Tag: ps3

PS3 Thoughts

PS3 - Front with the Spidey fontSony finally gave up some real details of the PS3, first hyped about in E3 2005 with some additional stretching of truths round about the 360 launch at the end of the year. The specifications and announcements are covered well at Joystick so I’ll jot down my initial thoughts.

Good

  • Blu-Ray – this is my number one reason for getting a PS3 – an affordable way of getting a Blu-Ray player while at the same time picking up a next generation console
  • Hardware looks to be very capable and everyone will have a hard disk – no mention of Linux or the PS3’s multimedia capabilities in the networked home
  • There will be a central online network which I’m guessing will have all the features of Xbox Live (still not clear whether it’s free for just basic features or the whole thing). While Sony will say more people play online with PS2’s the service is appalling compared to Xbox Live.
  • The controller. Finally that boomerang has gone to be replaced with the old faithful dualshock. However it’s now wireless (Bluetooth) and it no longer rumbles but instead has six degrees of movement. You can pitch and yaw the pad to control a character or vehicle on screen and it also understands acceleration. Think Nintendo Wii but in a clunkier form.
  • PSP linkage although cost will be the biggest factor as there looks to be a service to play old PS1 classics – Live Arcade however is one of the better aspects of the 360 so there is a market
  • Released this year and like the 360 worldwide at the same time give a week or two. Roll on November 17th – remember to get those preorders in

Gran Tursimo HD

Bad

  • 2 sku’s (2 different price points for two different PS3). Not good. Unlike the 360 where you could upgrade the core to the premium pack, there will be no upgrade path for the PS3. Surprisingly the cheaper PS3 will have no HDMI socket, no wi-fi, no memory stick slots and a reduced hard disk. The lack of HDMI seems surprising as surely it will limit Hi-Def playback from the Blu-Ray player?
  • Cost – a lot more expensive than the 360 – factor in second pads and a couple of launch titles and your looking at £600 or more
  • Will Blu-Ray playback be as good from the PS3 as it would from a dedicated player? DVD playback on the 360 is shit compared to an average DVD player so there is a niggling doubt about how good the HD content will look
  • Sony hype – emotion engine, 2 HDMI ports, 1080p gaming – what do you believe?
  • Where’s the original content? Looking at the list of games at E3 there’s precious little that is unique to the PS3 – Gran Turismo, Metal Gear Solid? Not enough to justify a new console on it’s own.

So it’s a mixed bag – the E3 presentation didn’t contain any wow factor and in many ways backed up the ‘hype’ accusation that can be easily thrown Sony’s way. I don’t like the arrogance that the next generation of gaming doesn’t arrive until the PS3 is launched and that they are the only party in town. If it wasn’t for Nintendo and Microsoft I’m sure we wouldn’t see network gaming and motion detecting pads in the PS3. Competition is good and ultimately should deliver a better end product. Saying that I’ll be ordering as soon as I can. If worst comes to worst EBay will deliver a pre christmas profit but I doubt it…unless I order 2.

Early E3 Snippets

  • HD-DVD add-on for the 360 will link via the USB ports. No word on price or launch (maybe tomorrow after PS3 details tonight)
  • Unreal Tournament 2007 and Virtua Fighter 5 (both PS3) developers confirm they are targeting 720p and not 1080p. Interesting but need to see other E3 announcements before laughing at Phil Harrison’s 1080p quote which could still be argued for Blu-Ray movies and indeed looking at the quote again he doesn’t specifically mention 1080p games.
  • Lots of new content on the 360 Marketplace. Test Drive Unlimited demo and loads of trailers – details here. Well done MS for getting the E3 content out to the masses – shame the download service is as slow as a day in Barrow which makes getting the content a pain.

More PS3 news

More info from the GDC and Phil Harrison on the PS3, PSP and network gaming. Most interesting for me…

  • PS3 software will be region free. Rumoured long ago but still surprising even though it’s been confirmed.
  • Network gaming will be free. Not a surprise as it follows the PS2 model although I expect publishers to start charging to play certain titles online.
  • The boomerang controller is dead. Woo. New one to be unleashed at E3

The more I hear the more I like.

Sony Goes Global

Nice surprise – Sony will release the pS3 this year in November and it’s a worldwide launch. There is coverage everywhere but Joystiq have pulled most of it together. It’s really quite a mixed bag of news. Main points for me…

  • As already mentioned there will be a global release in early November. Early money on Nov 11th. Pre-order to avoid disappointment and e-bay sharks who have already started.
  • Blu-Ray. Every game will be supplied on a Blu-Ray disk – lot’s more room than a normal DVD. More importantly this will be the cheapest way of getting a Blu-Ray player for the foreseeable future.
  • Hard disk….60Gig. Linux OS will be pre-installed. No clarity on whether it’s a standard feature or an add-on.Now confirmed as a standard feature with rumour that a larger disk may be optional. Make it standard Mr Sony – bump up the price but give us one standard platform rather than the Xbox Core and Premium fiasco.
  • Mmmm – Linux. At the same time Sony have talked about the PS3 as a home server that you can store media on and play from elsewhere (PSP?). This could be a killer feature if you can also play media (of any type) from anywhere in the house. Sony would have almost certainly THE best media center player and games console in the one device.
  • HDMI….time to upgrade the amp
  • Online service. Sounds like Xbox live. Basic free service included. Voice chat, messaging etc etc.
  • Backwards compatible
  • Price at least $425. Sounds reasonable given the technology to be included.

No screenshots, no (hopefully redesigned) controllers. Yet another console launch just before my birthday. Joy. Roll on E3 for actual screenshots.

Playstation Network?

Semi-interesting article discussing potential Xbox Live killer from Sony. It plods through the potential weapons that Sony has at it’s disposal if it builds it’s own internet service for the PS3.

Sony needs to do this. Despite the lead MS has had on a developing a gaming service it has only just brought out the marketplace functionality which when used is clunky and not thought out properly. PS3 will sell more than the 360 and hence a network service that connects Sony’s platform – video, music, photo’s and games would be adopted by a lot more people than Xbox Live. I guess the key is at what price and when? The hardware is all still rumours and it could be this time next year before us in the UK get to play with the new toys.

MS also need a challenger in this field. Many games still only support 8 players as they use peer to peer hosting. Increased broadband speeds haven’t seen the jump in the number of users that can be hosted but that’s more to do with latency (ping times) being the key to a good host – not 10Meg download & 500k upload speeds. Server based hosting (even paid) is required so we can see the numbers that PC games can support on consoles. Sony having a similar service would also see a lot more development from Japan where originality can be found more often than the sequel fueled USA & European markets. MS also dropped their XSN sports network which had so much potential. It sorted out leagues and scoring and meant that joining online tournaments was easy and the admin work zero for all competitors. Sony would win a lot of friends if this type of functionality was added to Pro Evo 6 for example.

So many hardware vendors are chasing the all in one media player but very few have come near or have the infrastructure to do it. I would have said Sony a year ago wouldn’t stand a chance as they still didn’t support mp3 playback on their devices. They’ve changed a lot though in a short time. Looking at all the different parts of the puzzle surely a unifying network/service on the PS3 would deliver PS3 users a killer app without even buying a game. I can dream…especially as I’ve got all the other Sony hardware to make up the jigsaw.

Backwards Compatibility

A lot has been made of the ability of the Xbox 360 to play Xbox games. Too much has been said about it – it HAS to have it, why only certain games, this will put me off buying a 360…blah blah blah. I just don’t see the issue – the PS2 has backward compatibility but I’ve never used it – once I see, hear and play next gen games the immediately previous gen just looks poor.

Now that Sony are struggling with not only a new version of the PS2 but have revealed issues on the PS3 maybe the debate will calm down. It’s not about being backward compatible – what about updating older games. Take Halo2 or Pro Evo4/5 – they’ve lost none of their playability since release – wouldn’t it be nice to play hi-res versions on the 360 or with new maps/teams? There are rumours that Halo1/2 will have hi-res graphics on the 360 – it is nice to think they will be true. Ultimately I would rather MS concentrated on the 360 line up rather than wondering about how we can play the old games on the 360. Will I really want to play PGR2 ahead of PGR3? Then again, an updated Halo2 may be THE only other game worth playing on the 360!

PS3

ps3_colours
Well, E3 has delivered and the PS3 has been unveiled. Spec highlights:

  • It will support Blu-ray (obviously), DVD±R/W, CD-R/RW
  • Backwards compatible with the Playstation 2 and original Playstation
  • One 3.2GHz Cell processor—total system performance rated at 2.18 teraflops and it will have 256MB system RAM 3.2GHz, and 256MB GDDR VRAM at 700MHz
  • The nVidia graphics will be called the RSX (�?Reality Synthesizer�?), and will trump the Xbox 360 with 1080p graphics support.
  • There will be a 2.5-inch hard drive (i.e. laptop hard drive) attachment
  • Memory Stick Duo slot and SD and CF slots
  • Bluetooth support with up to seven wireless controllers
  • Six USB system ports

    • Still early so I’ll post more later – some screens to finish including an amazingly bad looking controller.
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