System Discussion: Playstation 3

[AgtFox]

It is obvious given that there are ads in Los Angeles saying, "WELCOME CHANG3" with the buttons (triangle, circle, X, square) having pieces taken out of them, so chances are Sony will announce a new system and it will be named Playstation 3 (I know...no duh! right?)

Another interesting rumor is that Apple and Sony are in cahoots with each other on the PS3 and Apple will be creating the UI for the system...take that rumor how you will.

Sony conference is at 3pm PT today and I plan to update this thread as it goes...so, what do you guys expect from the PS3?

[Graham]

From what I have read, the next console by Sony will NOT be called the PlayStation 3.  They are going to be using a new monkier for it, but it hasn't been revealed.

We'll see if that has changed though.

[leo8877]

Will the new PS be announced at today's meeting?

[Hetz]

Will the new PS be announced at today's meeting?

That's the rumor...

[Balshazaar]

So, make up some funny new names, then. Here's my shot:

Hoping for more sales to evangelicals, they go with the:
Sony Praystation

To emphasize the supercomputer nature of the Cell, they go with:
Sony Craystation

Actually, the Playstation brand is so well known that I cannot imagine they would abandon it.

[Ralph-Wiggum]

Pony Slaystation?

[AgtFox]

Son of a gun!  I won't be able to report anything on the Sony conference until someone gets the video on the net I guess.  My usual place evidently is not covering this stuff with a live feed...d'oh!

[leo8877]

Shoot!

[AgtFox]

I guess I'll be able to see it about an hour after completion...by then many sites may have info up though...sorry guys.

[AgtFox]

OK...from my understanding Sony has closed off the conference from live feeds.  That blows in my opinion...oh well, we'll see it in a bit I'm sure.

[Kevin Grey]

OK...from my understanding Sony has closed off the conference from live feeds.  That blows in my opinion...oh well, we'll see it in a bit I'm sure.

Yep, Nintendo is the only one allowing live feeds from outside sources.  MS's conference will be broadcast exclusively on Xbox.com.

[AgtFox]

Yeah, I plan on covering that one later tonight.

[Rob_Merritt]

There are several sites doing live coverage though. (maybe they have a Nintendo DS network going. ( ))

[AgtFox]

Like which ones?  Gamespot and IGN/Gamespy can only put it up after the conference is done from my understanding.  I have no clue what other outlets could have video cameras going on in there (outside of G4, which supposedly starts video in about 30 min.).

[Rob_Merritt]

I didn't want to post links since I know you guys are hyper sensitive about other gaming sites. Here are the three I'm looking at:

http://www.kotaku.com/
http://www.cgno.com
http://www.gamedaily.com

[AgtFox]

Nah, I can speak for myself when I say I'm not hyper-sensitive about that stuff...others may be.  I'm personally just looking for info so I can report it to you guys in a quick and efficient manner.

I notice these are much like blogs (can't get to cgno).  I'm looking for video...heh.  From my understanding Ron said security was TIGHT at Sony, which goes along with some of these blogs.

[Rob_Merritt]

Yeah they aren't updates as often as I hoped.

[Rob_Merritt]

http://www.engadget.com/entry/1234000050043558/

PS3 will be backwards compatable!

[wonderpug]

Can anyone confirm/deny that the PS3's controllers will be wireless and will charge by induction by setting them on top of the console for 2 hours?

[AgtFox]

System info: Playstation 3

The PlayStation 3 will feature the much-vaunted Cell processor, which will run at 3.2 Ghz and feature 2.18 teraflops of performance. It will sport 256mb XDR main RAM at 3.2 Ghz, have 256MB of GDDR VRAM at 700mhz, a detachable 2.5 inch HDD slot, six usb 2.0 ports, Memory Stick Duo, a SD slot, a compact flash memory slot, Compact flash slot, 2 hdmi outputs, 1 av multi out, 1 SPDIF optical output, and 1-gigabit Ethernet built in port

Sounds like the succesor to the PSX as predicted...

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 supporrd CR-ROM, CDR+W, DVD, DVD-ROM, DVD-R, DVD+R. It also confirmed the machine would be backwards compatible all the way to the original PlayStation.

[Kevin Grey]

That's a lot of memory slots.

[wonderpug]

The PlayStation 3 will feature 2.18 teraflops of performance.

xbox.com lists the 360 as having 1 teraflop floating point performance...

I may not be good with tech jargon, but 2.18 seems an awful lot more than 1.

edit: guess Sony wants people to come to the same conclusion:

[AgtFox]

More:

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.

[AgtFox]

Well, I can't remember how long, but for about 20 years now the less powerful console has always won out in overall sales.  This is not to say the most powerful won't win this go around, but the throwing around of specs is nice and all...seeing it is something totally different.

[leo8877]

That's a lot of controllers!!

[wonderpug]

edit to save h-scroll: click for bigger image

[leo8877]

Looks cool, IMO.

[wonderpug]

The side of it makes me feel strangely compelled to see a certain superhero movie...

[Chaz]

And someone was saying about how the Xbox360 was ugly?

Man, if that's the PS3 (and I have serious doubts that it is, given how early it is), then I'm right out.  No way I'm setting up a system vertically in my setup, and that sure doesn't look like it's made to be set down flat.

Again, it's probably a fake, but still.

[Ralph-Wiggum]

Man, if that's the PS3 (and I have serious doubts that it is, given how early it is), then I'm right out.  No way I'm setting up a system vertically in my setup, and that sure doesn't look like it's made to be set down flat.

I would guess that the bottom of it would be flat.

[AgtFox]

Yeah, I'm a bit hesitant to post that picture until I know it is for sure.

[Hetz]

Color me unimpressed, so far.

Waiting until sometime in 2006 to release this thing is going to be huge mistake...

[wonderpug]

Man, if that's the PS3 (and I have serious doubts that it is, given how early it is), then I'm right out.  No way I'm setting up a system vertically in my setup, and that sure doesn't look like it's made to be set down flat.

Again, it's probably a fake, but still.

There's another pic of it horizontally, I'll try to find it again.

[AgtFox]

I'm not too impressed if that is what it looks like...would like to see a horizontal view.

[leo8877]

Doesn't look like you can stack things on top of it, though.

[Kevin Grey]

Horizontally, I like it.  Vertically, not so much.

[AgtFox]

More info from Gamespot:

To show off the PlayStation 3's graphical brawn, Sony showed several game demos, including an Unreal 3 tech demo of what appeared to be Unreal Tournament 2007. 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 manipulating the camera and zooming in.

[wonderpug]

horizontal but I don't think the guy's bandwidth is gonna hold out.  My biggest hesitation about wholeheartedly saying it's legit is the Spiderman font.

alternate horizontal url

and the back side

[Kevin Grey]

Another link to horizontal.  

[Chaz]

Yeah, that sucker's curved on the bottom too.  Are they going to make me buy a stand to prop it up horizontally?