Sony's "Gamer's Day" Starts Tomorrow (10/19), Last Event for PS3 Before Launch

This was announced nearly a month ago at TGS, but in case you missed it, Sony will be having their annual Gamer's Day event tomorrow in San Francisco. What makes this event more special than normal is that the PS3 will be launching in less than a month. In fact, if I'm not mistaken, I believe the event is almost exclusively about the PS3. I want to say that this will be the time and place where Sony lays it all out regarding PS3 game prices, accessory prices, their network, their plans on Linux (outside of this, which is awesome), etc., but I thought they'd do all that at TGS and they didn't. I'm hoping we'll find out all that info now instead of just a week or two before launch (or maybe not even until launch).

So anyway, the specifics on the event are a little hard to find at the moment. I think it might be an all-day sort of thing (starting early in the morning), but I've also seen schedules for events that don't start until around 1:30PM CST IIRC. FWIW, one of the 1UP guys seemed to recommend being around a computer at around 4PM-5PM IIRC.

While we wait, I'll go ahead and post some small but interesting PS3-related things that haven't been posted here before. In case you missed them, 2 recent threads I made that I think are worth checking out (assuming you're interested in the PS3 or what it has to offer):
Yellow Dog Linux v5.0 Support for PS3 at Launch
[Eurogamer] PS3 Online: How it Works
I'll spoiler tag the rest of my post for right now since I put a whole lot of stuff in it:

Spoiler

A lot of sites are starting to get their own PS3s to check out (usually accompanied by a rep from Sony). A couple of Japanese sites got to play around with them recently, and one of them from a week or so ago showed off Fantavision (a PS2 launch title) running off the PS3 (just to show BC works I guess, although no details on any possible enhancements). PSM just recently put together this ~20 minute video, most of which is spent navigating the PS3's UI:
http://www.psmpodcast.com/?p=17
If you'd rather check out screens of the UI (as well as of the system itself and the controller), you can check out the following thread at NeoGAF:
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=124534
Some info from IGN regarding the UI and some of the multimedia function (EX: ripping music from CDs):
http://ps3.ign.com/articles/740/740005p1.html
(info is basically all taken from the screens or videos)

Some comments from Blitz Games about what they expect from Sony's version of XBLA:
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=20453

To avoid confusion, I did read that "there are DEFINITELY quite a few retro games coming, don't worry.
But they are making a push for more original content."

Screens and info from some of the downloadable PS3 games (basically their XBLA-esque games), which were recently leaked:
(spoiler tag used in case you don't want to see the screens every time)
Blast Factor

Spoiler

Lemmings 2

Spoiler

No info yet.

flOw

Spoiler

This game was playable at TGS, and there are several videos of it online, as well as the original flash game that this was based on. Pretty fun game from what I could tell.

Swizzleblocks

Spoiler

No info

Criminal Crackdown

Spoiler

No info yet, although it is being rumored that this is David Jaffe's game that he was working on. For those that don't know, David Jaffe is the creator of God of War, and he is working on a game downloadable through the PS3's online service.

There are 3 other games I didn't mention: Wheel of Fortune, Go Sudoku, and Gripshift. That is the same Gripshift that is on the PSP BTW, which I love. The PS3 version will have "new content, better graphics, improved controls, better soundtrack, online play etc. Basically taking the game to the next level, while addressing consumer feedback from the PSP version where we can (we collected about 60 pages worth in a doc)."

I believe Sony is planning to talk a lot about these games since they've yet to talk about the PS3 "Arcade." Along with those games, I think these 3rd party titles are planned to be at the event:
Blazing Angels
Call of Duty 3
College Hoops 2K7
F.E.A.R.
Fight Night Round 3
Full Auto 2
Madden '07
Marvel: Ultimate Alliance
Mobile Suit Gundam
NBA 2k7
NBA Live 07
Need For Speed: Carbon
NHL 2K7
Oblivion
Ridge Racer 7
Sonic The Hedgehog
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas
Tony Hawk's Project 8
Untold Legends: Dark Kingdom
Virtua Fighter 5
Virtua Tennis 3

I believe there's supposed to be an EA event tonight which might include some new details on their PS3 games. Also, apparently the PS3 version of Tony Hawk's Project 8 will make great use of the PS3's controller:
http://www.gamespot.com/ps3/sports/...topslot;action;2&om_act=convert&click=topslot (video available later tonight)
I'd probably rather it be online instead of an offline game that takes advantage of the Sixaxis controller. I guess the PS3 version of Project 9 (or whatever it is called) will be the PS3 skateboarding game to get...that, or EA's SKATE, which comes out early next year IIRC.

In case you forgot, I believe Best Buy will be setting up PS3 kiosks starting this Friday.

PS3 Advertisement:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=76H6JV66_0Y

For those wondering how the PS3 power supply would look considering how big the 360's PS is, here is a pic of it:

Apparently, the thing on the left is what is inside the PS3, providing the power. It is supposed to be some sort of new architecture for providing power I guess. As far as size and possibly heat goes (would that create a lot of heat?), seems like a good decision. On the other hand, it better be reliable. If there are problems with it, you pretty much have to buy a new PS3; on the other hand, if the 360's power supply is jacked up, you can just replace the power supply.

Finally, I just want to say that I hate Japan. I mean...I love it...but I hate Japan. Apparently you can (or could) buy a 60GB PS3 for like $500 over there from Amazon (the Japanese division of course). As I said in another thread, this probably isn't a fair comparison given the differences in the US economy and the Japanese economy (not to mention the transportation costs); however, just about every time I see a price for the PS3 in Japan, I get a little angry inside. First it was the price drop to ~$415 for the 20GB SKU. Then one retailer charging like ~$520 for the 60GB SKU...and now Amazon is selling (or was selling...for like 10-20 minutes) 60 GB PS3s for ~$505. Why can't we get a $450/$550 PS3 setup? What ever happened to Japanese retailers raping the gamers due to the low supply and the open price tag? I did see one place that was charging like $700+ for it, but that's not quite the norm that I thought it would be.

Don't mind me, just another senseless rant.

I'm experimenting with the spoiler tags as you can tell, trying to find other uses for them besides their intended use(s). If you hate this idea, I'll go ahead and make posts like I normally do I guess. Just thought this might make things a little "cleaner."

 

I think I might have gotten the times wrong. Instead of 5-6PM, it might be more like 4-5PM when info starts hitting the net. I must have forgotten to switch from EST to CST.

Regarding the EA event I was talking about, Gamevideos.com has a few new videos of Def Jam (which was recently revealed), and the PS3 versions of Fight Night 3, NFS:Carbon, and Madden 07. If you've seen the 360 versions of those games, it might not be worth checking out though. Here's the link to their homepage, with links to the videos on the left:
http://www.gamevideos.com/

 

Early news from the event:
http://ps3.ign.com/articles/740/740455p1.html

Press Release:

 

Ok seems likes the presentation is over. Guess I'll give some impressions...

Good to have a Blu-ray movie bundled with the system; they could have done better than Talladega Nights, but I guess they could have done worse too. Too bad I won't be one of the first 500K.

I'm not really affected by this, but it seems stupid to not include component (or HDMI) cables in the system. I think the cables should be cheap to buy (assuming you don't have one from the PS2 or whatever), but that's not really the point. Not really a big deal, but with Sony pushing HD, this seems kind of stupid. Prices for accessories and games seemed about right.

The UI stuff sounds like some of the stuff we've already seen, which I've liked. The stuff about video thumbs playing in real-time sounds neat (next-gen menu system ). The slideshow stuff they showed at TGS was really cool, and I'm imagining that's what they showed today.

I like how we were just recently talking about accessing youtube on the PS3, and voila, Sony shows off the ability to watch them on the PS3. I've kind of disregarded the inclusion of a fully-functional web browser built-in to the system, but this might be much better than I thought. Probably sucks to see youtube videos on a 60+" 1080p TV though. Also, I found the jokes Sony made about themselves pretty funny (if you don't know what I'm talking about, look up the video mentioned in the report).

Streaming media to the PSP is all sorts of awesome. Unfortunately, it sounds like you won't be able to access media on the PS3 with a PSP from a hotspot right away, but that would be something available later on. Guessing this means we could sort of watch TV on our PSPs, assuming we have everything set up just right (might need Linux?).

Cool to see some of the PC/PS3 stuff happening with the Xfire stuff. Finally some mention of PS1 downloads, although it sucks that you can't play them on your PS3 right away. Also, no mention of how to download them if you don't have a PS3.

I need to find out more about the sharing downloaded games with 5 friends part. Probably a misunderstanding, although if not, that would be awesome ($3 or less per game ).

Looks like they didn't mention Linux at all. Nothing about BC either. Couple of other things too I think.

There's supposed to be a QA session later I believe, and I'm sure there will be much more to check out if there are any videos/pics of this event (get to see how to connect to youtube or whatever). I have an exam later, so I won't be able to update anything until later tonight (if there's anything worth updating anyway).

 

I think all Blu-ray movies are in 1080p, no?

I personally don’t have a problem with the movie selection. I like Will Ferrell’s movies, and I haven’t had a chance to watch Talladega Nights yet, so I’d love having that bundled in with my PS3. Being in HD (on a 50GB disc no less) is just the icing on the cake.

Other people might have a problem with it since out of all the awesome HD movies Sony could put out, they put out TN, a comedy with Will Ferrell, instead of something like maybe Underworld (1 or 2). Click wouldn’t have been bad either….actually, just any movie with Kate Beckinsale in HD would have been nice.

Yeah, I love the XMB too. Some people don't seem to like it for some reason, but it looks awesome on the PSP and the PS3 IMO (especially on those beautiful Bravia 1080p LCDs).

Agreed on the sound options. I know next to nothing about audio, but I noticed some big audiophiles freaking out over the options, and considering buying a new, very expensive sound system to take advantage of some of those features. I think something like LPCM 7.1 192khz freaked people out...it looked crazy next to the options, but I have no idea how that compares to "normal" audio.

Yeah, I stopped short of referring to it as Location Free TV. I’m hoping Sony will allow for the PS3 to act as one, but if not, I’m hoping you could get similar functionality with some combination of Linux apps. I’ve already seen people speculating about the PS3 being able to use a USB TV tuner to become a DVR, so if that works, all it would need to do is stream the media to the PSP (which apparently it can already do).

Good question. I hadn't even thought about that. You'd think with how much time the Sony guys have wasted in the last 2-3 PR events, they'd address some of these smaller issues. This stuff is more important than the stuff Ken Kutaragi babbled on about at TGS for 45 minutes.

I'm hoping that if Sony doesn't support this directly, that they'll leave enough open through the Linux OS to allow the Linux community to come up with a way to do this.

It doesn't seem to be getting a lot of attention (except from me ), but the Linux support for the PS3 could really end up being huge down the line. A "killer app" if you will, which the PS3 could certainly use.

If I'm not mistaken, Sony (or SPE to be specific) recently purchased a Youtube-esque site called Grouper:
http://grouper.com/
http://grouper.com/about/pressrelease_sony.aspx
Might be something, might be nothing. Wouldn't be a bad idea though, like you said.


I'm back on 56k, so I can't really check out all the new media that is coming out. I've read some impressions, and they all sound very positive. No Heavenly Sword though. Resistance, F1, MotorStorm, Warhawk, and Lair all looked good from what I could tell, and Genji looked "improved."

I saw 2 pics of the PS Store, and as Eurogamer stated, it does look pretty nice. I'm not all that familar with the XBL Marketplace, but some people did state that the PS Store looked much better. You guys can be the judge I guess:



Gamespot has a video feature with tons of stuff, including video of the UI and videos of several games. It is from their latest On the Spot feature I believe (can't check it out myself ). I guess one of the interesting bits is that RR7 will allow you to install parts of the game to the HDD to reduce load times. COD3, TH8 (as mentioned), Madden, NBA 07, NHL 2K7, Tiger Woods, NBA 2K7 (as previously mentioned) and some other games take advantage of the Sixaxis controller for some interesting gameplay elements. Also, NBA2K7 will be in 1080p at 60FPS. VC proving why they're the best sports game developer I guess...though the sweat reacting to the light in real-time on FN3 makes it interesting I guess.

Give me another 24 hours or so, and I'll try to catch up on some of the stuff shown.

 

OK, I've been reading up on some more things, and it looks like there are some more negatives about the PS3.

First off, there are no BC enhancements, at least at this moment. I'm hoping this means that Sony is having the PS2 hardware in the PS3 run the games, but that they're working on a software solution that would provide these enhancements in a later update. I guess it is better to have 95+% of games BC w/o enhancements than to have 40% of games BC with enhancements, but I'm still a little diappointed by this.

Secondly, apparently the PS3 will not upscale DVDs at all, which makes almost no sense. The 360 upscales them, I think all HD-DVD/BR players upscale them, and even some DVD players upscale them. It is more than capable to upscale them, but for some reason, is isn't support, at least not right now. Hopefully people will complain about it, and Sony might add it in a firmware update...that, or our friend Linux might be able to help.

Finally, I believe that the part about being able to share a game download with up to 5 different PS3s is not as great as it sounds. If I understood it correctly, you have to be logged in to that PS3 to download it. So basically, if you go to a friend's house, you have to log in to download it. Your friend won't be able to play it if you aren't around I believe.

 

Last update unless this thread picks up...

First off, I guess there could be some BC enhancements. When asked about this, Sony replied with the vague statement that BC would run games "in their original form," which IGN took as meaning no enhancements. IGN has since asked for clarification from Sony, thinking that maybe they jumped the gun. I'm just going to assume it is as IGN originally reported, and if there are enhancements on day one, that would be just be a plus. No need to get disappointed by this news twice.

As I mentioned earlier, apparently you will be allowed to install parts of games onto the HDD to help load times. Several games will store game data on the HDD under the "Game Data Utility" name (some ranging from just a few KBs or even several GBs). Genji is one such title, and will install 4GB of data onto the HDD, cutting down the load times from 15 seconds to just 4. Virtua Fighter 5 will also require a "short-cache load-up before running ... after which, it ran lickety-split from character to character." Full Auto 2 will install ~1.7GB on the HDD, and as mentioned earlier, RR7 will also use this feature. If it wasn't obvious before, it might be best to use a HDD larger than the 20GB HDD in the $500 SKU. Since you can just sell that and buy any 3rd party 2.5" SATA HDD (Newegg FTW!), that doesn't mean you have to buy the $600 PS3; I think there are some 120GB HDDs at Newegg for around $90, and they might be better than the 60GB HDD in the premium SKU.

Also, apparently the PSOne downloads will be under $10, with "most" going for less than $5. Not sure if that is good...only other similar service is the service from Nintendo for NES/SNES/N64/etc. titles, and I forgot how much their charging for the games. In any case, if I can get "most" PSOne games downloaded for under $5 and be able to play them on my PSP and PS3 (possibly with enhancements), that would be awesome. FWIW, Sony seems like they want to get the entire PS1 catalogue up for download assuming licensing doesn't screw anything up. It would be awesome if something like Suikoden 1 and 2 were offered for $5-$10 (think they go for like $70+ on eBay...probably way more than that). They'll need to get this going for the PS2 too so I can play all the Shin Megami Tensei/Digital Devil Saga games...or basically any game from Atlus. Again, another reason to go for a big HDD I guess.

Some interesting (and possibly negative) news is that one of the SCEA PR guys (forget who...maybe Trenton) noted that the 2M shipping target for the end of 2006 is really more of a target than what they're expecting to ship. If true, that's pretty scary. I think some of the other people at Sony have said otherwise, but still...

At this point, you might have read that the batteries in the PS3 controller, unlike the Wii and 360 controllers (IIRC), are not removable. When they go out, the controller is basically junk (unless you want to play it with a USB cable connected I think). However, Sony has said that this would take "several years," and if/when it does happen, they'll replace it for you. That's nice to know, especially with the controllers costing $50. Now we just have to pray they don't explode in our hands (bad joke).

Apparently, there is no new Eyetoy in development for the PS3 at this time. That's not to say there won't be any new cameras for the PS3 however. I think there are at least 3 cameras that Sony has already shown off (one for Eye of Judgment, one at E3 2K5, and an infrared one at another show), but none of them are the new Eyetoy. Basically, I guess the PS3 will support a number of cameras, each with different capabilities. This does include the PS2 Eyetoy camera, as well as just about any USB camera I believe.

Regarding the PSN:

Both quotes above are from the following interview:
http://www.gameinformer.com/News/Story/200610/N06.1020.0101.55287.htm

The PSN will not have a gamer score like XBL, and while they're interested in achievements, they'll leave those up to the developers. Their reasoning is that people who play Madden don't care about how well people play Resistance (or something like that). I haven't had any experience with achievements or gamer scores, so while I think this is a loss, I don't know how big of a deal it is. Seems like it could be half-way supported at best, but it still won't be the same.

Some Madden and NBA 2K7 impressions:
Madden
http://ps3.ign.com/articles/740/740585p1.html

NBA 2K7
http://ps3.ign.com/articles/740/740608p1.html

I checked out a few videos, but nothing really caught my eye. MotorStorm and Resistance look slightly better than they did a couple of weeks ago, and in the case of MotorStorm, the game looks a little more fun (better sense of speed). I’m still working on getting Gamespot’s “On the Spot” feature downloaded (their servers suck)…hopefully it will have some nice stuff in it.


Finally, I leave you with what the marketing geniuses at Sony have come up with to help promote the PS3 against the 360:

 

I believe the 360 can (or will in a future update) upscale as long as it is connected with a VGA cable. Without looking into it though, I'm not sure if that is the same way regular upscaling players do it (probably not).

And if nothing else, I was getting that info from IGN:
http://ps3.ign.com/articles/740/740601p4.html

It isn't like they've never been wrong before, but I'm guessing this would have been corrected by now if that was the case (they corrected the part about BC enhancements quickly). I also don't recall anyone disputing this fact on some other boards.

 

Sure, although at this point, it is probably too early to draw comparisons since there are a lot of things not equal (EX: FN3 looks/plays better on PS3, but the 360 version came out 8-9 months ago).

I think only a few obvious comparisons could be made at this point (size, weight, noise, heat, UI, controller, etc.). Basically any of the non-gaming stuff I guess.

What are some of the unified standards across all games provided by XBL? And are they actually worth paying $50 a year to have? Just another curious question I have about XBL.

Plus, it isn't always a bad thing to leave things up to the publisher (EA stayed away from XBL because of this, until MS finally gave EA what they wanted).

 

I actually was looking for a description of how XBL does things, not how PSN does (or appears to do) things. You seemed to suggest that there were unified standards across all games on XBL, and I was just wondering what they were and how they compared to how the PS3's online service did things (were they important enough to pay $50 a year for?). I'm guessing there is more to this than the few things mentioned already (at least one of which apparently doesn't matter).

This is something that definitely needs clarification IMO. Sounds like some games (like Resistance) have special in-game buddy lists (which might differ from the PSN buddy list, although they'd both be based on the same data due to the universal login), while others may just use the regular PSN buddy list. Basically a global buddy list and a game-specific buddy list I guess (not sure if that is really useful, but whatever). Some people have asked Ted Price about this, but I believe he misunderstood the question and made things even more confusing.

It sounds like you could always just add people in the XMB menu, but how you add them in the middle of a game might vary...I guess.

They have the choice of providing their own servers or using Sony's servers (as well as using dedicated servers or using P2P, as some/most 360 games use IIRC).

I imagine that's also why Sony is providing multiple networking APIs (such as Xfire and Gamespy).Developers/publishers can then pick which one offers them the features they want to include in their game(s), much like how they can pick and choose from the various game engines available. This is different from XBL of course, but also very different from the PS2 (not sure if Sony ever tried to help other publishers get their games online in the PS2 era).

They both have the same philosophy if that is what you mean. That doesn't mean they offer the exact same experience though. I think there were a number of things that led to the PS2's poor online service (some of which were touched on in the Eurogamer article in the OP); I don't think we can attribute it solely for having an open policy. After all, the PS2 forced you to register for pretty much every game (which I imagine was a pain in the butt to manage), while the PS3 will have a universal login system, even though it has the same online philosophy that the PS2 had. And that seems to be a pretty big difference between the two; it certainly allows for things not possible on the PS2 thanks to the separate logins.

In terms of open vs closed networks, the PS3's online service is definitely more like the PS2's online service than XBL. Now as far as the functionality provided by the PS3's online service compared to the functionality provided by the PS2’s online service...

I threw in the $50 comment as a way of signifying how important these unified standard provided by XBL are. For example, not sure if this is one such standard, but say every game on XBL allows for custom soundtracks. If that was the only difference between XBL and the PSN, would it be worth the difference in price between the two services? I wouldn't think so, but maybe if you threw in achievements, a universal login, text/video/voice chat, etc., it probably would be.

Basically, I'm trying to get a grasp of how the two services are alike and how they are different. In the cases where they differ, which service appears to have the advantage(s)? And are those advantages worth paying for (gamer score-no, achievements-yes?)?

As I've noted, I'm a complete noob in this area. I’m just trying to get the facts straight since it is pretty difficult to compare them based on bulleted lists.