PlayStation 3’s Wireless Keyboard Attachment

This is a prototype of the keypadSony’s done it, they’ve announced a wireless keyboard adapter to plug onto the stock PlayStation 3 controller. This isn’t the first time we’ve heard of this, Microsoft pushed out a keyboard for their Xbox 360 controller last year to provide faster chat abilities and, overall, smooth the interface when needing to type.

Now, Sony’s following up with a few more advancements, “the wireless keyboard also features a touchpad mode to allow for mouse input. David Reeves, president of SCEE, said that this touchpad control mode may be used in future game development.” (kotaku)

Is there any chance our next-generation consoles will be more “PC like” out of the box? With these complex user interfaces featuring web browsers, online marketplaces and areas to enter your credit card information (and addresses) you’re really heading towards needing this type of interface. Now, they’re all starting to include chat and messenger services making it more important… if it catches on.

Perhaps the next console hitting the market will come with a keyboard as an in-the-box solution. Please note, the above image is Sony’s prototype image.

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Microsoft Shoots for Number Two In Console WarMicrosoft Shoots for Number Two In Console War

Microsoft recently announced their price cuts on the Xbox 360, effective today, but what is motivating them? Microsoft’s not going to make much additional money by passing off the savings to the customer but they will, more than likely, sell a bunch of great new Xbox 360‘s to a new crowd of gamer.

Motivation? Sony.

“I’m not at a point where I can say we’re going to beat Nintendo,” says Don Mattrick, senior vice-president of Microsoft’s Interactive Entertainment Business. Indeed, Nintendo is likely to run away with the lead in the current generation of console gaming, leaving Microsoft and Sony to battle for second place. (businessweek)

Who would have thought Sony and Microsoft would be battling out this generation for second place while Nintendo breezes through with their Wii console and a handful of games with mediocre game reviews? Don’t answer that, it’s a rhetorical question. If you saw this coming and you’re not on the marketing or project planning for one of these console makers you better prep your resume!

The battle isn’t cooling, Microsoft drops their price to compete with their big competitor Sony which also brings it closer to the price tag on the Wii getting two bird with one stone. The reason Wii is winning is clearly due to its broad demographic of grandpa and grandma non-gamers along with hardcore gamers who have to collect all the consoles and younger gamers that want to fit the trend.

Microsoft’s clearly shooting for second place by installing more units into the consumers home as possible. They’ve got a great library of first person shooter titles, a few RPG’s and RTS titles and the typical contraversial titles like GTA and Saints Row with more hot blockbusters (read: Gears of War 2) arriving soon.

I see this as a great opportunity for casual game developers to get into the Xbox Live Arcade market and start making themselves (and Microsoft) some money off the new gamers that will buy their first Xbox 360 for $199 and up. Microsoft’s getting closer to the low-budget gamer crowd with their price cuts so it would be great if they can take advantage of that market with lower cost titles as well.

If you’re a game developer looking for console stick time and you want to grab the attention of a large pool of gamers, the Xbox 360 isn’t a bad start!

While Microsoft isn’t aiming at Nintendo just yet, there is no doubt Nintendo will be in their sights if they can smoke the pants off Sony in the near future (by this holiday).

Nintendo Wants More Wii and DS SalesNintendo Wants More Wii and DS Sales

At E3 Reggie Fils-Aime let the world know he wasn’t satisfied with the sales progress of the Wii or DS in 2007 and hopes Nintendo can do better this year. Perhaps Nintendo is playing the humble card? No doubt they bragged about their 10 million sales of the Wii and 20 million sales of the DS but quickly followed it by saying they’re not satisfied.

Or, is this a threat?

Nintendo has built some steep competition while both Sony and Microsoft scoff at their product and tell everyone its a novelty and it doesn’t really “count” in this next-generation console battle. It doesn’t count… really?

Perhaps Microsoft and Sony are right; maybe every Wii owner that wanted a PlayStation 3 and/or an Xbox 360 purchased their console too. There may be some truth to that as hardcore gamers may purchase a Wii for many reasons:

  • They want every console so they have the widest array of game purchases
  • They’re hardcore nature forces them to spend money on all products
  • They want to get their kids in on gaming early, to grow them up in their image
  • Mob mentality, if everyone has a Wii you must as well!
  • The technology is cool and you want to be there for its inception

It seems they don’t feel a threat because Wii is a non-gamer console and thus attracts a different crowd… yet they’re both mimicking some of the motion sensing in their own controllers and playing nice towards “casual games” and non-gamers of late. Maybe their not threatened, but impressed?

Fils-Aime isn’t impressed with their sales figures, perhaps because he expected a higher degree of Wii sales by now, but the fact that people cannot purchase them two years into production has hurt sales figures. Although 10 million units sold is an impressive figure, knowing you had such higher potential if the product was actually on the shelves has to hurt a bit of your pride.

The DS sales were impressive considering the product has been in the market for awhile and is easier to find (minus the holiday rush). We’re not sure why he’s not satisfied with the figures, but inspiring a higher degree of DS sales will require some work. Perhaps this is why they’ve gone with the GTA Chinatown approach; using the GTA name to grow their DS sales figures?

It will be interesting to see how Wii does through the next few quarters and if sales slow down now that we’re a few years into the product. What was the last home console Nintendo owned to get this high of a demand?

Perhaps none.

Episode 389: Live From E3 2015Episode 389: Live From E3 2015

Part of this long episode was recorded live from the LA Convention Center floor at E3 2015, where Jonah and Paul were fresh off waiting in line for Disney amibos. There were some news items covered there, while a few more news items were recorded here.

Rather than list all of the news items, we’ll just relay the Question of the Week: “If Nintendo isn’t revealing a new console, should they skip E3 altogether in 2016?”

All this and listener feedback, too.