May: The month that...
Wii ruled at E3
Arm-waving bedlam ruled at what would turn out to be the last Electronic Entertainment Expo (at least as an over-the-top wiz-bang spectacular) as Nintendo bossed the show floor with Wii. Microsoft also rocked the LA Convention Centre with massive Halo 3 and GTA IV announcements, while Sony could only muster a flaccid showing (the cringe-worthy Genji presentation being the outstanding low point) and failed to deliver on the PS3 promise of the previous year's show.
DualShock got dumped
Sony sent shockwaves through the gaming community as it announced at E3 that it was dumping rumble in favour of tilt-sensing technology for its PS3 controller. Many saw it as an underhanded attempt to steal the motion-sensing thunder of Nintendo's Wii, although the desire to ditch DualShock was more likely the result of a legal feud with rumble tech pioneers, Immersion. Sony claimed rumble and tilt weren't compatible, Immersion claimed otherwise, while key PS3 developers were bemused....
Above: Nintendo ruled the last ever E3 both inside and out with its Wii
GamesRadar made a pre-owned whoopsie
When trusted retail sources informed us that Sony was planning to adopt a licensing system that would effectively put the kibosh on any kind of PS3 pre-owned games market we were professionally sceptical. When Sony failed to provide us with a solid denial, however, we had no choice but to run the story. Cue anti-Sony vitriol pouring from every games forum on the web. As it turned out, our sources must have been mistaken... oops.
PS3 was coming to Europe first!
Sony big cheese David Reeves spouted ill-fated verbal optimism from his cake hole when he told industry publication MCV that the initial batch of PS3s to roll out of the factory would be heading Europe's way.
The magical Sony bus of dreams also rolled up with news/confusion regarding the PS3 UK launch. Apparently we'd definitely maybe only get the 60GB version and it would almost certainly probably cost £425. We're still waiting for Sony to confirm these details.
