Sony in 2006: Hopes and Expectations

Sony is undoubtedly in a great position going into the next-gen console war, but that isn’t all they are concentrating on. The PlayStation 2 is still going strong and will see continued support throughout 2006, plus the PSP is in a heated battle with the Nintendo DS, with neither really emerging as a clear winner at this stage. Riding so high means that they also have the most to lose out of the industry’s big three players. Will 2006 be the year the PlayStation Empire is overthrown?

Hopes

The PlayStation 2 gets off to a great start in February with the release of Shadow of the Colossus. While the game was released in Japan and North America in 2005, European gamers lap it up. The budget re-release of Ico goes down a storm as well, helped by the huge popularity of its spiritual sequel. 24 The Game is released in March and manages to erase all memories of the poor demo, going on to sell more copies than Shadow of the Colossus and Ico combined. PSP sales also do well in the first quarter of 2006, with a steady stream of new releases hitting stores, including Splinter Cell Essentials.

PlayStation 3 excitement reaches fever pitch as leaked info spreads throughout April. An E3 teaser site is set up featuring silhouettes of the most popular PlayStation franchises, with the tagline “All Cell breaks loose in May” heading the page. Faked screens are released daily, but real information is scarce. Details of a unified online service spread, with sources claiming an announcement will be made at E3. Despite strong sales of the Xbox 360, Sony’s old boy, the PlayStation 2, continues to perform well, mopping up in the sales charts.

E3 arrives and with quite a bang. Having learnt from their previous pre-E3 conferences the Sony team opt for less business talk and more games. Live demonstrations of ten launch window releases wow the audience and a sneak-peak trailer of the next GTA leaves people speechless. Of particular note is a demo being played side by side with 2005’s Killzone target footage. The differences are minimal and the footage utterly mind blowing. A ten-minute demo of Metal Gear Solid 4 also makes the crowd go wild. While few PlayStation 2 titles are announced, a Final Fantasy VII remake is announced for the PSP and PlayStation online is announced for 2007, to be built into numerous PlayStation 3 and PSP titles.

The actual three-day event starts and more than twenty PlayStation 3 titles are playable on the show floor. The new look controller is available to use for the first time and feels very similar to the Dual Shock 2, albeit fully wireless with improved analogue sticks. PSP titles on show also really show what the system is capable of, matching some of the PlayStation 2 titles at the expo. Sony’s strong showing helps make E3 2006 one of the best ever, with great games on show for the Xbox 360 and Nintendo’s Revolution causing quite stir. It’s the PlayStation 3’s stable of high profile games that wins the show though, with more big name games than on the Xbox 360 and Revolution combined.

With the show and new announcements traditionally over, Sony calls a second press conference, taking place hours after the lights go out in the LA Convention Center. Making sure they end the week with a bang, a worldwide PlayStation 3 launch is announced, with all major territories receiving the console between September and November 2006. The standard model – no hard drive and single controller – is announced with a retail price of $399 (US)/£280 (UK).

A PSP price cut in July spurs sales, which overtake DS sales all over the world. A slew of quality releases and the unveiling of the next PSP GTA creates a huge buzz around the handheld, and Nintendo’s mid-year release slump plays into Sony’s hands. Rumours of a redesigned PSP spread like wildfire, sparked by stock shortages the world over. This is quickly dismissed, with huge demand due to the new price given as the reason for stock problems.

Quarter 4 2006 is all about the PlayStation 3. Microsoft put out an impressive line-up and Nintendo release a truly innovative console, but nothing comes close to the hype surrounding the latest Sony console. The console is released in North America in late September, shifting over 1 million units on day one, with more stock arriving each week after. This is followed by equally successful launches in Japan and Europe in October and November respectively, rounding off a great launch period for Sony. While still trailing behind the Xbox 360 in overall sales, it outsells the Revolution 2:1 and the PSP battles against a very strong Q4 DS line-up to end the year neck and neck.

Expectations

The PlayStation 2 continues to dominate sales in the first quarter of 2006, helped by big releases such as 24 The Game, despite Sony Cambridge once again failing to produce a game that lives up to its potential. Sony’s Shadow of the Colossus fails to sell as well as hoped and the Ico re-release suffers the same fate as it did back in 2002. Heavy promotion at retail drives PSP sales, despite a lack of truly excellent new titles for the handheld. The DS more than matches it though; particularly in Europe where some of 2005’s big DS games are finally released.

PlayStation 3 info is scarce leading up to E3, with nothing more than ludicrous rumours spreading around the internet. With excitement around the new console worryingly low, Xbox 360 sales skyrocket, helped by plenty of stock and a steady stream of quality releases. No one knows what to expect from E3 until a few posters appear around the LA Convention Center days before the expo is due to start. Sadly they show little more than figures already seen in existing PlayStation 3 demonstrations.

The pre-E3 conference war is won by Sony, but only just. While Microsoft and Nintendo please audiences with plenty of games, Sony sticks to its tried and tested formula of business report followed by game demonstrations. Very little actual game footage is shown, with the only played demo being Metal Gear Solid 4, making an appearance in the Sony conference instead of Konami’s own. Trailer reels show numerous other games, but it’s a mixture of in-game and CG. It doesn’t matter though; MGS4 stuns the crowd and E3 2006 is effectively won by Sony before it’s even begun. The vague winter 2006 console launch announcement is largely ignored.

The show floor features very few PlayStation 3 titles, with most of those on display looking incredibly early. Only Warhawk from Sony and MGS4 from Konami look up to scratch, casting doubts over a US release in 2006. The PSP is the real winner for Sony on the show floor, boasting three times as many titles than the DS, and many games show a huge increase in visuals over early PSP titles. There’s no doubt that Microsoft had the best games on display and that Nintendo’s Revolution looks incredible, but no one can stop talking about Metal Gear Solid 4 for the PlayStation 3.

Despite an expected media onslaught in the months that follow E3, Sony keeps very quiet, focussing on PSP and PlayStation 2 releases. The PSP Giga pack receives a £25 price cut, but with the big titles not due until Q4 2006, the new £190 price point doesn’t excite as much as Sony had hoped. Nintendo fail to capitalise on the PSP’s poor mid-year releases though, with Metroid Prime Hunters the only high profile Nintendo game hitting the DS over the summer.

The Tokyo Game Show in September confirms fears that the PlayStation 3 won’t launch globally in 2006. The Japanese launch is announced for October, with a North American launch following in early December. The European launch is far less specific, with a vague Q1 2007 being all that’s given. PlayStation 3 titles on show do little to excite, with the same games from E3 simply looking a little further on in development. Of the announced release titles, only Warhawk looks anything like what is expected from the console. A rather shocking 56,000 Yen ($475) price is announced for the console. This will come complete with a single wireless controller and AV leads.

The Japanese launch goes pretty smoothly, despite the high price, shifting the entire 500,000 day one shipment within hours of stores opening. A US price is announced at $450 (US Dollar), but shipment estimates of 500,000 cause huge queues, starting a week before the December launch. Retailers take advantage of early demand, forcing customers to purchase ridiculous bundles, with many including upwards of 4 games, extra controllers, Blu-Ray movies and a memory card. The PlayStation 3 ends the year with nearly 1.5 million consoles sold, but with a huge amount of negativity over launch numbers and its price. Europe looks on, with no official launch date and those desperate enough paying upwards of £1500 for an imported launch unit.

Summary

Sony certainly won’t lose it all during 2006, with the PSP in particular performing well, but the PlayStation 3 launch is anyone’s guess at the moment. Huge shortages and a high price are the biggest areas of concern and if rumours are true, European gamers might be waiting until 2007 before we get our hands on the console. Let’s just hope we don’t get a repeat of the PSP situation. September 2007 would be agony.