Sony had an interesting conference. Let’s look at it.
Jack Tretton came across very well. The Sony execs could laugh at themselves which is a good thing. This isn’t an E3 2006 Sony. This is a humbled Sony.
A very good sign is that Sony focused on games instead of ‘media hub’. It is a very good thing to focus on games at a game conference! Note that Tretton said that ‘entertainment business’ as opposed to something like ‘computer business’ or ‘technology business’. The focus on games seems to suggest that Sony has realized that the ‘media hub’ strategy isn’t going to provide any sales… except of the kind where people have a Sony Saturn and just use it as a glorified Blu-Ray player without buying any games.
The games showed were the ones fans can get excited over. God of War 3 will definitely sell some Sony Saturns as will Gran Turismo 5. Final Fantasy 13 still looks absurd to me though I’ve been jaded on later Final Fantasy. The game doesn’t seem that well thought out. I mean, look at the black guy with the afro. He belongs in a GTA game, not in a Final Fantasy game. The afro style just ain’t Final Fantasy. Uncharted 2’s little falling building was pretty yawn inspiring to me probably because I’ve seen so many of these type of trailers (I get excited about the content of the game, not whatever tricks they have).
No price drop on the Sony Saturn which is probably infuriating some analysts.
Sony fans have asked me why I do not consider Sony’s original content (from their game studios). After all, Sony’s first party content doesn’t get the same attention as, say, Nintendo’s first party content. What’s the deal? Well, the deal is that Sony’s First Party studios are actually PC gaming orientated studios. This is why when the logo comes up, it says computer company as opposed to console company. Sony’s first party games are computer games… that are on the Sony Saturn.
What is the difference between a console game and a computer game? A console game is something that cannot be done on a PC. Games such as God of War, Gran Turismo, and even Uncharted can be done on the PC. This is why Final Fantasy XIV is not just on the PS3, it is also on the PC. There is no differentiation between the PC and the console with these ‘computer’ games. This is why I think MAG will not be the super killer app people think. It will please owners of the system. But it is not an experience the PC gamer cannot already get.
One of the biggest complaints that is coming from gamers, but is not being expressed by the gaming press (because they are such loners or something), is that Xbox 360 and Sony Saturn games lack local multiplayer. On a computer, networking and playing online is a necessity because multiple people cannot surround a computer (well, we used to do that, but those were back in the Archon days). It should be noted that games that do embrace local multiplayer, such as Halo or Gears of War series, sell quite a boatload. One of the things the Wii does very right, because it is console oriented, is local multiplayer. The fact that ‘hardcore’ do not recognize this lack of local multiplayer, which is a staple of the console, shows how they’ve been conditioned to think of the game machine as a computer.
If a game machine isn’t going to differentiate between the PC and itself, then why do I need to buy that game machine? Why not just buy the PC? “But Malstrom! Malstrom! The game machine is cheaper.” No, it isn’t. Not when you factor in all the other things PCs can do. “But Malstrom! Malstrom! The game machine is simpler. With PCs, you must install it, you must make sure your machine settings are right, and so on!” Maybe for the PlayStation 1 or 2, but not the Sony Saturn. With the Sony Saturn, you have to install your game, you have to get patches, and the Sony Saturn hardware isn’t magical. While it isn’t a 360, but it can fail as well. When my PC fails, it is only a component that can be replaced. When a Sony Saturn fails, yikes!
Sony’s Conference was a breath of fresh air for me to watch especially compared to Microsoft’s conference. I got the ‘sleazy car salesman’ feel when I watched Microsoft’s conference. I did not get that impression with Sony. Sony made fun of their leaks and showed the games. They did not trot out stupid celebrities from a completely different industry in a desperate attempt to gain ‘attention’. I actually felt I was watching a conference instead of one of those ads that come on during late night television (which is what the Natal reminds me of).
But when it came to the hardware, Sony has some problems. The PSP Go is atrocious. The only reason someone might be excited about buying a system that is only digital distribution is that it is cheaper. Yet, the PSP Go is $249.99. Yuck! Worse, the PSP Go is poorly designed as a handheld. Like the original PSP, the screen is still unprotected. The ‘sliding’ mechanism of the buttons will only break and fail like all those ‘sliding’ phones. The less moving parts on the handheld, the better. So what is with the sliding? Why is it necessary to hide the buttons anyway? What offense do the buttons show? They are just buttons! Innoffensive, cute, happy-to-push, buttons. I don’t see why the buttons would get in the way of movie watching. So why make the handheld more fragile just to put on a sliding mechanism that didn’t need it?
Now let us talk about the motion controller. Unlike MarketingSoft’s slick Natal videos, the Sony motion controller is much more down to Earth and quite easier to see that it will be released in some form. (Sony invented motion controls with the EyeToy? Bahahaha). The tech demo is all fine and good. Unfortunately, no one buys tech demos. Why are they showing off this tech demo anyway? But it shows the tech is there.
With the news of Microsoft saying that the 360 controller will still be used (meaning that Natal’s purpose is not to replace the standard controller but be some sort of casual ghetto), Sony said their wand will do the same. Sony distinguished between ‘real games’ and ‘casual games and, thus, end up committing the Casual Fallacy of the Birdmen.
The Wii was not designed to go after ‘casual gamers’ because that term didn’t even exist before the Wii launched. The Wii was to offer games for everyone. Wii Sports is a game that can be played by everyone unlike, say, Zelda. But Nintendo even attempted to make a game like Zelda easier by having the player associate the sword with the controller (shake the controller to swing the sword). The mission of the Wii was to sell to everyone, to not just pigeonhole its sales potential to a certain identified type of ‘gamers’.
The Casual Fallacy is to assume the so-called ‘casual players’, the people who were previously not gamers, are retards. They have no ‘true taste’ and will buy any garbage. The Casual Fallacy is to say, “These people are gamers here,” and over there say, “These people are weak gamers, retarded gamers who are scared of many buttons and hate games with depth.” Usually when someone says ‘casual games’, they are really saying ‘stupid customers’ which is saying ‘demographics that are not traditionally gamers such as mothers and little girls.’ Take it from someone who gets his butt whipped from mothers on Dr. Mario, these ‘casual gamers’ can play a mean game.
If the Casual Fallacy created such slop of early third party Wii games, imagine what it will do to Sony Saturn and 360. It is as if both Sony and Marketingsoft are seeing these controllers, to make a couple token ‘real games’ perhaps, is to make a ‘casual ghetto’. And they think these Wii type customers are so stupid, so lacking in desire of quality, that they will immediately jump into any ‘casual ghetto’.
Birdmen controllers!!! In other words, YOU are too stupid and dumb to play the normal way so therefore, here is this watered down, content-less, casual game for you! The Wii audience rejects such efforts. I am sure the same will apply with the audience for the Sony Saturn and 360.
People don’t play games because they are grandparents, mothers, or female. They don’t play games because interesting universal content isn’t offered to them (violence and gore are not universal appealing content) and because it is very difficult for a newcomer to start. Let us not forget that navigating around a 3d world is extremely difficult for a newcomer.
WRONG (Casual Fallacy) = Treat the customers as if they are retards and morons. The games end up being insulting.
RIGHT = Treat the customers as if the games are where the problem is. The games end up being smash hits because they cleared away the BS the customers saw.