Playstation Gamer UK

GDC is here and I wish I was there. But since I’m a poor Canadian high school student I can’t be but that doesn’t mean I can’t tell you what to expect from our overlords, Sony Computer Entertainment of America. There have been a lot of rumors in the last few weeks about just what will or won’t be announced and why one thing in particular should be announced. Well, to sum up what I think you should expect heading into GDC I don’t think there’s going to be a whole lot. I’ll explain more, after the break.

GDC has just started and there has already been some big announcements coming out of there. While it wasn’t announced the first video of CryENGINE 3 was revealed already as were details on the OnLive gaming platform. So the question is what does Sony have in store for it’s legions of rabid fans? Well, it’s a short answer, jack squat.

I’ll start with the biggest thing first: The price cut. There have been tons of articles and rumors about a PS3 price cut (even I’ve taken a shot at it, available here) circling the internet since Microsoft dropped the price of the Xbox 360 in November. And with this being the second major gaming show of the year it’s really no surprise that the rumors have reached a fever pitch. But, as I said in my article, I don’t expect them to announce a price cut now. I really don’t think it’s the time for it. Killzone 2 is already out and the PS3 has hopefully received a bit of a sales boost from that so I really don’t believe it’s the right time. I think that if they’re going to announce a price cut (and they should since their entire business model revolves around the PS3 install base) it will be at E3 and will coincide with the release of InFamous.

The new Target bundle that will feature an 80GB PS3 as well as the original MotorStorm and Resistance: Fall of Man for $399 seems to be more indicative of Sony’s current sales strategy. If Sony announces anything in the way of sales I believe it’ll be a bundle. (Pure Speculation) Possibly a Street Fighter IV Bundle that comes with an 80GB PS3, Street Fighter IV and a fighting stick for hopefully close to the same price, or a Killzone 2 bundle for North America.

While it’s not really directly related with GDC, I expect Firmware 2.70 to go up any day now. There was a report that it had gone up for a brief time yesterday, but was taken down, so I expect to see it go live sometime this week. I don’t know what firmware 2.70 will include but I don’t think it’ll be the Xbox Live matching amazing firmware update that people have been expecting but I hope it’ll include at least some of the rumored features.

As far as games are concerned I still don’t expect much. Although it kind of depends on what you consider “much”. I expect around 4 or 5 new games to be announced for the PS3 and 1 or 2 for the PSP. Following Destination PlayStation, most of the big name PSP games have already been announced and I expect to see some of those unannounced PS3 games that Sony is always going on about. I’m not really sure if they’ll be formal announcements or if they’ll just be leaked during presentations by certain developers. I know that a few games have already been revealed in the same way. That said, don’t expect the next Grand Theft Auto or any big name titles to be announced. Nintendo has already today announced a new Zelda game for the DS but I don’t expect Sony to try to duke it out with other companies. If they announce games they’ll be small name, niche titles like Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2. Just expect more details on the games already announced and a few small name titles.

Game Developers Conference is just that, a conference for developers, it’s not like an E3 or Tokyo Game Show. While the press are there (and in droves, I might mention) the Conference isn’t tailored for them. It’s for the creators of the games. So they can get together and discuss how some of the effects that have wowed you over the past year were made. I also expect (read: hope) that the 3D games won’t be making an appearance either. I’m not a big fan of the 3D gaming. I think Sony should slow down, they’re advancing too fast for the technology. Just continue to improve the PS3 and it’s library but don’t do anything that makes me have to buy a new HDTV, okay? Good. So there you have it. There will be no PS3 price cut, a few games, firmware 2.70 and possibly a bundle or two, but not much else from Sony.

On an unrelated note. On Saturday I wrote the first part of a new feature that I’d like to continue called Scruffy Q & A (still a working title). If you didn’t read the feature (available here) I’m going to be taking questions from pretty much whoever wants to (as long as they’re appropriate) ask them and do my best to give you honest, informed answers. However, in order for me to keep this going I do need to get some questions. If you have questions you want me to answer leave a comment down below and I’ll do my best to answer. Just leave a little tag that tells me that it’s for Scruffy Q & A. I’ll also be asking my Twitter followers on Friday if there are any questions they want answered (my twitter is here). So give me some questions, so I can try to keep it going. It’ll be like the question section on any podcast except without the podcast, since I don’t have one.

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