Will Gameplay Triumph Technology - First Take from E3

Michael Gartenberg | May 09, 2006, 06:58 PM

Well, it's E3 time again and this years been especially interesting with two new system coming to market and one already launched. Over the last few days, Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft have been showing off their latest and greatest. If you're interested in blow by blow coverage, Engadget has the best I've seen here, here and here. (they could teach MSM some lessons how to cover events like this).

My first take overall? There's no clear winner here at this point and it's not clear who will dominate in this cycle. There's different approaches being taken by each of the big three and it will take time to see which resonates with consumers first and foremost. All the companies are working to reach beyond the core gamers in the family and to have much broader appeal to other family members.

Sony
Sony made a big splash yesterday with several thousand folks attending their event. Kaz Hirai opened the show and there was an appearance by Ken Kutaragi as well. The emphasis seemed to be on overall specs and there's little doubt PS3 is arguably the most capable system. All of Sony's stuff was shown at a mind blowing 1080p. The question on a lot of minds was does it make a difference? While GT HD was impressive, it didn't look that much better than PG3 on Xbox 360. Sony is going to have to work hard to evangelize consumers that feeds and speeds are important. Especially consumers that have already plunked down for a HiDef TV that doesn't do 1080p, they're not likely to replace for PS3 and they're also likely to want to be an early adopter for the new systems. One curious thing is that the $499 20gb version lacks and HDMI connector which is important for a Hi-Def system emphasizing Blue-Ray. I suspect most folks will want the $599 for that reason alone.

Nintendo
Great opening with game industry legend Shigeru Miyamoto opening the show in full black tie conducting a virtual orchestra with the controller of the new Wii. Of all the companies, Nintendo seems most serious about getting to the other gamers in the family beyond the core gamer. (of all the company videos, Nintendo alone showed older gamers as well as women and girls playing their titles, Microsoft's and Sony's gamer footage looked pretty much liked you think a hard core gamer would look like). No doubt that the Nintendo graphics do no look nearly as good as PS3 or Xbox 360. But the games looked fun. A lot of fun. This is going to be one of the core themes in this console cycle, can gameplay triumph technology? It will be interesting to see how gamers react to a title like Madden for instance, where Nintendo totally has a different game play experience (you actually do things like snap, pass and throw the ball with the controller) as opposed to an evolutionary experience elsewhere. It's going to take a lot of effort to get the right marketing message to consumers but anyone who is discounting Nintendo in this cycle is making a huge mistake. Still no word on pricing but I'd expect Wii to come in cheapest of the new systems.

Microsoft
Absent this year were j Allard and Robbie Bach (who are probably hard at work trying to figure out how to kill iPod). Peter Moore led the show and he did a fine job. No orchestra conducting game designers here, they opened with Gears of War, about as hardcore a title you can get. Also present was the previously announced HD-DVD player add on for the holiday. No word on price though. They also brought out Bill G (who wore the standard uniform of game executives of suit and no tie) who went on about Vista as a game platform and Live Anywhere, extending the Xbox live experience to the PC via messenger and the Windows Mobile platform as well. Titles looked good. There's definitely more of a strategy here emphasizing the role of the platform in the game experience (chat with your Live friends on the PC or buy a game in Live Arcade and play it on your phone) which is a core Microsoft strength. The challenge will be doing this without losing the core gaming focus that's helped get Microsoft market share.