E3 2001: Sony Review Special @ Gaming Target

Written by Omer Ali on May 21, 2001

Special: Touch the Future......Sony PS9 beginning

Well kids its time to break out the tissues Сcause E3 is now over and done with. I know I know Xbox and Gamecube dominated the show for the most part, but hey Playstation 2 still hasn't lost its thunder. In fact the storm that is PS2 (Playstation 2) is still in its infancy. The war has only just begun.

The PS2 will have to cover allot of ground before Xbox and Gamecube are released this fall. Thus far Sony has sold 10 million units of the PS2 world wide, with 3 million of those units having been sold in North America alone. In an interview with Doug Lowenstien of IDSA (Interactive Digital Software Association) during E3 Kazuo Hirai CEO of Sony said УWith the Playstation 2, we are now up to ten million units install base throughout the world with three million units here in North America alone. This year we are bringing another seven million units into the North American market to bring the install base in the North American market for the Playstation 2 to ten million units by the end of our fiscal year in March of next yearФ. Wow, that's allot of PS2 units. If Sony can live up to its dream they will have a considerable lead on Microsoft and Nintendo. With an install base of 10 million units in North America alone Sony will definitely have to keep its customers interest in the PS2 console. And how do you keep the interests of gamers? Well by providing them with an excellent array of video games and new innovations, that's how.

The launch titles of PS2 were for the most part a disappointment. None of the initial titles for PS2 lived up to the expectations of the gaming public. Gamers could only hope that the next title would be their justification for investing in a PS2 unit. Well E3 has given the PS2 crowd that hope. Some of the most eagerly anticipated games for the PS2 will be hitting store shelves in the coming months. Games such as Squaresofts Final Fantasy X, Capcoms Devil May Cry, Naughty Dogs Jak and Daxter, oh and who can forget the most anticipated game in historyЕKonami's Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty. With these and the other 200 titles that Sony plans to release by the end of their next fiscal year, 2001 will be a very interesting year in the video game industry.

Games alone will not be able to give Sony the leading edge, they'll need some other goodies for the public, products such as a hard disk drive and a network adapter. Sony plans on releasing a disk drive and a network adapter by the end of this year. These products will allow PS2 owners too play online and in the future download games straight to their PS2 consoles. Not too long ago Sony announced a partnership with AOL, Real Networks, Macromedia, and Cisco. With these communication and media powerhouses helping Sony build their online network the PS2 will be larger than life. AOL will provide a new version of the Netscape browser suited only for the PS2, Real Networks will give PS2 users streaming audio and video capabilities, and Cisco will give the PS2 broadband capabilities as opposed to a high speed telephone connection. All of these innovations are expected to come to light within the next year or so.

Many are speculating that PS2 will become a martyr, like Dreamcast, when Gamecube and Xbox arrive on the scene, due to the immense hardware capabilities of the two systems. Gamecube will be a definite threat but Microsoft does not have an established market for consoles. Although this year E3 wasn't all about PS2, Sony still has a couple of aces up its sleeves and will definitely give Nintendo and Microsoft a run for their money.