EDDIEWONG

Yep, the mutha of all consoles was finally launched today and a few friends, Danny, Roy and Brad, have got themselves one and they seem more than happy with their new purchase. Congrats on that!

Although I had stated my reasons for not wanting one, I did have this bad impulsive urge to get one after I spoke to Roy. I spoke to Roy at 3am this morning while he was lining up and he told me, “there’s probably 400 people lining up now. The shop staff said they have more enough units for everyone here. You know, if you come down now, you can get one”. Damn, can you imagine what was going through my head after I heard that? Yes, I really wanted to get my butt into a taxi and burn down there to join him in the queue for a brand-spanking new PS3! But I couldn’t because I had a deadline (for something I’m working on) for 5am EST time which happens to be 7am here - the time the PS3 starts rolling into the hands of consumers. I spoke to Roy again at about 6am and he told me it got rather chaotic with over a thousand people pushing and shoving - something I can’t deal with!

Anyway, so yeah, because of my deadline, I couldn’t go get a PS3. So, is that lucky or unlucky?

Hardly surprising since the Japanese launch of the Playstation 3 is only 6 days away (November 11). Here, there are three Playstation 3 displays (each hooked up to a Sony Bravia TV): one was looping game trailers, one was running a tennis game, and the last one running Ridge Racer 7. To be honest, both the tennis game and Ridge Racer didn’t look impressive in real-time. Ridge Racer actually looked a little jaggy… hmmmmmm…

Anyway, after thinking about it, I have decided that I will not buy a PS3 on launch day (if ever). Reasons being:

1. I am not a hardcore gamer
2. there are no killer launch games
3. I don’t see the appeal of Blu-Ray just yet
4. JP¥70,000 is too steep for me
5. these are revision A units and I ain’t no guinea pig for Sony
6. the thought of having to camp outside a reseller for a night or two with a few hundred geeks… doesn’t exactly turn me on. And to make this worse, the originally promised 100,000 units for launch (nationwide) has been dropped to 80,000 units.

Yep, the Sony PSP is finally about to come in multiple colours (well, in Japan). I really wonder why it took so long for Sony to do this. I remember seeing some pics of the PSPs in multi-colours and themes at least 6 months before the unit even became available in Japan. Well yeah, they were proto-types but still, some looked good (especially a yellow one, if I remember correctly).

Anyway, the PSP will soon get Pink, Silver and Metallic Blue to the line-up which brings the total amount of available colours in Japan to 5 (same as the DS Lite). And, quite frankly, I don’t like any of these new PSP colours. Silver?? Metallic Blue?? Man, those 2 look tacky! The special edition, Metal Gear Solid version, which arrives on December 21 is probably better, IMHO…

2006 November 22: Pink PSP-1000 PK
2006 December 14: Silver PSP-1000 SV
2006 December 21: Metallic Blue PSP-1000 MB

With the Japanese launch of the Sony PlayStation 3 just a little over three weeks away, this Japanese game site has got their hands on what probably are the final production units of both the 20GB and 60GB models.

Now, from this picture of the PS3, can you blame me for not liking the high-gloss finish? It’s like a mirror, for crying out loud! And I also don’t the legs/catches/hinges that hold the front flip-panel to the unit. It looks really cheap and nasty! Hmmmmmm… I’m still debating whether I should get one of these from day one…

Update: More here from the same guys

… and I touched it! Woohoo (no, I didn’t get close enough to it at the Tokyo Game Show)!!

Anyway, besides running a good handful of trailers for upcoming games, the PS3 unit is just sitting in the center of the booth with only the buttons/disc-slot area having a protection cover over it. The rest of the body is exposed in all it’s glory.

Now that I’ve gotten so close to it and touched it, I realise this thing is huge! I think it may even be comparable to the size of the original Xbox. The words PlayStation 3 is raised from the body, speaking of which, I hate the high-gloss material of the body - it looks cheesy and cheap. But the visuals produced by this beast are truly incredible, to say the least.

→ Keep reading…

Went to the Tokyo Game Show super early today with Roy, Brad and Reika. Well, I guess it’s not really super early cuz we met up at Tokyo station at 9:30am. But for the last 5 years, I would meet Hing Dai at about 12-1pm. So, yeah, when compared, it is early…

I remember, during my first 2 years or so in Tokyo, the Tokyo Game Show was held twice a year. Then from my third year onwards, it changed to once a year. This is kinda understandable considering not many games can be released in one year by any one developer. So back when the Tokyo Game Show happened twice a year, usually the developers repeated showing what they showed 6 months earlier. I think this was the contributing factor for the change since admission declined.

→ Keep reading…

During the keynote at the Tokyo Game Show 2006 which kicks off today until Sunday, PlayStation father, Ken Kutaragi, President of Sony Computer Entertainment, announced that the low-end PlayStation 3 would go on sale on November 11 for 49,980 yen, rather than the previously-announced 62,790 yen.

No doubt, the decision is influenced by Nintendo’s Wii, which will retail for 25,000 yen when it goes on sale on December 2. Maybe the move is also influenced by Xbox 360’s new lower pricing too? Heck, NO! No one wants that in Japan. As a matter of fact, the Xbox 360 isn’t even a contender here…

Anyway, besides giving in to pricing, the low-end PS3 will also get HDMI interface, a feature that was previously only to be available on the high-end 60GB model.

Hahahahaha… how pathetic!

I’ll be there on Sunday. See you then!

Information:
Tokyo Game Show 2006 - New Excitement. New Sensations. A New Generation.
Makuhari Messe International Convention Complex
September 22 (industry and press), 23 and 24, 10am - 5pm
Admission: ¥1,000 (advance), ¥1,200 (day), Free (elementary school and under)