PlayStation 3 Press Conference Tonight 165
The official unveiling of the PlayStation 3 is set to happen tonight, with folks such as the Guardian Gamesblog, Kotaku, and GamesAreFun live blogging the event as it happens. From the Guardian post: "The sign on the way into the Sony Press Conference is big - Wi-Fi access will be only available after the event. They lied - a quick wireless search has found me some access and now I'm on. The clock says 1.00pm but my body says 9pm. By the time Microsoft unveils the 360 again tonight I'll be ready for my cornflakes."
Joel Johnson from Gizmodo barred from event!!! (Score:1)
Oh well, I think engadget [engadget.com]'s a better blog then gizmodo anyway
This is impressive (Score:5, Insightful)
So far in this PS3 topic, the base comments are: 1) a prayer for XBox 360's demise, 2) a statement that Sony's bragfest will be "quite a refreshing change from the endless hype" for the 360, and 3) speculation that developers will flock to Sony's 8 Cell vector processors because XBox 360's three PowerPC cores will be too hard to develop for. Oh, and now someone is piping in with typos a-plenty voicing excitement on what will surely be an immensely informative session about this console that is likely at least a year from release.
Granted, there have been swift and thorough rebuttals to most of these, but they are posted alongside further MS bashing from others. The MTV special will be drawing fire for months, I'm thinking. Because, you know, a hilariously pandering noninformative show intended to appeal to an audience whose intelligence they (hopefully) underestimated certainly has the same exact intent as an event aimed at the gaming media. There was a video released on OurColony the same day that provides much more information about the functionality that I hope they can deliver.
And before I'm branded as a Microsoft fanboy/apologist/astroturfer, I own all three current consoles and the current crop of portables. I've found reasons to enjoy all of them. XBox 360 is the next-gen console we know most about so far, and some of what we do know is impressive, like the cohesive Internet experience that it seems that the new Live can offer.
Re:This is impressive (Score:2, Insightful)
Personally, I'm hoping the PS3 is light-years ahead of the XBox360.
Not because I have anything against the XBox, but because I think the 360 looks like a really nice piece of hardware, and for something to be even better by a large margin, it must really be something special.
I guess we'll just have to wait and see.
While I enjoy the games on my current X-Box a lot, I still have not signed up for Live a
Re:This is impressive (Score:2)
Re:This is impressive (Score:2)
They scheduled it before E3 to get people like us to watch. This is what they think will sell to us. Most of the MTV fanbase isn't going to pou
Re:This is impressive (Score:3, Interesting)
On the other hand, that special was in many ways just plain insulting. It really gave The Wizard [wikipedia.org] a run for it's money. Lucas would be proud [imdb.com].
It looks like neither of the two (Sorry Nintendo) major players have slipped up. Both are using sleek 'n sexy wireless controllers that may actually justify the cost of 1st par
Re:This is impressive (Score:2)
4pm PST (Score:2)
I guess I'll wait an hour, then read about the console that I'll be buying in 2007 sometime after the price drops...
Damn I hate being a news junkie. I really just want to look away and re
Re:4pm PST (Score:1)
Specs (Score:5, Informative)
Sexy
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 3.2 Ghz, giving the whole system 2.18 teraflops of overall performance. It will sport 256mb XDR main RAM at 3.2 Ghz, and have 256MB of GDDR VRAM at 700mhz.
Seven controllers?!
Re:Specs (Score:3, Interesting)
Where are you getting this info from? The 3 links in the article are unupdated, 1 line of hype and refusing to serve pages respectively, plus engadget and gizmondo are dead too.
Re:Specs (Score:2)
http://www.gamespot.com/news/2005/05/16/news_612 4681.html
linked from another post here...
Re:Specs (Score:1)
Am I the only one surprised that there is only one Cell in the PS3? I expected atr least two.
Re:Specs (Score:2)
PS2 supports 8 controllers using two multitaps. But 7 wireless controllers sounds kind of cool. Speaking of ports, what's the deal with 2 HDMI ports?
Re:Specs (Score:1)
Ah. Good. There's some hope for them yet.
Re:Specs (Score:1)
What no DVD-RAM?
Re:Specs (Score:1)
Of course, that TFLOPS talk is still inflated marketing numbers, we won't see that kind of performance in real-world tasks just as we won't see the PS2 pushing 66 million triangles per second.
Here is a link that is being updated frequently. (Score:1)
more info (Score:2)
mem card slots, 7 bluetooth controllers, 2.18(!) teraflops processing power, 1080p rez
wowzer..
Re:more info (Score:2)
And damn you /.ers all to hell for killing my site! ;-P
Seriously, we (GamesAreFun) went down right after the press conference started, and it took almost 2 hours for our webhost to manually go and hit the reset button...
Although I am upset to have heard that someone found WiFi access in the Sony conference... I know I sure as hell couldn't connect to the only network inside the stud
Info and Pics (Score:4, Informative)
http://www.firstadopter.com/fa/archives/000988.ht
slot-loading?? (Score:2)
Re:slot-loading?? (Score:2)
Full set of PS3 Pics (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Full set of PS3 Pics (Score:2)
Re:Full set of PS3 Pics (Score:2)
Re:Full set of PS3 Pics (Score:1)
There must be a way for companies to exaggerate teraflops. Even one of Sun's web pages from several years back claimed 1 teraflop for the Elite 3Dm6 video card, which while a good card wasn't something that blew people away.
Re:Full set of PS3 Pics (Score:2)
Two (!) HDMI Ports! (Score:4, Interesting)
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
Two HDMI out ports? If the PS3 can drive two displays, that would explain the support for the seven bluetooth controllers. I wonder what kind of performance hit that would mean, at 1080p x2
PS3: lanparty in a box!
and three ethernet ports (Score:2)
We'll all be very curious to see what the price point for this sucker is like...
Re:Two (!) HDMI Ports! (Score:2)
Re:Two (!) HDMI Ports! (Score:2)
Unfortunately I doubt all that many games will support it all out. Since not many end users will have multiple screens hooked up to it. Most likely it will suffer just like multi-head gaming on the PC has.
BTW 7 controllers is probably only because Bluetooth per default support 8 devices per pico-net. Of those one is the h
Re:Two (!) HDMI Ports! (Score:2)
It might be able to do what the dreamcast + memory card-with-lcd-screen were supposed to do. The first application that comes to mind is the ability to do things like select which play you want to run in a football game without the defense having a clue what you pick.
Or a driving game with the speedometer and tach and fuel in the handheld screen.
Oh, wow.
Re:Two (!) HDMI Ports! (Score:2)
The Anandtech review [anandtech.com] shows a slide where it gives some uses for dual screens - for example, a racing game in complete panorama (32:9 aspect ratio), or a game wherein the main screen is the game, and a secondary screen shows a menu or statistics or something.
Another thing that the anandtech review shows is that the damn thing can decode 12 fullsize HD streams, simultaneously [anandtech.com], or decode and display 1,000 movies at one time.
I'm very impressed.
~Will
Specs reposted from Gamespot (Score:3, Informative)
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, a SD slot, and a compact flash memory slot. It will also sport a slot for a detachable 2.5 inch HDD somewhat similar 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 3.2 Ghz, giving the whole system 2.18 teraflops of overall performance. It will sport 256mb XDR main RAM at 3.2 Ghz, and have 256MB of GDDR VRAM at 700mhz.
Sony also unveiled the PS3's graphics chip, the RSX "Reality Synthesizer" 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 over 300 million transistors, larger than any processor available commercially today. It will be manufactured using the 90nm process with 8 layers of metal. The RSX is more powerful than two GeForce 6800 Ultra video cards, which would cost roughly $1000 total if bought today.
Pretty damned impressive.
Re:Specs reposted from Gamespot (Score:2)
Re:Specs reposted from Gamespot (Score:1)
Re:Specs reposted from Gamespot (Score:1)
Re:Specs reposted from Gamespot (Score:1)
Re:Specs reposted from Gamespot (Score:5, Funny)
That name is fucking brilliant. Even better than Emotion Engine.
Re:Specs reposted from Gamespot (Score:2)
Spider-Man movie font (Score:2)
Re:Spider-Man movie font (Score:1)
New controller design (Score:1)
Re:New controller design (Score:1)
What annoys me is that all the next gen consoles we have seen so far have rounded surfaces. I like to put my games and controller on top of my console when I am done with them. With the XBOX 360 my stuff will settle in the center and with the PS3 it will slide right off! I g
Re:New controller design (Score:1)
Re:New controller design (Score:1)
This new boomerang continues with the stupidness, it looks a bit more ergonomic than the old dual shock, but they still have the left hand analouge stick in the secondary position. Sony still don't seem to have realised that for most games nowadays, it would be useful the have the left hand analouge stick in the upper position.
I suppose with backwards compatability t
Re:New controller design (Score:1)
The physical appearance wasn't included in that lawsuit, was it? And besides, isn't there another way to solve the problem other than reinventing the Wingman [google.com]
Sequel-ridden (Score:1)
Re:Sequel-ridden (Score:1)
Re:Sequel-ridden (Score:2)
Re:Sequel-ridden (Score:1)
PS3 impression (Score:1)
The Console Information Ministers at SCE (Score:2, Insightful)
I'm sorry for the trollish opening, but the thing that really chafes my balls about the hype surrounding the Playstation3 can be boiled down to this:
The PS2 was purported to have "Hollywood-style" graphics capabilities.
Anyone remember the line about the PS2 being able to render Toy Story in real-time? I do - it was such a boldfaced lie. Dreamcast had better graphics than the second-gen Playstation. and it wa
Re:The Console Information Ministers at SCE (Score:1, Informative)
Re:The Console Information Ministers at SCE (Score:1)
Re:The Console Information Ministers at SCE (Score:1)
Re:The Console Information Ministers at SCE (Score:1)
Thank goodness I've found you! I've been asking for a link to that quote for ages. Do you have a link to the Sony press release of conference notes where that claim was made. I need that link!
Re:The Console Information Ministers at SCE (Score:1)
Yeah, but it wasn't Sony that claimed it. Sony said the ps2 could render CG, and they followed that up by rendering the ballroom scene from Final Fantasy 8
Blu-ray DVD (Score:1)
Re:Blu-ray DVD (Score:1)
Re:Blu-ray DVD (Score:1)
http://www.i4u.com/article3416.html [i4u.com] is a link that describes how no unification progress was made. The initial claim that there was a successful unification were exaggerated it seems.
Impressive trailer (Score:1)
Re:Impressive trailer (Score:1)
IOW, that's a prerendered movie, just like most of the XBox 360 footage.
Re:If there is a God... (Score:4, Funny)
Re:If there is a God... (Score:5, Funny)
(Score: +1, Pluralizes "Xbox" as "Xboxen")
(Score: +1, Connects MTV-watching with Xbox-owning)
(Score: +1, Spins "Better Graphics" Into a Negative)
Congratulations! +5!
Re:If there is a God... (Score:1)
Re:If there is a God... (Score:1, Funny)
However, I wish to reiterate the following:
Nintendo's Focus!=Graphics
Focus on Graphics!=Good
therefore
Nintendo=Good (i.e. bettar than M$ capitalist faggs omg)
Hurrah for flawed logic. It's what's keeping most business afloat these days.
Re:If there is a God... (Score:1, Interesting)
I don't know...maybe it's just the nostalgic NES-playing boy in me, but new Nintendo console unveilings are always kind of magical, because it feels like Nintendo really has something amazing up their sleeves. Of course, that something hasn't been done since Super Mario 64 debuted alongside the N64 back in 1996.
I also
Re:If there is a God... (Score:2)
Does the PS3 promise anything different? I know Nintendo is claiming graphics won't cut it but Sony's marketing seems to be mostly focussed at Skynet/Cell structures and Toystory in realtime. Would them kicking MS's ass really make a difference on that issue?
Re:If there is a God... (Score:1)
PS3? (Score:1)
Re:If there is a God... (Score:1)
Re:Next Xbox Hard To Program? (Score:1, Flamebait)
Oh and Cell is a bunch of fluff. I bet you believed Sony when they said the PS2 would have movie quality graphics.
Re:Next Xbox Hard To Program? (Score:4, Funny)
Sorry clown you're not in xbox fantasy land anymore. Your homework assignment for being such a retarded xbox fanboy is to go to your local game store and sit and ponder WHERE THE FUCK DID THOSE HUNDREDS AND HUNDREDS of Sony titles come from.
Are there army's of geniuses out there in secret underground bases cranking out Sony titles,
or,
are you just a fucking dunce with a big ugly box with no games sitting in your living-room?
Re:Next Xbox Hard To Program? (Score:1)
Re:Next Xbox Hard To Program? (Score:3, Interesting)
Cell is also PowerPC and vectorized architectures are actually pretty common. MMX, SSE, AltaVec, Cray supercomputers...
The three cores in the Xbox 360 kind of bug me. For some reason I think SMP should go up by powers of 2. I mean I have seen 2 cpu, 4 cpu, 8 cpu, 16cpu, 32 cpu
Re:Next Xbox Hard To Program? (Score:3)
But unless you happen to have a Cell workstation you have no idea how hard it is to program the Cell.
A lot will depend on the compilers and tools. For all I know it will be totally transparent to the programmer.
Most programmers working on
Re:Next Xbox Hard To Program? (Score:1)
All of Nintendo's consoles will network into one huge super-AI brain. It will give each gamer the computational power of millions of consoles but with a sentient opponent that can learn from all the gamers to perfect its tactics. Gamers can expect no two games to play the same, and the AI is programmed to learn each player's patterns to ensure the right amount of difficulty.
It is predicted the AI will learn so much that it will then be used to command the world's economies
Re:Next Xbox Hard To Program? (Score:1)
Re:Next Xbox Hard To Program? (Score:2)
I was under the impression that all three of the next gen consoles are going to using CPUs that are either PPC or derived from the PPC.
Re:Next Xbox Hard To Program? (Score:2)
The PS3 is expected to be better at "streaming" processes, typical multimedia stuff such as graphics and sound processing. The XBox 360 will likely be faster at non-streaming processes such as physics and AI code. These 4 are the most processor-intensive tasks in a game with physics and AI the biggest growth areas.
Only time will tell which will be the fastest architect
Re:Next Xbox Hard To Program? (Score:2, Interesting)
Third parties aren't forced to stay with one manufacturer, if they decide MS doesn't bully them as much and lets them make more money they'll jump ship before Sony even knows what's happening. Look at the SNES->PS1 transition, everyone ran away from Nintendo in a way noone would have imagined during the SNES generation.
My hunch says the Cell will be even more of a nightmare than the XB360's hardware. Sony claims the compiler will work around that but when you don't
Re:Next Xbox Hard To Program? (Score:2)
Then you make your next statement based on utter bs supposition. Who really knows how hard it will be to program until the dev kits come out. If the dev kits abstract ebough of the lower level away, then it might not even be notciable to the programmers.
Quite fr
Re:Next Xbox Hard To Program? (Score:5, Insightful)
Of course, maybe that doesn't matter. After all, the PS2 is generally considered to be the hardest of the current generation to work with, and yet it's still the market leader by a comfortable margin.
Bottom line is that it's all going to come down to having the best games at the right time, and a superior marketing plan. The hardware is almost irrelevant.
Wait and see... (Score:2)
So, who knows. My guess would be that the XBox will be easier because Microsoft has a lot of experience in development tools. But who knows, it may be the sort of thing where it's easier on Xbox, but a skilled pro
Easy according to Epic (Score:5, Informative)
According to the Gamespot [gamespot.com] coverage:
Re:Easy according to Epic (Score:1)
=)
Re:Next Xbox Hard To Program? (Score:1)
I thought the three cores in the 360 processor did "in order execution". From what I am reading supposedly this mean no SMT.
Is there any place to get good info about what exactly the implications of the design MS has chones mean?
Re:Next Xbox Hard To Program? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Next Xbox Hard To Program? (Score:3, Insightful)
About the programming. I have NEVER seen all developers universally agreeing on 1 language being the easiest. I just don't believe all 100% of the developers feel the Xbox SDK was the preferred one.
Re:Next Xbox Hard To Program? (Score:1, Funny)
Re:7 controllers -- a bluetooth limitation (Score:2)
Re:7 controllers -- a bluetooth limitation (Score:1)
Re:7 controllers -- a bluetooth limitation (Score:2)
Re:Specs are out (Score:1)
Re:Specs are out (Score:1)
It's hard to tell from the pictures, but are those _three_ Ethernet ports on the back?
The PS3 will have 512MB, but it's split between the main processors and the graphics processor, it seems.
Re:some early info (Score:5, Interesting)
I know that the quality of games will end up being the real factor, but given Sony's track record I wouldn't expect anything but a good number of solid games. Plus the backwards compatibility will mean that the console will launch with a large number of great games anyways. I didn't pick up one of the current generation consoles (ps2, xbox) but now that I have a little more free time I think that I'll be getting one of these and from what I see my choice will be the PS3. Not only does it look to be the most powerful, but I'll be able to catch up on all of those PS2 games that I missed.
Re:some early info (Score:2)
Re:cell (Score:1)