Pre-E3 2005 Jingo Jango Rumors Part 1

Game Informer's website has some interesting speculation about what to expect from Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo at E3 2005 next week. These are pure rumors, not facts, but some of them sound plausible. Here are the items that caught my interest...

Microsoft XBox 360 rumors:
 Microsoft won't initially release a price for the console, says GI.
 Halo 3 won’t be shown at this show at all.
 Microsoft will announce that current Xbox Live accounts won’t work with 360, forcing current gen gamers to buy a new XBL account.
 Microsoft won’t address the 360’s backward compatibility with current Xbox games.

Sony Playstation rumors:
 Sony will announce the PS3, show videos of games running on it, but won’t show the actual hardware at all, even behind closed doors.
 No release date or price point for PS3 will be announced…2006 then, perhaps?
 Lots of PSP games and features will be announced, including Gran Turismo, Jak, Ratchet, etc.
 Sony will drop the PS2 to $99 and introduce new colors.

Nintendo rumors:
 Zelda will make a big splash for the current Gamecube console.
 New portable DS features will be announced, including Internet connectivity.
 The new Revolution console won’t show up.

It’s pretty shocking that Sony and Nintendo will cede an entire year to Microsoft’s new gaming console. They must be hoping that it will be another Dreamcast, which launched ahead of Sony’s console, but still failed. Sony must be thinking that dropping the PS2 to $99 is going to keep their customer base growing at a rate enough to sustain profits. As for Microsoft, their first party games on the 360 look strong, but what will happen with cross-console ports? So far, most of them look like PS2 games with a few minor enhancements. I can’t imagine that SSX4 or the new Burnout:Revenge game is going to look superior on the 360 compared to the PS2 or current Xbox.

If the rumor about Xbox Live accounts is true, what a bummer that will be. I can see that happening, though, because when I bought a new Xbox Halo Edition, I had to call Microsoft to get my XBL account migrated over. They really would not want thousands of people calling them on launch day, would they?

Links:
Game Informer Microsoft Rumors
Game Informer Sony Rumors
Game Informer Nintendo Rumors