Jetlag means I'm not entirely sure what day it is, but what was Sony's excuse? Today's conference was a muddled mess that essentially confirmed widespread rumours of a problematic PS3 launch build-up. The games shown were of varying quality, with perhaps only Heavenly Sword really showing the undoubted potential of the PS3. But even that failed to match the expectations of the audience, whose hopes Sony had so cleverly risen last year. Even though we all knew Killzone and the other stunning titles shown last year were videos we wanted to believe that PS3 could offer something similar in a playable form. Sadly, on today's evidence, 360 owners shouldn't worry about missing out, as the PS3's visuals seem broadly similar to their machine. Impressive then, but not the leap we had truly hoped for.
Elsewhere the conference did at least give us some hard facts. The launch date - 17th November in Europe and US - and price - 499 and 599 euros, probably subtract 100 off each for the eventual price in pounds. Two prices you say? Yes, like the 360, the PS3 comes in two flavours, one with a 20 GB hard drive and the other with a 60 GB. And like the 360 this is only likely to confuse the consumer and annoy developers who have to aim for the lower spec.
"Online gaming is as essential as the air we breathe" was one quote, and there was much talk of the network. A shop page was shown that was reminiscent of Live Arcade although its integration into Singstar, complete with community elements, suggested it could go much further than the 360.
More gimmicky was the use of a PSP as a real-time wing mirror for the F1 PS3 game. Of course, there is potential here, but you got the impression that Sony has got a nice tech-what the-hell-do-we-do-with-it problem. I still have high hopes for the PSP/PS3 linkup though, if only for the potential of play on train, continue on big screen at home.
The biggest surprise was the controller. Not the style - which was revealed beforehand to anyone who watched the "hand-cam" shots used to prove the games shown were actually being played - but the motion sensor inclusion that lets you control by tilting the pad. A rather unconvincing demo was shown with the developer of Warhawk playing his game in a style familiar to anyone who has ever handed their pad to their parent. Quite how sensitive and practical this will be remains to be seen. Despite the undoubted technical achievement of putting this all in a traditional sized dualshock pad you couldn't help think Nintendo, even if the controllers use different technologies. There was even an Xbox style button in the middle of the pad. Imitation is the sincerest form etc, but from a company who lead the games industry to such a degree it was surprising to see this amount of respect for their competitors.
It wasn't quite all PS3 though. Don't forget PS2, said Sony, but the subdued reaction from the audience suggested everyone already had. Sony will be supporting PS2 for years to come, with God of War 2 etc, but tellingly no PS2 games were shown in action with Sony preferring to show PSP, a format far less suitable for showing on a big screen.
I'll blog up some hands-on impressions after the show starts on Weds, but for now I'd say the happiest people in LA tonight are those who work for Mr Gates.
