Sony Producing New PS3 Hardware, Slim Appears Likely 183
The Opposable Thumbs blog reports on a confluence of rumors and information leaks that suggest Sony will be unveiling a PS3 Slim sooner rather than later. Despite waning console sales, orders for PS3-related hardware have risen sharply. There's evidence to suggest that Sony is phasing out its 80GB model, which would help clear the way for a hardware revision. Some expect the official announcement to come as early as August 18th, during the gamescom expo in Germany.
Do not want!! (Score:3, Interesting)
Unless the price comes down to 360 levels. It's not like the PS3 has an exclusive I particularly want anyway.
Re:Do not want!! (Score:5, Interesting)
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Yeah, don't price drops often coincide with "slim" versions? My impression is the slim versions of these things are a result of improved manufacturing of the chips and such, which often (though I suppose not necessarily) means that they're able to produce equivalently powerful chips more cheaply.
I'd be happy if they just made a flat-topped PS3, so I could stack other things on top of it.
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Re:Do not want!! (Score:4, Insightful)
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The difference I see is - I can buy a 360 without the additional attachments. With the PS3 I have no choice.
Not sure why my original post is a troll though - I guess that it could offend someone, though I'm not sure who.
Re:Do not want!! (Score:4, Insightful)
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Not everyone may need a blu-ray player, but a lot of games do - you'd never get anywhere near the amount of content MGS has for instance on 1 DVD.
Re:Do not want!! (Score:4, Funny)
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Re:Do not want!! (Score:4, Insightful)
Not sure why my original post is a troll though - I guess that it could offend someone, though I'm not sure who.
Because there's way too many gamers who, for whatever reason, seem to have tied their sense of self-worth to whichever gaming platform they've chosen. I've never understood that, and likely never will.
Myself, I don't want a cheaper, slimmed down PS3. I want a deluxe mode. I would likely pick up a new console if Sony would create a new PS3 with full hardware PS2 support. Yes, I already have a PS2, but I would love to be able to get rid of it and just play on the newer system. Oddly enough, my PS2 is still getting more gameplay time than my PS3 (I currently have a 20GB model) as I plow through a lot of the great older PS2 titles I missed (some JRPGs, Tales games, Ico & Shadows of the Colossus, etc).
It feels like Sony hasn't had a clear direction with their hardware for a long time. They keep changing models and reducing features (except HD space in later models). I guess this economy is more conducive to less expensive systems, so they felt they had to cost-reduce at the expense of features.
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>>Oddly enough, my PS2 is still getting more gameplay time than my PS3 (I currently have a 20GB model) as I plow through a lot of the great older PS2 titles I missed (some JRPGs, Tales games, Ico & Shadows of the Colossus, etc).
Try playing Shadows of the Colossus on your PS3 (with software upscaling turned on), then try to play it on your PS2. It's rough. The PS3 actually added a lot of life to games like FF12, which were so horrible looking on the PS2 that I had trouble playing them. It's not a w
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Try playing Shadows of the Colossus on your PS3 (with software upscaling turned on), then try to play it on your PS2. It's rough. The PS3 actually added a lot of life to games like FF12, which were so horrible looking on the PS2 that I had trouble playing them. It's not a whole lot better, but it does help.
Now you're just being mean. You need to re-read my post. ;-) Believe me, I'd love to be able to play those games with software upscaling to take the rough edges off. I have a 20GB PS3, so playing PS2 games on my PS3 is impossible. Sony has completely abandoned even software compatibility in their newer models, so I'd have to buy an older model, which may not even be supported in the future.
It's a little strange. You'd think the PS3 should be powerful enough to simply run a PS2 emulator of the Emotion c
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Why are some of these features optional though? It made sense, in 1998 to make the hard drive optional. in 2001, it made sense to mandate the harddrive on the xbox. Why is it now suddenly an "option?"
You can't even have a decent selection of XBLA games or *any* disc installs with out a hard drive even with the onboard Flash. So one of the major features of the machine is now moot with out forking up big bucks for an out dated, undersized hard drive that uses a proprietary enclosure to even operate with
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Saying it's ridiculous is ridiculous :p
It's a perfectly valid comparison for price of entry (the only thing that matters to the vast majority of consumers). Also, this should be obvious, people buy products, and not feature lists.
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people don't care, they see they can get an xbox360 for alot less than the ps3 they don't care that: .'. better graphics
ps3 can run normal software and browse internet, watch DVDs, etc
ps3 on-line gaming is free
ps3 controllers are bluetooth and can be used on computers
ps3 has much better hardware
ps3 games can contain much more content
about a million reasons that ps3 is technically better, all they see is xbox360 is cheaper+ everybody else has then+ more friends to play online against
I don't give a shit about any of that. (Score:2)
BluRay (Score:2)
This may be a little off-topic, but the reason my wife eventually caved and said we should buy a PS3 is BluRay. When we paid $400 for a PS3, most BluRay players were still $500+, and the PS3 was routinely rated the best BluRay player on the market. Add in wifi-fi, gaming, streaming my movies from my PC to my TV, etc. honestly I thought it was a bargain at $400.
If you have a big TV, standard resolution looks pretty crappy. A good upscaled DVD looks nice, don't get me wrong. But good BluRay releases are unfai
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I for one will not buy an Xbox 360 because they continue to fail and fry themselves. I'll save up for PlayStation 3.
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And I'm honestly curious out of the 30 million 360 sales, how many were replacements for broken units? Everyone I know that has a 360 has replaced their unit at least once.
I replaced my PS3, but it wasn't a fault of the hardware. My daughter just filled the optical drive slot with pennies.
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I replaced my PS3, but it wasn't a fault of the hardware. My daughter just filled the optical drive slot with pennies.
Hilarious. Let me guess; she overheard you saying, "Damn, I wish I could see some change in this machine!"
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No... she just wanted the gumball, but it never came out.
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Of course, the Wii blows both away.
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Furthermore, PSN isn't nearly as bad as you suggested (it was at launch, but firmware heals all wounds!), and the Playstation 3 can run Linux very easily.
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I'm not a console fanboy. I buy all the consoles each generation. Let me debunk your FUD.
What do you mean by "normal software"? I agree that the PS3 can browse the Internet, but I'm not sure that's so useful. The Xbox 360 can play DVDs, too.
The PS3 can install Linux out of the box and can play BluRays. A BluRay player is still $200+, and $250+ for a decent one. Add $250 to the price of an XBox 360 and then tell me which is cheaper.
Xbox Live is far superior to the PS3 offering, and I pay only about $35/year. I don't *want* a free, crappy online experience.
XBox Live is better. I agree. But I prefer a free experience since I don't have 25+ hours a week to play my console online.
So? Why would I want to use my console controller on a PC?
I still play PC gaming, and I love the PS2/PS3 controllers. I don't have to buy separate PC controllers fo
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After I bought a PS3 I did quite a bit of reading and the unanimous conclusion was that the XBox360 had superior hardware capabilities, and was also easier to develop for than the PS3.
Pound for pound, the XBox 360 would be the console to get if you wanted to concentrate on gaming. The PS3 has the Blu-ray capability going for it, among other things.
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Comparing the price of a base PS3 to XBox360 is quite frankly ridiculous.
Features or not, they're both gaming platforms of the current generation with most of the same games. It's not like we're comparing a gameboy original to an alienware computer.
And we're talking about him wanting it or not. It's entirely up to him. If he didn't want it because it had a "P" in the name, that might sound ridiculous, but it's all the criteria he would need.
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Consumers only [i]care[/i] about base cost. They don't keep track of how much money they spend. Hence, free phones with outrageous texting costs.
People can easily end up spending $500 on a Wii if they get a bunch of the optional accessories. None of these people will admit the PS3 is a better deal in any given case. Hell, how many people beat that horse about DVD not being necessary, because they can just buy a $40 player separately?
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It all depends on what you want. The basic 360 has half a gig of Flash, like the Wii. That may not be ideal if you want to download XBLA games or demos, but is probably sufficient for saves, patches, and a bit of DLC.
The 360 doesn't have wireless, which can be a major problem if your console isn't near a network jack. But you may not need it if it's close enough to a router (my TV is next to my computer, so wireless would be overkill to get network connectivity 3 feet).
The 360 doesn't have an HD-capable opt
Needs Backwards Compatibility. (Score:5, Insightful)
Unless it has PS2 game emulation, I have no reason whatsoever to upgrade to it from my 60GB model. A 60GB model which Yellow lighted and had to be repaired so I could save my saves. I'm still using the danm thing despite the imminent risk of another YLOD due solely to the fact that it plays PS2 games with upscaling. I don't want to go back to using a regular PS2 if I can help it. The difference is truly is like night and day.
If there's no PS2 backwards compatibility (and ffs PS1 game texture smoothing), I see no reason for prefering the model to the cheaper 80/160GBs.
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As for PS2 compatibility, I find myself simply using my PS2 (fat) rather than using PS3's upscaling (on everything except Pinball Hall of Fame... it looks GREAT smoothed). I don't know how the PS1 smoothing is on the newer models, though. I figure if the slim comes out soo
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The YLOD is an unfortunately common problem on the 60GB models apparently. Other models are more reliable. Unfortunately, the 60GB model was one of the last which supported backwards compatibility for PS2 titles. Yoy.
No PS3 has ever supported texture smoothing for PS1 titles. It has supported HD upscaling, but that's hardly the same thing.
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There's an option for texture smoothing in the XMB, what the PS3 doesn't have is the PS2's ability to fast-load PS1 games. Funny thing is, the PSP does have that ability.
And you're quite correct that some later PS1 games really benefit from that texture smoothing, IIRC it was released in the US after the PS2 came out in the US.
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He means the original 60GB one (Score:5, Informative)
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Ya, I have an original 60gb "120 now" that had the emoticon? chip and natively plays ps2 games just fine. For my part I own a Wii, 360, and PS3. PS3 is my media center that I game on the 360 is my kids machine that does most of what my ps3 does but also wants me to pay to play.
My son will never have a purchased live account until he's 12 or older so it kind of sucks that some multiplayer features and demos are blocked. "I have a 30 day live account card but I almost never play on his system so why use it?"
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Original PS2s are cheap and easy to come by. I a fat ps2 for $25 the other weekend at a garage sale. There's little point in backwards compatibility.
Sure there's a reason for BC (Score:2)
Re:Needs Backwards Compatibility. (Score:4, Informative)
The only PS3s that have full PS2 BC are the original 20GB and 60GB. Some of the early 80GB versions had partial BC (they had the GPU in hardware but the CPU was emulated in software) but they didn't last long.
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"I agree - Sony advertised PS2 emulation capability but they've removed it"
What?
All the models that Sony said could play PS2 can do so. The models that cannot have never had any ads saying they could.
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I've never heard of anyone buying a PS3 and not knowing the capabilities. Actually, it was very well advertised when they had it and very up front about not having it.
Sour grapes.
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2) Not sour grapes. This didn't happen to me. I know better, I was just using myself as an example. Still, I would have to spend significant time comparing researching models before buying a new PS3.
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Several claims in this thread :) Going by fanboyism, that doesn't say much.
Please let me know what you would spell all that "significant time" on btw. Choosing hard drive size ... ?
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The internet archive seems to tell a different story about some of the cached content on Sony's website. My 60GB was advertised as BC but it most certainly is NOT.
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If you have a 60GB model then it has BC.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayStation_3#Models [wikipedia.org]
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Nope, my 60GB is model CECHH01 - not BC and not listed on the Wiki.
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Lack of backward compatibility is the worst missing feature on the PS3, and removing it was one of the worst decisions Sony made. (And they've made some BAD decisions.)
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Unless the price comes down to 360 levels. It's not like the PS3 has an exclusive I particularly want anyway.
Besides, this is just going to be another one of Sony's stupid box things that doesn't fucking do the thing it's goddamn fucking supposed to. Most of Sony's products are motherfucking time vampires anyway and are completely ass backwards as fuck, even if they do have more megabytes and megapixels than all the TV shit that I already have.
Yes, I shamelessly ripped off the ONN. [theonion.com]
$100 off (Score:3, Interesting)
You can get $100 off a PS3 by applying for the Playstation credit card. When I did it, they gave me $150 off the 80 GB model, but apparently that deal has since expired.
http://www.sonyrewards.com/en/gateway/?offerlink=srnowps3 [sonyrewards.com]
Re:Do not want!! (Score:5, Insightful)
If you're a smug 360 owner and don't give a fsck about the PC then remember the fate of the original Xbox. Sony's keeping the PS2 around forever and they'll likely do the same with the PS3, you're still gonna get new games years after the PS4 launch. MS killed the Xbox immediatly after the 360 launch. Oh, they say it's gonna be different for the 360 because they don't have to pay intel and Nvidia etc etc, which brings us back to all the crap they spout about their support for PC games.
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MS killed the Xbox immediatly after the 360 launch.
No kidding. And it wasn't just the consoles, but peripherals as well. Xbox controllers vanished within a month from everywhere, and original MS ones are now almost impossible to get in a decent nick. There are 3rd party controllers, but they are much much worse.
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You better look over the list of exclusives, and then try a few. Seriously, alot of them were completely amazing for the PS2, and I bet the exclusive list for the PS3 will be just as good. If it can play blu-rays as good or better than the old one, then i'll get it for a dual-purpose player.
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That's a good suggestion, and don't get me wrong, I love Wipeout. I just wouldn't buy a whole console for it.
Back when it was Squaresoft, Metal Gear and things like Tekken, I would have half considered it, but the number of games that are going cross-platform removes the need for me to own two.
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I don't own a PS3, but there are a few exclusives I've enjoyed when hanging out at a friend's and a few upcoming ones that are making me tempted (although I'll probably get a 360 because I'm involved in game dev and my company wants to try to branch to consoles with our 3D engine):
Metal Gear Solid 4 (it's coming out on the 360, but I strongly doubt it'll look anywhere near as nice)
Wipeout HD
Uncharted and Uncharted 2 (I thought they were lame when they were first released, but they grow on you fast)
Gran Turi
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Metal Gear Solid 4 isn't coming out on the 360.
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He may be getting confused between MGS4 and Metal Gear Rising, which is what I'm talking about.
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Take a look at Forza 2, or the upcoming Forza 3 if you want high fidelity in a racing console game. As I understand it, it models all the way down to the non-Newtonian physics level at the interaction between the tires and the road, with different interaction as the chemical compounds in the rubber heat across multiple levels. Any race sim that models the sheer angle (the twisting of the sidewalls in the tires during a hard cornering) and the weight of the drive shaft and flywheel with respect to how the
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Uhm, what is non-Newtonian about it?...
And I wonder how it compares to Richard Burns Rally ;) (though TBH...I like games that know they are games, focusing more on stimulating perceptions/giving illusion to our senses; modeling with great attention to details dynamics of a car doesn't do much to increase realism...)
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What it would take (Score:5, Insightful)
1) Bring back HARDWARE emulation of the PS2. Not the software version (which isn't even offered anymore).
2) Drop the price.
That is all. Do that and I'll buy. Seriously.
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Re:What it would take (Score:5, Insightful)
There have been reports that the software emulaation works better, so I'm not sure we need the hardware emulation.
A price drop is a must. However, what many people weren't aware of is that Sony was doing a deal if you applied for the Playstation credit card, you got $150 off a PS3. When I purchased my second PS3, I did it through that deal and paid $250 for a PS3, which is the same price as a Wii, for an 80 GB model. That was a pretty good deal.
Re:What it would take (Score:5, Informative)
I checked, and Sony isn't doing the same deal anymore, but they are doing $100 off a PS3 right now.
http://www.sonyrewards.com/en/gateway/?offerlink=srnowps3 [sonyrewards.com]
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*sigh* @ pages that require Flash to function.
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There have been reports that the software emulaation works better, so I'm not sure we need the hardware emulation.
I can't help but think "they must be doing it wrong".
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Bring back HARDWARE emulation of the PS2.
There is a $100 accessory that will add PlayStation 2 emulation to any PLAYSTATION 3 console.
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A PS2 costs $100? You got ripped off. I paid $80 for mine, with the network adaptor that runs $50 on ebay. I saw one the other weekend at a garage sale for $25. $30 is what a PS2 goes for these days.
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1) Bring back HARDWARE emulation of the PS2. Not the software version (which isn't even offered anymore).
I haven't used my PS2 hardware emulation, I tried couple games and then sold my PS2 and all the games with it. PS3 games are just so much better than PS2 games, also I have no intention of buying any PS2 games. If I still liked PS2 games too, then I would have kept my PS2.
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So would I and I think we are not alone.
There are only a few games I really want and since God of War is among them, naturally I'm leaning towards the PS3. Problem is, if you only have two or three packaged games and another couple of downloadable ones that interest you, the average price per game becomes pretty steep.
Now I'm certainly not an average gamer. I'm still shedding a tear whenever I think of the nineties and I have very little interest in graphic fireworks. I seek catching gameplay and so far, I'
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I, for one, don't want to go back to the days of disc swapping, and the forced linearity that caused in RPG's. i.e. once you hit disc 2 you'll never see certain locations again. In the PS2 era there was a least one late PS2 RPG that had to use 2 discs for space
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Dear Sony,
Thank you for the new customer.
Sincerely grateful,
Microsoft Corporation
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Backwards Compatibility (Score:2)
There have been people who have hacked debug/service modes on the console showing backwards compatibility tests on the current hardware. And there was a European version that had backwards compatibility via software emulation.
Is there any good reason to disable this and keep it from consumers paying big bucks for the hardware?
My daughter broke my first PS3, so I have purchased two of them. I like the hardware. I really do. But I feel Sony is holding out on me.
Meh. Still no price cut, still no BC (Score:3, Interesting)
Even if the Slim materializes, I strongly believe that it will retail for the same price as the current PS3 (which may get a fire-sale price just to get rid of the things). Sony can't afford any other move with all the red ink they're bleeding; they need to start making money now, and a Slim can only provide them a profit if the cost savings from making it are not passed on to consumers.
I also doubt there will be any BC. While it would provide the PS3 with a source of good games -its own predecessors- Sony's own arrogance will block the move. They've spent too much time arguing that people don't want to play older games anymore.
Brilliant!!!!!!!!! (Score:2)
They had PS2 compatibility (Score:2)
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Re:They had PS2 compatibility (Score:5, Interesting)
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It's true, there was a news report [theonion.com] on it recently.
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Just want to point out that early models releasted in Nov. 2006 had hardware support for PS2 games by embedding the the Emotion Engine CPU [wikipedia.org] into the PS3. The EE CPU is the same processor in the PS2.
I missed the boat on those, but I don't own any PS2 games so it wasn't a big deal to me. A good friend of mine managed to pick one up and had a large collection of PS2 games, and as far as I know hasn't had any issues with them not working.
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You know, it really seems relevant, because it's parallel computing
There is a massive difference between parallel computing models. The Cell is basically a NUMA architecture. Each SPU has 256KB of local memory and a fast DMA controller for loading new blocks from main memory. It loads a small kernel program along with some data, runs the program on this data and then writes the result out to memory. This is very close to the OpenCL model (and most GPUs, which is why the Cell was one of the first targets for Gallium3D).
The architecture of GCD is very different. Firs
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Then you'll be waiting for a long time. With the poor sales of the previous Yakuza games in NA I doubt they'll bother to release this version.
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