E3 2005 - PS3 and XBOX360 discussion found here Thanks Beard of Dan Higgs!

Ugh...I'm really tired, have a slight headache, and am starting to get double-vision from doing so much reading on my monitor...but I couldn't be any happier. This is something I've been waiting for a long time.

Ok, I haven't been streaming anything, so I can't comment too much on any new stuff from Microsoft (although some of the news from them does sound good). I'll probably reserve most of my comments regarding their conference tomorrow, if I get the chance.

For the PS3.

1st off, I really like the console design, especially the black one. The controller, on the other hand, is well...um...yeah. I just hope it feels better in my hands than how it looks.

Next, the hardware specs. I'm slightly disappointed in some of these specs since there seem to be some things that didn't quite meet expectations (3.2 GHz clockspeed of Cell, plus only 7 SPE's that can be used, or maybe even just 6). GPU sounds ok, although probably needs more clarification. It seems like there could be some issues with the bandwidth, but it sounds like more info may be needed. Here's to hoping that we can get at least a small increase in some of these specs later on, kind of like how the EE clock speed got bumped up a little bit.

The whole USB, Bluetooth, Wireless, Memory Stick Duo/Pro, etc., stuff sounds awesome. I'd like some clarification on the 2.5" HDD though. Some places made it sound like it would be included, while others made it sounds like an add-on. Here's to hoping it is included though, so we could possibly get better looking games. No real surprise about Blu-ray either, although I'd like some clarification on the speed of the drive. I've read 6x, which would be really awesome, but I'm not seeing that in the official Sony press release. 6x would be so awesome though, especially for streaming and whatnot.

Perhaps the most impressive things I've seen from Sony are the tech demos. These pics are what I expected from next-gen and really outshine the stuff shown from the MTV special, although I've yet to see anything in motion yet (sounded like it looked great AND ran at decent framerates). According to IGN, it sounded like everything was realtime too. Freaks me out to think what they'll be able to do with the final GPU some more time to work on the devkits.

Apparently, there was some impressive demos from Cell too, despite what seemed to be a "underpowered" (in my eyes anyways) version of it. 10 HD streams at once, plus 1000 thumbnail movies. I also read that they showed a tech demo where everything shown was done just by Cell alone, and apparently that looked great too. And last, but not least, I love what I'm hearing about the Eyetoy. It sounds like that will add some interesting styles of gameplay to go along with the PS3's power.

Finally, the dev support for Sony sounds amazing. I didn't quite expect to see so much support for it so soon, especially consider how difficult Cell will be to develop for plus how easy XNA makes things. Plus, Unreal Engine is already being shown on the PS3, which is great, especially since it should mean support from Epic, which should mean the possibility of other PC developers considering the PS3 as a target for their games. I bet many of them were sold once they heard from Tim Sweeney.

Of course, several my impressions will be impacted by what Microsoft showed tonight. I haven't even seen everything from the PS3 yet, including nothing in motion, so I need more time before finalizing my impressions on everything. Going by the MTV special, Sony seems to have flat out owned Microsoft. From what I can tell, they just seem to know how to create hype and market the PS3 much better than Microsoft. How they managed to keep all this a secret and present everything amazes me. Sony has almost convinced me that the next-gen war is already over, depending on what Nintendo does tomorrow. Whatever Microsoft showed, it better be really awesome, or else I could imagine many people just waiting for the PS3.

Oh boy, and this was just day 1, although technically, E3 hasn't really even started. And I still have a LOT more downloading to do for day 1. My internet connection is going to be in overdrive.

 

I was thinking about making 3 separate threads (or maybe 4 including a general one) on E3, but I didn't think we'd get anywhere near as much information and media as we have been getting. Darn Sony and their wonderful marketing.

Going by a few pics of the Microsoft conference and the pics/trailers I've seen from Sony, I'd like to say that I'm confident in saying that Sony has put on a much better show so far than Microsoft. Some of the best games I've seen from the Xbox 360 are also available on the PS3 it seems (Oblivion, GoW), and most likely at a better framerates. Most of the other stuff from Microsoft still just looks like really good current gen stuff, while Sony's stuff has been bringing us into the next-generation, IMO.

Now Nintendo is up. I like their design as well; in fact, I think each console looks pretty decent. I'd probably rank them PS3, Rev, and X360, although they're all pretty sleek. I'd like to see what Nintendo has in store for us, especially if they have something that can rival some of the Eyetoy stuff that Sony showed. The 2-3 times more powerful comment I read does seem a little worrisome though.

I saw that and was impressed. One interesting picture I saw was this:

Makes me wonder if you can have all that working at the same time. If so, that would be an interesting game.

I've been reading that the GTA game was misquoted and Rockstar hasn't promised one yet. Would have been even sweeter for the PS3 if it was true.