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Rumours of Playstation 3 in 2003

aosgood writes "PS3 in 2003? Bloomberg's got a story from some manufactures stating that they are to begin trial runs next month. All I can say is WOW. "Cell" is ready?" I've got my doubts on the veracity of this information - unidentified sources and all. But it does indicate that even if it's not this year, Sony may be rolling the 3 out sooner then previously thought.Update: 03/10 14:50 GMT by H : Yep Sony has begun denying it.

10 of 354 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Playstation Name by ideonode · · Score: 5, Informative

    Whilst there is still some murky legal sniping going on around the PlayStation brand, the story you're thinking of (Sony lose rights to Nintendo and must pay silly amounts of money as royalties) was a hoax.

    Sony will defend the PlayStation brand to the death - I'd say it's more valuable to them than 'Walkman' was in the '80s. Whilst I don't expect to see a PlayStation 3 in 2003, I do expect the natural successor to the PS2 to have the PlayStation moniker, whenever it comes out. Gamers love brands (think Nintendo, Sega, Final Fantasy, Zelda, Tomb Raider).

    But, what will the Third Place be for PS3?

  2. Sony GSCube by SnowDog_2112 · · Score: 4, Informative
    This article, from Wired in May 2001, talks about how Sony was giving developers access to some prototype PS3-style hardware for tinkering/hacking. Granted it was just a bunch of beefed-up PS-1 processors in parallel, but it shows they were already courting developers for the PS3 a year ago.


    Here is a similar story on CNet.


    And, for more on the "cell" technology, check out this Red Herring article from last summer, and this Inquirier.net article that includes a picture from the USPT office.


    Given all that, I'd still be surprised if this was in US stores in time for XMas. I just don't think they'll have enough time to hype it sufficiently. On the other hand, if the tech is really almost done, do they want to wait until XMas 2004? Hrm....

    --
    Not representing or approved by my company or anybody else.
  3. Re:What about games by luzrek · · Score: 2, Informative
    Hmmm... I wonder if the first batch of PS3's really will be produced mid-year and goto game manufacturers rather than consumers. It sure would make one hell of a product anouncement. Hypothetically in mid-June we might read, "Today Sony shipped 3000 Playstation 3's to game producers. M$ cr**ed its pants."

    Whenever the PS3 comes out I sincerely hope that it is backwards compatable with the PS2 (and PS). Perhaps even in the same way the PS2 was backwards compatable with the PS. The entire previous system was produced on a single chip and inserted in the PS2 in addition to the PS2's own circutry (the same chip was the origin of the smaller PS). If Sony anounce that this would be the case with the Playstation 3 I think it would keep current PS2 owners from buying a XBox.

    --

    Galium Arsenide is the material of the future, and always will be.

  4. Sony Denies Report That It Will Release PS3 by akiaki007 · · Score: 4, Informative

    Also picked up on Bloomberg. I don't have a link to the article, but here is the entire article:

    Sony Denies Report That It Will Release PlayStation 3 This Year
    2003-03-09 22:29 (New York)

    Sony Denies Report That It Will Release PlayStation 3 This Year

    Tokyo, March 10 (Bloomberg) -- Sony Corp., the world's
    largest maker of video-game consoles, denied a report in Taiwan's
    Commercial Times newspaper that it will introduce the successor to
    its PlayStation 2 video-game console as earlier as this year.
    ``The report is wrong,'' said Koichiro Katsurayama, a
    spokesman at Tokyo-based Sony Computer Entertainment Inc., Sony's
    games unit. ``The timing of the successor machine to PlayStation 2
    has not been decided.''
    Sony may start selling the PlayStation 3 in Japan as early as
    mid-year and overseas by the end of the year, two years ahead of
    schedule so Sony can widen its lead over rivals Nintendo Co. and
    Microsoft Corp., the Commercial Times said, citing unidentified
    people at Taiwanese parts suppliers.
    Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. of Taiwan, which assembles
    the PlayStation 2 for Sony, and other parts suppliers on the
    island will start trial production next month, the report said.
    Speculation over the timing of Sony's next console comes as
    Kyoto-based Nintendo, the company behind the Mario the plumber
    game character, prepares a new version of its GameCube machine.

    Chip Development

    Tokyo-based Sony, in collaboration with International
    Business Machines Corp. and Toshiba Corp., is developing a new
    processor, called ``Cell,'' which will be capable of handling
    sophisticated graphics and sound over the Internet.
    Sony and Toshiba, Japan's largest chipmaker, plan to use
    ``Cell'' in a range of digital consumer products, including TVs,
    cellular phones and the successor to the PlayStation 2.
    The chip is still in development, Molly Smith, a spokeswoman
    with Sony Computer Entertainment America, said on March 4.
    Sales of the PlayStation 2 console, which debuted in Japan
    three years ago this month, exceeded 50 million units in January.
    Sony released the PlayStation 2 four years after the company
    introduced the original PlayStation console.

    --
    "Time is long and life is short, so begin to live while you still can." -EV
    1. Re:Sony Denies Report That It Will Release PS3 by Sway · · Score: 2, Informative
      --

      Peace. Sway

  5. PSM April Fools joke by gurnb · · Score: 5, Informative

    This was listed as a 'news' article in the APRIL edition of PSM. It also stated that ALL games on the PS3 would be cell shaded, and would even convert 'old' games to cell shade technology. The last line refernced that fact that this was an April Fools Joke.

    Guess the real joke was on Bloomberg News.

    --
    "This must be a Thursday, I never could get the hang of Thursdays."
  6. Re:Hmm... I don't think so by dawdygod · · Score: 2, Informative

    The ps1 is now called PS One. And yes it is still manufactured ( http://www.us.playstation.com/hardware/psone/ )and yes they still are making games for it. And no there is no end in sight for the PS One. And no it doesn't come with an LCD screen. Thats extra.

  7. Re:PS2 looks like crap on High Def TVs. by RyuuzakiTetsuya · · Score: 2, Informative

    It was a 2 year old system(Released in Japan in early 2000, late 1999) when XBox and GC hit the scene, even in Japan the amount of HDTVs on the market didn't warrant strong HD support. NOT ONLY THAT, the GC wasn't designed with HD in mind either. In terms of hardware life time, it's on it's third year, into it's fourth. When PS3 comes out in 2005(I believe the proper projected sony street date), it'll be almost six years old for god's sake.

    Besides, it does support 16x9 output anyway, so blame developers for not taking advantage of this. Konami does 16x9 with Beatmania IIDX, which was DESIGNED for 16x9(Take a look at one of the arcade screens, you'll know what I mean). Polyphony Digital does 16x9 with Gran Turismo 3: ASpec, not only that, it does it damn well.

    Atleast you're not bitching about the quality of games on the ps2 ;)

    --
    Non impediti ratione cogitationus.
  8. Nice Ripoff by oGMo · · Score: 3, Informative
    <plagarized text snipped>

    Nice ripoff there. Next time try not claiming you wrote something many people here have read, and give proper credit where it's due.

    The full content of the article, however, is right on track, and coming from a much more authoritative source. I encourage everyone to click and read the real article; you may want to read the rest of the site when you're done, too, if you haven't. Quite funny.

    --

    Don't think of it as a flame---it's more like an argument that does 3d6 fire damage

  9. Re:I'm not holding my breath. by Theaetetus · · Score: 2, Informative
    More specifically, according to an old story in ZD, and a few others that a Google search turned up, they're currently working on squeezing the entire PS1 AND PS2 chipset onto a single CPU...

    Potentially full backwards compatibility.

    -T