PS3 Unveiled at E3

[Evil Ash]

I want one NOW. This thing is insane

http://www.gamespot.com/news/2005/05/16/news_6124681.html

PlayStation 3 announced for 2006

[UPDATE 5] Sony confirms the name of and the release window for its next-generation console in Los Angeles; also reveals console's hefty tech specs.
LOS ANGELES--Today saw the second of the big three console makers announce its next-generation platform. At its pre-E3 press conference, Sony Computer Entertainment gave the world its first look at the PlayStation 3, as it is now officially called.

The name was not unexpected, since Sony had been running an extensive teaser-ad campaign prepping the public for the PlayStation 3. The company had laid a blanket of posters around the Los Angeles Convention Center, site of the Electronic Entertainment Expo (aka E3). Bus stalls and billboards around the convention center proclaimed "Prepare for Chang3" in the distinctive PlayStation font with partial shots of the Dual Shock controller's square-circle-triangle-X buttons.

Sony also confirmed the PlayStation 3, will use Blu-ray discs as its media format. The discs can hold up to six times as much data as current-generation DVDs. It will also support CR-ROM, CD-RW, DVD, DVD-ROM, DVD-R, DVD+R formats. It also confirmed the machine would be backward-compatible all the way to the original PlayStation. It will also have slots for Memory Stick Duo, an SD slot, and a compact flash memory slot. It will also sport a slot for a detachable 2.5-inch HDD somewhat similar to the Xbox 360's.

Out of the box, the PS3 will have the capability to support seven Bluetooth controllers. It will also have six USB slots for peripherals: four up front and two in the back.

Sony also laid out the technical specs of the device. The PlayStation 3 will feature the much-vaunted Cell processor, which will run at 3.2GHz, giving the whole system 2.18 teraflops of overall performance. It will sport 256MB XDR main RAM at 3.2GHz, and it will have 256MB of GDDR VRAM at 700MHz.

Sony also unveiled the PS3's graphics chip, the RSX "Reality Synthesizer," which is based on Nvidia technology. The GPU will be capable of 128bit pixel precision, 1080p resolution, some of the highest HD resolution around. The RSX also has 512MB of graphics render memory and is capable of 100 billion shader operations and 51 billion dot products per second. It also has more than 300 million transistors, larger than any processor available commercially today. It will be manufactured using the 90nm process, with eight layers of metal. The RSX is more powerful than two GeForce 6800 Ultra video cards, which would cost roughly $1,000 total if purchased today.

To show off the PlayStation 3's graphical brawn, Sony showed several game demos, including an Unreal 3 tech demo of an Unreal Tournament 2007-esque shooter. In what must come as a relief to developers, Epic Games' Tim Sweeney was on hand to vouch for the PS3, saying it was "easy to program for" and that Epic had received its first PS3 hardware two months ago. He proved the tech demo was real time by showing it again and by manipulating the camera and zooming in.

The PlayStation 3 will also sport some hefty multimedia features, such as video chat, Internet access, digital photo viewing, digital audio, and digital video. Sony Computer Entertainment head Ken Kutaragi introduced it as a "supercomputer for computer entertainment."

By Tor Thorsen -- GameSpot
POSTED: 05/16/05 03:43 PM PST

 

[Evil Ash]

Images of the Console

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[maddogkf]

me wantie. me wantie!

 

[HeavyB3]

2 HDMI connections. Thats good stuff.

 

[Ryanwb]

I really hope Sony worked out the kinks in their hardware. I had to send my PS2 in for repairs 3 times, all for "Disk Read Error". I've had my XBOX for 2 years and it hasn't skipped a beat

 

[Evil Ash]

Game Pics

Devil May Cry 4

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Killzone PS3

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Warhawk PS3

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EA Sports Fight Night Round 3

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[Evil Ash]

Gameplay video

http://www.gamespot.com/ps3/action/reddeadrevolver2/media.html

:drool:

 

[JPlay]

Doesn't look as impressive as that clip I saw from the new XBox. That clip of Lebron looked so realistic, it almost haunts me.

And what's with those boxers looking like as unmuscular as possible.

 

[Evil Ash]

Doesn't look as impressive as that clip I saw from the new XBox. That clip of Lebron looked so realistic, it almost haunts me.

And what's with those boxers looking like as unmuscular as possible.

Well considering XBox 360 is complete while PS3 is still in its developmental stages thats exactly what should happen.

The only thing that scares me about the XBox 360 is that the hardware was so rushed that the technology will be outdated within a few years. The newedt technology is going to be either Blue ray or HD DVD technology but with the XBox 360 they used neither. Almost all of the gaming experts that I've heard have referred to the XBox 360 as XBox 1.5 since it really isn't even truly a next gen console (they claim that if programmers took enough time they could have done enough improvements on the hardware they still had that the graphics for the most part could still be accomplished and the majority of the new games are meerly slight improvements over previous XBox games ... I'm not at e3 so I can't really say either way)

Of course it doesn't matter for a video game geek like me because more than likely I'll end up getting both anyways

 

[Brian in Mesa]

Sony Delays PS3 to November

March 15, 2006

Sony Electronics said Wednesday it is delaying the debut of its PlayStation 3 video game console to November, instead of the planned spring launch date, giving Microsoft a longer head start in the market with the Xbox 360 game system it debuted last holiday season.

Ken Kutaragi, president of Sony Computer Home Entertainment, told reporters in Japan that copy protection technology and other standards for the Blu-ray high-definition DVD drive were the main culprit behind the delay, as had been rumored in recent weeks.

“As the postponement of the release of PS3 has been already factored into our consensus forecasts, the news came as little surprise,” wrote Merrill Lynch research analyst Hitoshi Kurayama in a research note.

The company has been trying to work out the Blu-ray standards with Hollywood studios, which have been increasingly gravitating toward the rival HD-DVD technology backed by Toshiba.

“I would like to apologize for revising the release date, because standardization talks on new Blu-ray technology and high-definition multimedia interfacing—the key features of the next-generation console—have taken more time than we had originally thought,” said Mr. Kutaragi.

“When we initially announced our plans to launch this spring, we had expected the standardization work on all of the technologies to be completed by last August, but there were improvements that were decided on since then,” he added.

Sony plans to have the PS3 hit store shelves within roughly the same period in Japan, North America, and Europe, just as the holiday shopping season begins. The game console will be arriving about the same time as Nintendo’s Revolution console, also planned for release late this year.

Shares of Sony dropped $0.15 to $46.36 in recent trading, while shares of Microsoft fell $0.03 to $27.20.

Shares of game makers rose on the news that the PS3 would be ready in time for the holidays, though. Electronic Arts stock climbed $1.16 to $54.10 in recent trading, while Activision shares rose $0.53 to $13.74, THQ shares increased $0.98 to $25.89, and Take-Two Interactive rose $0.33 to $16.60.

Mr. Kutaragi said that Sony remained the leading game console, with about 60 percent of the $30-billion global game market. The Tokyo-based company has shipped almost 204 million of its PlayStation systems to date.

The company has been hit by declining prices of consumer electronics and has decided to close down some unprofitable units, such as production of its Aibo robot dog. But the company has seen success with a joint venture on flat-panel LCD TVs in partnership with Samsung Electronics.

PSP Growth

Mr. Kutaragi said the company’s handheld gaming system, the PlayStation Portable (PSP), which it introduced last year, has seen success. Shipments reached 15 million units worldwide. He said that new bundles and pricing would be available this month, starting at about $200.

A white PSP is planned for debut in Japan next month, but there was no word on when it would be available in the United States. Sony and its partners are also planning many new games for the PSP, including Field Commander, The Godfather, and Syphon Filter.

The company is also dropping the prices for its PSP development kits to encourage more games to be created for the PSP.

 

[AzCards21]

I really hope Sony worked out the kinks in their hardware. I had to send my PS2 in for repairs 3 times, all for "Disk Read Error". I've had my XBOX for 2 years and it hasn't skipped a beat

What did that cost you? I have a PS2 that's no better than a paper weight right now.

 

[Ryanwb]

What did that cost you? I have a PS2 that's no better than a paper weight right now.

It's free if you call customer service. They'll have you check a whole bunch of things then will finally allow you to send it in. You have to pay shipping to them, but they take care of the rest

 

[dreamcastrocks]

Well considering XBox 360 is complete while PS3 is still in its developmental stages thats exactly what should happen.

The only thing that scares me about the XBox 360 is that the hardware was so rushed that the technology will be outdated within a few years. The newedt technology is going to be either Blue ray or HD DVD technology but with the XBox 360 they used neither. Almost all of the gaming experts that I've heard have referred to the XBox 360 as XBox 1.5 since it really isn't even truly a next gen console (they claim that if programmers took enough time they could have done enough improvements on the hardware they still had that the graphics for the most part could still be accomplished and the majority of the new games are meerly slight improvements over previous XBox games ... I'm not at e3 so I can't really say either way)

Of course it doesn't matter for a video game geek like me because more than likely I'll end up getting both anyways

I do not have a problem with the 360 rushing at all. I actually think that it was smart. The average shelf life for these consoles is about 3 years. 3 years from now, (or last November when the 360 came out) the two new HD technologies HD-DVD/Blu-Ray, whichever technology wins out, will be firmly in the market making it MUCH cheaper to produce.

I will be utterly shocked if the PS3 is released this year with a pricetag less than $500, including the hard drive that I read was optional, yet required to play the games.....(yep, thats what I said.) The article above stated that it would cost about $1,000 to manufacturer today, and I cannot imagine that price dropping considerably in the next 6 months. The PS3 will still cost anywhere between $700-$850 at the time of the launch, and even selling at $500 would still lose $200-$300 per console.

My HDTV does not even support HDMI or 1080p resolution. I would need to upgrade my TV, before I would even consider buying a PS3, and I do not plan on upgrading my TV for another 2 years.

 

[AzCards21]

It's free if you call customer service. They'll have you check a whole bunch of things then will finally allow you to send it in. You have to pay shipping to them, but they take care of the rest

Interesting, I called them and they were less than cooperative. The PS1 did the same dang thing so I'm really leaning toward X-Box this go around.

 

[Evil Ash]

I do not have a problem with the 360 rushing at all. I actually think that it was smart. The average shelf life for these consoles is about 3 years. 3 years from now, (or last November when the 360 came out) the two new HD technologies HD-DVD/Blu-Ray, whichever technology wins out, will be firmly in the market making it MUCH cheaper to produce.

Actually the lifespan that videogame companies expect is a minimum 5 year lifespan. All companies lose $$ when it comes to hardware ... Sony lost a great deal on PS1 and PS2, Microsoft lost a great deal on XBox and are losing more on the 360.

They make their money off of software. To produce a new system every 3 years would be too expensive.

I will be utterly shocked if the PS3 is released this year with a pricetag less than $500, including the hard drive that I read was optional, yet required to play the games.....(yep, thats what I said.) The article above stated that it would cost about $1,000 to manufacturer today, and I cannot imagine that price dropping considerably in the next 6 months. The PS3 will still cost anywhere between $700-$850 at the time of the launch, and even selling at $500 would still lose $200-$300 per console.

In order for people to get hooked on the new software, they'll except a pretty good loss in order for the new medium to gain popularity. Sony did this when they launched the PS2 and wanted to spread the popularity of DVDs ... a concept and an item that was thought to be too expensive at the time (I remember when DVD players cost $500). That ended up working in their favor.

Yeah its insanely risky but something that they seem to be willing to do. High Risk, High reward

Not to mention the amount of compression its going to take to have true HD quality on some games. For example, Ninja Gaiden on the XBox took over 7 Gigs out of a 9 Gig DVD. Can they really get HD quality and next gen graphics fit in on that extra 2 Gig. I kinda doubt it.

The HD-DVD add on may eventually solve this problem but then 360 owners may eventually feel ripped off if they have to pay an additional $200 so that they can play certain games. Its a kinda damned if you do damned if you don't type situation.

Only time will tell

 

[Cardinals.Ken]

I can still get better graphics and game play from my PC...

 

[Ryanwb]

I can still get better graphics and game play from my PC...

That time is slowly ending