7/29/2007 - Sony's Embarrassing E3 2006 Press Conference

Like yesterday's video, this one is a prime example of creative editing. Last year's E3 was the proving ground for what Sony considered to be their cash cow in the gaming world for the next few years to come. The Playstation 3 in its final form made its debut with SCEI's president Kaz Hirai's keynote address, and those who aren't impressed by the PS3 have cited this keynote endlessly as the beginning of the fall for Sony. With good reason too, as evidenced by flagging hardware sales and an almost public acknowledgment of Nintendo's recent dominance by their price cut of the PS3.

Sony's problem was that their way of differentiating themselves with their foremost competitor at the time, Microsoft, was to put out hardware of an even higher end, bundling in a very pricey Blu-Ray player that was harder to develop for and expecting the world to think that $600 would be the new standard price point for gaming systems. Nintendo's counter to this was brilliant... they knew they couldn't outdo Microsoft and Sony in terms of processing processing power, so they developed a system (and specifically the control system with the Wii remote) that would have completely games than the XBox and PS3. By doing so, they could keep the price down and bring gaming to the masses. Sony was so focused on becoming a Porsche that they didn't know that most people just drive whatever's most comfortable to them.

It's ironic that I would be showcasing an anti-Sony video when my PS3 is actually on its way to me. Yes, I was seduced by the price cut and the five free Blu-ray movies. It was a really close call between the PS3 and the XBox (which is getting its own price cut), but that 30% failure rate for the XBox really put a nail in the coffin for it. Also, judging from this year's E3, I think Sony's learned its lesson somewhat. They even referred to the embarrassing moments of last year's presentation which is showcased in full effect by this video.