Hey, look! It's TW! Well, actually, it's John Carmack, from id Software. They make Doom. (...and lots of awesome old DOS games away back in the day. Commander Keen, anyone?)

He talked about game developing.
He said the Playstation 3 is really hard to make games for.
He said it's almost twice as hard!
He's one of many developers who's said this.
He says the Xbox360 is a lot easier to code for.

Lots of developers are saying the PS3 might be uber-powerful, but it's uber-hard to write games for. The Xbox has been criticized by players for being too much like a computer. However, you must realize that because of that, the Xbox is one of the easiest consoles to make games for, because it's essentially a Windows computer.

Sony is sacrificing their developers to make a super strong console. That's not smart.

Another installment of Sony Says! This time, Sony CEO Howard Stringer is calling the shots. (More like shots to their own feet!) Once again claiming that the price is high, but the PS3 is worth it, and that if it lives up to its "total potential", then the price won't be a problem.

He then blasts Xbox360, saying it's a cheap, transitional product, and that the PS3 is a "future-proof, higher technology which will keep you going for many, many years". Yeah... let's see how long Sony goes without releasing an ingeniously-titled Playstation 4, shall we?

Microsoft and Nintendo know their stuff... Nintendo, of course, is throwing a wrench into the gears of gameplay, as they always do. (This time, it's a particularly gigantic wrench.) Microsoft at least says that it's all about what the customers want, and the Xbox360 gives high-definition gamers what they want, right now, for cheaper and better... and I believe them.

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So I'm back from my trip!

...and I came home to a pleasant sight. Another incredible pit Sony's dug themselves into. According to a Digg article, it seems that's Sony's "brand new" and "completely revolutionary" motion sensing technology (that Nintendo built into a console first) for the unreleased Playstation 3 was... uhm... available for the Playstation. No number appended. Original Playstation.

Oh, and get this... the "new" controller Sony copied from Nintendo lacks any rumble features because it will mess around with the motion sensing or some such thing they're cooking up. This motion sensitive Playstation 1 controller from 1999? It rumbles... and senses motion much like the new PS3 controller. (It's still definately no Wii controller... Nintendo maintains their long line of original, innovative ideas.)

When will people wake up, smell the roses, and see Sony for the liers they are?

Now it's time for everyone's favorite section: Sony Says!

An interview with Kazuo Hirai has him on record saying that the fan reaction to the E3 Press Conference was "positive" and "people were generally excited we came out with a lot of news like the launch dates, prices, and quantities". Excited about prices? That's one word for it. He goes on to re-affirm that the PS3 price is "right for what we're bringing to consumers". Including Blu-Ray in the PS3 somehow insures a five-year cycle for the PS3, and that they don't want to sell an add-on like Microsoft did. (Of which I hear nobody complaining that it's a separate device... at least not yet, because nobody wants these new media formats.) He also says the next generation of video games starts when Sony says it does, and no sooner. Also note that he says the Playstation is "all about games".

The next article on our list is a translation of an interview with Ken Kutaragi, in which he declares the PS3 is, in fact, a computer and not a console, and that they want to be able to upgrade the PS3 like a PC. He briefly mentions that they "may want the Blu-Ray drive to have a writable version upgrade", but then seems to quickly backpedal from this very un-Sony-like remark and say "well, Blu-Ray may not develop like that". To seal the deal, he once again declares that "the Playstation 3 is a computer. We do not need the PC." (I guess we shouldn't buy Sony Vaio, then, eh?)

Another brief interview with good ol' Kutaragi has him saying that Sony wants to be like Apple. He states that "our message is clear: hardware is our business" (which, I might add, is a direct contradition to what Hirai says the Playstation's goal is), and that the high price of the PS3 is all about brand perception. Here's what he says, "Steve Jobs could slap an Apple logo on the PS3 and sell them for $2000 each. We couldn't do that." He also states that "Apple is closer to our vision for the PS3" and while there is no direct competition now, there may be later. (Right... with your inflated gaming console.)

This article from Kotaku has Sony executives agreeing that 1) The PC is dead, 2) Nintendo is for kiddies, and 3) Sony is the innovative one. Do you believe them? I sure don't.

Yahoo interviewed Square on the new PS3/Windows Vista MMORPG they're making. Can you guess what it's called? Why, it's Final Fantasy 11! Anyway, among all the talk, we see a paragraph about how easy it is to port games to consoles. They say it was really easy to port FF11 to Xbox360 since it's essentially Windows, and that a PS3 version will require a total redevelopment of the game which would require about 3 years to complete. (Wow, 3 years to port an existing game to PS3's Cell processor? Very friendly, Sony.) They also go on to say that because of this, an at-launch release of FF11 for PS3 will be unheard of, and, to take the matter further, they say that they would much rather spend those 3 years making an entirely NEW game.

On a slightly unrelated-yet-very-related note, Sony and Pioneer have announced that Blu-Ray has once again been delayed from June 30th to August 15th. Another article points out that if the PS3 was released before these players, then it could be catastrophic for the standalone Blu-Ray players. Part of the success of the Blu-Ray laden PS3 will be the success of Blu-Ray as a movie media... and if there aren't any disc players to build up a user base?

I will also take this time to point out that HD-DVD has been on the market since April, with two different players by Toshiba: the normal version $500 HD-A1, and the professional version $800 HD-XA1. Compared to the unreleased $1000-projected Sony Blu-Ray player, HD-DVD is far cheaper and... well... people can buy it NOW. (Yes, $1000... this is the reason Sony keeps saying the PS3 is a good price for a BLU-RAY PLAYER.)

I will close out with a rumor that's been circulating the internet. I will say again... this is an unconfirmed RUMOR article talking about how the PS3 may be facing even more downgrades before release. Although, seeing as how Sony has had a perfect track record of over-promising Playstation specifications and then cutting off features left and right... some people (including me) think that even though it's an odd looking rumor... the very idea that Sony will downgrade further is entirely believable.

That is it for now, folks! Thank you for tuning into this week's installment of Sony Says!

Wow, it hasn't even been a week yet and we have yet another installment of Sony Says. This time, in addition to claiming they've been developing the motion sensitive controller for, and I quote, "around two and a half years", they're saying that "the name of the game is not market share, it's how fast we can grow the industry" and that they "want to try and double digital entertainment in the next five to six years" and "whether we have 40, 50, or 60 per cent market share is not that important."

Heheheh... try 10, 20 or 30 percent market share.

Anyway, if this had come before their market share started to plummet? Then it might carry some weight... as it stands, most people (including me) are saying that they're just trying to make their mistakes look planned and trying to make it seem like they don't care they're losing.

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In this week's installment of Sony Says, Phil Harrison claims they didn't copy Nintendo, and that thinking such a thing is, and I quote, "a little stupid". (As if anyone would admit to copying?) In a couple other articles (here and here), he also says that since the PS3 has such power at it's disposal (you know... the Cell processor that's a pain in the butt to code for, and Blu-Ray, of course) that it's essentially a total replacement for the personal computer. They say Linux can be installed on it, as well... and have been saying it for a long time, but I have to wonder... why? They have a special flavor of Linux that is entirely recoded to work on Cell architecture? I doubt it.

Although one good thing has come out of Sony this week... but it still pales in the shadow of the other evils they're spouting. They claim that the rumors about them preventing sale of used games is false. That's good for them, I guess... a little bit. But I wouldn't put it past them to drop information about it, check the reaction, and then make a decision. Yeah... they saw that nobody would buy any games anymore and decided to say "whoops, better not do that after all!" (Just like with the technology they patented that would essentially lock Blu-Ray discs to specific players... aka... no playing your game at your friend's house... they have a patent, but don't plan on using it? Mmhm... When has Sony ever backed down from "Digital Rights Management"?)

It seems that analyists are starting to recommend you sell your Sony stock while the going's good, haha. Apparently it was actually upgraded from a sort of "SELL IMMEDIATELY" status to a plain old sell status, but it's still sweet.

Our action is based on valuation, since the current price of Sony shares is near our 12-month target price of $44. After management's recent fiscal year 2007 (ending March) guidance, we continue to believe that any potential upside in share price would be limited by a lack of visibility in Sony's games division. We are maintaining our fiscal year 2007 (ending March) and fiscal year 2008 earnings per share (EPS) estimates of 72 cents and 78 cents, respectively.

The fanboys are coming out and saying "bashing Sony is getting old guys". Yeah, well... it's time to take your own medicine. I remember the days where fiscal reports were used in an attempt to prove Nintendo's worthlessness. Only this time? The reports actually say that Sony's doing something wrong, tsk tsk. Gee, I wonder what it could be.

(Oh, I'm so incredibly anti-Sony, aren't I...)

read more | digg story