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Playstation 3 In the Works
Kredal writes "The Independent is running a story about Sony's work on a new console, being built around online games, such as Everquest Adventures and Final Fantasy 11. No word on backwards compatability, but expect it to be the X-Box killer if it is."
FF11 already has me lusting.
Only 6 more versions 'till the PS9 with inhalable spores that make you hallucinate the game!
Tim
why can't people play on the systems that are out already and get on with their gaming lives.
... yeah, in about 2 years! What are you going to do until then, keep playing your N64?
Speculation like this killed the Dreamcast. Oh.. the PS2's gonna be sooo good.
Then you get lame kiddies saying stuff like "I don't want an Xbox. I'm getting a PS3, it will wipe the floor with the Xshite"
Eventually people nned to buy a current system. The best time to do so is now. Once a console has been released and then discounted (to rip off the earlier adopters) it's worth buying.
I rate the Xbox as better than the PS2, but not enough software is out there yet. People are still going nuts for MGS2 on the PS2, but it takes like a day to finish it on your first time out.
Buy an Xbox/PS2 and be done with it.
The news of the PS3 is cool, but christ, don't wait for it!
It darn well better be backwards compatible, or they'll piss off a lot of developers. And the majority of the world that doesn't have broadband . . .
...companies around the world work on new products, and many focused on the same market as previous products. More news on this odd occurance as we get more.
But seriosuly, if noone expected Sony to do anything to move to the PS3 some day, they don't understand buisness much. And online is the future by what everyone is saying, so makes sense.
With more and more gamers playing consoles, expect some expectations of faster upgrades and such to start occuring.
I sure hope that Sony continues to make systems that are backwards compatable. I think that really gave Sony a major edge over the Nintendo Game Cube. Games are really expensive and it's nice to be able to continue playing the games on newer systems. Otherwise you either don't play the older games anymore or you have several systems connected in a giant mess to your TV. It might prevent Sony from using media that has more data on it, but I think they would be more successful keeping with a backwards compatable system.
FoonDog
I hope it works better than the PS/2 Linux kit I just got and have to RMA back to Sony. ;-)
My tongue-in-cheek experiences are available her for your reading enjoyment.
I've heard people say that, "not many people have broadband." However, the people buying these systems most often do. I suspect that the percentage of Xbox owners with broadband is much higher than average.
Also, the issue of backward compatability? It's cool, but if you're going to make a new gaming system, don't worry about the old stuff. If the gaming world has taught people anything it's, "don't worry, I'll buy anything just to play that." How many people have bought new graphics cards because of ONE game?
Sure, a developer would love to see their PS2 games run on the PS?, but would they rather do more with their new titles? You betcha. Game developers love their work, and seeing it fully realized is a better feeling than knowing that it is more compatable, but you had to sacrifice the vision of the game. Remember, we're not making a word processor here.
Cheers.
- Sighuh?
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During the release of the Playstation 2, Sony badass Ken Kutaragi announced that the Playstation 3 would be released in 2005. If you want to get the details, check out these google results.
I have been caught completely off guard by similar reports on slashdot in the past. Apparently, Apple is planning a G5 processor (as if the G4 weren't fast enough!), Microsoft is supposedly working on an operating system to replace XP, and the 2.5 branch will not be the last iteration of the Linux kernel.
Karma: Good (despite my invention of the Karma: sig)
Also maybe Sony should take their time and develope a quality console that will meet the needs of the gaming public, even if it takes a few extra months to a year. They have already demonstrated their market dominence over the superior (hardware wise) machines of their competition. Points to consider, make it easier to program, anti-aliasing (!!!), ditch the 2 controller model (multi taps suck, four controller ports on board is great), for that matter peripherals on a console suck.
I look forward to the PS3, but please, take you time and give me something remotely worth the ammount money I am going to have to drop on this thing (and the ammount of time I am going to have to spend in line to get the damn thing on launch day)...
Note to self: No more arguing with the faithful.
More interesting is the news today that Sony and Real have announced a tie-up. They'd already announced an alliance to use Real software in the PS2 - this is a further development, with Sony buying a stake in Real with the aim of using its software in other consumer devices.
Real has put out a press release here, which says: "Sony plans to adopt these combined digital distribution solutions in a variety of networked CE products such as Sony's networked audio products and Sony Computer Entertainment's PlayStation2 computer entertainment system."
The Wall Street Journal notes that the deal brings together two Microsoft rivals - the WSJ story requires $$$+registration, but the basics are:
The companies didn't announce specific product agreements, but said their research and development groups will regularly collaborate on developing new technologies. Sony said it would adopt RealNetworks' media technologies broadly in a variety of consumer electronics devices with network connections to personal computers and the Internet, and RealNetworks will consider using a Sony antipiracy format in its software.
While the financial side of the deal is small and RealNetworks is in no immediate need of cash, the investment gives Sony at least a symbolic stake in the future of RealNetworks. RealNetworks competes fiercely with Microsoft in the market for Internet audio and video software, and it has joined other companies in accusing Microsoft of anticompetitive practices that threaten their businesses. Sony and Microsoft, meanwhile, became archcompetitors in the videogame market with Microsoft's introduction late last year of the Xbox, a heavily promoted rival to Sony's market-leading PlayStation 2.
Dave Fester, a Microsoft general manager, said the alliance with Sony wouldn't affect the appeal of Microsoft's own media software to electronics companies, but adding that it could "drive a wedge between Real and other consumer electronics manufacturers."
Heh. Microsoft pulls this stunt all the time, except doing it against their competitors. Remember all the hype about waiting for the Xbox as it would clean the PS2's clock? How many fewer PS2s do you think Sony sold as a result of this? Sony is just using MSFT's playbook against them. And I say "go for it". But then again, I still have my original PS and have little intention to upgrade. Unless GTA3 doesn't come out for the PC soon *grumble*.
Yeah, because heaven knows that stuff like this _never_ happens in the computer biz...
I mean, what if oh, say -- Microsoft announced it was upgrading the 16-bit GUI on top of it's operating system with amazing features and a wonderful new interface... and hyped it so much that people thought they needed to buy it for their toasters... that wouldn't hurt a rival (better) operating system for the year or two it took them to ship something, now would it?
Nah... never happen...
So in other words, make a cheap computer that you can use as a set-top box?? The beauty behind the consoles, is that they work. Developers don't need to worry about system specs. They can design a game, and everybody with the playcubebox, can play it. No questions asked. If Sony puts slots for extra RAM, or whatever, developers are just going to turn the market into the mess that is the PC games market.
I think consoles are so sucessful because they are simple. Users don't need to worry about how much RAM they have, or how big their hard drive is. Plug in the game and it works.
Nintendo is still around because they realized that people buy the games. While Sony was out hyping the graphics power of the PS2, Nintendo was showing off the games. Games are how systems make money. Either by selling tons, and generating licence money, or by being great, and forcing people to buy the system to play it.
I should also add that NO add on for consoles has ever been sucessful. Why should Sony waste resources to cater to a very small percentage of the people that would buy it?(blah blah blah, Linux kit. I know about the linux kit. However, its what? $400?? that brings the cost of a PS2 and the linux kit to $700! that's just silly. For $700 I could have a full PC with a TV card to hook up.)
11 was a racehorse
12 was 12
1111 Race
12112
No word on backwards compatability, but expect it to be the Playstation 3 killer if it is.
(Of course it will be compatible - the Xbox is basically a PC.)
Remember how ridiculously overhyped PS2 was?
I expect the same with PS3. But why does it have to start now??
As for me, I don't own a console. The only reason I'd get one would be the games, not the technical superiority of a particular console when compared to another or when compared to PCs (which is simply not happenning anyway).
For example, there are no fighting games on the PC (Virtua Fighter, Dead or Alive, Soul Calibur etc.).
But that's about it - I couldn't care less for the RPGs and the racing sims are comparable to what I get on the PC.
The FPS genre is pretty much nonexistent on the consoles (it may be starting to change).
Maybe I just don't get the console culture.
-jfedor
now what the hell am I going to say to get this sucker!!!!
Just buy it. Trust me, it's easier to get forgiveness than permission.
The speed of time is one second per second.
They key to competing with Microsoft will be to continue concentrating on the game performance while allowing enough expandability for the user to add on features to make the PS3 compete with full fledged home computers. I'm sure the final design of the PS3 is going to have a hard drive, a decent amount of RAM, and an Ethernet port.
Any semblance to a PC is a prime reason for me NOT to buy a console. I hate PC gaming, and have hated it since the games went to hardware 3d. I've spent more time chasing bugs in drivers that create odd artifacts in games (or lock the whole machine) than I have actually playing games in the last few years. Anything that will allow console game developers to get away with the stupid 'wait for the next patch' crap is a step in the wrong direction.
The best way to accelerate a windows box is at 9.8 meters per second square.
Easy, pile up her shoes, add the price of them up, show that it's more than a Ps2, PS3, and PS4 combined. ;0
I'm the big fish in the big pond bitch.
How much will MS have to spend to develop the XBox2? Well, let's see...
You seem to suggest that Microsoft won't have to spend much to develop the next XBox, because they can just use off-the-shelf PC components. I'm afraid if they take that approach then they really will be a failure.
Using off the shelf components to create Personal Computers has been the norm up until now. But the domestic product market is different. Firstly, in this kind of business it is really important to keep the cost per unit down as low as possible. Really really low. You're talking about selling tens of millions of units, which are all identical. That often means custom built chips and boards. Secondly, how the unit itself looks is really important. This is something that Microsoft has yet to learn. It may not be a deciding factor in the US if a domestic product is big and ugly, but it is in the rest of the world, and it certainly is in Japan. Finally, system stablity is really important with domestic products. PC users are used to the things screwing up, but domestic users aren't. Microsoft has already discovered the expense of trivial problems with domestic products with CDs being scratched. I'm sure Microsoft aren't used to people returning their products to stores and demanding refunds. With domestic goods, that happens, and it's extremely costly.
So if Microsoft doesn't heavily invest in developing XBox2 then they won't be in the consumer appliance market very long. Different rules apply there.
Do you know who the world's largest consumer electronics maker is? Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Sony are second to them (although rapidly catching up). And my point is? The consumer electronics market is different to the software market. Substantially different. And the XBox is a consumer electronics product. Microsoft has entered a whole different arena than where they are used to playing. They have already made some serious mistakes with the XBox, and don't seem to understand the consumer electronics market when they declare things like the next version of the XBox will be the centre of entertainment in a home. The big electronics manufacturers learnt long ago that combining different functions into a single consumer product (e.g. TV with integrated DVD, combined TV and Hi-fi) isn't as sensible an idea as it sounds.
I'm not saying that Microsoft won't make it. They might. But their solid track record in the software world isn't going the help them much in this battle.
Supposedly we'll see a significant price drop in the US PS2 after E3 at the end of May. This is still just a rumor, but it seems plausible. I would wait to see.
PS2 has enough good games out now to justify buying one, and more are on the way. Plus there are many games available used. That makes it a wise buy.
Wait for PS3? Why not wait for PS4 while you're at it? IMHO, it's better to wait until after the first price cut for a console, then jump on board.
Jon Acheson
All opinions expressed herein are my own, and not those of my employers, who are appalled.
A pentagon implies a 2 dimensional shape.
It is a GameCube, not a GameSquare, thus GamePentagon would not be the natural progression.
Honestly, my vote would be for GameSphere. Boxy shapes are so 2001... or so 2002 for you Europeans who are always a year behind the times.
-gerbik