It's fast approaching that special time of year when the three platform holders strip down to their underpants, oil themselves up, and then grapple in a public arena whilst grunting like a glamour model in a soon-to-be-super-injunctioned hotel romp. Yes, E3 is almost here, and it's time to fan the flames of the Great Console War. We've already asked How Microsoft Can Win E3, and now we turn our eyes to how Sony can rule the roost.
Whether you think that the PSN hacking debacle was a serious error on Sony's part or an unpreventable crime in which the company was the innocent victim, one thing is clear: Sony needs to move on from PSN-gate, and pronto.
That's not to say that recent events should go unacknowledged. There's room for another apology at the front-end of Sony's E3 conference, but after that it's time to move on. Sony needs to show the world that it hasn't lost any self-confidence in all of this, that's it's simply learned the hard lessons and that it's ready to get back to the important stuff.
A few new PSN reveals would be nice - a couple of new services, perhaps, or an exclusive download title. A new PixelJunk title would be just what the doctor ordered.
Failing that, they could just give us a new game where you try to hack people's pers- OH WAIT, WE HAVE THAT ONE ALREADY.
While the 3DS isn't exactly a dead duck, few people (if any) would describe it as a supremely healthy waterfowl. Clumsy metaphor aside, the point is that Sony has a clear opportunity to score a point over Nintendo.
For starters, we want the NGP to come out before the end of the year. That's not such a tall order, so let's ask for something less certain: a launch price of £200, or perhaps a penny less. As nice (and as expensive) a piece of kit as the NGP looks to be, the lower the asking price the more people will be prepared to take a gamble on early adoption. And yes, it will seem like a gamble to some of us: there's a lot to like based on what we've seen of the machine so far, but quite a few people got their fingers burned on the PSPgo. A competitive price will help to win more people over, and will provide hardcore gamers with an alternative to the 3DS and its anorexic line-up.
