Matt’s Somewhat Serious Bit
This week, Sony finally removed the gag from their mouth and said something about the PlayStation 3. Looks like it’s going to be pretty good, if a little costly and you can bet your arse to a barn dance we’re happy it’s going to be released in Australia in 2006. Whether there will be enough to actually go around is a different story. However, with Sony finally revealing their release date, one has to wonder how Microsoft is going to react. Their perceived 6 month head start has now blown out to a full year, and they’re in prime position to eat into Sony’s potential market share, and yet they’re unusually mum about the situation.
Sure, E3 is just around the corner, and you can rest assured that Messrs Allard and Moore will have no shortage of words at the event, but why wait? A lot of victories have been won in this industry due to timing, and Microsoft have the opportunity to strike a critical blow to their main competitor, and the only thing they’ve announced recently is Viva Piñata, which, while rather artistically sound, isn’t going to light up the charts at Christmas, especially given the Xbox’s 18-34 demographic. The second (well, first for us Aussies – worldwide launch for the win!!) holiday season is the real telling factor for all consoles – it’s make or break time. The PS2’s launch line-up wasn’t crash hot, but Sony knew to have the goods ready for the second Christmas, not just alone with Jak and Daxter and the already released Gran Turismo 3, but key third party titles like Devil May Cry.
You don't want to know what Luke had to do to get this..*wink*
Leaving your big announcements until E3 is certainly a risk – you never really know what the competition is doing. I’m sure Nintendo thought their connectivity centric conference for E3 2003 would be golden, but we all remember what happened there. Sony and Nintendo have the elements of surprise and newness on their side for this year’s show, while Microsoft has begun to establish itself in homes, and will need a number of big titles to keep up its rather desirable selling rate.
To be honest, I don’t think an upset from Microsoft is likely this generation. I don’t like putting my exact feelings on record, as it allows me to deny ever having said them and appear as though I am always right (which I am), but the Redmond giant hasn’t made the quick strikes it has needed to early in the piece to prevent excessive hype from the opposition, nor did it even attempt to try to produce compelling software for the Japanese market to establish a foothold in the East. Heck, they still haven’t sorted out the supply issues. Nevertheless, I’m counting down the days until the system is released here, and am sure it will find its own audience – just don’t expect a polar reversal in terms of the console user base this time around.
Microsoft's key demographic will likely feel threatened by the pretty colours and lack of blood
In fact, I have a feeling that Nintendo are going to be the ones on the top of the podium when E3 is all said and done. Yeah, it’s no secret that I wear the Nintendo badge when I’m not writing, but I do think they have a legitimate opportunity to “win” E3 this year, especially given that we know very little about the Revolution and the DS will have unleashed its two biggest titles before the conference begins – plenty of opportunity to deliver some key blows to the competition and announce a new slate of products.
That said, Sony is in the box seat going in to E3 in my opinion. PS3 hype is going to start to snowball, and the PSP is finally beginning to come into its own largely thanks to (shock) original software developed specifically for the system, with plenty of new features on the way, and the PlayStation 2 is still the dominant player in the market. Sony still has a bit to prove with the PS3 though – what do their real first party games look like? No more cheap concept trailers this year ya bums! What are the third parties going to bring to the table? We know we can count on Kojima Productions to deliver another killer MGS4 trailer, but what about Capcom, Namco and the other big Japanese players – what have they got up their sleeve? Are we going to see the same old names, or is there going to be a legitimate push towards some newer properties – after all, a console launch is the best time to launch your new IP.
No matter the outcome, this year’s E3 could be the biggest yet – the stakes are high and there’s a ton of answers waiting for us this May.
Thoughts and opinions expressed in the Easy Mode article are exclusively those of the author, and do not reflect the opinions of PALGN, its sponsors, advertisers, affiliates and so on.
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