Playstation 3 a bargain?

[metadigital]

clickie

 

PS3 Launched 23 March in UK: Official.

[mkreku]

This was news to me: the Playstation 3 does indeed have a very secret hardware scaler!

 

Apparently it's just their SDK that's not up to snuff. Yet.

 

http://www.beyond3d.com/articles/ps3scaler/

[mkreku]

Things are looking brighter for the Playstation 3's future:

 

"In terms of Cell on 65nm, Yuhara said only that production is presently underway."

 

"Yuhara indicated seperately that as of December, blue laser diode yields have improved greatly..."

 

Source: http://www.beyond3d.com/index.php#news38360

 

I also read today that a new firmware update will allow the Playstation 3 to do background downloading, just like the Xbox 360:

 

Source: http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=72821

 

The Playstation 3 is shaping up. Hidden potential and all that crap that Epiphany so vehemently denies.

[Surreptishus]

Things are looking brighter for the Playstation 3's future:

 

"In terms of Cell on 65nm, Yuhara said only that production is presently underway."

 

"Yuhara indicated seperately that as of December, blue laser diode yields have improved greatly..."

 

Source: http://www.beyond3d.com/index.php#news38360

 

I also read today that a new firmware update will allow the Playstation 3 to do background downloading, just like the Xbox 360:

 

Source: http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=72821

 

The Playstation 3 is shaping up. Hidden potential and all that crap that Epiphany so vehemently denies.

 

What is the advantage of 65nm? Will that make it more power efficient and produce less heat?

[alanschu]

Yes.

[karka]

And also it means more dice(cutted chips) per wafer. This reduces production costs.

[aVENGER]

PlayStation 3 in Europe will play fewer old games

"The backwards compatibility is not going to be as good as the U.S. and Japan models," a Sony spokesman said. PlayStation 3 (PS3) was first launched in Japan and North America in November and the model that will be introduced in Europe will be designed differently. Software will take over some of the functionality that was originally taken care of by dedicated chips, which means far fewer PlayStation 2 (PS2) games can be played on a European PS3 compared with the Japanese and American PS3 models which play 98 percent of old games.

 

Click here to read more.

 

What the hell? It costs more (as usual) and actually does less than the US version? With PS3 games being region-free, I really don't see why anyone should buy the EU version instead of importing the US one.

[mkreku]

Wow, that's crap. Too bad they don't mention any numbers as to how many fewer games the EU version will play. And most importantly, which games are being axed? I want my God of War 1 & 2, Okami, Final Fantasy XII, Rogue Galaxy, Dragon Quest 8, Burnout 3, Singstar bundles and so on to remain intact!

[Surreptishus]

Personally, I maintain that backwards compatibility is an extraneous feature, so I am pretty nonplussed to see it diminished in the European PS3.

 

What I would like to know is if the savings will be passed on to the consumer or just used to soak up the loss incurred for each unit.

[mkreku]

What I would like to know is if the savings will be passed on to the consumer or just used to soak up the loss incurred for each unit.

Well.. Considering that the average European has to pay $850-900+ for a Playstation 3.. What do you think?

[mkreku]

"Backwards compatibility, as you know from PlayStation One and PlayStation 2, is a core value of what we believe we should offer. And access to the library of content people have created, bought for themselves, and accumulated over the years is necessary to create a format. PlayStation is a format meaning that it transcends many devices -- PSOne, PS2, and now PS3."

 

"If the developer wrote the game according to our technical requirements checklist, we will have what we believe will be almost perfect backwards compatibility. There will be some exceptions, there always are, but we believe those will be very few and far between. Even less so than we saw from PSOne to PS2."

Source: http://www.gamepro.com/news.cfm?article_id=55108

[karka]

So, they removed the PS2 hardware from the PS3 and decided to use software emulation, eh? And for a higher price! Another reason to import.

[metadigital]

I'm starting to think Sony aren't going to win this fight, with Blu-ray looking more and more like a white elephant (MP2 encoding?! and extra levels of DRM, sub-optimal capacity on their discs) ...

[Bokishi]

Die Sony! Massive Damage!

[mkreku]

Rumble is back (perhaps):

 

http://www.gamespot.com/news/6166644.html

 

Not that I care. I've never had a better game experience because of rumble. Quite the contrary, actually.

[TravisPennington]

Don't worry guys. It's not just Europe. They're removing the emotion chip and going for full on emulation for PS3's in Japan and the US as well. This was the plan from the beginning, as I remember reading a statement Sony made a while back which informed us that they'd use hardware for BC initially, then move to emulation. The problem is, this statement wasn't really moved around as "big news". I remember reading it dug in to some other news story.

 

The good news is, Sony is promising that over 1000 PS2 titles will be BC from the beginning, and that they'll be concentrating on hit games and franchises first. I would assume that means God of War, etc. At least the games will upscale now, I guess.

 

Personally I prefer the hardware BC, but 1000 PS2 titles BC at launch isn't all that bad. A lot better than what the 360 does, at least. If you want the hardware BC, you'd better import fast. Apparently they're making the change in April for Japan and US consoles. Remember though, that the BC for PS2 and PS1 games is region locked. It isn't region free like PS3 titles. So if you import a US PS3, you need US PS2 and PS1 games. And there's no telling if Sony is going to lock out the hardware BC when they release the new patch for emulation. If I were you, I wouldn't bother importing. A thousand PS2 titles being bc at launch really isn't all that bad, and there's no telling if Sony locks out the hardware BC or not on existing PS3's. You don't want to get screwed over.

 

Some good news for a change however, is this Playstation Home service. http://www.gamespot.com/news/6166926.html?...newstop;title;6

 

Sounds pretty neat. One last thing...I've got Motorstorm. I actually recommend picking it up! I wasn't a big fan of the demo, but the full game is really fun to play. It's lacking in a lot of areas ie. content. You can't customize your cars, only a handful of tracks, that sort of thing. But it's an original racer, and isn't in the pack with the rehashed Need for Speed crap EA keeps pooping out. It's sort of...the new Jet Moto, or Wipeout. It's pure gameplay, through and through. Pretty fun game.

[Lare Kikkeli]

Console warriors, attack!

Edited March 9, 2007 by Lare Kikkeli

[mkreku]

That was pretty quick:

 

http://www.dailytech.com/IBM+Shrinks+Cell+...article6454.htm

 

I guess Sony are getting pretty desperate in the cost cutting on the Playstation 3. Anyhow, it's good for Sony, good for the consumer and even good for the environment. And in the long run it might even mean a price cut on the console!

[aVENGER]

German review site tests European PS3 backward compatibility: only 1 out of 12 popular games worked!

 

 

Games that currently don't work:

• God of War
  
• MGS 2: Sons of Liberty
  
• MGS 3: Snake Eater
  
• Shadow of the Colossus
  
• Guitar Hero 2
  
• Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones
  
• Okami
  
• GTA: Liberty City Stories
  
• Final Fantasy X-2
  
• Ratchet & Clank 3
  
• Lumines Plus
  

Games that currently work:

• Eragon
  

This is pretty disappointing IMO. And while I'm certain that future firmware updates will ensure greater compatibility, to have some of the most popular PS2 titles unplayable at launch is quite unsettling.

[Meshugger]

Oh well, one just have to wait then.

[Bokishi]

• God of War
  
• MGS 2: Sons of Liberty
  
• MGS 3: Snake Eater
  
• Shadow of the Colossus
  
• Guitar Hero 2
  
• Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones
  
• Okami
  
• GTA: Liberty City Stories
  
• Final Fantasy X-2
  
• Ratchet & Clank 3
  
• Lumines Plus
  

Games that currently work:

• Eragon
  

 

Haha that's pretty bad

[mkreku]

Actually, that test was done with the 1.5 BIOS. It's the 1.6 BIOS that's supposed to bring the backwards compatibility to the PS3, so I am surprised that even one of the games worked!

[TravisPennington]

There's new developments on that list, apparently, as mkreku already pointed out.

 

"1UP contacted Sony about the allegations, who quickly pointed out that, by Cynamite's own self admission, they couldn't be right -- the PS3 they tested was utilizing old firmware. When PS3 becomes available in Europe, so will a 1.6 firmware update updating software emulation. "The article is misleading," said SCEE director of corporate communications Nick Sharples. "As the console tested by Cynamite was not using the latest firmware upgrade, the information posted on its site is meaningless."

 

The German websites PS3 didn't even have the new BC firmware. Of course those games aren't going to work.

 

Source: http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3158019

[karka]

PAL compatibility list has been released. A pretty long list actually.

 

http://faq.eu.playstation.com/bc/bcGames.htm

[karka]

http://kotaku.com/gaming/ps3-launch/austra...ndig-246437.php