveiling of the PS3 and its pricing. The Vita will retail in a ‘Wi-Fi Only’ version for $250 USD, and a 3G+Wi-Fi for $299 USD. Congratulations on getting that one right, Sony. This launch price is on-par with the 3DS’ launch price, and so it means that Sony has put it in direct competition with the Nintendo handheld.

Sony also unveiled an affordable and actually innovative bundle for gamers who want to get into 3D, but don’t have the cash to fork out on an expensive TV. oh, and this isn’t any ordinary TV, either. Bundled with a pair of PlayStation branded glasses, a PlayStation branded 3D television with the perk of displaying 2 different images at once, for which Sony is hinting at is perfect for multiplayer games-no more split screen-and also includes KillZone 3. It’s a great bundle for those unsure about whether or not to get into 3D Gaming.

Sony also announced the ‘PSP Remaster’ program, which will bring some beloved PSP games onto the PS3 for full-screen, dualshock compatible, HD remasters of PSP titles. MGS: Peace Walker was the first title announced, which is fitting seeing as it’s one of a very short list of games that actually defined the PSP. Some other companies have expressed interest but nothing other than this.

Sony also announced many PS3 Exclusive content and games that will be hitting the market over the next year or so. Exclusives in high-profile games such as Tekken, Battlefield 3 and SSX will no doubt be the sign of Sony still managing to keep a firm global influence on third parties.

Overall, Sony might’ve not been first place at E3 when it comes to actual games, but the hardware and the plans they had to show off definitely made a good impression and continues Sony’s approach to encompassing a wide variety of forms of entertainment under the Playstation brand.

Remake of FFVII-In LittleBigPlanet 2

I came across this while browsing the web. It’s extremely impressive. Not only does it show an amazing amount of creativity, but it also shows just how powerful LittleBigPlanet 2 is. LittleBigPlanet 2 is developed as “a platform for games”, and I’d say that judging by this video the concept worked well.

Now, if somebody can make that on LBP2, why can’t Square Enix make the dream of a thousand million fan boys (even me) come true and actually remake VII.

Playstation: It might be winning the war

Sony has finally overtaken the Japanese gaming market from Nintendo. The PSP has outsold the Nintendo DS, most likely due to the recent releases it’s enjoyed: Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep, and Monster Hunter. The Playstation 3 has overpassed the Wii’s sales in japan too. This is the first time the Playstation 3 has seen any sort of big achievement like this in a while-and it might not be the last. The Playstation trails worldwide xbox 360 sales by only 2 million, and it has also enjoyed some nice releases: Gran Turismo 5. Sony has also got an exclusive PS3 announcement on December 12th. Playstation consoles also have the chirstmas advantage: 250gb 360’s are not shipping untill after christmas, and the Playstation Slim models might not be facing the same situation.

Kinect: More sucsesful than originally thought, Sony happy with Move

Microsoft today released the total units of Kinect sales worldwide so far. After 25 days from launch, the unit count is at 2.4 Million units. Compared to Move’s sales since september is sitting at 4.2 million units, Kinect will definatley take the lead in sales in the next 20-25 days- especially with the holiday season sales. Microsoft had originally planned for 5.0 million units by the end of the year, and so they obviously thought that the Kinect wouldn’t be very sucsesful.

On the Sony side of things, Sony have said that they are happy with the sales of Move so far, however it is likely that this will change if Kinect sales overpass Move sales- especially since the Playstation 3 trails Xbox 360 sales by only 2 million units.

The Playstation 3

 

Sony’s entry into the 7th Generation was expected to really dominate the market. However early mistakes are what possibly caused this system to be stuck where it is. HD Gaming, Blu-Ray Technology, Wireless internet connecting, Impressive hardware and a good reputation; What else could a gamer need? It seems the answer was money. Right from Launch Sony effictively positioned the Playstation 3 in a bad area. With a hefty price tag, poor launch titles, and a late launch at that, caused the Playstation to have a drag in it’s sales that continue to even today.In  2009, sony attempted to right past wrongs with a re-launch of the Playstation 3 in “slim”, which did see it catch up in some much needed sales, one can see from any standing point that it’s the lack of exclusives (the strongest reason to buy a console) that are most likely causing the low sale figures. However this is not all Sony’s fault. The major competitor to the Playstation 3 is the xbox 360, which is owned by Microsoft. Microsoft have been known to pay alot of cash just to ensure it gets exclusives or atleast the big releases and DLC’s first.

Selling Points:

• A Free, Reliable online service. No Pay-To-Play Online, and constant, quality firmware updates. Also a social function “Playstation Home” which allows PSN users to create virtual characters and play games, attend virtual launches, watch exclusive movie trailers, and more.
• 10 year life cycle (4 years in)
• Playstation 3 can play Blu-Ray, Music, Data Movies, DVDs, Games, and display photos.
• Most powerful console in terms of specs availble currently.

The Problems:

• Lack of Exclusive Games
• Expensive Pricing

italics represents problems solved by “Slim”

 

this post will be updated from time to time. if you have any suggestions, leave them in the comments.