Looks pretty good, certainly not the powerhouse like the Xbox 360 or the Playstation 3 but still good specs. I do have to admit I think the internal flash memory of 512MB is a bit low. Definitely a concern point for me especially since the market is being driven to have more downloadable content and game updates. Anyhow read on for the specs.

This morning on Kotaku they posted a scan from the Sony press release last night. It in fact appears that the scaled down (500.00) console will have users missing out on a lot of functionality when compared to its “full featured” brother.
The 500.00 console will be missing HDMI Support, Media Card reading, and Wireless functionality.
I am not exactly sure what Sony is thinking at the moment, but it appears that this will be one of the most “interesting” console launches to date.

Wow…the Sony press conference is finally over.
This afternoon (PST) Sony was the first out of the gate with their press conference outlining the companies highlights for E3.
Here are the high points:

The Playstation 3 will ship this November as part of a world wide launch. The Playstation 3 will support full backwards compatibility with PS1 and PS2 Titles. The consoles specs remained the same for the most part; Cell processor, Blue-ray media and gigabyte Ethernet. Big missing piece of the Puzzle NO PRICE (to be fair not even Sony knows what the PS3 will cost yet, as they are still pricing out components) .
Sony also went into details about the online features for the Playstation 3. The online network for the PS3 (think Xbox live…no really think xbox live) will use, appears to have two levels of service. The first level will be a free (lets call it) “Silver” membership for users, followed buy what appears to be a “Gold” level user may have to pay for.
The Sony online service will also make use of a type of “marketplace” where users can download content for games, including levels and other extras. The PS3 will also have connectivity to an online music service (think iTunes) where users can download music and HD-Videos to the internal 60gig HDD.
Users will need to buy Sony “content” cards that appear to come in denominations of 25, 50 and 100.
I will say this while the presenters showed all the “features” on Sony online I have to admit I Dig the UI.
Now lets talk about the games, (well the few that were playable at least). Sony lead the charge into the Next Generation Console wars with a Re-skinned demo of Gran Turismo 4…It was mildly impressive that Gran Turismo HD was running at 1920 x 1080p and the fram rate remained smooth. From there the cracks started to appear, the demo was a pre-rendered replay of someone running through various courses seen in GT4. There were lots of elements missing from this demo like dirt particles on off-road tracks, and there were massive draw in issues.
The next game was kind of cool, one of the Sony developers showed off a camera that was over a 3 x 3 grid. On this grid he placed “Magic” cards that the camera recognized. Each card that was layed out then spawned a monster, and attacked the other cards! its was really cool.
Other game demos were shown, and Heavenly Sword looked cool.
A few of the games shown at the press conference will be “playable” at the Sony booth
On the PSP front in relation to the PS3 to quote Kaz ” We are aggressively seeing ways to incorporate the PSP into the P3″ rough translation they don’t have any major integration ideas yet.
The big announcement with the PSP was that you soon will be able to play PS1 games in emulation on the PSP!
All in all the Sony press conference was a letdown. Mainly because of the lack of real time game play, and those games that they showed were not all that impressive. Crowd reaction during the entire presentation ranged form mildly excited to luke warm at best. If it was Sony intent to show the gaming world they are ready to take on MSFT and Nintendo then they fell short. Sony press conference seemed dis-jointed. The hope is that there are major announcements during E3 proper.

**Update**
According to Gamespot the PS3 will come in two configurations:
“The PlayStation 3 will come in two configurations, one will have a 20GB hard drive and the other will have a 60GB hard drive. However, losing 40GB isn’t the only downgrade with the 20GB version. The 20GB version, priced at $499, will not have Memory Stick, SD, or Compact Flash inputs, Wi-Fi capabilities, or any HDMI output.”

The “downgraded” version is 499.00, and the 60gig version will cost 599.00.

According to Hideo Kojima’s latest radio blog, there will be a new Metal Gear Solid sequel coming to the PSP in 2007.
Details are slim at the moment, but it appears that you will play as Big Boss during the 1970’s. The game is to be set after the events in MGS3: Snake Eater, and will be a full blown MGS game (not a Metal Gear Ac!d card game).
Some small details on game play show that Big Boss will control a small squads of troops, and once they die they are gone!

This morning on xbox.com, MSFT has officially announced USB connected HD-DVD add on for the 360.
From MSFT’s web site:

“”Xbox 360 ushered in the era of high-definition gaming by standardizing high-definition resolutions and 16×9 widescreen support for every game (Xbox Live Arcade included) on the system. What’s more, Xbox 360, while powerful on its own, is also a foundation from which new technology and accessories can be added. Chief among these is the recently announced HD DVD add-on.

This much anticipated accessory carries with it an extension of the HD Era that Xbox 360 offers, and provides the most visually stunning movie watching experience available.

This new accessory will connect to the Xbox 360 console with a USB cable, enabling it to harness the power of the Xbox 360 console for the HD video outputs and digital surround sound. As an accessory, it becomes another shining example of the flexibility of Xbox 360 designed into the console in order to grow and add new features. It’s also just one of several new accessories being announced at E3.”

While this seems to be a very cool add on to the 360 (current thought is the street price will be 100.00 USD) I may hold off on picking one up. The “Format War” has yet to start, and from what i know of HD-DVD/Blue Ray the HD-DVD format seems a bit lacking (Max Resolution on HD-DVD is 1080i as opposed to 1080p with Blue-Ray). For 100.00 it might be a nice toy to have.

Well its official Virtua Fighter 5 has been announced as a PS3 exclusive. VF5 is scheduled to come out in the spring of 2007.
Two new char’s will be added to the roster this time around El Blaze the Lucha Libre specialist, and Eileen, the monkey-style kung-fu master (go go monkey-style).
One big scary rumor at the moment is that Sega is not planning on adding online play to VF5!
Virtua Fighter 5 for the PS3 will also include a lot of the customization found on the Arcade Machines in Japan. This will allow players to customise clothing and accessories, all the way to customizable fighter introductions and background animations.
No PS3 demo of VF5 is planned for the show floor (BIG SURPRISE) but Sony/Sega will be showing footage on the show floor.

Today MSFT announced some new arcade titles that will be available for download very soon. This week UNO is expected to hit the market place, and later poker. The big news is that Street Fighter II will be available soon!
Also this week, a demo of Viva Pinata (think of it as animal crossing, with living pinatas!) will be up on the marketplace.
In the same article MSFT announced that there will be a sequel to Mutant Storm coming this summer.
The 360 arcade is one of the best feature the 360 has to offer, and its good to see MSFT is keeping it stocked with good titles.

No commentary on this one, just a short visual demo. It’s a little under 4 minutes but it shows how the engine has come along nicely since the earlier footage we’ve seen.


Direct Link to YouTube

Most of the regular gaming sites.. they are cluttered with biased coverage. They say this game is awesome.. or that game is awesome, and never really give appropriate warning about which games suck. I hope here at the MG, we have had at least a FEW stories about our bad experiences to warn you, our loving gaming monkeys away from the real bums.

Now.. even though its really a marketing arm for the big studios, a few of us here pay for Gamespot Complete each year. And theres really one reason we do it.

Monkeys and Apes… that reason is here again.

Your one stop shop for movies, pics, brief thoughts.. full keynotes.. and everything else E3 Related. The GameSpot E3 Coverage Center is open for 2006.

The best resource they have is THIS page. It is updated VERY frequently all the while that E3 is going on, and even in the week or two following.

Sadly, (or not really that sadly) a couple of us will be traveling on vacation during E3 this year. And while we expect the other monkeys to be stepping up their posts to help spread the word of whats going on, the gamespot site is really a fantastic place to go to see stuff updated all the time, and giving you the best experience you can get other than actually BEING at E3… and since its such a madhouse, it may actually net you more coverage than really being there.

At the risk of being a part of that marketing machine, we tell you to go update your subscription, or get a new one, and then prepare to roll around in the gigabytes of movies, pictures, and previews that are sure to fill up those pages in the weeks to come.

And when the dust settles, and the madness subsides… ALL the monkeys will be here to let you know what we thought of the chaotic media orgy that is E3 2006, and we’ll do our best to let you know what you shouldn’t miss out on, … and what you should.

Yesterday Xbox Live was taken down for maintenance in preparation for E3 (starting next week). The reason for this update was mainly to everything in place so that us at home can “experience” E3 from our living rooms!
MSFT will be sharing a majority of the content available in the booth with us at home. Today MajorNelson shared some of the details of what will be available starting next week. Oh and as one last “gift” Xbox Live service will be free for all users during the entire E3 week!
From MajorNelson:

During E3 week, Xbox 360 fans will be able to download game demos and trailers from the hottest E3 titles and experience them in high definition. Over 60 pieces of new downloadable content will be available to gamers this week including:

Playable game demos and/or trailers from highly anticipated titles like:
Crackdown (Microsoft Game Studios)
Dead or Alive® : Xtreme 2 (Tecmo)
The Lord of the Rings ™, The Battle for Middle Earth™ II (EA Los Angeles)
Lost Planet: Extreme Condition (Capcom)
Moto GP™ ’06 (THQ)
Sonic the Hedgehog™ (Sega)
Splinter Cell Double Agent ™ (Ubisoft)
Test Drive Unlimited (Atari)
Viva Piñata (Microsoft Game Studios)

I for one am excited about the Lost Planet, Splinter Cell, and Viva Piñata demos. Also the trailer being shown in the MSFT booth for Gears of War will be available for us to watch at home.
Call it a slick marketing ploy, or just an excuse for MSFT to make advertising money, but to me this is one of the coolest things I have seen from a game publisher.
The coming week will be an interesting one, and be sure that I will do my best to post impressions and information I get from this “event”, and the deluge of information that is E3.