PS Move is a cool and intuitive peripheral. But since the day it was released, one thing has been missing: innovation.
At E3 2011, it’s do or die for Sony’s motion controller. We saw what happened with the SIXAXIS: after its first year at retail: the controller faded away almost as quickly as the Virtual Boy. It was a sad moment in Sony history, but it was one the company brought on itself.
I do not expect the PS Move to be faced with a similar fate. Rather, I believe that Sony will use E3 2011 to show consumers–especially hardcore gamers–why the PS Move is still a worthy and viable controller that they should purchase.
Let’s take a look at some other E3 predictions for Sony’s console.
E3 Predictions: PlayStation 3 Announcements
New Franchise(s): Sony has used its previous E3 press conferences to brag about KillZone, LittleBigPlanet, Infamous, Uncharted, and other new franchises. Considering how long it has been since Sony announced a new franchise, this seems like the perfect E3 for the company to surprise us with something fresh.
Syphon Filter: Gabe Logan might not be as cool as Solid Snake, and his enemies might not be as creative as those featured in Metal Gear Solid, but Syphon Filter is still one of Sony’s more popular franchises. Considering that it has yet to appear on PlayStation 3 (and the fact that Sony is diving back into other old franchises, such as Twisted Metal), there’s a good chance we’ll be hearing about another Syphon Filter very soon–possibly at E3.
Patapon: Isn’t it about time this series comes to PlayStation 3?
Using the high-def power of PS3, the motion-controlled mastery of PS Move, and the online connectivity of PSN, Patapon could be an amazingly complex and addictive strategy game for Sony’s current-gen console. With online play, it could become one of the greatest strategy games of all time.
As far as an E3 announcement is concerned, I’m willing to bet that one is on its way.
More 3D?: Sony’s 3D tech might not be as successful as the company hoped, but that doesn’t mean it will disappear from E3 2011. If anything, Sony is likely to increase the amount of hype dedicated to its 3D game capabilities.
Why should we care? Simply put, Sony is doing us all a big favor. It doesn’t matter if the company wins or loses. By putting 3D tech in the hands of developers, they are single-handedly pushing us closer to a new degree of virtual reality. The resulting innovation won’t come overnight. But when it finally does, Sony will be one of the parties responsible for making it happen.
An Apology (With Jokes): Considering that no one will be able to enter E3 without thinking about the PSN outage, Sony is guaranteed to apologize for its online issues. The company is also likely to make fun of these problems, just as any corporation should in this scenario.
Expect this speech/comedy routine to take up a good 5 to 10 minutes of Sony’s E3 press conference. You can also bet that this speech will come before any big announcements are made.
Price Reduction By Force: As if the success of Kinect, the hype for Wii 2, and the potential threat of Apple weren’t enough, some gamers reportedly sold their PS3s while PSN was down.
In short, Sony is screwed.
Since the company will never be able to release enough games (or give away enough freebies) to make up for its mistakes, Sony will do what it does best and simply lower the MSRP.
