About those PS2 “Wii controller” rumors…
Tuesday, June 26th, 2007 at 11:08am by Jack
I’ve discussed this via the comment section with some Infendo readers in the past, but today I’m coming back at it because Wired’s Chris Kohler and EGM are reporting on the PS2 Wiimote-like controller *allegedly* due out at Christmas time.
As I said in the past, this kind of controller would be a colossal failure for Sony. The last minute addition of motion sensing to the PS3 controller was as big of a joke as I’ve seen come out of a gaming company in quite some time (a-hem, Virtual Boy), but this would take the cake.
As a supporter of Nintendo, am I scared this will steal some of Nintendo’s thunder? Insecure perhaps? Not bloody likely.
I think the thought process is that if Sony can actually reposition the PlayStation 2 as a direct knockoff of the Wii at a cheaper price point — dropping the price below $100, packing in a controller with functionality identical to a Wiimote/nunchuk setup — they can take some of the wind out of Wii’s sails with the strong PlayStation branding and a much lower price point.
What this will really do is validate Nintendo’s strategy. Even now, there are still quite a few people who believe that Nintendo’s bubble is ready to burst at any moment. But if Sony follows right behind them, all that’s going to do is solidify Nintendo’s position. If Sony goes forward with such a product, they’ll be sending a very strong message to consumers that Nintendo was right all along and that this is the wave of the future.
If this happens, expect Sony’s stock to tank. Again. Expect Nintendo’s to rise. Even more. And expect Microsoft to fire off a thousand press releases in a thousand different directions chastising Sony for its backwards thinking. There’s a next generation race to be one, after all, right?
June 26th, 2007 at 11:15 am
Why would Sony do this though? Where did this rumor even come from? Is there any evidence that it might be true?
I don’t see why Sony would be trying to raise PS2 sales when they are ALREADY HIGHER THAN WII SALES and the thing has already sold 100 million plus. Makes no sense to me.
June 26th, 2007 at 11:35 am
Uh, you’re forgetting the latent problem that plagues Wii right now. Developers are shitting lazy crap bastards.
If Sony were to do this then there would be a severe detrimental effect on Nintendo, as every developer who is now finally after so long realizing they need to actually support Nintendo, would develop their games primarily for PS2 and port to Wii, regardless if Wii is outselling PS2 at the time or not. Thus we’d forever receive inferior 2nd/3rd hand ports handled by 3rd/4th tier dev teams, slowly choking Wii to death, while not aiding Sony’s cause in the slightest.
This I feel is one of Sony’s most despicable attributes: that they would (and have) gone out of their way to harm their competitors even if it provides no benefit to themselves. Heck, they’ve even done it when their competitor posed no threat.
June 26th, 2007 at 11:44 am
@ UnderHero5
Wii is now routinely outselling PS2 each month in all major territories, which is something Xbox 360 has yet to achieve.
The slow sales and heavy losses of PS3 and PSP may very well cause Sony to fall back on tehir mainstays, particularly now that Kutaragi’s out of the picture.
I fully expect Sony to follow Nintendo’s pattern and find failure: After an experimental and boundary pushing N64 that ultimately lost audience and share, Nintendo thought they had pushed too hard with invention, and went conservative with Gamecube. This didn’t work either, as what they really needed to do was reconnect with the wider audience in a way that was accessible and familiar. After PS3 fails for its excesses and extravagance, a reorganized Sony will most likely attempt making a relatively price and technology conservative console if they even stay in the race at all. Again this unit will fail. Sony have repeatedly failed to learn from the lessons they painfully taught Nintendo.
June 26th, 2007 at 11:45 am
Ah, but you forget all of the recent press on developers such as EA. Remember how they were chastising themselves for being too stupid to put real work into the Wii? That’s changing, and it will change sooner than any ps2 wii controller.
June 26th, 2007 at 12:17 pm
I don’t see sonys stock suffering from them supporting the ps2 a bit more, I do believe that gaming press and insiders would think that it’s a blatant, shameless rip-off but those millions of people over here in europe who keep buying Buzz! games and Singstar games (both have their own proprietary controller) would go crazy over this PSsports thingie.. If sony only takes the price below 100$, even that could hurt nintendo (at least over here) since the playstation brand is HUUGE over here. People would buy them like crazy…
June 26th, 2007 at 12:30 pm
Why can’t Sony Innovate for themselves? Nintendo invents the control stick, Sony puts two in their Controller. Nintendo invents a Rumble Pak, Sony puts two in there. Then they tell me they put tilt sensors in their controllers, which isn’t the same as a Wiimote, because it lacks the Pointer and Accelerometer and the thingamajig that tells where the controller is at any given time. I think, “Huh, are they trying to stay out of Nintendo’s way, seeing as they did not completely copy the Wiimote?” But, if they make this… Ugh…
June 26th, 2007 at 12:33 pm
If Sony does come out with such a controller, what does that say about PS3’s SIXASSES?
June 26th, 2007 at 1:53 pm
it just shows that despite what Microsoft and Sony say against the Wii, they are very much threatened by it.
And yes, people won’t be buy a 7 year old console again just for some waggle control on a system that’s already waning in terms of dominance and game development. They’ll also have a huge back catalog of games that won’t support that motion controller.
June 26th, 2007 at 2:01 pm
As dumb as Sony has been lately, I don’t think they’d be that stupid. Yes, they could capitalize on some of the hardcore Sony crowd that want Wiis but don’t want to cave in on their ridiculous loyalty to Sony, but that’s it.
The Wii is so well known now that everyone would see such a move as a blatant rip off of Nintendo and an also ran. It would also be like them screaming “THE PS3 IS A FAILURE! THE PS3 IS A FAILURE!” which isn’t completely true. The system is indeed failing and it’s all Sony’s fault but if they can swallow their pride, lower their absurd price, and really get the word out about Little Big Planet (A game that could very well be worth buying the PS3) then they might be able to save some face.
However, it is too late for them to beat Nintendo, at least for this and probably next year. With Smash Bros and Mario Galaxy due to strike this year and all but guaranteed to be critical hits the Wii will rule this year (unless you count the DS.)
June 26th, 2007 at 2:07 pm
@ Sharp
Talk is cheap. Especially from companies like EA. In fact many of them (especially Sega) are talking about their expectations for a short lifetime for Wii, saying they’ll let it die before they really support it. Yet more still are happy to continue being retarded? Katamari? Time Crisis? Take a look at how poorly 3rd parties (particularly Western) are supporting DS, despite its dominance, and despite them chastising themselves. Had Sony released a touch screen version of PSP, there’s no question which they’d support better. In fact, scratch that, 3rd parties still support PSP with bigger and more thorough development than DS.
Like I said, developers are shitting lazy crap bastards. To that I’ll add that they shoot their mouths off, have a history of shunning Nintendo, make games for themselves and not for the audience, and don’t make financial sense.
June 26th, 2007 at 2:09 pm
I dont think Sony will support the PS2 much through whats left of the year ,less support in 08′, the ps2 sales are slowing down , ppl like me are upgrading thier systems and moving on. Sony needs to focus on the PS3 and get somthing going for it instead. the ps2 did what it had to do.
How much Sony will squeeze out of the ps2 ? Sony think by adding a wii-mote like controller to the ps2 will sell console ? the system doesnt evolve around the controllers to begin with.
a wii-mote like controll for the ps2 will always be a peripheril an after thought , how will 3rd party devs will dedicate a game when the attach rate for the controller it is low to none.
believe me if a wii-mote like controller appears on the PS2 it will only addvertise and support the Wii and make Nintendo look like a genius .
June 26th, 2007 at 4:17 pm
OK, guys, but what if Sony brings out a Wii-mote for the PS3?? With new casual games? Wouldn’t that say, “OK, here’s your remote, with casual games that sport better graphics! What else do you want from us?!?”
June 26th, 2007 at 4:58 pm
InvisibleMan, what that would actually say is “All the stuff we’ve been saying about the Wii being a short-term gimmick has been a lie. So is all the stuff we’ve been saying about how the market prefers a high-powered gaming console that also plays hi-def movies. Here, buy our budget-priced Wii knockoff.”
And Elmer, when you say developers “would develop their games primarily for PS2 and port to Wii, regardless if Wii is outselling PS2 at the time or not” in this scenario, consider that there are 115 million PS2s out there…. none of which would be able to play “PSwii” games without an additional purchase.
The history of video games is littered with the corpses of titles that required a separate hardware purchase to make the target console able to play it, even when the games were technically amazing and critically acclaimed. See: Donkey Konga 2, or any game for the Starpath Supercharger, Sega 32X, Sega CD, Jaguar CD (in fact, any CD subsystem not built into the first revision of a console), the 64DD, or a dozen other devices meant to extend the life of consoles but instead meeting market indifference or making the company a laughing stock.
And because of that, software developers would not look at a “PSwii” and see an audience of 115 million people and make that their primary target. They would see a market numbering in the low millions, maybe hundreds of thousands… because you don’t think the introduction of the “PSwii” will make still cheaper PS2 systems disappear off of shelves, do you?
June 26th, 2007 at 5:01 pm
Oops, I misread InvisibleMan’s post and thought he was talking about the PS2, tongue in cheek.
A Wiimote clone for the PS3 would say, “Here, buy our Wii clone that costs almost 3 times as much as the real thing.” If they’re not selling enough without the Wiimote, they’re not gonna be selling enough with the additional cost of a Wiimote.
Maybe in 2009, when everyone in the US will have to have an HDTV or HD to SD converter box in order to watch TV, and the PS3 has been cost reduced enough to be competitive…. but not in 2007 and probably not in 2008 either.
June 26th, 2007 at 7:37 pm
I doubt this, although if they were able to pull it off, it would be known as an ‘accessory’. But thinking about it more, you would need a dongle or something out of the PS2 USB ports to enable the wireless portion (or bluetooth). But it all comes down to games. PS2 will NEVER have Mario, Zelda, Metroid and the rest of the crew.
June 27th, 2007 at 9:28 am
“What this will really do is validate Nintendo’s strategy. Even now, there are still quite a few people who believe that Nintendo’s bubble is ready to burst at any moment. But if Sony follows right behind them, all that’s going to do is solidify Nintendo’s position.” ilu
June 27th, 2007 at 9:10 pm
thats bad photoshop job