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Sony's Revolution Killer? 80

Posted by Zonk from the we-shall-see dept.
jchenx writes "Sony, who was rumored to be developing an online service to compete with Xbox Live, may also be developing a counter to Nintendo's Revolution. From the Gamespot article: 'Sony intend[s] to make it their 'Revolution Killer.' They're working on tying in Eyetoy and some kind of controller similar to the Revolution controller. With a 100M+ userbase, tens of thousands of mature and documented dev kits and the very low cost of producing Rev style games on the PS2 platform they're expecting to mobilize another 50M units over the next 5 years precipitated by a $99 price point in 2007.'" This is a Gamespot rumour control article; At the moment, this is nothing more than conjecture.
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Sony's Revolution Killer? More

Sony's Revolution Killer?

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  • Sounds like they are going to just make knock-offs. Historically, these tend not to be that great (and I'm being generous there...)
    • I agree, the Sony knock-off of the NES was a huge flop. I wish they would stop already.

      • Re:knock-offs (Score:3, Informative)

        by jferris ( 908786 )
        Nice attempt at sarcasm - keep trying!

        The reason that Sony was able to gain marketshare, in the first place, was that developers were practically begging Nintentdo to move to a disk based format. Sony was working on developing the CD hardware that Nintendo was going to use when there was some sort of falling out between the two. Nintendo put carts in the N64, as a result of it.

        In the current scenario, it would be Sony who is trying to play catch up. Add in the fact that there is another large and unk

        • Sony was working on developing the CD hardware that Nintendo was going to use when there was some sort of falling out between the two. Nintendo put carts in the N64, as a result of it.

          More importantly, optical drives were still slow in the early to mid-1990s. Remember how bad the loading times were for Sega CD and early PS1 games? That's part of why the Nintendo DS still uses carts, so that even poorly engineered racing games released during the launch window don't have 70 seconds of loading for a 150 s

          • Re:NOW LOADING (Score:4, Insightful)

            by Doomstalk ( 629173 ) on Tuesday February 28, 2006 @12:52AM (#14814597)
            Power consumption and durability were definitely large factors with the DS storage format as well. Actually that can probably be said for Nintendo's decision with the N64 as well. You'd be hard pressed to find a 1st-gen PSX that still works (at least, without having to be set upside down, or any of those crazy tricks people worked out). The drives have all konked out by now. I'll bet you'd have a much easier time finding a working 1st gen N64. The first PSXes could barely take the abuse of being regularly used, let alone the kind of abuse Nintendo designs its hardware to survive.
            • er... mine still works. granted, i had to get it fixed once due to an accident involving my roommate and some coke [the drink; its quite sad that i have to clarify... ]. but mine still works fine. actually better than my relatively new xbox does... =\

              i admit that sony hardware supposedly has its issues, but ive only run into one person thats had to resort to such tactics. ive been pretty lucky as far as my sony products go, and i admit that. but apparently im not the only one since people keep buying playst
        • It's really not about the systems anymore... it's more about which company can one-up the other company by strategically releasing gaames at certain launch dates, hiding specs, etc. Their biggest market, kids (I say this loosely) don't even care about these things - they'll play what they can get their hands on first. A lot of people I know who couldn't preorder the 360 just got over it and are now waiting for the other "better" systems to come out. I don't know a single close friend with an 360... and t
          • I think that's more of a trait for hardcore gamers.

            Of course, games help get a good reputation, and if kids happen to stumble by, it might influence the buying decision. But the majority of people won't know too much about what games are coming before they buy the system.
      • "I agree, the Sony knock-off of the NES was a huge flop. I wish they would stop already. "

        The original Playstation was cheaply made, had a high failure rate, and contained very little in terms of innovative features. Maybe 'knock-off' isn't a perfect description of Sony's consoles, but it's certainly in the right ballpark.

    • Re:knock-offs (Score:4, Informative)

      by bartyboy ( 99076 ) on Monday February 27, 2006 @09:08PM (#14813511)
      The controller in question is probably this abomination [cnet.com]. I agree with you, anyone can build a knock-off, but it's rare that they get it right.
    • its just a wand for the eyetoy it cannot judge depth/pitch/yaw its basically a styles and works only on the XY axises

  • Serial Killers (Score:4, Funny)

    by FidelCatsro ( 861135 ) * <.fidelcatsro. .at. .gmail.com.> on Monday February 27, 2006 @04:29PM (#14811331) Journal
    The Term Killer is just wrong , how about Competitor .
    At a Dog show , a hip new Dog that wants to win the gold in the Puppy class is not called for example :Steve's Puppy Killer.

    It is Sony Competitor to the Revolution's service , it is not out to brutally murder it , unless Balmer is now CEO of Sony.
    • The Term Killer is just wrong , how about Competitor .

      I hate the terminology as much as you do, but is it not an accurate description of how big businesses act? As long as some other business does choose to resort to pathological competitiveness, is there any other way of ensuring survival than to rise^Wstoop to the same level? I mean, you can't make others play nicely, can you?
    • The aim of the game is not to compete. it is to put the competition out of business so that you gain a monopoly. This is standard practice in industries with high entry costs. Killer is an appropriate term.
    • re:"It is Sony Competitor to the Revolution's service , it is not out to brutally murder it , unless Balmer is now CEO of Sony."

      If that were the case - the new controller would be vaguely chair-shaped.
  • Sony may also release an addon that allows the PS2 to achieve low earth orbit to compete with Burt Rutan. Seriously, was there anything in that article that wasn't just a complete WAG?

    Sony to compete with other companies, film at 11!
  • Sony is planning on producing a Cuisinart killer by including a blender peripheral for the PS3. Jack of all trades, master of none.
  • Although the revolution specs arn't confirmed they will be better then 6 year old hardware, games will look a lot nicer and will be more dynamic.

    Its the quality of the games that matters how do sony expect to use an old and getting very dated console to compete with something brand new by just tricking out a new controller and releasing a few more games.

  • Sony, with their chest pounding A BILLION TRILLYGONS PER MICROSECOND THE PS3 WILL CHANGE YO LIFE banter, are you going to try and convince me that their only competition for Nintendo is rereleasing an incredibly weak and dated system and that Sony expects to support the system, along with the PS3, as well as third party developers? You guys are huffing way too much ether man.
    • "The only thing that really worried me was the ether. There is nothing in the world more helpless and irresponsible and depraved than a man in the depths of an ether binge, and I knew we'd get into that rotten stuff pretty soon"
      the doctor
  • First of all, I was the one who submitted the article. And yes, I know it's just a rumor, but I think it was pretty interesting nonetheless. And I happen to think it's completely plausible. Why?

    Well, having controllers that sense movement aren't exactly new fare. Every time I go to the mall, I walk past those kiosks that sell gimmicky video game systems with Ping Pong paddles. You use these paddles to control your on-screen character to play a game of ping pong. Surely I can't be the only person who's seen
    • I doubt the sony team could make something as well as the revolution controller for a number of reasons,

      The Rev controller has been in development for years,
      it has dedicated hardware (both pickups and processing chip) (From what i understand)
      it's designed to be highly extendable.
      it's the primary controller for their new console

      I have no doubt that it will be anything but highly responsive and have plenty of developers making games for it.

      If you think that this knock off will even get released in all countri
    • I read that a week or two ago, and even commented on it here on /. (got a 4 or so on that comment).

      I think it is a very intersting idea, and one that could work. That said, I think it is a long shot that it would do much better than the EyeToy. They would have to advertise it a lot. Everyone will be wanting a Revolution, not a PS2 + whatever.

      Still, I think it is the best shot Sony or MS have at copying the Revolution until the next generation of consoles (not the current "Next Gen", whatever comes after t

      • Frankly I don't care if everyone uses normal controlers as long as people make more lightgun games. Point Blank 7!

        In this era of LCD, DLP, plasma, and who knows what else other than CRT, only an airmouse such as the Revolution controller will allow for "light gun" games.

  • Speculation (Score:3, Informative)

    by Gogo0 ( 877020 ) on Monday February 27, 2006 @04:47PM (#14811468)
    IRC Log...

    [PSX4Lyfe]: OMG NINTENDO SUX
    [XBOX115623]: YEAH U DONT HAVE TO TELL ME
    [PSX4Lyfe]: gaycube lol
    [XBOX115623]: roffl mario and luiji have gay sex
    [PSX4Lyfe]: i bet dat playstation will make a controler dat beats the GAYVOLUTION REMOTE
    [XBOX115623]: xbox will to. bill gates will buy nintndo
    [PSX4Lyfe]: tell ur freinds dat playstation will beat NINTNDONT at theyre own game itll be sick
    [PSX4Lyfe]: playstation dvd remote will beat smellvolutio remote
    [XBOX115623]: ok will do see u at skool 2mro
    [PSX4Lyfe]: cu

    The next day on Slashdot...
    Sony's Revolution Killer?

    [XBOX115623]: o sick dude ur on gamespot and slashdots
    [PSX4Lyfe]: o snap

  • They can copy the idea all they want, but the key to selling it has to be the games.

    The difference between Sony and Nintendo is that Sony will use their version of the controller to sell the same old games. So basically selling a new control system to the same hard-core gamers. Business as usual, when you look at it in detail.

    Nintendo is actually looking at using the controller to create entire new genres. The controller is just the springboard to those games. So they aren't just selling new control to
  • I wouldn't exactly call this a "Revolution Killer" ... they're just talking about another add on for PS2.

    From TA: Got some PS2 info if you're interested," read the e-mail. "Sony intend[s] to make it their 'Revolution Killer.' They're working on tieing [sic] in Eyetoy and some kind of controller similar to the Revolution controller. With a 100M+ userbase, tens of thousands of mature and documented dev kits and the very low cost of producing Rev style games on the PS2 platform they're expecting to mobilise [s

  • Curious (Score:4, Insightful)

    by RyoShin ( 610051 ) <tukaro.gmail@com> on Monday February 27, 2006 @04:59PM (#14811563) Homepage Journal
    I'd take this with a grain of salt. From the article, it's the "a guy I know knows a guy who heard about this" mode of information travel- hardly reliable.

    Ignoring that, I don't really see this having any truth. From the article, this is for the Playstation 2, not the PS3.

    Next, this would be an accessory for a small amount of games, not an official controller included in every unit.

    Also, how they would make it work would be curious, though I don't doubt its plausibility. Nintendo's controller uses spacial recognition (using triangulating sensors) and pitch/yaw (most likely gyros) to do its controlling. If this supposed PS2 controller uses eyeToy, then it would presumably be by pattern recognition. How would the camera recognize the controller?

    To my knowledge, eyeToy games recognize the hand, which has a distinct shape (if programmed to recognize the various contortions the hand can accomplish.) As a static object, this would be easier to recognize, but only if it doesn't contrast with any colors or shapes around it. Most people don't wear flesh-colored accessories or clothes; if the controller is white, what happens if it's put in front of a white shirt? What about if the user puts it behind their back?

    Plus, the PS2 is being replaced this year (well, or early next year.... sometime before 2010). While there will still be development for it, a lot of it will eventually peter off as more and more people jump to the PS3. If the PS3 can handle PS2 eyeToy software and the eyeToy itself, that isn't a problem in the least; otherwise, there will be low demand.

    In short, I really don't see this happening. Even if it does, it will be no "Rev killer" unless it comes standard with every system.
    • To my knowledge, eyeToy games recognize the hand, which has a distinct shape

      Nope, just motion. I played a kung-fu game with an Eye Toy once; little guys jumped at you on the screen and you waved your arms to knock them away. Toy lightsabers, chairs, my head, and anything I could move would hit them. I stuck my thumb right in front of the camera and wiggled it and I hit everything on the screen.

  • I don't see this as something that has to be better than the Revolution. I see this as something that targets the PS2's huge instal base and could cost a fraction of a whole next-gen system (Rev), but offer similar enough experience to disway people from going out and getting the Revolution. It doesn't have to be better, just more appealing and with 100+ million PS2's out there, it is easy to see that they just need to keep Nintendo from gaining any market share to be "successful" with something like this.
    • I see this as something that targets the PS2's huge instal base and could cost a fraction of a whole next-gen system (Rev),

      Collolquially, you're mis-using "fraction."

      If all rumors are right, this eyetoy add-on will cost 1/2 what a revolution base system will cost. The games won't be any cheaper, either (about $50), so for someone who buys exactly one game, the sony thing here will cost $150 instead of $250 -- 3/5 the cost of a next-gen system.

      When you say "it'll be a fraction of the cost", you typically me
  • I know we all hate Flash, but surly this is at least a part answer to all the homebrew calls. Okay they are not opening up the platform so we can port MAME. But you can knock together some pretty fun games in Flash.
  • This article has nothing of substance to it. Sony tends to be very good with their marketing and propaganda most of the time. They decimated Sega with it and they are trying to do the same to Microsoft and Nintendo. The problem is that the Revolution is nearly entirely immune to being counter hyped at the moment.

    When Sega made claims for the Saturn or the Dreamcast, Sony was able to make claims that set them above that level. They could come out cheaper, or with better graphics, or with better games. B
  • ...who are my employer, for what it's worth (but I don't know anything about what the article discusses):

    With things like EyeToy and Singstar, and more recently Buzz, Sony has been making more mainstream-style games. I wouldn't be surprised if some research unit somewhere wasn't looking at Revolution-style input. I also wouldn't be surprised if it hadn't been looked at before Revolution was announced, but just never made any headway.

    I'm still reserving judgement on Rev stuff until I see it running, preferab
  • But has Cuba figured out how to make it launch missiles yet? I thought that was its big selling point back in the day.
  • ..they're the ones who used the remnants of an abandoned joint project with Nintendo [wikipedia.org] to enter the console business. They're no stranger to adapting whatever the others are doing.
  • I wonder if this will be like Sony's Xbox live killer. Also given how MS and sony will copy the innovation from nintendo rather than innovate themselves anyone else not surprised nintendo has been so secretive about the revolution. It also makes me wonder if sony is just waiting for the specs to come out so that they can tack it on the PS3

  • Huh? (Score:2)

    by oGMo ( 379 )

    They're working on tying in Eyetoy and some kind of controller similar to the Revolution controller.

    WTF? This isn't really suprising or news. Surely someone remembers the EyeToy demo from E32k5 [ign.com]. This was news then (and long before the Revolution controller was announced).

    What Nintendo should be wary of at this point is relying on a special, possibly expensive, controller to sell their system. The EyeToy can do the same basic things, using an entirely different approach. In fact, it may be able

    • This wasn't even news at E3 2005. They had some interesting concept demos at the GDC in...I'm thinking 2003 or 2004. Some of the stuff in the demo has been used for EyeToy games, and I'm sure we will see more of the stuff used in other games over the next few years.

    • The idea behind the Revolution controller demands a high level of precision. Assuming the Revolution controller will have the precision it needs, Sony is not going to be able to toss off an Eye-Toy centered substitute.

      Using video from the Eye-Toy to approximate the Revolution's dedicated input method seems to me to be more like using handwriting recognition on a scanned sheet of notebook paper to approximate just typing your damned term paper.

      • Re:Huh? (Score:2)

        by oGMo ( 379 )
        Using video from the Eye-Toy to approximate the Revolution's dedicated input method seems to me to be more like using handwriting recognition on a scanned sheet of notebook paper to approximate just typing your damned term paper.

        Actually it seems more like NASA spending millions developing the ballpoint pen and the Russians using pencils, to me. ;-)

  • I guess I don't really see the logic behind this. They're going to capture the casual market by relying on their existing (non-casual) userbase? And their plan is to undercut Nintendo by $100 with severely underpowered hardware that has no WiFi adaptor or integrated online service.
    Even if they did pull this off (and Nintendo has everything about the Revolution controller patented, so good luck), the PS2 just doesn't have the right developers to make those sort of games. The industry is going to have to wait
  • what with their all star killer lineups:
    PS1 was the SNES killer
    PS2 is the dreamcast killer
    killzone the halo killer
    killzone 2 the halo 2,3,4,and 5 killer
    PS3 the 360 killer
    PS3 the Revolution killer
    PS3 the beef killer (ps3grill)
    PS3 the cancer killer
    PS3 the router killer
    PS3 controller the Revolution killer

    There's plenty of killers, but I'm not seeing a lot of body bags. . .

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