E3 2003: Sony Conference Report

This morning SCEA revealed their E3 line-up, showed GT4 for the first time, and announcced a new disc-based handheld console, PSP - details inside.

This morning at the ass crack of dawn, Sony invited the world press to their Pre-E3 conference at LA Center Studios, Downtown. The conference was much better than in past years, with a much more acceptable balance of time spent discussing stats and business updates, against new games and announcements.

SCEA President Kaz Hirai introduced attendees to the event and jumped straight into SCE's annual business update, unsurprisingly citing that PlayStation is still number one, and that things can only get better. "With the battle for console supremacy decided, we are departing from the status quo in an effort to broaden the in-home entertainment market", he explained.

The big announcement this year however was when PS-Daddy and Sony-Daddy-to-be Ken Kutaragi himself took the stage to introduce a brand new, disc-based handheld console, called PSP - PlayStation Portable. More on this in just a moment.

With a lavish and vibrant set-up, the conference stage followed a similar format to last year's briefing and looked the part, setting the scene for some quality PlayStation news. After the stats were out of the way, Hirai welcomed Kazunori Yamauchi, President of Polyphony Studios onto the stage for the world premier of Gran Turismo 4.

After a video showcasing the history of the GT series, Yamauchi discussed the ridiculous lengths his team has gone to in making GT4 a true step up for the driving simulation, emphasising the research and meticulous development process in making GT4 a game that's going to kick your ass. New fully enhanced features focus on more cars, courses, race modes and the added bonus of online gameplay.

When he finally showed the GT4 footage, the audience was unanimously blown away by what can only be described as the most photo-realistic racing game ever seen. If it plays one fifth as good as it looks, it'll play ace - and let's face it, considering Polyphony's track record, and with this much effort gone into R&D, it's going to play like a dream. We'll have this footage along with loads more GT4 footage for you shortly.

Surprisingly, no time was given for Ratchet 2 or Jak 2, despite the fact that both are impeccable examples of what sequels should be. Hopefully they will get their due attention on the showfloor.

Next up was EyeToy - not especially news in itself (it's been at two European media events in the last couple of months) but for most attendees this was the first glimpse at a product with considerable potential. EyeToy is a USB camera that uses motion-tracking technology to project player images on-screen. The player's body movements form the on-screen interaction. EyeToy will go on sale in October for around $39, it was announced. Amusingly, EyeToy's creator, Dr. Richard Marx, invited Kaz Hirai to help demonstrate one minigame on the system, which made for a hilarious photo opportunity at the least.

Sony also announced plans to launch a USB Headset that utilizes Voice Over Internet Protocol and voice recognition technologies for use with online and offline games for PlayStation 2. The first online titles that utilize USB Headset technology include SOCOM II: U.S. Navy SEALs and Syphon Filter: The Omega Strain. The USB Headset will be released in September for $29.99.

Logically, it was also made official that SCEA would release the upgraded PlayStation model with DVD+/-RW support, less cooling noise, and other nicer stuff, as reported in February. SCEA are calling it the PlayStation 2 Online Pack, with the Ethernet Adapter in the box. The company also announced plans for the simultaneous release of an internal hard disc drive (40GB) with Square Enix's Final Fantasy XI.

This year, EA President John Riccitiello was again invited to piggyback on the event, showcasing a number of EA Sports games due out this year - the most entertaining of which was the one they spent most time to demonstrating - PGA, via live link up play with Tiger Woods.

At the end of the conference, Kaz invited Ken Kutaragi on stage for a rare 'Ken announcement'. Nobody saw it coming (especialy not Nintendo or N-Gage executives who only found out when all the press arrived at their subsequent conferences and told them). Ken used a lot of 'family' metaphors to describe this new machine ("a new member of the PlayStation family, a baby that looks very cute!"). He referred to the CPU as the "brain", the audio as the "voice" - you get the idea. On with the details...

Although the most we saw of the unit was what you see in the pic here (small silver unit, could have been an SP for all we know!) the focus was on revealing specs. It's disc based, using the new Universal Media Disc (UMD) format for storage media, with a capacity of 1.8GB. It's about the size of a GameCube disc and stores slighly more data.

PSP will be equipped with a wide screen 480 x 272 pixel (16 by 9) TFT LCD monitor with a backlight, and powered by super chipsets utilizing the latest 90 nm semiconductor technology. For graphics, 3D rendering will be enhanced by the employment of curved surfaces (NURBS) along with conventional polygons. Video quality will also be enhanced with MPEG4, which delivers quality equivalent to DVD video at a low data rate. PSP will have an USB 2.0 port for further expandability and connectivity to other devices, along with a Memory Stick slot for network applications and data transportability in a wireless environment. The battery is Rechargeable lithium-ion.

Kutaragi said: "Along with game applications, 'PSP' will have a huge potential for delivering other forms of entertainment as well as live entertainment through the network, anywhere, anytime. This is the 'Walkman' of the 21st century." And let's face it, who is anyone else to argue?

The introduction of "PSP" highlights the company's long-awaited foray into the portable entertainment market. SCE will offer PC-based development tools starting from fall 2003. Scheduled for release in the fourth quarter of 2004, more specific details on release plans and pricing will be disclosed at a later date. We will tell you everything we learn about this awesomely potent new handheld.

Adam Doree
Director, Kikizo.com