SONY - E3 2000
Before going to E3, the majority of people you asked would have told you that the Playstation 2 would be king of the show. With this type of expectation, the majority of show goers were a little disappointed with what Sony had to offer. Don't get me wrong, The Playstation 2 looks impressive, but it did not blow away the competition like many had thought it would. In fact, the Sega Dreamcast had the superior looking games in certain situations. What did look impressive was some strong 3rd party software, with Metal Gear 2 leaping in front of the others. I have heard from some developers that the PSX 2 is much more difficult to develop for, so it takes more effort to get the same results on the PSX 2 when compared to the Dreamcast. One thing is for sure, it will be a heated battle between Sega and Sony for the next couple of years, and no clear winner can be predicted at this point.
| Playstation 2 - I finally got to get my hands on the PSX 2 and many of its titles. After months of PR work by Sony and wild rumors on the internet, the real deal made its debut. Gamers will be surprised to see that the PSX 2 is not too different than the Dreamcast in terms of graphics. The PSX 2 has the capability to do more, but it takes programmers a lot of effort to squeeze out everything the system has to offer. The only game that I saw at the show that clearly could not be done on the Dreamcast (without major loss of detail) was Konami's Metal Gear Solid 2. PSX 2 is still a great looking system, but I do not think it will floor audiences like many had hoped. |
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Gran Tourismo 2000 - This title was the first game in development for the system, as it was the only game shown in early form at last year's E3. Basically, it looks like the Playstation version with better resolution and a better frame rate. Believe it or not, there were many instances where I saw jaggies (no anti-alaising). While this game did look good, there are some flaws. The resolution did seem a little higher than that of comparable Dreamcast racers. Overall, a fine game with great looking replays and a realistic physics model. This will be a popular game at the launch of the PSX 2. |
