PS3 General Discussion

[slackbladder]

Interestingly a Blu-Ray Association spokesman denied any problems with the copy protection technology. Reuters
Though it's not a given that a November release is true tha fact a paper has given a date and that Sony shares were affected are possible signs that yes, November it is.
Also I wonder if the recent Immersion case ruling has any bearing? Probably not...www.vnunet.com

As it's nearly 6 am GMT here in the UK perhaps I'll get word of any announcements from the interweb?

 

[Solid Lifters]

I don't think there's anything wrong with AACS, but what to use of it to make BD managed copy protection, which they promised they'd use.

They still haven't said anything how they're going to implement copy protection of any kind.

EDIT:

Another Official Report PS3 Delay

Weeks of rumors verified as electronics giant confirms that its next-gen unit will miss original spring 2006 launch window.
TOKYO--Today at the 2006 PlayStation Business Briefing in Tokyo, Sony Computer Entertainment president Ken Kutagari made it official--the PlayStation 3 has been delayed. The news confirmed widely circulated Japanese newspaper reports, which said that the delay was due to copyright-protection problems with the next-generation console's Blu-ray drive.

Kutaragi told the crowd at the event that the PS3 would now launch in November 2006 worldwide. That dispelled fears that the console would make it to Japan in time by the fall, but would miss the all-important holiday shopping season in the US and Europe. In fact, Kutaragi explicitly told the crowd of game retailers and journalists present that the PS3 would arrive before Thanksgiving in all territories.

While the simultaneous tri-territory PS3 scheme may sound much like Microsoft's international launch of the Xbox 360, Sony plans to avoid the shortages that befell its competitor. Kutaragi said that the company plans on producing at least one million units of the console each month in order to keep the supply channel full.

Last month, a Merrill Lynch report predicted a six- to 12-month delay for the PS3. Earlier this month, a note from Friedman Billings Ramsey said that the system may not come out in the US until 2007. The Merrill Lynch report cited the company's decision to go with new technologies in the Cell processor and its Blu-ray drive as main reasons for the delay, with heat issues and a lack of software that would be ready for a spring launch sealing the deal. The FBR note didn't cite a reason, but readers could infer it from its sources: supply chain data combined with news from the firm's semiconductor research team

 

[slackbladder]

Offical news. PS3 delayed until November for a worldwide launch.
www.gamespot.com

 

[Sprite]

Well here is all the jucy info from todays Tokyo confrence.

Ken Kutaragi started off his speech by saying “It is my aim, to clear things up about the PlayStation 3 today. The PS2, the PS3, the network, and Future Cell Network will all be addressed.”

By the end he had cleared up multiple tidbits of the PlayStation 3, but many vital details of the console were left for speculation.

No firm price for the console was set. Widespread speculation has set a price of 50000 Yen (~424 USD) for the console, which would support a 399 USD price tag. However, this is still speculation, and not from the horse’s mouth.

Nothing about any software launch titles was released. While the atmosphere and title of the event imply the speech was about the business or “hardware” aspect of the system, leaving out what the system actually runs certainly leaves a large whole in the big picture. It is propertied E3 2006 coming up in May will fill in this gap.

Details of the online infrastructure and role of the hard drive in the PlayStation 3 were also revealed. However, these details were quite vague, as Kutaragi’s comments about the 60gb hard drive Sony plans to sell and Sony’s encouragement of developers to design their games assuming the HDD is present all point to it being standard. The jist of talk about online was minimal, although it seems that many features from current online gaming will be incorporated, such as messengers, and free online gaming to an extent.

The PlayStation Business Briefing revealed much more than anyone could have possibly imagined, yet also left a multitude of questions for potential buyers to ponder until E3 and the November world-wide launch. As always, with time comes more answers.

Sony will be doing a worldwide launch in November 2006. This includes the US, Japan, and Europe. In addition, they aim to release 6 Million units by 12/31/2006 and aim to release 2 Million units per month starting in January 2007. And that Japan will be receiving their initial PS3 shipments in the first 10 days of November 2006. No further word on US or Europe. The 6 Million units was in relation to their 2006 Fiscal Year which ends on March 31st 2007.

Sony announced that the PS3 will require a 60gb HDD. In addition, they will be offering larger Hard Drives that users can upgrade to. The Hard Drives will come pre-loaded with a version of the LinuxOS. It is unclear if it is a custom version or existing distrobution. The 60gb HDD will be standard in all PS3 systems. It is unclear what it can be used for, but early reports point to downloadable games like Xbox Live Arcade, Music, Video, and LinuxOS. It is unclear whether they will allow users to save games to the HDD.

Kutaragi made it official when he announced the addition of the cutting edge HDMI technology. Improvements over older HMDI are numerous:

*

Higher speed: Though HDMI has more than twice the bandwidth needed to support all HDTV formats, HDMI will increase its single-link bandwidth to support the demands of future HD display devices, such as higher resolutions, deep color and high frame rates.
*

Deep color: HDMI will support 30-bit, 36-bit and 48-bit color depths for stunning rendering of over one billion colors in unprecedented detail.
*

Greater PC/CE convergence: HDMI will be enhanced for easier integration into low voltage, AC-coupled PC graphics controllers, cementing HDMI’s position as the de facto standard digital multimedia interface enabling true convergence across PC and CE platforms. The HDMI Founders also support compatibility between HDMI and the Unified Display Interface (UDI), the HDMI-compatible digital video interface for PC displays announced recently by a group of leading PC technology makers.
*

New mini connector: With small portable devices such as HD camcorders and still cameras demanding seamless HDTV connectivity, HDMI will offer a new, smaller form-factor connector option. Since HDMI offers the highest quality digital audio and video on a single connection, such devices will be also benefit from a reduced connector count.
*

Lip Sync: CE devices are employing increasingly complex digital signal processing of high-resolution video and audio formats to enhance the clarity and detail of the content. As a result, synchronization of video and audio in user devices has become a greater challenge and could potentially require complex end-user adjustments. HDMI will incorporate features to enable this synchronization to be done automatically by the devices with greater accuracy.
*

New compressed audio formats: In addition to HDMI’s current ability to support high-bandwidth uncompressed digital audio and all currently-available compressed formats (such as Dolby Digital and DTS), HDMI will add additional support for new compressed digital audio formats Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD.

Sony announced that they missed their original target date of shipping Final PS3 development kits in January of 2006. They will now be shipping in June 2006.

Sony has revealed that the “basic” PS3 online service will be free. This service will include a marketplace similar to Xbox Live where you can download games, a lobby, and voice chat at a minimum.

At the Sony Business Briefing, Ken Kutaragi confirmed that not only will the PlayStation 3 be backwards compatible with all previous PlayStation games, but that they will be in high definition, similar to what Microsoft’s 360 is offering with their backwards compatibility, bringing new life to older games.

Sony has revealed the reason behind the PS3 delays. It is due to the Blu-Ray copy protection system not being finalized. In other words, DRM has caused the PS3 delay.

On the bright side, this is the likely reason why we will see 6 Million PS3’s this year, Four times the Xbox360’s that Microsoft shipped in 2005 at their WorldWide launch

Kutaragi announes that the PS3 is “Live” and that it will do 4D gaming.

Now that an official release timeframe has been announced for the PS3 for the US, we have learned that US based Gamestop and EBGames retailers plan to start taking pre-orders over the next 2 days. Individual District Mangers will have to decide whether they want to start pre-orders immediately or after some additional planning for a couple of days. Do not fret if you cannot reserver immediately tomorrow.

Sony has announced that all PS3 titles will be required to release on Blu-Ray discs in order to assist in their anti-piracy initiatives.

This will not negatively impact DVD Movie playback or Backwards compatability.

This will undoubtably result in higher costs for game disc production for the first year or two but should help hold off the rampant piracy that has occured on the PS2 and PS1.

All info from ps3portal

 

[livemusic]

Nice info, guys! That cleared up some issues about the PS3, like the HDD feature and online gaming. And a worldwide November launch sounds pretty nice, maybe I'll try to buy one still in 2006. 👍

 

[Sprite]

Yes the HDD is very good news indeed. I cant wait sod the Xflop im sticking with PS3 even if it get delayed, at least they are spending the given time to get stuff ready and there wont be a shortage 6 million PS3 :|

 

[livemusic]

I've just read this on IGN though:

Earlier, we mistakenly reported that Sony would including the hard disk with the PS3 right out of the box. Kutaragi actually stopped short of confirming this, leaving it as an area of speculation for now. He did state that Sony hopes to avoid a situation where some systems have the drive and others don't (Kutaragi didn't mention Xbox 360, but he was probably thinking it).

Hmm...

 

[Dave A]

If they want to avoid that they'll have to bundle one in with the PS3 then. Not saying they will bundle one in, but that's the only way to avoid that situation. They're probably looking for feedback on the specualton before deciding if they'll have a HDD in the box or not, waiting to see what the potential consumers read into it.

 

[Niels]

Man I'm soo worried about the price tag man...

 

[Sprite]

Yeh Ive herd roumers too that the ps3 could either have a HDD or not, but im sure they will bundle one in, or maybe they will go the rout of Xflop and have two verions of the system. according to speculation it will be a laptop HDD and not a full size desktop HDD so the price will be a little higher than a normal HDD.

Man I'm soo worried about the price tag man...

Im not even if its £500 it will still sell like hot cakes, but i recon that it will be £400 the roumerd price which was all but confirmed today is at $425 so the $400 price is about correct.

ohh yeh forgot, all the doubters who said Sony were going to stick with HDMI 1.0 were wrong it will feature HDMI 1.5 which can support frmaerates upto 120FPS

 

[Golden eagle]

I have just heard that thew PS3 won't be out till november and that it was supposed to be here spring

 

[Sprite]

I have just heard that thew PS3 won't be out till november and that it was supposed to be here spring

lol yeh big blow!! haha dont worry Im in England and rumours before today was pointing at a spring 2007 launch here so for all us European folks we have just had the wait time shortend.

I think that a spring launch anyway was a bit optamistic.

 

[Golden eagle]

lol yeh big blow!! haha dont worry Im in England and rumours before today was pointing at a spring 2007 launch here so for all us European folks we have just had the wait time shortend.

I think that a spring launch anyway was a bit optamistic.

i am in England aswell on the isle of wight and i was looking forward to getting it coz of GT5 and to see how good the graphics are and i agree its a big blow

 

[Golden eagle]

at leats it has been shortened

 

[Zardoz]

Yep, it's official:


New DVD Technology Delays Sony PlayStation 3 Release

From Associated Press
9:06 AM PST, March 15, 2006


TOKYO -- Sony will put off the release of its much awaited PlayStation 3 console until November from its planned spring debut because more work is needed on its next-generation DVD technology, the company said today.

Ken Kutaragi, the head Sony's video games division, made the announcement at a hastily called news conference after reports of the delay surfaced in the business daily Nihon Keizai Shimbun and other papers.

 

[joseph dobson]

does this mean that i can buy Driver Parrarllel Lines ans still have time to save uo in time for November or spring? lol

 

[Tenacious D]

If developers are to assume that a hard drive will be included, it's going to be there in one form or other. We'll have a lot to look forward to at E3, that's for sure! May can't come fast enough.

 

[Dave A]

Im not even if its £500 it will still sell like hot cakes, but i recon that it will be £400 the roumerd price which was all but confirmed today is at $425 so the $400 price is about correct.

Which do you mean, dollars or pounds, because $425 is way, way less than £400. If the Japanese price equals around $400, the US version will be $399 and the UK version will be £299. Buit we still don't know what the price will be, the $425 figure is speculation.

 

[Sprite]

Which do you mean, dollars or pounds, because $425 is way, way less than £400. If the Japanese price equals around $400, the US version will be $399 and the UK version will be £299. Buit we still don't know what the price will be, the $425 figure is speculation.

well they never do pound for pound money price transfer. If the PS3 is $400 it will most likly be £400 & €400

 

[Swift]

It's probably going to be on par with the xbox 360. Meaning 500$ for the system and all you need to play the games.

Of course, I find it strange that Sony is telling developers to build games to use the hard drive but the hard drive isn't included with every PS3. Or at least it hasn't been announced. That just doesn't make much sense to me.

 

[Dave A]

well they never do pound for pound money price transfer. If the PS3 is $400 it will most likly be £400 & €400

No, it won't, that's almost double what the US would be paying. £300 is still more than $400, quite a bit more. The PS2 sold in the US for $399, it sold in the UK for £299, same goes for the XB 260 premium package. If it's $400 in the US it will not be £400 in the UK, which is around $700.

 

[Solid Lifters]

It's probably going to be on par with the xbox 360. Meaning 500$ for the system and all you need to play the games.

Of course, I find it strange that Sony is telling developers to build games to use the hard drive but the hard drive isn't included with every PS3. Or at least it hasn't been announced. That just doesn't make much sense to me.

I thinkg people got it correct when they said the HDD will be included with the PS3. Like you said, if they told the developers to build games with use of the HDD, then there should be one in there from the start. Because, if it's just another add-on, no game developer would design a game that would use it. Not that many people ever buy add-ons.

 

[slackbladder]

The price is obviously still up in the air. Perhaps Sony will be able to reduce the cost of components by November.
If there's a 60GB HDD included I'd expect the price to be £400, possibly £450. Without it £300 or so. But it's all guess work.

Still, it's only 8 months and I have to find £400+ by then (console + games + Blu-Ray films etc). I would'nt mind if the PS3 arrives a little later!
Actually, I would....

 

[Sprite]

No, it won't, that's almost double what the US would be paying. £300 is still more than $400, quite a bit more. The PS2 sold in the US for $399, it sold in the UK for £299, same goes for the XB 260 premium package. If it's $400 in the US it will not be £400 in the UK, which is around $700.

well i was just speculating, im not Ken Kutaragi. I hope it is cheaper than £400 but im still scepticle, maybe a price will be set in stone soon with Phil Harrisons keynote at the Game Developer's Conference in San Jose.

 

[tha_con]

No, it won't, that's almost double what the US would be paying. £300 is still more than $400, quite a bit more. The PS2 sold in the US for $399, it sold in the UK for £299, same goes for the XB 260 premium package. If it's $400 in the US it will not be £400 in the UK, which is around $700.

PS2 sold for $299 in the US, not $399.

 

[a6m5]

Sounds like late November in the U.S.? Man, I hate shopping during the Christmas (shopping) season. I usually don't even go near the malls.

 

[code_kev]

Honestly, it makes sense for it to be released around Christmas, as alot more would sell around then.

If it's $400 in the US it will not be £400 in the UK, which is around $700.

I wouldn't put it past em.

 

[slackbladder]

I always thought a Christmas launch (well "holiday" season launch) is only relevant if there are enough consoles to fulfill demand. The 360 sold out on its launch partly to do with the date but mainly to do with low number of stock. I'd have thought the PS3 would sell in the middle of the Summer. There'd certainly be enough early adopters and hardcore gamers willing to buy it. Still, some people can only justify a luxury purchase at Christmas. And of course it may generate hype. But really, does the PS3 need anymore?

 

[livemusic]

Sounds like late November in the U.S.? Man, I hate shopping during the Christmas (shopping) season. I usually don't even go near the malls.

Thank God we have the internet.

 

[slackbladder]

I know there's a Game Developers Conference next week with Sony where some other nuggets may be mined. But I'm thinking E3 this year will be when the PS3 should be properly shown off. At least it ought to. If there's no machine on display with playable content there'll be a lot of shaking of heads and tutting and a lot of disappointed people. There is the Tokyo Game Show later in the year but E3 is where Sony really should get all hairy chested and macho, figuratively speaking of course! Just imagine Kutaragi struting his stuff like Mick Jagger on anabolic steroids! Ewww..
But that's what Sony could do with the PS3. Take some of the fire out of Microsofts Xbox 360. Wait and see I guess.