Playstation 3 (or: Anything Wii can do, we can do better)

E3 this week. Biggest, most draining week in the gaming calendar. Not a chance of getting any serious work done.

First up, Sony annoucing their PS3s. First up, the facts:

• Two versions

• 20GB version - EUR499 / 60GB version - EUR599

• 20GB version will not have

  • Wireless

  • Memory Stick / SD Storage

  • HDMI out

• Same controller as the PS2 except with Wireless, no rumble feature and - get this - a tilt sensor Releasing two versions of the same console is a smart move. Especially when you choose to remove such non-essential features (the Xbox 360’s retardo Core pack didn’t include a Hard Drive, meaning developers couldn’t develop games using this feature.) Although the lack of HDMI output struck me as a little weird since this limits the PS3 as a Blu-Ray player. And let’s face it, half of the point of the PS3 is as a way to sell the Blu-Ray format to consumers.

But the news about the controller is just funny. With so much pre-E3 talk focusing on Nintendo’s new Wii-mote controller and how it would change the way we play games like Zelda, it’s not surprising to hear Sony announce something similar. But this is so obviously a knee-jerk reaction, it’s hard not to hear the collective groan rising up from bulletin boards across the internet. From 1up’s report of the Sony press conference:

Ken Kutaragi is out showing off the last PlayStation controller, and basically looks like a sliver version of the Dual Shock 2. What's different? Sony has basically taken Nintendo's idea of a movable controller, and introduced the gyroscope technology into the PlayStation 3 controller. Yes, you read that right.

Kutaragi is looking smug.

‘Sup Nintendo?

update: this does not look like a lot of fun