PS3: the hype, the anticipation, last minute hijinks, and Sony juggling it all…

It's starting...The PS3 is about to launch. It’s only a few days. Heck, it’s about to launch in Japan on the 11th. Lines are starting to form, fan-boys are starting to vibrate like over-clocked hamsters, and headline sections of gaming news sites are starting to froth with PS3 goodness.

And by god it is good. Say what you want about the pricing, or the Network, or Blu-ray, or the SIXAXIS controller, you can’t deny that the PS3 is one powerful box. Your opinion of the PS3, and if it will succeed as a console is yours and we can’t convince you otherwise, but please recognize the power packaged in that glossy black box.

This article is going to look at all the hype and anticipation surrounding the PS3. We’ll recall all the past news and all the bad rep. We’ll look at the good stuff too. We’ll go through smoke and mirrors, and we’ll revisit the online pseudo-arguments between executives and employees.

Let’s start with the latest news (the last minute hijinks), and then from there let’s backtrack. After all of it let’s see if we get a clearer image of the circus that Sony‘s been running.

Get the rest of the article after the Jump!

It's starting...The PS3 is about to launch. It’s only a few days. Heck, it’s about to launch in Japan on the 11th. Lines are starting to form, fan-boys are starting to vibrate like over-clocked hamsters, and headline sections of gaming news sites are starting to froth with PS3 goodness.

And by god it is good. Say what you want about the pricing, or the Network, or Blu-ray, or the SIXAXIS controller, you can’t deny that the PS3 is one powerful box. Your opinion of the PS3, and if it will succeed as a console is yours and we can’t convince you otherwise, but please recognize the power packaged in that glossy black box.

This article is going to look at all the hype and anticipation surrounding the PS3. We’ll recall all the past news and all the bad rep. We’ll look at the good stuff too. We’ll go through smoke and mirrors, and we’ll revisit the online pseudo-arguments between executives and employees.

Let’s start with the latest news (the last minute hijinks), and then from there let’s backtrack. After all of it let’s see if we get a clearer image of the circus that Sony‘s been running.

Patches, Patches, Patches, and Flames
The remote play that we wanted...Yep, the PS3 will be patched on day one. For a reason that may baffle some (yet a reasons that PSP owners know all too well), announcements of patches and firmware, despite the promise of improvements, always has a sour taste to it.

It was previously reported that from day one, anyone connecting to the Internet using the PS3 will be invited to download a system software update to version 1.10. The update will unlock all services on PlayStation Network for customers to get stuck into from 7 a.m. (JST) on November 11.

Another update is planned for late November, this includes a version update for the PSP. It promises enhanced security features and improvements in the execution of the PSP-PS3 connection. The late November update will also give the PSP the ability to download PSP-specific games from PlayStation Store on the PS3, and transfer them to the PSP.

Here’s the clincher that has some people up in arms (most especially the haters). It will also unlock the “remote play” feature that allows users to control the PS3 via their PSP remotely. The update will bring the PSP system software version number up to 3.00.

Yep, forum speculation is somewhat confirmed. All that promise from all that press from all the conventions during this past year has a caveat: “version update required.” One could say that this bit of news could serve as more fuel for the flamer. Regardless, a flamer will still flame whatever the news on sony is. Anonymity + audience = f*ckwad.

Lines, camping, the demand, and the supply.
Despite rampant Internet hate against Sony, triangle-circle-x-square faithful are undeterred. Numerous video-game blogs already have reports on people camping-out in front of Best Buy as early as 9 days prior to the North American launch.

on-line

There isn’t much word yet on Japanese lines, but a trusted acquaintance informs us that it’s just that way in Japan. People don’t bother to camp out there, lines usually form on the day itself, and when it does, it gets really, really, really looong. Apparently Japan has something against people camping out, as there has been reports that Japanese Punks were chased away from stores for attempting to camp-out.

You can’t really blame us people in the West for feeling the need to camp. There really is a general air of fear that supply won’t meet the demand. The announced 400,000 units in North America, a country with the population far more than that, makes one feel fear. It makes one, especially if they’re a Sony zealot, regress into survival mode.

Best Buy has turned into Raccoon City: it’s just you and your trusted wallet, against a horde of Console hungry zombies.

Sony’s hands-off approach regarding pre-orders, and aggressive stand against inter-region imports does not help either. One gets the feeling of getting shafted, and having to put up with it because you think the console, that black magical, powerful console is oh so worth it.

a PS3 delivery man on launch day...

On “worth”, The Playstation Network, and last minute word on pricing
Much has been said about the PlayStation Network already. So to save on words, I’ll take advantage of a phenomenon that is only possible in the world of the intarweb: hyperlinks. (As if I haven’t been splattering the above paragraphs with hyperlinks already.) If you want something more in-depth feel free to click-through. If you feel that you’re up to date, then by all means, let us proceed.

Arguments have been raised about its effectiveness, executives have responded to employees, forum trolls have debated and flamed if the the “estimated” price for games are worth the price, and more importantly if the games on the PlayStation Network are “cheaper,” or more “valuable,” or more “worth it,” than the games on XBLA. 1080p not that big… XBL versus the PSN… Sony versus XBL movie-TV downloads… when forum flames merge with press releases and blog posts. One big mess.

Estimate is perhaps the operative term here. With Sony apparently keeping sensitive topics like that hush-hush and last minute, we gamers are left guessing. The supposed “gurus” resort to theorizing, and everyone is on their toes, their porcupine spikes ready to shoot.

This general ambiguity from Sony leads us to the next part of this article.

Sony the Juggler, Sony the Clown, Juggle Sony Juggle

One has to admit that the flip-flops that Sony has been making makes one at the worst case feel fear, and at the least lose some minor amount of comfort. Sony has been making announcements left and right and often at the last minute. If you’ve been following Sony news, it’s hard not to notice that Sony’s been put under a microscope already. Like a clown in the center of a circus ring.

The hard part about this is that if you continue to follow the news around the PS3 and the PSP, one starts to feel like a ball or a baton that Sony the clown is juggling. Things just go round and round and round.

Sometimes Sony press does good, and the Internet community (as the fans especially) gives them kudos for it. Sometimes it does bad and the flamers come out of the wood work and Sony sounds like they’re making excuses and they’re making Lemonade out of lemons, or putting fart-bags under people they shouldn’t.

juggling above and beyond

Sony the Magic Act

Whatever Sony does though, it seems like they’re always keeping so much to themselves, and that they have an air of confidence that borders on arrogance. You feel that something is going on on-stage that you know about, but you keep watching. Like a magic act we know that Sony’s got a trick up their sleeve already. We know it’s there and we’re watching, we’re anticipating.

Are you familiar with the three parts of a Magic Act? The Pledge, the Turn, and the Prestige? Well the whole deal with the PS3 is sort of like that. Their advertising alone for the PS3 and the PSP are starting to border on the symbolic so much so that it goes all the way to the other end and hits non-sensical. We know that when it comes to anything about the PS3, that until it launches, it’s all hype, but we don’t care. We wait, and we hope, and we pre-order.

Why don’t we have the patience to wait until after Christmas?

It’s because the Pledge is over and we’re at the Turn. We’re waiting for the object, the console of promise to show-up, to come back. It’s all hype and we’re not clapping yet. We’re waiting for the prestige.

The Prestige better be damn good.

We're all waiting for it... (art by PyroGoth)

See you all on the 17th.

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