September 23, 2006 - For those who like their baffling confusion slathered on like cake frosting on a Jello pie, Sony Computer Entertainment has been serving up the ' Huh' s in heaping portions here at TGS. First there was the keynote meeting about PlayStation that was 95% about curing Alzheimer' s than it was about playing games. (By the by, if the people at Microsoft manage to make a commercial out of senile old people enjoying the heck out of 360, I' m going to have to give massive props to all of their balls.) Then there was the Nothing that followed, with seven weeks to go before this system needs to be in shopping baskets and yet no answers to critical launch questions. There were the clearly accessible PS3 features available on the menu that we weren' t allowed to touch (hell, any one of us journalists were probably a button press away from revealing Sony' s Xbox Live killer before Sony did). This year' s IGN TGS team is going to come back home looking like linebackers with all the shoulder shrugging we' ve been doing.

Here' s another one for the file: Sony' s Technical Demo of connecting a PSP to a PS3. For those who don' t like it when their heads explode, please stop reading after the following explanation: The PS3 to PSP Technical Demo showed that the console is able to transfer downloaded demos (including PS1 game downloads as well as PSP samplers) to the portable. One demo was a downloaded copy of the PS1 game Ridge Racer, the other a Loco Roco demo. Simple enough in concept, and we' re eager for it.

Now, it' s head e' sploding time.

The way Sony conducted this " Technical Demo" was that it showed a Playstation 3 on one side of the demo kiosk and then a PSP on the other side, with a pretty model girl pointing from one system to the other and gesturing as if to say, " See?" The interface to accomplish this was not shown. In fact, we' re not even sure if this interface is ready yet. If there even is an interface, of course, which there doesn' t need to be since all you' d need to do this is a web browser to download the demo and then a PSP on a USB cord or a PSP-compatible Memory Stick Duo to store the demo.

I know what you' re thinking: It' d be simple enough if you stopped thinking it through, to just accept that Sony probably set up this show kiosk as an example of this demo transaction happening. But the gesturing ... And the signs clearly stating that the playing PSP game came from that nearby PS3 ... the thought vortex will grab you now. Why set up a kiosk if you' re not showing anything actually happening? Why set up two kiosks to show the same thing not happening? Did they transfer the PSP demos at home and then bring them to the show? Did they use a wire, or was it a wireless transfer, or did they use telekinesis? Did it really actually ever happen, or did I just imagine that Sony set up a booth on the TGS show floor to show me something that I had already missed happening?

Representatives from Sony were not able to further explain the demo, but below is a close-to-accurate transcription of a conversation that IGN had with the delightful SCE Booth Babe model demonstrating the PS3 to PSP Technical Demonstration:


IGN: " So, so the point here is that this demo running on this PSP was downloaded from this PS3 here, right?"
Booth Babe: " " HAI! YES!"
IGN: " OK cool, I' ve been wondering when they were going to get busy connecting up PSP and the consoles. Let' s see it"
Booth Babe: " OK, here you are!" [Hands me PSP running PS one version of Ridge Racer.]
IGN: " I' m sorry, I meant I' d like to see the demo please."
Booth Babe: " Yes, please play!"
IGN: " What?"
Booth Babe: " You can press boo' ton for gas, and..."
IGN: " No."
Booth Babe: " Hai!"
IGN: " No, I' ve already played Ridge Racer for PS one already. On a PS one. And the PSP last year at E3 for that matter, but never mind that, I' d like to see the demonstration."
Booth Babe: " Ummm ... We have Ridge Racer and Loco Roco!"
IGN: " They' re already downloaded on the PSPs, though. Can you reset, I' d like to see the interface."
Booth Babe: " Ah, it' s not ready yet!"
IGN: " W.T.F. [*edited for language*] I' m sorry, excuse my language, but ... or, do you understand what ... never mind, are you telling me you can' t actually show me the PSP downloading a demo from the PS3."
Booth Babe: " You can play it here!"
IGN: " Yeah, but the whole point of the demo is that this game came from that big machine to run on this little machine."
Booth Babe: " Um ... Technical Demo for PlayStation 3 and PSP!"
IGN: " But do you understand that it' s not really a demo if you don' t demonstrate anything."
Booth Babe: " I' m sorry."
IGN: " No, I shouldn' t be getting mad at you, it' s not like you made the demo. Can I please maybe try to find the interface since I know both machines?"
Booth Babe: " Oh, only PSP is playable, please."
IGN: " You know that this is a six hundred dollar machine sitting here, right? $600. This Sony, they spent 600 dollars to build a machine to convince me ... no, make that make me convince myself on the principle that there' d be no reason for Sony to lie about the world' s most powerful gaming platform being capable of moving a game demo file onto a PSP."
Booth Babe: [smiles, cocks head in confusion, and tries to deflate my misdirected rage with her femininity.]
IGN: " And your boss, he told you to make wave motions with your hands, gesturing from the PS3 to the PSP, and call it a technical demonstration?"
Booth Babe: " Hai! Ah, yes!"
IGN: " And other people have passed by here for two days now without questioning this?"
Booth Babe: " Hai!"
IGN: " ...Please marry me anyway."

Look for more on this PS3 to PSP feature at a later date soon, once we' ve been able to take a look at the feature happening rather than happened. We apologize now to your brain.