E3 2006 - Will Sony pull a fast one?

[Anthony1]

Let's cut the crap Anthony. Sony needs to show off what the PS3 can do by now or they may loose what momentum they're building with pre-sales and the hype machine.

Let's cut the crap?


Whuh?


Look, I'm making the most realistic predictions I can, and I've been doing predictions like these since the 16-bit era, and usually I'm pretty damn accurate. As for pre-sales, the only store I know that has been taking pre-sales for PS3 has been GameCrazy. So it's not like tons of different retailers are doing pre-sales, so that's the last thing that Sony needs to concern itself with.


The only thing Sony needs to concern themselves with, is trying to do what needs to be done to get more value to their shareholders. Rushing an overpriced PS3 to market is not in the best interest of Sony and their shareholders.


My prediction is that there is going to be a lot of smoke and mirrors at e3, and that Sony will have "some" games playable on the show floor, and they will announce that the PS3 will release prior to Thanksgiving, but they will not announce a price, or exact date. Then in late August, they will announce that due to unforseen circumstances, they have no other choice but to delay the launch in the U.S. till Spring 2007.

[sabre2922]

IF Sony doesnt show big time at this years E3 they will lose LOTS of momentum and even the most faithful PS2 players may start looking at the Xbox360 if freaking Microsoft can get a decent supply on storeshelves within the next 6 months.

I do think that Sony will show a the final PS3 and controller they HAVE TO if they are not to lose face with both the media and gaming masses.

No matter what happens Sony will be taken down a notch in this generation meaning that the the now ruling king of the videogame world for 2 generations has become too content and egotistical and thinks that his throne will never be challenged just like Nintendo and Sega back in the day and that is a fact.

Of course this doesnt apply to the Japan market since in large part they have a instant dislike/hatred for any american made console and rightly so in the past with flops like the Jaguar and 3DO but the 360 IS a good console and has LOTS of potential to be a strong contender in the next generations race - at least in the U.S. and europe markets much more so than Sony would care to admit.

Also another poster mentioned that the next-gen consoles will have longer lifespans, I do agree with that but the fact is THIS generation -the PS2 anyway- will have the longest lifespan of a viable platform ever with Sony planning on supporting the PS2 long after the PS3 is released hell even God of War 2 is planned for the PS2 and after the release of Final Fantasy 12 most third party publishers will still release many second to third tier games that will range from very good to mediocre for the next 3-4 years if not longer.

Just look at the PSones lifespan and the fact that Many major publishers/developers have stated that their regrets abandoning the PSX so quickly in favor for the PS2-hyped machine in that the PSone was still a viable and profitable market even after the PS2 launched.

[le geek]

Really good editorial from 1up, by Jeremy Parish...

The Most Dangerous Game
Does Sony's PS3 strategy reek of confidence... or madness?

full article
http://www.1up.com/do/feature?cId=3148720&did=1

"Sony would be wise to study history; the console industry experiences a sea of change every decade. Atari more or less created the industry in the mid-70s, only to see its marketshare erode and give way to Nintendo in the mid-80s, who in turn fell behind Sony in the mid-90s. It's been a decade since then, and Microsoft seems a lot hungrier for victory than Sony these days. The 360 is proving to do just about everything right while Sony has offered nothing but cryptic promises."

Cheers,
Ben