E3 Conference Impressions: Sony

Alright, the last one of the big 3, the one I was the least excited about watching yet still had some surprises up it's sleeve.  These guys have lost a lot of ground and status business-wise, but the next year may prove to be different.

Sony

Alright, watching this live while I'm typing this (and the last one to be honest) and I'm already forgetting parts of the presentation.  Sure, their speakers are better than the other two, but their presentations are not memorable to me.  It's very much a business proposal, and although there are a lot of fan favorites that are worth being excited about, the way it's being shown to the audience is not a way for me to remember what I am actually excited about.

One of the funniest things is going to the Sony presentation right after the Nintendo one, where they brag about 3d without glasses, and in the first video Sony asks the audience to put on their 3D glasses.  I can't vouch for how awesome the graphics were, because I wasn't there and they didn't bother mailing me glasses.  But the audience reception sounded good.  I don't think it'll catch one if everyone needs glasses to enjoy.  It's just one of those little things that seems annoying enough to prevent play.

Sony is doing with the Mov what I suggested Microsoft should do with the Kinect: make it their own and stepping away from where Wii dominates.  They even joke about how it's superior to Kinect because it has buttons, and how their games have vital features like arms and necks.  A good example of making the Mov different enough is the game Sorcery.  All you are is a dude with a wand and you're able to easily control a ton of stuff.  Also, the demos with the Mov didn't look over-rehearsed like Kinect did.  They don't have to prove too much--the tech they're using is almost identical to the Wii so we know it works and we now know people will buy motion games--they just have to make the games exciting and new.  Sorcery did that.  Heroes on the Move did as well.  Using the Mov for FPSs helps too, because Wii hasn't been super successful in that venture and Kinect hasn't proven you can shoot without a trigger yet.

Also, the speech about being a gamer, and taking pride in it, was hilarious.  Definitely was cheering along with the crowd on that one.

After that speech, however, it was just rambling of video game after videogame coming out for the system.  Sure, they have a ton of exclusives now, and they have great stuff out on the PSP as well (God of War is always a winner), but the data overload was WAY too much for me.  I couldn't deal with it.  Maybe it's because I watched all three conferences today, because the audiences loved the presentations. I think part of it was because a good number of people felt Microsoft had abandoned them, and seeing that Sony wasn't taking away their hardcore games made them extremely happy.  Sony didn't have to do much to make their gamers think everything was gold.  Meanwhile, here I am sitting at home trying to remember something that's worth typing, and my brains turning to mush as Jack Tretton appeals to his stockholders more than his gamers.

However, I am surprised they are the only one with a network interactive booth for their console fans.  Why hasn't anyone else though of something like this?  It's not that hard to do!  Well, when you're made of money, that is.

The end with Twisted Metal, although a lot of fun, just wasn't the way to end that conference unfortunately.  They should've ended it with something super new, like the last two.  Then again, they didn't know months in advance what the other two big guys were going to do.  Hindsight is 20/20.

Am I going to go out of my way to buy anything Sony showed today?  No.  My respect for them is still growing, but I'm not going to go out of my way to purchase their products.

In conclusion

I find myself impressed and bored at the same time.  Sony's business plan in impressive in the sense that they've stopped looking super pathetic and are basically sticking to games they know that they can do well.  However, the presentations of all the games, and the ad campaigns to go along with them (really?), left me bored.  I want some more excitement.  In fact, their presentation style has the same problem the Nintendo one from two years ago had: not exciting the customer base enough.  You have to know base is watching E3.  Treat them to remind them why they like your product.