E3 2003: Sony Press Conference Report Special @ Gaming Target

Written by Adam Woolcott on May 14, 2003

Special: Of price drops and redesigns and new hardware, oh damn!

Not to be outdone by Microsoft's press conference the night earlier, Sony Computer Entertainment used their 2003 pre-E3 press conference to unveil new software, and then promptly unveil their latest methods of dropping our collective jaws. Sony might have not made a huge impact at last years' E3 show, but they've more than made up for it so far this year. They might be the market leader, but it doesn't mean that they're resting on their laurels.

The most surprising news came on the hardware side of things. Besides the silent price drop of the current PlayStation 2 model to $179, Sony unveiled what most of us knew was coming Ц a new model of the PlayStation 2 with some brand new features, for $200, essentially making the standard PS2 obsolete. This new PlayStation 2 model not only is a bundle with SCEA's Network Adaptor, but also has access to DVD-R and DVD-RW playback for custom burns (hopefully not piracy), as well as the DVD remote and receiver built into the PS2, freeing up the used controller port. Finally, the new remote will allow for lazy people to turn on and off their PS2 without actually walking up to the console, using the DVD remote.

Still, the most surprising news came from the world of portable gaming Ц this being Sony's unveiling of the PlayStation Pocket (PSP). Despite Nintendo's stronghold on handheld gaming, Sony is confident that the PSP will take market share from the GBA, thanks to innovative features right off the bat. Boasting a disc format that's smaller than a GameCube disc, yet holds 1.8 gig of data, the PSP will be a psuedo-PlayStation in terms of specifications, which leads to believe that many of the best PlayStation games will be making their way to the PSP, in portable form. The PlayStation Pocket will come with a built in rechargeable battery and a backlit screen as well Ц no question that Sony isn't going to make the same errors that Nintendo did with the original Game Boy Advance. The PSP is set to release sometime in 2004 Ц pricing details weren't available but we'd have to guess that it will be competitively priced to compete with the GBA SP.

On the software end of things, Sony did its fair share of announcements and information. For Final Fantasy XI fans, the game will finally see the light of day in the US in 2004; and published by Sony. Why? Because it will be the software packed in with the oft-delayed 40 GB hard disk drive, which will also be released in 2004. Given that FFXI was originally to be released in 2001, then 2002, and 2003, what's another year of waiting? Right? Right? Ah well, this announcement wasn't a true shock as it had been rumored, but the 2004 release date seems firm this time.

Numerous other games were shown in a quick collage of titles, such as the latest entries from EA Sports, and Sony titles such as Jak II, SOCOM 2, and Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando. The biggest news, though, came out of Polyphony Digital.

That's right, SCEA officially spilled the beans on Gran Turismo 4 yesterday, showing the first footage of the game in action. So far, GT4 looks absolutely stunning, even better than Gran Turismo 3, which was damn impressive to begin with, 2 years ago. Not only will GT4 come with over 500 cars, it will come packed with around 100 tracks to race on. The new single-player game element is a partial history lesson, as many of the cars will have old and current models, showing how they've advanced over the years. However, the biggest addition to the game is Online play, which will allow for Turismo fans all around the world to finally race against one another to see just who is the best of the best. Hopefully, Polyphony will also, thanks to the release of the PS2 Hard Drive, post new cars and tracks to download to our PS2's, further extending the life of what's sure to be a runaway smash hit.

Closing Impressions
While Microsoft might have made the biggest splash in terms of actual games, thanks to the awesome Halo 2 demonstration, Sony made the biggest news with hardware announcements. The new PS2 model is one thing (and something expected after the Japanese announcement), but the PlayStation Pocket announcement came right out of left field, giving Sony fans something to look forward to besides the PlayStation 3. While the software end was more about games we already know about, the Gran Turismo 4 announcement will satisify gearheads, and the millions who've bought games in the revered series. So far, Sony has been racking up the hits at E3.