Ps#3

[padraic]

Game Expo-Sony to launch PlayStation 3 in 2006
By Daisuke Wakabayashi and Yukari Iwatani Kane, Reuters

LOS ANGELES, May 16 (Reuters) - Sony Corp. unveiled its PlayStation 3 video game console on Monday and pledged that its high-definition graphics and broadband connectivity would ensure its spot atop the $10 billion a year video game industry.

The electronics and entertainment conglomerate said the new machine, due for launch in the spring of 2006, will feature a graphics chip with 300 million transistors.

That is more than the combined processing power of the current-generation Microsoft Corp. Xbox, Nintendo Co. Ltd. Game Cube and the PlayStation 2 combined.

Having led the worldwide console gaming market for the last decade, Sony is counting on the new machine to dominate in all aspects of networked home entertainment -- games, movies, music and more.

"PS3 truly is the system to be placed in the center of living rooms in homes around the world," Ken Kutaragi, the head of Sony's game unit, said at a press event ahead of the start of the E3 annual industry trade show.

Kutaragi, known as 'the father of the PlayStation', beamed as he stood next to a display of the curved PS3 offered in three colors -- black, silver and white -- and a boomerang-shaped game controller.

Sony said the PS3 would have twice the processing speed of the Xbox 360, the console Microsoft is expected to release in November with up to 40 software titles.

"Sony's console looked like a next-generation game machine and in comparison to the graphics of the PS3, Microsoft's looked like Xbox 1.5," said Takashi Oya, analyst at Deutsche Bank.

But speed in games is often as much a function of the way the games are written as it is the capacity of the hardware, and Sony's drive to leapfrog the Xbox 360 technology comes as the Japanese electronics giant concedes what could be a valuable several-month head start to Microsoft.

CELL-POWERED

The PS3 is powered by the "Cell" chip, which aims to be significantly more powerful than Intel Corp.'s Pentium 4, the most common chips for today's PCs, and any other existing game machine processors.

Sony developed the microprocessor with International Business Machines Corp. and Toshiba Corp. and its super-powerful "RSX" graphics chip with Nvidia Corp.

With a built-in Ethernet port for high-speed Internet access, PlayStation 3 allows gamers to surf the Web while playing games.

"In addition to games, PS3 will, of course, be able to perform non-gaming functions such as digital music, movies and photographs even during game play," said Kutaragi.

The PS3 will feature Blu-ray, a next-generation DVD format backed by Sony. Blue-ray discs have far more capacity than current discs but their commercial development has been bogged down in industry standards debates reminiscent of Sony's lost battle in the 80's to promote its Betamax videotape standard.

It supports the simultaneous use of up to seven control pads, which can connect wirelessly via the Bluetooth standard to the console.

A patent suit over the PlayStation 2's controllers, in which Sony was ordered to halt U.S. sales of its consoles and pay nearly $91 million infringement damages to a California company, would have no impact on PS3, analysts said, because the new machine was so completely different from the old one.

Sony has said it plans to appeal the March decision.

PS3 also features wireless Internet access, a removable small hard drive, and will be compatible with games from the earlier PlayStations. The console is about the size of a standard mid-size laptop computer.

Sony's PS2 seized control of the current generation of game consoles by beating Microsoft and Nintendo to market by about a year, winning over many game publishers to secure exclusive rights or initial releases to po****r titles.

Game publishers Electronic Arts Inc. and Square Enix Co. Ltd. both said they plan to fully support PS3. EA is the world's largest video game publisher and its full support is crucial to the success of any console.

A number of details about the PS3 are yet to be announced, including the price of the console and the number of games that will be available at launch.

[padraic]

http://home.btconnect.com/hgi/ps3/playstation-3-bpad1.jpg

THIS IS A PIC OF IT.

[smoot]

ah, the link is blocked, care to post it in here?

[smoak]

I can't wait! Even if all I play is Madden, I just can't wait!

[smoak]

Smoot -

You seriously had me going for a second.... I was wondering hoe the "bully" post got into this thread before I realized it was your signature... LOL! I was very confused.

[DEskinsFAN]

That looks awesome, I'm definitely getting one. Any idea on how many paychecks it's gonna set me back?

[smoak]

That looks awesome, I'm definitely getting one. Any idea on how many paychecks it's gonna set me back?

Save $100 a month from now until Spring and you'll have a nice down payment.

[DEskinsFAN]

Save $100 a month from now until Spring and you'll have a nice down payment.

Maybe if I trade in my PS2 and give them an IOU for my first-born I'll have enough for the down payment.

[tbfoster1]

You see that xboxers, PS3 will have twice the processing speed. muuhaaahah

I'll be buying one the first day. who needs water or car insurance anyway...

[Evilsockm]

That graphics processor is sweet, better than two 6800 Ultras in SLI... how did they do that? Makes me feel a lot of anticipation for Nvidea's next line of Graphics boards...

[smoak]

Maybe if I trade in my PS2 and give them an IOU for my first-born I'll have enough for the down payment.

HA!!! PS2s and IOUs won't get you a controller. Crank out the first born before next spring and we'll talk. :D

[DEskinsFAN]

HA!!! PS2s and IOUs won't get you a controller. Crank out the first born before next spring and we'll talk. :D
haha, i'll talk to the gf about twins.

[hail2skins]

You see that xboxers, PS3 will have twice the processing speed. muuhaaahah

I'll be buying one the first day. who needs water or car insurance anyway...Interesting. I don't believe it. The xbox will have 3 processors in it. plus the graphics I've seen are just incredible. The only I can so for sony ps2 is they have alot of games. I do enjoy my psp though and the only reason I got is because microsoft won't be entering the mobile gaming market.

[ryflan47]

http://home.btconnect.com/hgi/ps3/playstation-3-bpad1.jpg

THIS IS A PIC OF IT.

Looks sleek, but weird.

[chrisbcbu]

Im going to take a second mortgage on my house to buy one of these!! :D

[smoak]

Im going to take a second mortgage on my house to buy one of these!! :D

Forget the second mortgage.... I'm just putting the house on the market:

http://www.homefinder.com/delawareonline/listing_details.jhtml?userId=42V2LUE0HAUM1LAZGQOSF EY227529&filter_product_id=13605062&searchType=41&sbt=Y&search_by_type=new_mls%2Cnew_class%2Cnew_const%2Cr esale_mls%2Cresale_class%2Cresale%2Cresale_ecom_ow ner%2Cnew_ecom_owner&onTab=1&filter_min_price=500000&filter_min_bed=4&filter_open_house=N&sort_result_order=price_desc%2Cattribute_count%2Cl isting_age&geo_area_text_lookup_id=76850&areaIdHistory=76850&print=false

[chrisbcbu]

Forget the second mortgage.... I'm just putting the house on the market:

http://www.homefinder.com/delawareonline/listing_details.jhtml?userId=42V2LUE0HAUM1LAZGQOSF EY227529&filter_product_id=13605062&searchType=41&sbt=Y&search_by_type=new_mls%2Cnew_class%2Cnew_const%2Cr esale_mls%2Cresale_class%2Cresale%2Cresale_ecom_ow ner%2Cnew_ecom_owner&onTab=1&filter_min_price=500000&filter_min_bed=4&filter_open_house=N&sort_result_order=price_desc%2Cattribute_count%2Cl isting_age&geo_area_text_lookup_id=76850&areaIdHistory=76850&print=false

I remember a while back on ebay, there were girls selling themselves to ppl so they can say they have a girlfriend. The girls would write like 3 letters to them and enclose a picture and spray it with perfume!! The girls were mostly in need of money for school or something but im sure my PS3 is worth it!

Maybe i could get my wife to do this!!

[Vonslydog]

Interesting. I don't believe it. The xbox will have 3 processors in it.
It's hard to believe that PS3 will have double the processing speed of the 360. XBox 360's processor has 3 cores EACH running at 3.2gigs. That boils down to essentially a 9.6 gig processor. I think sony is blowing smoke. I guess we'll know for certain when Sony gets the notion to release the actual specs instead just a few vague facts.

[Skinzaholic]

For someone who doesnt own ANY of these games, but is considering entering the wonderful world of wasted time... which would you game vets recommend? PS3 - XBox 360 - or the other new one coming out?

[hail2skins]

It's hard to believe that PS3 will have double the processing speed of the 360. XBox 360's processor has 3 cores EACH running at 3.2gigs. That boils down to essentially a 9.6 gig processor. I think sony is blowing smoke. I guess we'll know for certain when Sony gets the notion to release the actual specs instead just a few vague facts.Excellent point, they are very vague in their description. Also, wait until people start hacking (overclocking) those xbox's. They'll be incredible.

[ryflan47]

Jeez, smoak! You think you can get me a job similar to yours!
Congrats on a great house.

[PyroGenic]

It's hard to believe that PS3 will have double the processing speed of the 360. XBox 360's processor has 3 cores EACH running at 3.2gigs. That boils down to essentially a 9.6 gig processor. I think sony is blowing smoke. I guess we'll know for certain when Sony gets the notion to release the actual specs instead just a few vague facts.

gamespy has the ps3 specs.

http://ps2.gamespy.com/articles/614/614972p3.html

CPU

Cell Processor
PowerPC-base Core @3.2GHz
1 VMX vector unit per core
512KB L2 cache
7 x SPE @3.2GHz
7 x 128b 128 SIMD GPRs
7 x 256KB SRAM for SPE
* 1 of 8 SPEs reserved for redundancy
total floating point performance: 218 GFLOPS


GPU

RSX @550MHz
1.8 TFLOPS floating point performance
Full HD (up to 1080p) x 2 channels
Multi-way programmable parallel floating point shader pipelines


Sound

Dolby 5.1ch, DTS, LPCM, etc. (Cell- base processing)


Memory

256MB XDR Main RAM @3.2GHz 256MB GDDR3 VRAM @700MHz


System Bandwidth

Main RAM 25.6GB/s
VRAM 22.4GB/s
RSX 20GB/s (write) + 15GB/s (read)
SB< 2.5GB/s (write) + 2.5GB/s (read)


System Floating Point Performance

2 TFLOPS


Storage

Detachable 2.5" HDD slot x 1


I/O

USB Front x 4, Rear x 2 (USB2.0)
Memory Stick standard/Duo, PRO x 1
SD standard/mini x 1
CompactFlash (Type I, II) x 1


Communication

Ethernet (10BASE-T, 100BASE-TX, 1000BASE-T) x 3 (input x 1 + output x 2)
Wi-Fi IEEE 802.11 b/g
Bluetooth 2.0 (EDR)


Controller

Bluetooth (up to 7)
USB 2.0 (wired)
Wi-Fi (PSP)
Network (over IP)


AV Output

Screen size: 480i, 480p, 720p, 1080i, 1080p
HDMI: HDMI out x 2
Analog: AV MULTI OUT x 1
Digital audio: DIGITAL OUT (OPTICAL) x 1


Disc Media

CD
PlayStation CD-ROM, PlayStation 2 CD-ROM, CD-DA, CD-DA (ROM), CD-R, CD-RW, SACD, SACD Hybrid (CD layer), SACD HD, DualDisc, DualDisc (audio side), DualDisc (DVD side)

DVD
PlayStation 2 DVD-ROM, PlayStation 3 DVD-ROM, DVD-Video, DVD-ROM, DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD+R, DVD+RW

Blu-ray Disc
PlayStation 3 BD-ROM, BD-Video, BD-ROM, BD-R, BD-RE

[tbfoster1]

can somebody translate these specs pyro posted, and give an unbiased comparison of the two consoles in lamens terms please

[LATrueRedskin]

Has anybody seen the new PS3 controllers? hideous. They shouldn't have changed a thing.

[Vonslydog]

can somebody translate these specs pyro posted, and give an unbiased comparison of the two consoles in lamens terms please
I just saw the specs now, at 12:15 or so, so I'm gonna have to wait till tomorrow to tackle the analysis. I'll post my opinion once I form it.

[LATrueRedskin]

PS3 seems to be the better machine by a pretty good margin.

[Evilsockm]

Has anybody seen the new PS3 controllers? hideous. They shouldn't have changed a thing.

Actually, I think the great thing about the new controllers is that they were designed so that when you get mad during a game and throw them, they just come right back to you. :)

[funnyperson1]

For someone who doesnt own ANY of these games, but is considering entering the wonderful world of wasted time... which would you game vets recommend? PS3 - XBox 360 - or the other new one coming out?
I would wait until the Xbox 360, PS3 and Nintendo Revolution are out. Any judgement you make now will be based on rumors and hearsay.

[smoak]

Jeez, smoak! You think you can get me a job similar to yours!
Congrats on a great house.

hopefully you know i was kidding. :)

If that was my house, I certainly wouldn't flaunt about it on a MB.... not even the best darn MB around.

[smoak]

Actually, I think the great thing about the new controllers is that they were designed so that when you get mad during a game and throw them, they just come right back to you. :)

Maybe I just throw my controller too much, but I found that to be the best post of the day.

[LATrueRedskin]

Actually, I think the great thing about the new controllers is that they were designed so that when you get mad during a game and throw them, they just come right back to you. :)

LOL yeah.

[smoot]

Smoot -

You seriously had me going for a second.... I was wondering hoe the "bully" post got into this thread before I realized it was your signature... LOL! I was very confused.
lol, sorry for stealing it but that may be the best metaphor ive ever seen on this board and for that i appload you

[IMALILTEAPOT]

Actually, I think the great thing about the new controllers is that they were designed so that when you get mad during a game and throw them, they just come right back to you. :)
That was funny man :lol1:

[smoak]

lol, sorry for stealing it but that may be the best metaphor ive ever seen on this board and for that i appload you

No sweat! I'm honored. It just confused the living snout out of me for a couple seconds.

I was honestly picturing Ralphie from Christmas Story as I typed that.

[ryflan47]

hopefully you know i was kidding. :)

If that was my house, I certainly wouldn't flaunt about it on a MB.... not even the best darn MB around.

haha! It's fine though. No matter where you live, I'm sure it's a great place to call home.I've lived in 6.. I know I'm a nomad.

[tbfoster1]

I watched the press conference today from the unveiling. They have it on streaming video over at www.gamespot.com. its an hour and fifty minutes but it was very interesting. They went through the specs and while I don't fully understand the terminology it sure sounded good. LOL, for instance they said the PS2 had 4 of something important and the PS3 has 51 of it. All I know is that is a big difference and the bigger the difference the better IMO........yes I know, I'm a dumbarse :moon1:

[PGiddy18]

I would wait until the Xbox 360, PS3 and Nintendo Revolution are out. Any judgement you make now will be based on rumors and hearsay.

They had a good write up in the Wall Street Journal (http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB111636937065436277,00.html?mod=todays_us_pers onal_journal) yesterday about the three systems. (You do need a subscription to read it) They didn't exactly give a specific time frame for Nintendo Revolution, just that it would be out in 2006 (I'm thinking closer to Christmas time). Not much details were given out about that one, they are basically keep a tight lid on the specifics, but the article did say that you would be able to download all of the games they've ever made from NES on in their online library. (YES!! Bring on Techmo Superbowl!!) Gamecube games would be able to be played in Revolution. Nintendo is also coming out with GameBoy Micro, but thats for another thread!

PS3, the only thing that I haven't read from the rest of you is that they are going to have "vido conferencing" with other players over the internet. (Plus the music and video downloads. PS3 is gonna be out in Spring of 2006 and said to be "35 times faster than PS2".

XBox 360...its basically gonna be a computer that you play video games on. It sounds absolutely amazing (and I think TRU will be getting a Demo one in soon... so hopefully I'll be playing it!! :D) New thing for them is the "Gamer Card". For the people you play against it give you their playing level, favorite games and stuff like that.

Nobody is giving a price... gee I wonder why! But I'm going to guess close to $300 (if not more) to start off with the XBox360. When PS3 comes out, it going to drop, but its definitely going to be a tough market.

[Skinsfan1906]

can somebody translate these specs pyro posted, and give an unbiased comparison of the two consoles in lamens terms please


Based on your earlier assertion that the PS3 has much more under the hood than XBOX 360, I see that you are starting to question if this is so. Fear the XBOX, my friend!

All I know is that microsoft has put far more resources to on-line gaming features. You could even see this trend with the XBOX Live on XBOX I, which although you had to pay for it, offered a far superior on-line product than the PS2 version.

Suffice it to say, both machines will be quite awesome. I'm clearly an XBOX man, so I am going with the 360, but to each his own.

[MoeRedskins]

I was going to go with the PS3 because I am a brand loyal consumer, but the price of the PS3 might make me switch.

$500+!!! (http://www.ebgames.com/ebx/product/media/relatedmedia.asp?pf_id=000013&element_id=A6125423&intDeptTab=)

[Vonslydog]

I watched the press conference today from the unveiling. They have it on streaming video over at www.gamespot.com. its an hour and fifty minutes but it was very interesting. They went through the specs and while I don't fully understand the terminology it sure sounded good. LOL, for instance they said the PS2 had 4 of something important and the PS3 has 51 of it. All I know is that is a big difference and the bigger the difference the better IMO........yes I know, I'm a dumbarse :moon1:
I was always complaining that PS2 only had 4 of something important. I think my exact words were "Man, I hope they have at least 50 important things in PS3." Looks like they one upped me! :)

[Evilsockm]

I was going to go with the PS3 because I am a brand loyal consumer, but the price of the PS3 might make me switch.

$500+!!! (http://www.ebgames.com/ebx/product/media/relatedmedia.asp?pf_id=000013&element_id=A6125423&intDeptTab=)

For that much money... you could buid a nice computer.

I'll probably have to wait until the price drops on that unit.

[DEskinsFAN]

I was going to go with the PS3 because I am a brand loyal consumer, but the price of the PS3 might make me switch.

$500+!!! (http://www.ebgames.com/ebx/product/media/relatedmedia.asp?pf_id=000013&element_id=A6125423&intDeptTab=)
That's so much money, especially for a poor college student (even though i have two jobs...i seriously don't know where all the money goes). I may have to hold off for awhile after it's released, but I don't know how long it will take for the first price drop. I imagine it will take awhile, so maybe I'll just drop out of college in favor PS3. Solid career choice I think.

[bfauble83]

I'll wait for the price to drop...or convert to xbox

[ryflan47]

They had a good write up in the Wall Street Journal (http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB111636937065436277,00.html?mod=todays_us_pers onal_journal) yesterday about the three systems. (You do need a subscription to read it) They didn't exactly give a specific time frame for Nintendo Revolution, just that it would be out in 2006 (I'm thinking closer to Christmas time). Not much details were given out about that one, they are basically keep a tight lid on the specifics, but the article did say that you would be able to download all of the games they've ever made from NES on in their online library. (YES!! Bring on Techmo Superbowl!!) Gamecube games would be able to be played in Revolution. Nintendo is also coming out with GameBoy Micro, but thats for another thread!

PS3, the only thing that I haven't read from the rest of you is that they are going to have "vido conferencing" with other players over the internet. (Plus the music and video downloads. PS3 is gonna be out in Spring of 2006 and said to be "35 times faster than PS2".

XBox 360...its basically gonna be a computer that you play video games on. It sounds absolutely amazing (and I think TRU will be getting a Demo one in soon... so hopefully I'll be playing it!! :D) New thing for them is the "Gamer Card". For the people you play against it give you their playing level, favorite games and stuff like that.

Nobody is giving a price... gee I wonder why! But I'm going to guess close to $300 (if not more) to start off with the XBox360. When PS3 comes out, it going to drop, but its definitely going to be a tough market.

A girl that likes video games, the redskins, and thats pretty?
WHERE ARE YOU FROM AND ARE THERE OTHERS LIKE YOU?

[Vonslydog]

My local video game store is already taking reservations for XBox 360. They want 50 bucks to reserve one. I'm thinking about signing up so I can get one early, since I know I'm gonna buy one anyway. It's tough to give up 50 bucks for something that I have no idea when I'm going to see, though.
<edit: This probably should have been in the Xbox thread, but I didn't realize it until after I posted. I have had several drinks... please forgive me.

[CornerBlitz]

The controller is ugly! I do like how they are making them look not so childish and more like DVD players though. :awesomewo

[LadyNRedskinsfan]

I was going to go with the PS3 because I am a brand loyal consumer, but the price of the PS3 might make me switch.

$500+!!! (http://www.ebgames.com/ebx/product/media/relatedmedia.asp?pf_id=000013&element_id=A6125423&intDeptTab=)
ok, thats not cool. thats a bit much for me and as a loyal consumer, i may just have to wait a bit to get PS3.....:(

[LATrueRedskin]

ok, thats not cool. thats a bit much for me and as a loyal consumer, i may just have to wait a bit to get PS3.....:(

The price will most likely go down because they won't sell jack with a $500 price tag. Parents will not pay that much to buy one for their kids, and broke full-time college kids (like myself) won't be able to afford it. I sure as hell am not paying $500 for it, and that's not including the monthly online fees and $50 bucks a game. The "invisible hand" will most likely push this price down significantly. That price is ridiculous.

[smoak]

haha! It's fine though. No matter where you live, I'm sure it's a great place to call home.I've lived in 6.. I know I'm a nomad.

I've moved around quite a lot myself so I know the feeling... I hope the house I bought last Spring is a last stop for awhile.

[smoak]

The price will most likely go down because they won't sell jack with a $500 price tag. Parents will not pay that much to buy one for their kids, and broke full-time college kids (like myself) won't be able to afford it. I sure as hell am not paying $500 for it, and that's not including the monthly online fees and $50 bucks a game. The "invisible hand" will most likely push this price down significantly. That price is ridiculous.

While I hope you are right, I had quite a few friends selling their PS2s for $500+ (on eBay). Early on, I think they'll be able to get that, but hopefully the price will drop very soon!!

[LATrueRedskin]

While I hope you are right, I had quite a few friends selling their PS2s for $500+ (on eBay). Early on, I think they'll be able to get that, but hopefully the price will drop very soon!!

Who would buy a PS2 for $500? That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard. They were probably the hacked ones with the chip where you can just download any game onto it. I don't think Sony or Microsoft will sell nearly their projected number if they stay at this price. I seriously doubt the public would willingly pay $500 for a game system, but then again Americans are stupid. To me, that price is laughable, but the public could just fall for it.

[Evilsockm]

Who would buy a PS2 for $500? That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard. They were probably the hacked ones with the chip where you can just download any game onto it. I don't think Sony or Microsoft will sell nearly their projected number if they stay at this price. I seriously doubt the public would willingly pay $500 for a game system, but then again Americans are stupid. To me, that price is laughable, but the public could just fall for it.

I have a few friends who are playstation fanatics... seriously... and they'd pay it with a smile on their face and a song in their hearts. That said, however, I totally agree with you that $500 is FAR too expensive for a console. Rumor has it there will be 2 versions: The hardcore version with all the bells and whistles and the "Game only" version that plays the games, but no other fancy features. The game-only version would be priced like the original PS2 or XBOX. I think you are right, $500 would shoot them in the foot with the parents and college market.

[LATrueRedskin]

I have a few friends who are playstation fanatics... seriously... and they'd pay it with a smile on their face and a song in their hearts. That said, however, I totally agree with you that $500 is FAR too expensive for a console. Rumor has it there will be 2 versions: The hardcore version with all the bells and whistles and the "Game only" version that plays the games, but no other fancy features. The game-only version would be priced like the original PS2 or XBOX. I think you are right, $500 would shoot them in the foot with the parents and college market.

Oh, I agree that it will sell, but not nearly as much as it could. I hope that what you mentioned about the two versions is true, but if that's the case, everyone would just buy the standard version for much less and then the $500 one would be irrelevant.