How could Sony possibly cut the price of this monolith of gargantuan power down to such an insanely low level? I spoke to the retailer as he shouted and slapped an advert to attract customers’ attention, and he told me it was a “low-specification” PS3 manufactured by a Taiwan-based company under official license from Sony.
It was hard to quantify exactly what he meant by low-specification, but I’m pretty sure it was simply a 40-gigabyte version, with no PS2 compatibility and more Taiwanese hardware under the hood than usual. An interesting move, especially considering Sony’s usual Japan-based production lines, and one that should shift many more PS3s globally.
MICROSOFT
Microsoft is never one to be shy at a games show and it had a domineering presence at this one, with Xbox 360s all over the convention space and tiny orange stools for gamers to perch on as they played the latest Xbox exclusives such as the excellent Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and Damned, Mirror’s Edge, Viva Pinata, Gears of War 2 and Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix.
TAIWANESE HARDWARE
Last but not least was a large section dominated by Taiwanese hardware companies, most notably a 3C
(燦坤) stall that felt almost like one of the retailer’s many stores that are scattered across Taipei. It was hardly surprising that a company like 3C would get involved, and this probably did more for its reputation than sales, since the booth offered pretty much nothing different than an actual 3C shop. Perhaps visitors from other countries could have taken this opportunity to load up on “cheap” Taiwanese hardware, though I saw little evidence of any non-Asian showgoers.
Gareth Murfin is a freelance mobile and iPhone developer: www.garethmurfin.co.uk
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