PSX Review At Lik-Sang
bhtooefr writes "Over at Lik-Sang, they've got a review of the new PSX, which was released in Japan on the 13th. In it, they take a look at the new design, debunk some myths (that the new controllers were incompatible, and that the ports are USB 2.0 - they're 1.1), and crack the case open. They didn't like how it's incompatible with some peripherals and the MultiTap doesn't work."
Now everyone's going to be confused and think you're referring to the PSOne when you're actually referring to this, or vice versa.
Rob (Of course, this thing looks like it's going to tank anyway, so maybe it won't be a problem)
Now, if only we can have the portable Playstation which seems to be in development forever, I'd be happy.
They include a DVD burner? Ohhh, now when this baby is modded, you won't even need a computer to back up your games. And the contoller chip seems to be unchanged (from what I can see in this photograph -- can't read the numbers on it, though.). Good news.
If you could be told what you can see or read, then it follows that you could be told what to say or think - BoC
Also due to the orientation of the PSX controller ports, Playstation 2 Multitap units are not compatible therefore ruling out any 4-player action.
Oh, no no no no no, I'm sure Sony will come out with a nice little overpriced device that will let this all happen.
---
Never criticize religion on Slashdot. You will be modded down for "Troll" no matter how factual it is.
From the article it looks like Sony reduced the speed to 12x (although it seemed like it was a software change rather than different hardware; ie, it could be fixed with a firmware update). I assume the dubbing means copying from one dvd to another.
No, it comes with 12x dubbing as the article at Lik-Sang says!
I think it means copying recorded movies off the HDD onto CD.
Doesn't look like a modern device. Looks like a prototype of something. The marketing guys and gals must have been on a time-out. Not that I really care what it looks like, but it doesn't look like Sony to me.
I suppose this isn't supposed to appeal to my mother looking for which console to get me for Christmas, and having no clue which one is better, basing her decision solely on appearance and a pretty box...
What's the point in buying a PS6 when a couple of years afterwards at the most, PS7 will hit the stands?
Karma: It's all a bunch of tree-huggin' hippy crap!
Its missing such obvious features as component video out and mp3 playing! Although the latter is slated for a late upgrade, but even the most rudimentry DVD players have that, I can't imagine why they left it out. And why the incompatibilities with exotic controllers usable with PS2? Just who makes these sorts of decisions - it's so very frustrating. Could have been an amazing machine.
// It had been Fat's delusion for years that he could help people. --Philip K. Dick, Valis
I can see the appeal of this device in Japan, where space is at a premium. In the event that it does come to the US, I have to wonder how successful it will be - how many people want one device that does everything? Sure it's cool and convinient when it works, but do you really want to have one part break and thus lose your DVD player, your console, your PVR, and your DVD burner? Plus, I would tend to think most people geeky enough to want these already have all those devices and would be less than willing to buy them all again.
IMHO, most all in one devices tend to be compromises - they do lots of stuff, but none of them well. After having a TV/VCR that broke on a regular basis and seeing some very difficult to configure all-in-one printer/copier/scanners, I tend to stick with standalone devices.
I have blog like everyone else
What's the point in buying a PS2 when in 72 years afterwards at the most, PS9 will hit the stands?
.mov - have fun with codecs). If anyone can find it in .mpg format, reply ASAP!
BTW, that's a reference to this PS2 commercial (Quicktime
The light colouring and simple lines look nice, not an eyesore at all and makes a change to everything that has to be shiny and in your face.
Regular PS2 systems have a i.link port on the front. So much for using this thing to hold your DV camera video.
I never understood Sony's purpose in putting a DVD drive in their Playstation 2 or a CD-ROM drive in the PS1. Why not just use some proprietary drive like Nintendo did with the Game Cube? I imagine Game Cube piracy isn't that rampant since you probably have no way of making those mini discs. Game piracy of carts was probably non-existent. So again, why not use a proprietary game cartridge/disc?
Because proprietary media costs a lot more, tends to hold less, and is just about as pointless. Didn't you hear about how some pirates got around Nintendo's copy protection using Phantasy Star Online and a broadband adapter?
Rob
Over in the review they said that there is a button that just freezes the game. Did they mean the start button or what? I looked at the pictures of the controllers and I didn't see anything. Can anyone clarify?
Twitter.com/TrentonHyatt
Literally.
I don't know how Sony in its present day, conglomerate form can survive. Not when it has disparate business interests that do not align well. The PSX is Sony's latest shism come to life.
Will it do well?
Who knows.
But I gaurantee there are a lot of people within Sony who pray for its death, notably those in consumer electronics, film and music. There are a lot of people at Matsushita who pray it succeeds.
Sony's recent showing at the Tokyo Consumer Electronics affirms Sony's current standing.
-- You see, there would be these conclusions that you could jump to
... that the XBox was as ugly as they could ever come, Sony hits the jackpot.
this technique isn't really something for them to worry about, since it requires a higher level of skill than simply copying the disc.
PS*
now with the kitchen sink too!
I'm a chainsmokin' alcoholic sociopath, so-ci-o-path
Don't even think about getting one of these until they are released in your region. Things just won't work properly the way the system is made.
The article complains about sites that say that the PSX has USB2.0, saying that instead it is USB1.1. I thought that everything was now USB2.0 and that the difference was High-speed versus Full speed. There was an older slashdot article about it here.
--If you don't test it, it won't work. Guaranteed.
Consumer electronics go through fashions for what is the modern color. Black and silver have come round more than once since the 70s. Wood effect has been occasionally popular. The original iMac made bright transparent colors popular for some devices. Right now, it looks like the new iMac and the iPod is making white the next trendy color.
my comp doesn't have a 50" monitor
http://chrono.posterous.com/
...now that someone has released a loader you can use with little technical knowledge. At the very most, pirating GC is as hard as pirating XBox is with the fonts exploit. And hell, you can't even pirate PS2 without a modchip (which requires either quite a bit of money or a decent amount of skill) or that semi-retarded "load the CD from the top" method.
No, the reason why GC isn't pirated quite as much is because the PSO/BBA exploit was only discovered a few months ago. The XBox fonts exploit has been around for at least a few months longer, and the modchips for both PS2 and XBox have been around for far longer than that. The PSO exploit also isn't quite perfect (since it relies on the BBA to transmit information to the GC) but I figure that will be fixed eventually.
Rob
This is what happens when you rush a product.
Basically everyone is trying to cash in on what they think will be the next big thing, the set-top home entertainment "black box". It does video games, it does DVR, it does MP3, it does WWW, it does DVD, etc... except the biggest problem is that like most multi-function devices the first few generations are going to suck.
XBox2 is supposedly going to match many of these features...
I think the PSX is Sony biting off way more then it can chew... being able to record DVDs and having massive HD's, etc? The hardware cost is going to be gi-normous... at least MS knew that 10GB HD's were going to be super-cheap in the 6-24 (now 6-48) month selling window... 160/250s are still damn pricey.
I don't see many parents willing to buy their kids an $800 video game...
The other side of this (not to start a flame war) is that many of the games on the PS2 simply do not look as good as those on an Xbox. Sony needs to seriously bump their graphics! If this ends up being a "PS2 + DVD Burner" like someone else said it will suck. I know they plan to bump the power, etc, that's a given, but hopefully they will push past Xbox/Xbox2
Also, WTF is up with no 1394 port? It's a DVD recorder that doesn't interface w/ DV camera's to burn movies? Sony even has their "iLink" version of 1394!
and another thing... I didn't see any options for DVI, or component output... unless that D Line Out thing was it...
hopefully they're also planning to offer AC3/DTS via that optical out for most games, because that + HDTV output also put the current gen xbox way ahead of PS2.
There is also something to be said about reasonably pricing these things... even $200 is a bit much for the average parent/kid, top that off w/ games that are $50+/ea and you'll wind up with a much more limited market.
Gameboy Advance is great, TONS of games, most are sub-$40, plays all the old Gameboy & Gameboy Color games, the unit price is an easy to swallow $99... Game Cube is now following suit... I think Nintendo is poised to regain video game domination... After 30 minutes of carnage in GTA:3 on Xbox i want to turn it off, but I'll play Advanced Wars 2 on GBA:SP for hours... and the GC/GBA aisle is the first I hit at best buy...
In japan, every major console released has a line waiting for preorder and a ton of folks waiting to buy the system.
PSX was the only sony console that required no line at all. Virtually any joe schmole could have bought the system on opening day without any wait time. This tells you the PSX is just one unecessary addition.
The whole reason that the MultiTap wont work is because the configuration of the memory card and controller ports on the PSX are different than on the PS2. The MultiTap has a connector for the memory card in a fixed position right above the connector for the controller.
~Tommy Boomfiger http://www.gotapex.com/forums
You == behind the times. The USB forum did away with USB 1.1, and created USB 2.0 full speed (12Mbps) and high speed (480Mbps).
Basically, consumers demanded USB 2.0 devices, so the forum did the cheap thing and rewrote the specs so everything could be USB 2.0.
-- Terry
thats profound.
S-Video out or VGA projector. Take your pick.
We just want pure games. Online being OPTIONAL, not manditory. No hard drives, no DVD player, no Tivo .. None of that. Just let us stick in our carts or minidiscs and PLAY.
Right here.
said that SOny's intent wasn't to atract kids or milk out more ps2 sales before ps3 drops, it was to atract high-end consumers who wanted a sleek DVR/DVD player that just happens to play games. The tone of the articlemade it clear that this ins't for gamers, but movie-philes who would occassionally play games - hence no 4player support at launch and shitty 3rd party controller compatability. It'll sell, modestly, like the P.O.S. nGage.
itadakimasu
"many of the games on PS2 simply do not look as good as those on an Xbox"
You're wrong. Have you seen:
Gran Turismo 3? Early game with very realistic(almost photo-realistic) graphics
WWE: Smackdown Hear Comes The Pain? The successor has AA and good texture/effects(the prior game was really sucky in terms of graphics though)
Grand Theft Auto 3 & Vice City? Grab a helicoptor then fly around -- amazing graphics and how they can draw huge landscapes.
I know this is a minor point, but the color will make it stand out like a sore thumb on most people's shelves. Why not make it black or gray? It would at least match Sony's own line of Wega TV's.
Maybe it their subtle way of getting it noticed:
"What's that big white box on your shelf"
"Oh that's the PSX!"
Yeah, I can make a website too.
If there are 200 of these devices out there, where are they? Why haven't they shown up on eBay? And what about these Super Discs, shouldn't there be at least 200 of those out there as well? What titles were they?
If the original hardware had the capability to play SNES cartridges, why did Sony stop? It's common knowledge that the SNES was the most popular console well into the PlayStation's life (Donkey Kong Country, anyone?), so why didn't Sony continue to leverage this advantage?
With Sega's "me, too!" strategy with the Sega Saturn, why didn't the Saturn play Genesis cartridges in light of what Sony was doing?
Dropping cartridge support and changing optical media sounds like a major hardware overhaul. Why would a company that needed coaxing from Nintendo to begin with to get into the video game hardware industry be willing to make such drastic changes before launch? And why wouldn't the company that made sure to put PlayStation hardware into the PlayStation 2 make sure the newer PlayStations could play these Super Disks?
Why did Sony keep the "PlayStation" name? As a rule you're not supposed to keep the name of old hardware unless it was wildly successful. If 200 of these SNES-compatable PlayStations were out there, why didn't they change names to avoid confusion and compatability issues? Did Sony recall the original consoles? If so, where are the records of the recall?
Why did Nintendo let Sony make so many Super Famicom clones? Sure, you saw licence games on CD-I, but you sure as hell didn't see Nintendo allowing Philips to make ports of SFC games. Why did they allow Sony to go even one step beyond that, playing SFC games outright?
If Nintendo didn't let Sony do this, why hasn't Nintendo sued Sony back to the stone age? This would obviously be a violation of Nintendo's intellectual property rights. And to avoid future lawsuits, not only would Sony's newer PlayStation models have absolutely no hardware in common with the original SFC clone, but they would drop the "PlayStation" name as well, making sure future customers don't associate Sony's product with their previous violation of IP.
Why would a device originally intended to connect to a Super Famicom have the ability to play Super Famicom cartridges? Isn't that a bit redundant and a waste of precious volume in the case? Why would Sony make hardware with no SFC hardware (and no use for it), then put the hardware in, manufacture 200 of them, and then take the SFC hardware back out again?
If these machines were actually produced, why were Seiken Densetsu 2 & 3 still produced on carts?
"Go fish... maybe youll find a few... "
I did. The only mention of such devices Google has turned up were essentially carbon copies of the link provided.
"What the hell is your problem anyway????"
A statement was made. I questioned the validity. I have yet to see anything to back up the claim other than "my uncle's brother's nephew's cousin's former roommate heard of one once."
"you keep on ranting and raving about how certein things are not true but you cannot produce one letter of useful info."
I'm supposed to prove a negative?
"> why didn't Sony continue to leverage this advantage?"
"Why the hell should Sony???"
To make more money, perhaps? To get a leg up on the competition? To use Nintendo's own library against them? It's what corporations do.
"No it does not need 'serious changes'... so what??? youre a console hardware expert all of a sudden????"
The PlayStation and the SNES do not share common hardware. The PlayStation cannot play SNES games without resorting to software emulation (something that the EMU community still hasn't been able to do, if it's even possible.) A console that plays both PSX discs and SNES cartridges would have to literally have both consoles in one case, and at the time that would result in a console possibly larger than even the Xbox (this is before even the SFC Jr, don't forget). This is also why the SNES did not play NES games (devices available on the web that claim they do are simply Famicom clones that get power from the SNES and pass through the a/v feed, much like the GBA player for GCN).
"Remeber that Nintendo did the same thing a few years later with the N64 => they designed a magnetic expansion drive for that console"
Apples/oranges. The 64DD is an add-on. The device described is a PSX and an SNES in one. The claim is that Sony started with an add-on, threw in SNES hardware, produced said device, and then removed the SNES hardware again. Nobody ever produced an N64/64DD all-in-one box.
"So what??? you are making the product naming rules now O Highly exaulted one..."
It's called "market forces." Confusing customers is bad for business. Sony calling two mutually exclusive pieces of hardware on the market "PlayStation" would be like them calling their current VHS VCR line "Betamax." And it flies in the face of Sony's current trend of trying to makes "PlayStation" more a consumer electronics brand name than a piece of hardware (making home a/v components that also happen to play PlayStation software).
"Why didnt the N64 DD drive get into rotation???"
It did. Games were made for it. They're uncommon but can generally be found on eBay and most import shops.
If there was an SNES device that played CDs, Seiken Densetsu 2 (and probably 3) would have been published on CD. As it was, Squaresoft held off publishing Seiken Densetsu 2 as long as it could until it became clear that there would be no such device. Large parts of the game were then cut to fit it into a cartridge. Looking at Squaresoft's track record with Bandai, no matter how unpopular an SNES CD might have been, if it were produced, Squaresoft would have published for it.
BTW, why couldn't the SNES play a NES game without having two consoles in one? The SNES uses a 65C816 by Western Design Center. It is code-compatible with the WDC 65c02, which is code- and pin-compatible with the MOS/Synertek/others 6502. The NES uses a 6502.
They didn't make a PSX+SNES. They made a SNES that could play exactly 0 CD games, as no SNES CD games were released.
AFAIK, they MADE 200 of the Play Station, not sold. They could have been scrapped.
it's pretty fucking obvious that they were never sold to consumers(the 200 being some test batch or another, or devkits). there's shitloads of more exotic console stuff on aftermarkets though if you're willing to fish for it (collectibles). - sony and nintendo were in bed.. and that's where playstation got spawned from, it's not a big secret(there were lawsuits to boot as well).. if you can't believe that then how can you believe that the sun really is hot.
world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
Are you saying that I could wire up my old NES carts into my SNES system, and it should work?
Anyhow, wouldn't Nintendo have sued Sony if they had left the SNES cartridge port on there? Isn't that what NEC did to Sega originally with the HuCard thing?
Theoretically, with some code between the NES cart and the SNES to translate code optimized for the NES graphics and sound subsystems to the SNES counterparts, and to translate controller signals, it would be very possible.
Also, I think the Play Station was one of the few licensed Super Famiclones, as Sony was going to make the Super Disc, which Nintendo scrapped because they saw what happened with the Sega CD.