Will the 4D controller make the difference?
There were some rumors about the possibility that Sony would embed a mercury switch or some similar device in its PS3 controllers; but all in all, the company managed to keep their design and contents a secret.
Sony Computer Entertainment President Phil Harrison unveiled the new device virtually, as it appeared within a virtual wooden crate rendered by a PS3. As Harrison lifted the model controller on stage, the virtual model that emerged from the crate, lifted with it. The response of the crowd indicated it was not what they were expecting.
As Atari proved decades earlier with the production of what even loving admirers called the disposable joystick, a console manufacturer doesn't have to be the one to produce the perfect controller. This leaves room for third parties to make premium add-ons. What Sony's move does is create room for the spatial control axis, where the attitude in which you hold the controller, can be registered as a motion. From there, perhaps others can be left to perfect the device itself.
A fellow reporter tests the PS3's controller on Warhawk for the first time. As he banks his controller's attitude to the left, the plane follows his moves.
Now that it seems I've let Sony off the hook, let me unfairly put it back: To date, the only (unfinished) game that makes use of the 4D controller is Incognito's Warhawk, which is reminiscent of EA's Firefox decades earlier: You maneuver a wedge of a flying machine around an island littered with ground targets and covered by air support. In the demo, the plane itself was indestructible (at several points, it flew through the side of the mountain); but the point was to give people the feeling of maneuvering the new, wireless controller through the air.
Harrison warned the audience it would be a lighter-weight controller than that created for the PS2. He did not say how much lighter, but as it was held out to me for the first time, I quite literally didn't expect the device to nearly fly out of my hand. I've held heavier disposable drinking cups, or at least it seemed. For me - and for others on the floor - this was a problem. Ironically, high resolution could become this device's undoing as well; in this case, its super-sensitive internal switches were literally translating the shakes and quivers of nervous players, which you could literally see registered in the accurately responsive on-screen plane.
Price point: What does PS3 truly cost?
The big gamble starts with the $499 price tag. As we concluded before, there probably wasn't another possible price point Sony could choose. Up until iSuppli conducts the first teardown analysis of the PS3, no one really knows for certain how much Sony loses for the sale of each console. The free network subscription service means the company will lose even more. So the gamble is on the power of the content to make it worth Sony's while.
Sony's expectations for success are extremely high, though they're based on a few presumptions that, under close scrutiny, cannot be certainties. Between the PS3's date of initial shipment in time for its retail premiere in November, and March 2007, Sony intends to ship six million PS3 units. This, while at the same time, Microsoft only just now managed to push 1.7 million Xbox 360 units in the period between last January and March.
The presumption Sony makes is that a great many of those customers within the first four-and-a-half months of shipment are willing to invest in the highest resolution console ever built, not necessarily for its high resolution. Today, a 32" Sony 1080p HDTV display sells for about $800, but the prices only go up from there. And a Sony Dolby 5.1 surround sound component sells for an average of $375. Sony also expects consumers to purchase at least four games with every system, with an average selling price of about $50 apiece. Let's face reality: This isn't a $500 game system; for most Americans, it's a $1,900 one, at least.
Granted, Sony's projections are for worldwide customers; but even if the US is just a quarter of that market, are one and one-half million Americans truly ready to plunk down at least well over a thousand dollars, at a time when gasoline sells right outside Sony's headquarters for $3.68 per gallon?
On the other hand, Sony's play puts Microsoft in a terrible spot. It is no longer the high-definition game console, although 780 pixels is still what the majority of installed HDTVs currently display. Since Microsoft can't make a play for technology any more - even if it does unveil an HD DVD drive for its console tomorrow (if resolution isn't upgraded, it might not matter), it has to rely on the strength of its upcoming content. Where Microsoft can back out of the hole is possibly by showing more completed titles, ready to ship, to combat the PS3's juggernaut of half-done, or even one-third-done, projects. But if all Microsoft can come up with is more glossy first-person shooters, its $100 price differential might end up giving it not enough of an edge. And for new customers to HDTV, purchasing 1080p displays for the first time, some may come to the conclusion they may as well spend the other $100 on PS3 anyway.
The answer from Microsoft comes Tuesday afternoon, in its own major Hollywood gala unveiling at Grauman's Chinese Theater.
