Sony attempts to save E3, but fails

11 Jul 2007

After my Microsoft and Nintendo rants, I didn’t know if anyone could change my thoughts about this year’s E3. Veronica Belmont hinted on today’s Buzz Out Loud, that the word on the show floor is that this may be the last E3. It’s starting to feel that way. Anyway, let’s talk about Sony.

Sony conducted their E3 press event today and did what everyone expected them to do: Pimp Playstation Home. Playstation Home was announced a few months ago and now is in beta. Jack Tretton began the keynote as a Playstation Home avatar and we saw this theme throughout. Home looks cool and all, but we had seen it all before. Sony then announced a new PSP which has improvements (unlike a Halo edition Xbox 360 which is painted a different color) in the form factor, battery life and video performance departments. A welcome change while keeping the same price of $169. Sony announced PSP entertainment packs that I could care less about which included branded PSPs and exclusive games. So far, it was still a yawner in my mind.

Then Phil Harrison stepped on the stage. It all changed from here. Phil went into further details regarding the improvements of Playstation Home including the ability to lauch stuff from within Home (that’s what I expected anyway) but also, cell phone integration. It was a little surprising to see him upload a picture of the audience from his cell phone to PS Home. Not earth shattering, just surprising.

From this point, Sony went in a fury of game announcements and most notably, new games! One that stood out to me was Echochrome. Oh my God. This game made me tingle the same way LittleBigPlanet did earlier this year. It’s a simple puzzle game that screams brilliance and innovation. That’s what I’m talking about people!!! Nintendo, Microsoft, Listen!! They showed a lot of the same games that Microsoft showed, but in a glancing manner if you will. They didn’t focus on Resident Evil 5, or Rock Band, or Call of Duty 4, but focused on new features and unannounced games (save the Motorstorm demo) They showcased a nice Metal Gear Solid 4 trailer which was completely realtime on the PS3, but it wasn’t actual gameplay. The gameplay will come next week. I’m looking forward to seeing it, because the trailer was amazing.

Sony ended the presentation with probably the most impressive title at E3, Killzone 2. Even though I’m not a fan, it still looked impressive. Very impressive. There was more applause during this presentation than all of the others. Notice I didn’t even mention Heavenly Sword, LittleBigPlanet or Gran Turismo which were expected killer titles for PS3. Sony gave us new stuff to drool over and that’s what E3 is/was all about.

Even with Sony’s presentation, it still couldn’t save an overall lackluster E3. Microsoft and Nintendo produced two total yawners and Sony produced an average E3 presentation. It wasn’t enough to save it though. This year’s E3 is officially a bust says this blogger. I fear, it is the nail in the coffin to the whole conference.