Like many fanboys I was waiting, fingers crossed as Sony took the stage. Like many fans eager for more realization of the impossible visions Sony showed us last year at E3 when they stole everyone’s thunder, I was more than a little disappointed.
The show started with some talk of the PSP, and how it’s the greatest thing to have happened to home entertainment since Jessica Alba. Then it was time to show off Gran Turismo “HD” which was an awful lot like Gran Turismo in widescreen. I don’t question that the ultra high resolution 60fps was impressive, but it was just GT4 turned up, there was nothing next gen about this demo until the final clips with oodles of realistic crowds moving out of the way of certain death under so many tons of steel.
I can’t say that I got too much more impressed as the show went on. Of the things I thought were special though was the camera demo, where they put real cards on a table which magically sprouted video game monsters out of them that reacted to human interaction with the cards, there was even a duck, and as we all know… ducks are now cool, because sony said so. They also showed the use of the PSP as a rear view mirror in a racing game, can’t argue with it, that was hot, although I’m sure you’ll need to upgrade your firmware to the latest homebrew crushing version to enjoy such nifty features.
Then there was a slew of new titles, all of which looked very much like 360 titles at best. 8 Days was a stand out, but not because of it’s next gen graphics, instead merely because it looks like a great game. In fact, nothing really came out as the must have game, or the “Xbox is yesterday’s machine” that fanboys the world over were hoping for. I guess that’s why at the end of the show when Mr. Kutaragi pulled a rabbit out of his hat, errr, stylish suit, it was all the more profound.
That’s right, the highlight of the show was a gimmicky controller.
It may not seem it, but whether Sony swiped the idea from Nintendo, or had it in the works back with the boomerang (which as long as we’re all just speculating, I think they did, which was part of their rationale behind that ill fated controller’s perfectly half-steering wheel construction), they have officially made Microsoft the “odd man out” as the only next gen console without a motion sensitive controller.
Overnight, they put the 360 at a forced disadvantage and now, Microsoft will “have” to redesign their beloved controller in order to get the same multiplatform third party support as the other guys. (That is assuming there are still patents available to get them there – and yes, I know about the sidewinder, but big companies [blackberry] forget to go to the patent office all the time).
So that’s it guys, light a sparkler and start saving your money, the ps3 is on it’s way to your home, for a bargain price and stunning next gen games that umm, blow the pants off of any other console out there… I mean, did you see the “fancy foot work” EA was showing off, so cooool.
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