




Sony To Ship Enhanced PSX Console/DVR Combo 125
bluethundr writes "The Register has posted a story indicating that Sony will ship the new PSX models on July 1 (Japan first, Europe to follow, then - eventually released to us Yanks?) following the company's move to suspend production of the original model of PlayStation 2/digital video recorder hybrid, earlier this year. Apparently: 'The new models, the DESR-5100 and DESR-7100, offer the same storage capacity - 160GB and 250GB, respectively - as their predecessors, the DESR-5000 and DESR- 7000. What's changed is the introduction of a better graphical user interface and the ability to add DVD-style menus to content copied from the unit's hard drive to a DVD-R, DVD-RW or DVD+RW disc.' Sony also appears to have added a range of extra video recording modes to maximise the amount of programming that can be stored on the PSX's hard drive."
Bit too expensive for what you get... (Score:5, Interesting)
In a recent story (about the PSX's possible demise) someone [slashdot.org] noted that it was pretty expensive for something you could do for about $350 unbundled.
I guess the reason that they are releasing it to Japan and then England before us Yanks is because most cable providers already offer PVRs, we have TiVO, we have rolled out our own based on various software packages (both OSS and proprietary), or we just don't care.
I'll pass for now... Maybe if it was bundled with the PS3 it would be more attractive.
Re:Bit too expensive for what you get... (Score:5, Insightful)
I just don't understand why they don't focus more (read: release) the PS3 instead of this intermediate step with the PSX. I just don't see something so expensive taking off when the same things can be had for pennies on the dollar. No.. a PS3.. A think there would be a lot of people able to fork over some dough for that beast.
Re:Bit too expensive for what you get... (Score:5, Insightful)
I'd prefer that they be working solely towards releasing the PS3 but that's just wishful thinking.
Sure, enough people would be willing for fork over the dough for the PS3 but they seem to be betting on the possiblity that people will fork over the dough for this one...
Re:Bit too expensive for what you get... (Score:3, Insightful)
You bring up a good point in the fact that this same type of machine can be built for less, and be customized and tailored to fit their needs. I just fail to see it marketed towards normal teenagers, who when the PS2 first came out had trouble paying the $300 pri
Re:Bit too expensive for what you get... (Score:2)
I don't own a DVD player. I don't own a TiVo. I don't own a PS2 (I'm primarily a PC gamer, but my fiance has gotten into DDR, so the PS2 would be handy). I don't own a DVD-RW, either. The PSX is exactly the kind of home entertainment device we could use once we're married, and for $700, it is not the worst deal in the world, either.
A good quality DVD player runs ~$200. A new PS2 runs ~$150. A TiVo goes for about $350 (for 160gb).
Nintendo said the same thing.... (Score:1)
"We listen to our players," Bill White, a Nintendo executive, told the press in 1989, "They tell us they are extremely happy with the existing system and are totally involved with the games. We haven't maxed out our 8-bit system yet." This attitude would leave Nintendo in the dust of the coming 16-bit revolution. [geekcomix.com]
Of course, Nintendo wasn't hurt long term by their hestiation to innovate, but NEC got a good few months of sales out of their Turbo
Re:Bit too expensive for what you get... (Score:4, Insightful)
65nm, 300mm wafer.
"Cell is going to be like IBM's Deep Blue integrated on one chip," said Ken Kutaragi, chief executive officer of SCEI, referring to IBM's chess-playing supercomputer, which is based on a massively parallel architecture.
"One Cell processor will have, say, 1 teraflops performance. One thousand Cells make 1 petaflops performance. Then 1,000 of these 1,000 Cells can combine.
"We are planning to create a processor architecture that makes this network connection possible. We will focus on processors. The day when processors can truly link together will surely come. This project is such a huge challenge," said Kutaragi.
Seems pretty damned focussed to me. The Cell chip looks to be well on schedule. [ps3land.com].
But I know what you mean; I'd like to have one next week, too. How much do you think a prototype Cell chip would cost?
Re:Bit too expensive for what you get... (Score:5, Interesting)
Second, this is an eminently sellable product for its target market: people who want not just a functional but an elegant PVR. The marketing campaign in Japan features yoko, tate, pi! - loosely translated as "across, down, beep!" - scroll across to the "videos" icon, down through your videos until you find the one you want, then beep! -- it plays.
The interface is elegant [mycom.co.jp], as is the design, and the box does what it should do with no fuss. Many consumers would pay for that, particularly in Japan where people are willing to pay more for good products.
Re:Bit too expensive for what you get... (Score:1)
Sony can be as focused as they want on the hardware, but it's nothing without games. The difference in development cycles for PS2 games vs PS games was pretty dramatic and the first generation games always have it the hardest. Some houses started development last year and ' might [ign.com]' be ready for the 2005 release.
I will happily wait for the system with games worth playin. In the me
Re:Bit too expensive for what you get... (Score:5, Insightful)
You can put together the hardware for $350, but you assume (rightly so, around here) that everyone has a free powerful computer to put it all in, and nobody minds a cheap uninsulated case sitting next to their TV to encode everything.
Re:Bit too expensive for what you get... (Score:3, Interesting)
I guarantee it would be under the price that they give. It would also allow the user more power as they could do whatever they wanted with it (tailor it to their own needs) and they would be able to have a lot more options on how to expand the capabilities.
Re:Bit too expensive for what you get... (Score:5, Insightful)
Price it out, including $x for your time. In the end, you'll see the same split as with TiVo: people willing to pay $600 for a solution that works out of the box, and people willing to spend $800 to build their own box and shout down everyone else.
Re:Bit too expensive for what you get... (Score:2)
Re:Bit too expensive for what you get... (Score:4, Informative)
it's not a terrible price for a three-in-one device, considering that they want about $600 for a combo dvdr/pvr with a 80gig drive.
Re:Bit too expensive for what you get... (Score:2)
Re:Bit too expensive for what you get... (Score:1)
Re:Bit too expensive for what you get... (Score:3, Insightful)
I can get a PS2 for $119.00 from different places on the net.
I can get a replayTV for $109.00 from an assortment of places on the net also.
So I am guessing that I need to add the Ethernet adapter ($39.00) and the hard drive ($79.00) and then I pretty much have the same thing. except that the replayTV has more features, upgradeable, I can openly communicate with it from my PC so I can master DVD's of my favorite shows easily and it communicates with other units in the ho
Re:Bit too expensive for what you get... (Score:1)
Just keep telling yourself that
Caveat Emptor! (Score:2)
I also think that while I truly enjoy having a "multicultural computing environment at home" (Debian/Apache/Php/Perl/MySQL/Sendmail, WinXP/Server2003/Exchange
Selling points (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Selling points (Score:5, Insightful)
Believe it or not, this is not a lot of money to some people. Those same people bought Pioneer's LaserActive system back in the day.
It's a niche product, hence the price tag (no loss leaders here). I don't see soccer mom going into wal-mart and buying one of these for her kids instead of a regular PS2. But I see Richie Rich buying one because it's better than a PS2.
Re:Selling points (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Selling points (Score:4, Insightful)
Are you sure about the box? (Score:2)
I know some people that have equipment like this plasma that are just a step away from living IN a box - they buy somethiung like a big expensive display and then hook a $40 DVD player to it!
People know that "big == good", but the rest of the stuff (like progressive scan, which even the $40 players support now anyway) is a lot more of a mystery. So they feel free to ignore that part - except possibly hookin
Can you mod these? (Score:5, Funny)
If not I don't want one. What's the point of a DVD-R if I can't play the PS2 games I use it to copy, that is legitimately backup for educational purposes!
Re:Can you mod these? (Score:3, Insightful)
To save TV shows you recorded?
Don't be confused... (Score:5, Informative)
You could... (Score:4, Informative)
Re:You could... (Score:1)
(At the time, most people thought they would never use "Playstation" in the US because it sounded too gay, to use gamer jargon.)
Re:You could... (Score:2)
PS3 is on its way, which, if I remember my Edge areticle properly wont have the Playstation name anywhere near it. I think its a Nintendo thing. That Mario bastard has some of Warios genes you know - mustachiod prick!
Could be better budget computer then the Xbox. (Score:3, Interesting)
Comment removed (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Spendy, but innovative... (Score:5, Funny)
I don't know where these memes get started but yes, Japanese houses are small, but they're not so cramped for space that an unbundled PS2 and DVD player or whatever would have them coming out the windows.
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Memes... (Score:1)
Re:Memes... (Score:2)
Re:Spendy, but innovative... (Score:1)
One can hope (Score:2, Redundant)
Re:One can hope (Score:4, Informative)
Re:One can hope (Score:2)
Re:One can hope (Score:3, Informative)
Ouch (Score:4, Insightful)
Acronym time : DIY PVR IMO. FU PS2/PVR DRM.
Re:and has already reached full market penetration (Score:2)
I dont see this being a big seller in the US at all
Re:and has already reached full market penetration (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:and has already reached full market penetration (Score:2)
I frankly, don't know what people do to their video game consoles that they break so easily. For chrissakes - my Atari 2600 still works, as does my LaserActive, TubroGrafx, DC, N64...
Clearly, I just have a knack of picking special, non-problematic units.
Re:and has already reached full market penetration (Score:2)
Or you just care about your stuff. Many people are very careless.
My dad knocked over my ps2 when it was on its verticle stand about 2 mins after I said "be careful around the ps2. thats the wierd monolith thing sitting on my pc."
It works now, but the player 1 controller port is sometimes twitchy, and i need to wiggle it to work.
Re:and has already reached full market penetration (Score:2)
Anyhow: That is my point exactly. Why are people so careless with their stuff? I know my GameCube costs half as much now as when I bought it at launch, but, to me, that is still a $200 (plus the value of 22 games) investment. I know I can pick up an Atari 2600 for dirt cheap (unless I want a spiffy, hacked s-video one for $100), but I still make sure that it stays clean.
Dunno. Maybe it's just me.
Re:and has already reached full market penetration (Score:1)
Re:Ouch (Score:2)
Let's just take a look at the parts that go into it: $100 is probably the value of a PS2 sans hard drive. A 250GB disk is at least $150. While the PSX has less RAM than a PC, the PC needs more RAM to perform PVR functions - at the very least, 256MB. Let's say PC2100, that's another $20. You're going to need a TV card, $50 or so. You'll need a video card with fairly high quality TV-out; Tha
X-Box (Score:4, Funny)
tight race? (Score:2, Informative)
It's far from a tight race.
It is a bit of a closer race in software sold, but these units will not lead to additional software sales.
Differential in price drop timing (Score:2)
Re:X-Box (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:X-Box (Score:2)
Xbox outsells Sony in month of April [gamespot.com]
Re:X-Box (Score:2)
MS should really hope that Sony does hold back on the PS3 launch, huh?
Re:X-Box (Score:2)
I don't; I own no game consoles, and I don't plan to own one.
The question was about whether Xbox and Sony have a heated competition or not, I simply offered the info I have.
Why all the passion about one soulless multinational corporation versus another? Do you suppose the brass at Sony wouldn't step over your corpse to pick up a buck?
Re:X-Box (Score:2)
Re:X-Box (Score:2)
So, if everybody needs an excuse to be here now, and I told you mine, what is yours?
Re:X-Box (Score:2)
I'm a tech geek who plays games. I have since I got my Atari 2600 so many years ago. That's why I'm here - I enjoy conversing with people who have a common interest.
However, it strikes me that, since you don't have the firsthand experience of the items we are discussing, you are still trolling. It would be akin to me posting on the Linux sections of /.: I use Mac OS X and other Unix-based systems, so I have some peripheral contact with the subject, but I would
Re:X-Box (Score:1)
People have differing motivations for what they read and I don't think it's my business why any one is interested in a particular topic. If there are ways in which you could make a positive contribution to a thread on Mac OS, I think it's stingy of you to hold back because Mac users are not part of your g
Re:X-Box (Score:2)
As long as X-Box and Gamecube are still actively pushing their consoles, the PS2 is taking some form of heat from them. X-Box's monthly sales are dangerously close to PS2, but PS2 has a sizeable lead in overall sales. If PS2 throttles their console sales by making their console significantly mor
Japan (Score:5, Interesting)
Cool device, but no market.
Sony (Uhmmmm...alias DRM) (Score:5, Interesting)
whore on the planet...anyone wanna debate this
go buy an md player...
Look at Sony carefully...
Know any other electronic retail mfr's that also
own record and movie subsidiarys ????
These people are hook, line, and sinker after
your file sharing, movie recording asses...!!!
Will it last longer than a PS2? (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Will it last longer than a PS2? (Score:1)
Re:Will it last longer than a PS2? (Score:2)
Since it's a DVD-R it's going to have to. I've had my PS2 since launch and have had no problems with it, nor have I heard of consoles The PSX looks cool, and it's got great stats for an appliance.
The market isn't gearheads who can build it themselves with two tin cans and some gaffer's tape: it's for people that would like to combi
Re:Will it last longer than a PS2? (Score:2)
Re:Will it last longer than a PS2? (Score:1)
No more apres-burrito posting for me :-p
Almost... (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Almost... (Score:4, Funny)
And it will, if the used car is a Mercedes S600 with under 50 miles on it.
Re:Almost... (Score:2)
One more thing (Score:1)
Concentrate on getting the PS3 out (Score:1)
ok.... (Score:2)
Will this include Linux support (Score:1)
This would make a great all-in-one platform for Freevo [sourceforge.net] or MythTV [mythtv.org].
Re:Will this include Linux support (Score:1)
Screenshot of updated UI (Score:5, Informative)
Here's the updated screenshot of the updated UI in the PSX. Seems to have a transparent menus over the TV show you're watching, and these screens show the customizable backgrounds for the menus.
Screenshot [impress.co.jp]
Screenshot [impress.co.jp]
Screenshot [impress.co.jp]PSX Official Site(in Japanese) [sony.co.jp]
Re:Screenshot of updated UI (Score:2)
Now I know what I want for Christmas. I can't read kanji, but the PSX is a nice machine. Slick interface, nice styling. These shots up above are nice...
Bah. Time to donate some sperm, I guess.
Re:Screenshot of updated UI (Score:1)
I wonder if it's easier to get people to sit still for your home movies in Japan? Nowadays, USAns tend to think its rude to even suggest that the neighbors need to sit through a recap of your summer trip.
cost and alternatives (Score:2, Interesting)
What I really want to know is if I would be able to access the files across a network. Ps2 has the ethernet adapter you can buy, so it seems like a reasonable idea, but I imagine there's tons of reasons why sony might not want to add that capability.
Since
Re:cost and alternatives (Score:2)
Yeah but... (Score:1)
Does it run Linux like Microsoft's gaming console?!
Must...resist...temptation! (Score:1)
Public Domain testing of PS3 features... (Score:1)
Re:Obligatory Quote.. (Score:2, Funny)
...a swing and a miss.
Not so fast! (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Don't try.... (Score:2, Informative)
And in the US... (Score:2)