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Lots of Surprises today at Sony's E3 Press Conference
by Jeff Connors
Los Angeles - May 13, 2003 - Sony certainly saved the best for last with their announcement of a new portable entertainment system (which you can read more about at the end of this report) plus a bunch of other great and exciting news coming our way from Sony.
Kaz Hirai, President of SCEA America took center stage and of course did as all companies do, claimed Sony the winner of the console wars. In Sony’s case they are clearly the leader by all the numbers and Hirai lead with several slides and graphs to prove it. For at least this part you might be thankful you weren’t there because we started way back in 1880 to prove the point. They almost hit the 100 million mark so they have something legitimate to boast about.
Kaz said that for success, Sony would have to find the right path to entertainment conversions. This included the right content, hardware, community and market expansion. As for content, he then went through a who’s who in games for the PS2 for the past year and the coming year. Gran Turismo clearly being the killer app racing game with over 32 million units sold world wide. Which naturally lead to the introduction of Kazunori Yamauchi the producer of Gran Turismo 4.
After discussing the research and technology that Polyphony Digital has been doing for the development of GT4, Yamauchi showed us a video of the research that melded into a glimpse of the game. I must be honest, there where times where I wasn’t sure if I was watching a live resource video of races or a game clip. The graphics and complete realism are that good. The car, the track, the dust, the crowds are all just, well VERY impressive.
I was
also impressed at the additions that will be put into this version of the game.
Yamauchi even want so far as to say that they got some of the car manufacturers
to be ‘satisfied’ with the car physics engine that will be built into the game.
He also said that one of his goals was to have a lot of cars, to the point of
making it sort of a history of cars. In addition, there will be better AI
opponents, more real circuit tracks and even online game play. I am interested
in how that will achieve online game play in this fast action game, but I guess
I will have to wait and see as no details were available.
Check out the new screens released today for Gran Turismo 4
Kaz returned to continue describing Sony’s path with a number of innovative hardware products. This included a repackaged PS2 that will include a better DVD playback with progressive scan, built in IR for remote, less annoying fan with 30db less sound, and the big item – a bundled in Network Adapter. Speaking of online, the USB headset that came with SOCOM will be available for separate sale.
A final cool little item was a little thing called an EyeToy. The inventor of the EyeToy, Dr. Richard Marks came out to explain, correction, show us what this toy was all about. The EyeToy is a USB camera with some software for controlling the system and a game by just moving your hands or body. He showed an example with Kung Fu where he punched out his never ending foe with the flick of his hand or even some head butting. Richard and Kaz demonstrated a whimsical game call Wishi Washi where you use your hand, head and whole body to clean windows ASAP and move to the next level. Whimsical, yes, but this product has a lot of potential in the living room environment. I think we could have a whole new ball game with motion tracking, player image integration, body movement and body game interaction.
After catching his breath from window washing, Kaz got on to the business of community building. Sony has a solid foundation with over 600,000 install base. Kaz believes with critical mass, about 1 million, their online community will really start to take off. With the Network Adapter being bundled in, this isn’t going to be long. Kaz hopes to have 5-10% of the PS2 install base online in the near future. As Sony realizes that content builds community they have a line up that is sure to get you online. SOCOM 2 and Final Fantasy XI an online only game, are just a start. Sony has also signed on 9 EA sports titles as an exclusive to kick start their online gaming strategy.
To prove the point, John Riccitiello, President of Electronic Arts took stage and added to the vision with plans for online tournaments, ladders, and even contests with cash prizes. Oh, and to take advantage of that headset, EA will include Sport Talk in every game so you can ‘trash talk’ your opponent as you crash them on the field. This was put through the paces with live alpha code demonstrations of Madden NFL 2004, NBA Live 2004 - played against Dan in Chicago, NASCAR Thunder 2004 with Trevor in San Fran, NCAA Football 2004 with Jimmy in Austin, FIFA Soccer 2004 with Christoff and Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2004 with none other that Tiger Woods all the way from Florida. Certainly this must be a game since Tiger actually choked and came up inches short on a ten foot putt.
Now the big one. Ken Kutaragi, President and CEO of SCE wanted all to know that Sony was pushing for more market expansion with a bigger studio, more 3rd party support and a new baby to celebrate a ten year gaming platform anniversary. ‘No not a PS3’, a PSP. Yep, a PS Portable. Just because Sony likes to come up with new media formats, this baby comes with a new optical disc format called Universal Media Disc or UMD. So the new portable will come with a 1.8GB disc player, advance 3D graphics and MPEG4 support on a 480x272 (16:9) wide screen, TFT LCD screen measuring 4.5 inches, 3D sound support, one chip CPU support rivaling the PS2, USB IO, and memory stick support. This one is a ways off for release but what a way to end a 2003 E3 press conference.
For more information on the PSP - check out the Press Release Announcment made today
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