In lieu of this week's "Notes from a Vista User," which I'm still writing, I decided to switch gears a little bit. My topics this week come straight from the news. Sony's Playstation 3 is edging its way closer within the reach of the masses with its recent $100 price cut. Sony's 80GB Playstation 3 introduction in August can be seen as competition for Microsoft's XBox 360 Elite. Is it worth the price tag of $599? Should Sony even be worried? In other news, Sony also released information on a new PSP model. Is it worth the repricing? TV-Out is nice and all, but is it worth the loss of homebrew as well? We also have E3 this year, where most of these announcements have come from. Of the many things that's been said about E3 this year is that it's much smaller than previous years. Is this the end for E3?
I want to start of this week talking about the Playstation 3 price cut. By now, many of you have heard about the $100 price cut that technically goes into effect today. If you haven't heard about it yet, then I guess you don't frequent sites like Slashdot, Kotaku, or Joystiq. In any event, the fact remains that the 60GB model is now $499 as opposed to the $599 it's had since its introduction. We also know that, this August, Sony is planning to introduce the 80GB PS3 that debuted in Korea, to America. What does this mean for consumers? What led to the price cut? These are good questions that I hope to answer.
Getting back to the point, what tidings does the price cut bring? Simple, mixed. For the consumer, the price cut represents a savings of $100. It brings it within closer reach to a larger group of consumers. Sure, $499 is still a lot, and it's still more expensive than the PS2 was at its launch, but it doesn't change the fact that the consumer is getting a $499 Blu-Ray player with a 60GB hard drive, and the ability to play three generations of Playstation games. There is, however, a caveat to this price cut which will take a little longer to reach the masses then what will be available in the 80GB model. There's no longer an Emotion Engine chip inside the unit.
Yes, I said it. There is no longer going to be hardware-based backwards compatibility. The 80GB units will be the first to see this, as I'm sure there's a large enough buffer in 60GB model from storage to production to allow for at least a month's delay. Some stores will probably see these altered models earlier than others, but it will become something to look out for. Is this a bad thing? It is, and isn't. For those who want hardware based compatibility to PS2 and PS1 games, yes. For those who want less expensive PS3's, no. In my opinion, it may not be as bad, even for the backwards compatibility aspect, so long as the software emulation is written to utilize the Cell processors as a Pseudo-Emotion Engine. Done correctly, the software emulation has the potential to be better than the original Emotion Engine. Unfortunately, only time will tell.
Going back to one of the other topics, I need now focus on the 80GB PS3 release. The unit that was first introduced in Korea for their PS3 launch is now being brought Stateside. The thing is, it's $599. Is a 20GB increase over the 60GB model worth the price? Probably not, but it includes a copy of Motorstorm. Is that, coupled with the 20GB increase, worth the price? Given the value of the game, and the approximate cost per GB on a 2.5" SATA hard drive, yes. I say that with its own caveat -- It's worth it in actual value, and even then, that's really only if the buyer intends to purchase Motorstorm. Motorstorm doesn't seem to captivate me, so I'm not going to spend an extra $100 for 20GB and a game I'm not going to play. Instead, I could take that same $100, maybe add a little extra to it, and double the size of the hard drive. I don't think the 80GB model will be as popular as Sony would hope, unless Motorstorm becomes that "must-have" game for the general gaming community.
The other thing about the 80GB PS3. It's clearly an attempt at direct competition for the XBox 360 Elite. This isn't something Sony has to seriously worry about. Microsoft chose to go for a proprietary hard drive for their new unit. That's not quite a good thing, especially as content continues to move towards high definition. A 120GB drive will run out of space eventually. Even if they provide upgrades, they're still going to be much more expensive than they should be. The Playstation 3 on the other hand continues to use a 2.5" SATA drive. What's good about that is that it's a universal standard. Even better still is that SATA is a universal standard between 2.5" and 3.5" drives. We know about the 3.5" adapter for the PS3. Buy that and it will fill the slot for you, and you can hook up your own 500GB 3.5" SATA drive that costs just over $100 after tax and shipping. If and when Microsoft offers a drive that large, I can assure you that it will cost over $100, if not, more than $200. Sony has nothing to worry about, and as such, they don't really need to introduce a model with only 20GB more storage space, and a game. Save your money, spend it on something practical like extra controllers, or external chargers.
There remains one piece of information surrounding Sony at E3: the announcement of a new PSP model. It's slimmer, lighter, and more power-efficient. Oh, and it has TV-Out capabilities and USB charging. Given the price of present PSP models, is it worth going back to the original launch price for a new PSP? Is it worth losing homebrew support for a possibly long time just for tv-out? In my opinion, no, and here's why. TV-Out support, while it has changeable modes, is still limited. It only functions on progressive-scan displays, which are primarily one's HDTV unit. It displays at PSP native resolution, so plugging into a 1080p TV will net you a rather large, black border. USB charging is nice and all, but what good is it when most current PSP owners have their original A/C adapter, and probably have the dual USB cable for data and charging? What good is it when there are those who have car adapters as well (like me)? I cannot justify the cost for such limited features, however, knowing Sony, they may prove us wrong with firmware updates and more features. My verdict on the new PSP - wait and see.
In other news...
As many of you may know, E3 2007 was held this week. Before I continue on, however, let me state that I have no intention of covering what was shown at E3. Instead, I'm focusing on E3 itself, the changes it went through this year, and where it may be going in the future.
Of the many things different about E3 this year, most of you have probably noticed that E3 has been seriously scaled down. Instead of a super-sized industry-wide event, E3 has become an invite only event. While I'm not certain as to whether or not this pertains to the panelists, we do know that the number of journalists has been drastically reduced at the event. What does this mean for E3? I laugh at the question, as it means we have a slimmer, leaner, and meaner E3 event. Instead of a super-large event that focused on presentation over content, E3 now has a focus on the games and hardware themselves. Is this a good thing? Certainly. We're not spending time sifting through the flash and glitz associated with presentation effects just to find the tiny little piece of tasty content about a game announcement, or hardware changes, or something similar. What's left for us to figure out now is where this will bring E3 in the future, is it signaling the end of E3, or the beginning of the real E3?
It remains to be seen how the changes this year will effect the event next year; however, given the content of this year's event, outlooks seem hopeful that E3 still has years of life left in it. So long as the industry can maintain this kind of approach to E3, and so long as E3 can keep it under control at this size, E3 may be able to retake and hold the lead as the industry standard for gaming announcement outlets.
