The general consensus among gaming media and fans alike is that E3 2010 could be Sony’s biggest showing in the history of the PlayStation brand. The early reveals of some of their biggest sequels set the hype level at an all time high.
Before E3 begins, and Sony takes the gaming world by storm, we are bringing you a trip down memory lane by giving you a recap of Sony’s biggest E3 showings of the past.
E3 1995
SEGA, after having two poorly-received hardware offerings with the SEGA CD and 32X, needed to impress the crowd at the very first E3. SEGA had previously announced the SEGA Saturn before the show which had a scheduled release date of September 2, 1995. However at the SEGA Keynote, it was announced that the SEGA Saturn was secretly shipped to retailers the night before, and was now on sale for $399. A move that left retailers unhappy, and gamers without many launch titles to choose from.
This, shortly after, was completely overshadowed by Sony. Steve Race took the stage at Sony’s keynote and announced the release date for the Sony PlayStation. The real shocker, and what could have been the death blow to Sega before the PlayStation was even released, was the announcement that it would release for the price of $299. Also shown during E3 were what soon became PlayStation franchise mainstays: Ridge Racer, Tekken, and WipEout. This marked the beginning of Sony’s reign over the gaming industry.
E3 2000
History repeated itself a bit with E3 2000. The Sega Dreamcast had been released in North America the prior year and was off to a rough start. Its CD-based software medium constrained the visions of many developers.
While the PS2 had already been announced in Japan previously, there hadn’t been a release date set for the American market. Sony took the opportunity to do so at E3 2000, and set the big day for October 26 of the same year. Although this time around, Sony’s console was priced higher than SEGA’s by $100; it offered DVD playback, as well as DVD-ROM as the software medium, allowing for larger games. The inclusion of the DVD player may have been Sony’s most genius idea yet. It helped introduce the PS2 into the homes of anyone interested in DVD players, as it offered a decent quality DVD player, along with PlayStation brand gaming for around the price of your average DVD player at the time.
E3 2000 wasn’t all about hardware, in fact it was the software that really stole the show. One title in particular had fans and media floored. That title was Metal Gear Solid 2, the follow up to the fan favorite Metal Gear Solid on the original PlayStation (now known as the PSOne). The sheer detail of MGS2 is what impressed the crowd, and it really showed of what the PS2 was capable of. While MGS2 didn’t make the PS2’s launch, Sony had plenty of other titles to show, 51 of which were scheduled to be available by Christmas of 2000.
E3 2003
Kaz Harai takes the stage at Sony’s Keynote during E3 ’03, and had plenty of major announcements to discuss. He started off with the announcement of a revised PS2 in the works. The revision boasted progressive DVD playback, a built in IR port for use with a remote, reduced fan noise, and would be bundled with a Network Adapter.
Sony continued to strut its planned online strategy, which was a direct response to the undeniable success of Xbox Live. Games that were shown included Final Fantasy XI, SOCOM II, and pledged support from EA Sports’ future lineup.
Of course Sony wasn’t done there. Dr. Richard Marx then took the stage and demonstrated the PS EyeToy. The EyeToy was a USB web cam that allowed for interaction with images on screen by moving your body and appendages; no controller was needed.
Lastly, Sony announced its plans to take on Nintendo and its stronghold over the handheld gaming market with the PlayStation Portable. No Hardware or Software was shown, or demoed, but the announcement was big enough to shock gamers.
E3 2005
The PlayStation 2 was in its prime; a large amount of AAA games were shown. The current king of consoles was easily overshadowed by the announcement of its successor, the PlayStation 3. The PlayStation 3 was debuted, boasting some of the most impressive specs ever seen by console gamers. Specs at the time included the cell processor, 1080p High Definition gaming, 3 Ethernet ports, 2 HDMI outputs, 6 USB ports (4 front, 2 rear), Wifi, Bluetooth 2.0, and a built-in Blu-Ray drive.
Even with the massive listed specs, the thing that generated the most buzz was the new controller. The new controller wasn’t yet another iteration of the Dualshock, it was a boomerang-shaped controller. Jokes galore hit the internet about how if you were angry after losing in a game, you couldn’t throw the controller, as it might come back and hit you.
There was no actual software, however there was plenty of technical demos ready to go that were running on PCs that had specs similar to that of what the PlayStation 3 would have. PlayStation staples such as Devil may Cry, and Tekken were shown (ironically, both went multiplatform). The biggest splash came from the confirmation of Metal Gear Solid 4 being in the works, and the showing of a technical demo of Final Fantasy VII. This immediately sparked excitement from the crowd, as fans thought a FFVII remake was in the works. However, that wasn’t true, as Square quickly make it clear that it was a tech demo only.
E3 2006
Not all E3 announcements are good announcements, despite how large they may be. In 2006, Sony announced the price of the now “gimped” (originally the PS3 was to have 2 HDMI outputs, 6 USB ports, 3 ethernet ports, and more) PS3, which was set to $599. Although there was a less-expensive 20GB model announced, which was even more gimped with its removal of wifi, card readers, and a lower-capacity internal hard drive, the price shocked the world. Both Sony’s previous consoles had been released for $299, and history had shown that expensive consoles never fared well.
There was the argument that you get what you pay for, and Sony’s newest console was surely a beast. While that was indeed true, the massive price tag scared away many long time PlayStation fans over to the other HD console on the market, the Xbox 360. The price tag was the target of media outlets, which soon started questioning Sony’s motives about the console, claiming it was more about Blu-Ray penetration than making another successful gaming console. To this day, the PlayStation 3 is the most expensive console. Anyone can see that because of this, the sales have been less than Sony (perhaps foolishly) hoped for in comparison to the ridiculously fast-selling PlayStation 2.
E3 2009
Last year was a major year for Sony. Not so much in the way of software announcements, since we already knew Uncharted 2 and God of War III were coming, both of which were highlights of E3. The only surprises in terms of software came from Rockstar with their PS3 exclusive Agent and Square-Enix’s Final Fantasy XIV. What did make a big impact was the announcement of the PlayStation Move and the on-stage demo of Dr. Richard Marks. The PSPgo was also officially revealed for the first time, despite being leaked many times during the weeks leading up to E3. Too bad the PSPgo never really found its legs and has succumbed to some seriously lackluster sales.
