E3 - Sony Drops PS2 To $149, Shows PSP, Hints At PS3

JSDopefish writes "Not much of a surprise, but Sony announced today at their E3 press conference that they're lowering the price of the PlayStation 2 console to $149, including the network adapter. That matches the already in-place $149 price of the Xbox system. The GameCube remains at $99." Elsewhere, jasoncart writes "Sony has just unveiled their Playstation Portable specs to the enthralled masses at their pre-E3 conference in LA. The result is the first photographs of the new device (alt. link), confirmation of the impressive specifications (Wi-Fi ahoy!) and hints on the games we'll be playing on the PSP, including 'clips of Gran Turismo... Wipeout [and] Metal Gear Solid'." 1UP also discusses mentions of the PlayStation 3 in the press conference, including "some rather grand predictions for the future of Sony's game console efforts."

Comments

Re:Yea, but does the PS2 run Linux?

[stratjakt]

Yep

But it'll cost you a few hundred bucks, and its severely crippled.

Re:Yea, but does the PS2 run Linux?

[alonso]

yes, of course!

Re:poor microsoft

[Anonymous Coward]

Pretty soon? They were selling it at a loss on launch day, it's just been getting worse since then.

This will sell like acid at Woodstock . . .

[dgrgich]

I'm going to be in line on day one. It almost makes you feel sorry for Nintendo with that dual-screen monstrousity of theirs.

Re:This will sell like acid at Woodstock . . .

[bludstone]

I wouldnt be so quick to judge.

This will be an interesting competition. MANY technologically superior handhelds have gone up against nintendo, only to be defeated soundly.

Also realize that, if properly utilized, this touch screen could adapt the handheld to any control scheme necessary. Heck, Maybe in the future all controllers will be touch screen, and the button configurations will depend on the game programmers themselves.

We shall see.

Now. Gimme some ubisoft news. (play "beyong good and evil.)

Re:This will sell like acid at Woodstock . . .

[NanoGator]

"I'm going to be in line on day one. It almost makes you feel sorry for Nintendo with that dual-screen monstrousity of theirs. "

Monstrosity? Sorry, I don't feel sorry for Nintendo here. The system has wireless capability built in. This means both head to head play AND net play. It's got the touch screen interface like a Palm Pilot, that means you can play multiplayer + chat. Forget doing that on the PSP. It plays GBA games. Sorry, no backwards compatiblity for PSP. It has a built-in microphone. Sorry Sony, no voice recognition for you. Undoubtedly, the Nintendo system will be a lot cheaper than the PSP as well.

Who should feel sorry for who?

Re:This will sell like acid at Woodstock . . .

[cens0r]

Just out of curiousity, what would the PSP be backwards compatible with? You don't expect to put your PS2 or PS1 discs in a portable do you?

Re:This will sell like acid at Woodstock . . .

[Anonymous Coward]

Yes, I expect an application for my PC that allows me to read in an old PS1 disk and write it to a memory stick that I can toss in my PSP.

Too hard? Too bad. If you want to get ahead you have to be creative.

Re:This will sell like acid at Woodstock . . .

[NanoGator]

"Just out of curiousity, what would the PSP be backwards compatible with? You don't expect to put your PS2 or PS1 discs in a portable do you? "

What's it matter? No matter what I say, it still boils down to having a very small library compared to what the DS will have. I'm not normally pro-backwards compatibility. In this particular case, GBA games are still being made by the truck load. Very exciting.

Re:This will sell like acid at Woodstock . . .

[CanSpice]

Uh. Just what is the PSP supposed to be backwards compatible with? The PS2? PSX? I don't know about you, but I haven't seen any PSX or PS2 games that come on those mini-CDs the PSP is going to be using.

Re:This will sell like acid at Woodstock . . .

[MoonBuggy]

Maybe in the future all controllers will be touch screen

Ugh, I hope not. No analog sensitivity, no tactile feel and no raised buttons. It'd be an absolute nightmare - imagine the simple on/off of a PC keyboard compared to the 2cm travel of an Xbox pad shoulder button. Imagine having to look down at the controls rather than just feel a large, well placed button like on a Cube pad. No thanks.

Re:This will sell like acid at Woodstock . . .

[nomadic]

Just out of curiousity, what would the PSP be backwards compatible with? You don't expect to put your PS2 or PS1 discs in a portable do you?

Even if the discs wouldn't fit backward compatibility would still mean a huge software library for the PSP. Every PS developer could easily copy over their games to whatever media the PSP uses. It would be a hell of a lot cheaper and faster than porting to some new system.

Re:This will sell like acid at Woodstock . . .

[euxneks]

Sorry, no backwards compatiblity for PSP

Backwards compatibility with what, exactly?

Re:This will sell like acid at Woodstock . . .

[Anonymous Coward]

Exactly. There is no momentum for PSP, and there never was.

Re:This will sell like acid at Woodstock . . .

[NanoGator]

"Uh. Just what is the PSP supposed to be backwards compatible with? "

Who cares? For the first year or so it's going to have a really tiny library. Compare that to the Nintendo DS which has well over 1,000 games to play at launch, it still has new games in development for the GBA to play. Sorry, but Sony's excuse for not having BW compatibility doesn't override the lack of a library it's going to have.

Re:This will sell like acid at Woodstock . . .

[GlobalCombatDotCom]

With the specs of the PSP, the punny little GBA will likely be emulated within weeks, and with the 802.11 and that juicy 32 megs of ram it will be able to run roms right off your windows box. The GBA has like 640K of ram.

Re:This will sell like acid at Woodstock . . .

[dasmegabyte]

It is entirely possible to have analog sensitivity with a touchscreen.

Anyhow, they're not meant to replace all the buttons. They're meant to make in easier to perform selections based on variable options. Sure, it's pretty easy to select "Attack monster" with an analog stick, or to scroll through a list of weapons to find the one you like. But it's even EASIER to have a visual catalog of options that you can slide your thumb down and tap to select. It'll make for some GREAT controls, and for some INSANELY quick and intuitive gameplay.

Re:This will sell like acid at Woodstock . . .

[Anonvmous Coward]

"Backwards compatibility with what, exactly?"

Exactly. Sony's going to feel the pinch from this. They'll have to excel just to have a mild success.

Re:This will sell like acid at Woodstock . . .

[RickHunter]

The Nintendo DS is over $100 cheaper, according to what I've read. And the potential of the dual-screen setup is just amazing... It looks like they found a productive way to use all that wasted space that always winds up on handheld systems. In comparison, the Sony "competitor" just looks ungainly and unappealing.

Re:This will sell like acid at Woodstock . . .

[Ghost_MH]

The GBA can be, but with the DS Nintendo has created a console that cannot be emulated...Unless you know of some way to emulate a touchscreen on the PSP ^_^

Re:This will sell like acid at Woodstock . . .

[HybridJeff]

Heck, Maybe in the future all controllers will be touch screen, and the button configurations will depend on the game programmers themselves.

Well I sure hope this doesnt happen. Not that Ive got anythign against using touch screens, but to use them as the sole means of input would be suicidal. Actually feeling the buttons makes a big difference in the usability of the controls.

Unless youve played the game alot already and know where each button is located, youd be stuck looking down at the touch screen evrey few minutes to make sure that you're actually pressing the right button. That'd be a big pain in the ass.

Re:This will sell like acid at Woodstock . . .

[Anonymous Coward]

I guess this just proves that there is room for both in this world. All fanboy wanking aside, I have a feeling I will be getting one of each. I think they are both sexy.

Re:This will sell like acid at Woodstock . . .

[tonejava]

Lets see what new features does it bring to handheld gaming?

• It uses a disk instead of a cartridge.
• USB 2.0 Port
• Large screen

Note: 802.11b Wireless won't be a new feature if Nintendo releases the DS first

What it carries on from the PlayStation2:

• It's graphics and games

New features the GameboyDS brings to handheld gaming:

• 802.11b Wireless
• Nintendo wireless
• Touch screen interface
• Voice input
• Backward compatibility with GBA/SP - Okay so it's something the GameBoy has always been capable of.

What it carries on from previous systems:

• Cartridge based games (less piracy that what you can expect on PSP
• Connectivity - the thing I prefer about GameCube and Gameboy is the integration between the 2
• Backward compatible (although if GameBoy Games work with the GBA will they also work with the GBDS? Then again who would try such a ridiculous thing?)

Personally I see the PSP as overloaded, with all that technology how much is it going to set you back? And the games on the disk, surely you would be paying standard PS2 game retail price for 1.8gb of gaming data?!?

I guess all I can say is wait and see...

Re:This will sell like acid at Woodstock . . .

[Wildfire Darkstar]

Given that Sony hasn't announced a US price for the PSP yet, it's kind of premature to announce that the DS "is over $100 cheaper." Just a lot of scaremongering at this point. Yeah, the Japanese price (which has been announced) is on the high end of things, but that's hardly unusual for the Japanese market, where these things always sell for more. I personally doubt Sony will go much over $200, if they even go that high, given that they know exactly what kind of competition they're likely to be facing from Nintendo.

Re:This will sell like acid at Woodstock . . .

[TechniMyoko]

the gba has 256kilobytes of ram. I beleive GP32 has a gba emulator and its less powerful than the DS

Re:This will sell like acid at Woodstock . . .

[pzycho]

Have you thought about the cost situation? The lowest estimate right now for PSP is $250. That is the lowest estimate. That is way too much for almost any gamer to spend on a portable. Also, the standard estimate for DS is $150. That is right in the sweet spot for launching a handheld.
On top of this, think of software. People expect their portable games to cost $30 bucks, but when you have a system that runs up with the PS2 it is going to see almost exclusively PS2 ports. This is going to make games cost $50 because you can't ask for GT4 on PS2 to cost $50 then GT4 (which has been announced) for PSP to cost only $30. It wont work. Even original games will have to follow suit because of the high cost of developing on such an advanced system. I am not saying that it couldn't be the same for DS, but at least it isn't set in stone at this time.

Just a final note, how much graphical power can you really appreciate on a 4 inch screen anyhow? I am really surprised there was no video out for TV support.

Re:This will sell like acid at Woodstock . . .

[ChibiLZ]

You seriously think that the PSP looks 'ungainly and unappealing'? I'm not much of a Sony fanboy, and had no plans on getting one, but after seeing the pics, I have to say that it most certainly looks 'gainly', and it's so sexy. I wouldn't be ashamed to carry it around and play it, just like I feel about my SP. The DS is something I don't think I'd feel good about playing in too public a place.

Re:This will sell like acid at Woodstock . . .

[Anonymous Coward]

you see to be contradicting yourself. you show several points where the DS has so much more technology than the PSP, yet in your conclusion you suggest that the PSP actually has MORE technology than the DS. which are you saying?

Re:This will sell like acid at Woodstock . . .

[Anonymous Coward]

just look at the DS. it looks more like something you would get in a happy meal rather than a high quality gaming system. the PSP is rather refined in my opinion. yes I'm sure the DS will also go through the same process to hopefully not make it look like crap. i would also like all of you to remember what the standard price estimate of the ipod mini was when you start arguing about price.

Re:This will sell like acid at Woodstock . . .

[TechniMyoko]

they have, it's called a mouse. (which PSP has a USB port for already)

Re:This will sell like acid at Woodstock . . .

[tonejava]

I'm actually stating that the GBA DS includes more newer features and the PSP just has alot of features that aren' new to the handheld gaming market.

Big screen

[caramelcarrot]

That's a mighty big screen, should be good for playing games/dvds/whatever, though I wonder how much it'll jack up the cost by? If it's too expensive, I doubt it'll appeal to the normal GBA-type kid market (or their parents, to be accurate)...

Re:Big screen

[Anonymous Coward]

They're not going for the GBA audience, they're going for the (20-30 yo) PS2 gamers that don't wanna be seen with a Gameboy.

Re:Big screen

[Kenja]

I'm wondering what would happen if one where to plug a firewire DVD-ROM drive into it.

Re:Big screen

[Phisbut]

I doubt it'll appeal to the normal GBA-type kid market

From the article : will be targeted initially at men ages 18 to 34 years-old

...

Re:Big screen

[Cpt_Kirks]

Smoke?

Re:Yea, but does the PS2 run Linux?

[Anonymous Coward]

I think so...

Re:Yea, but does the PS2 run Linux?

[Globe199]

Yes, the PS2 runs linux:

http://playstation2-linux.com/

Quite well-established, actually.

Globe199

Familiar?

[bizpile]

Reminds me of the Sega Game Gear of so long ago.

Re:Familiar?

[yuckymucky]

Hopefully it won't have the battery life that the Game Gear had. It does look pretty sweet.

Re:Familiar?

[buffer-overflowed]

I think it looks kinda awkward with that wide screen myself.

Will have to demo it at a store to be sure, but it seems like it would require you to be in an uncomfortable position while playing it.

Re:Familiar?

[jawtheshark]

I still have my Game Gear. I bought a battery pack so that I could play longer. Recently I removed the dust from my Game Gear to show it to someone who thought that the backlit Game Boy Advance was the best thing since sliced bread. I could show him that I had the same thing ten years ago. Yeah, I know the games were more primitive, but still.

I wonder what would happen if I tried using those high-power NiMh AA batteries thought for digital cameras. The Game Gear lasted about 2 hours on normal NiCad batteries back in the day. Perhaps now I could squeeze 4 hours out of it ;-)

Re:Familiar?

[Cpt_Kirks]

It looks like my Zodiac too. With improvements (the analog stick has a non-skid surface). Maybe Sony is using the Zodiac as a free beta?

Re:Familiar?

[incubusnb]

regardless of the Battery life, you can be Garanteed that even if Sony doesn't come up with some super-battery or some kinda charging system, one of the Hundreds of third Party Hardware companies will make the effort to cash in on it.

they already do for the GBA, why should the PSP be any different

Re:Yea, but does the PS2 run Linux?

[Anonymous Coward]

Ah, so it runs the licensed version of SCO/Gentoo ?

More info on the PSP

[ProudClod]

For more info on the PSP, including a look at the specs in depth, we've done an article over at GE.

Sony PSP Specs Information

Close examination of the specs seems to suggest some odd things - most importantly, it looks like Sony will be implementing region codes after all.

(I had submitted this article, but it looks like with this one FPed, my one will get lost)

Re:More info on the PSP

[bludstone]

I suggest taking these specs with a grain of salt.

Sony has a history of promising incredible things, and then backtracking on them a week or so before launch.

"ps2 renders toystory in real time." Indeed. PSH.

Re:More info on the PSP

[VooDoo999]

What mainly killed the other challengers (in no particular order):
1) lack of (good) games
2) battery life
3) cost
Seems like 1 and 2 are taken care of - tons of devs signed and 10 hrs of game support from the li-ion battery. No mention if it's proprietary or not, it's handy to be able to grab some AAs in a pinch.
Curious what the cost will be.

Re:More info on the PSP

[ProudClod]

/.ed - looks like we overloaded MySQL, will be back up in 15 mins or so hopefully.

Full text follows:

---

SCEI has announced the product specifications for its handheld system, the Playstation Portable (PSP), also known as the GCG (Giant Cheese Grater) and the OTO, but you don't want to know what that one means.

The PSP is scheduled to be launched in Japan in the end of 2004, followed by the North American and European launches in the spring of 2005 - another delay for Europe and America.

PSP comes in a black colour, with a 16:9 widescreen TFT LCD centered in a stylish design. The dimensions are 170mm x 74mm x 23mm with a weight of 260g. The screen displays full 16.77 million colour on a 480 x 272 pixel high-resolution screen. It comes complete with the basic functions of a portable player such as built-in stereo speakers, exterior headphone connector, brightness control and sound mode selection. The key layout is a familiar Sony one, with the 4 trademark Playstation buttons, an analogue d-pad, L and R shoulder buttons and a small analogue stick to the left. There are also brightness control buttons, oddly enough. A lithium ion battery provides the power, which gives ten hours to games or 2.5 hours to films.

So as you can see, it is small and light, and so will fit in your hands - and yet the screen is an impressive 4.3 inches, and considerable higher resolution than the new Nintendo DS. Batteries are built in to the device, with a charge point. Indeed connectivity seems a large focus of the device, with USB 2, Infra Red, WiFi LAN (although the older 11Mbit/s spec). No mention of Bluetooth is made, suggesting that WiFi will fill the gap for linkup gaming. A remote control is mentioned, although we're unaware of the use - perhaps media playback via the Memory Stick Duo slot. A headphone jack is a welcome addition for people who were burnt by that lack of one on the Gameboy Advance SP.

Online gaming is possible by connecting multiple PSPs to each other directly via the wireless network. In addition, software and data can be downloaded through a USB or wireless network onto a Memory Stick.

The disc system is Sony's proprietary UMD, with 1.8GB of dual layer DVD style storage (red laser is being used, rather than BluRay). Discs weigh in at a dinky 10 grams. Rather disturbingly, "Region Code" is mentioned - will this be the first mainstream handheld to lock games to a specific region? This would go against their earlier statement in an interview that the machine would "Probably be region-free". Also, 128Bit Key AES encryption for the media and individual ID for the unit would suggest a tough job for pirates, in addition to the proprietary Universal Media Disk format (so not very universal, then!).

Sony has big ambitions in the peripheral market for the PSP with all manner of addons planned, including an external battery pack, a stand, a microphone and a case. Several devices are being showen communicating with the PSP at Sony's E3 stand, noticeably a GPS system.

At the moment, we can only wait for more info, but below are shots of the front and back of the device, a picture with hands for scale (the image on the screen is simulated), and a mock up of the Gran Turismo 4 game and box - likely to be one of the console's launch titles.

Finally, Sony has released a list of developers supporting the machine. It's rather long, containing around 100 developers including all the big Japanese, American and Brtish players.

Re:More info on the PSP

[jrc313]

The 10 hours battery life claim is for playing MP3s. You'll get 8 hours for a game that doesn't do a lot of streaming from the UMD or use WLAN and 2 hours for a movie (guess LOTR is out of the question).

All of a sudden the battery life doesn't look too hot.

I suspect the battery will be the usual flat rectangular Sony affair - no way you'll be able to fit AAs - the unit is too slim.

Re:More info on the PSP

[RyuuzakiTetsuya]

It's got a portable version of Gran Turismo 4.

I AM HAPPY WITH THIS.

Re:More info on the PSP

[bludstone]

and wipeout! Im happy about that, taitai! :D

Re:More info on the PSP

[x mani x]

when did sony ever claim that the ps2 would render toy story in real time? i'll tell you: they never did.

the one console that was overhyped with promises of prerendered, pixar-level graphics was the N64. sony never actually lied about the PS2's capabilities, and all their fancy demos actually ran on the emotion engine.

Re:More info on the PSP

[incubusnb]

ya, but you know, it still looks better than the 2.5 hours of Battery life for the DS

Re:More info on the PSP

[Moofie]

Not without a good analog controller, I'm not. I don't know how they're going to handle this, but I will wager it will not be good enough for me.

Re:More info on the PSP

[suyashs]

What about claiming that the PS2 had Progressive Scan DVD support while delivering it 3 years late with new hardware instead of a Driver update like they kept saying after the PS2 launched.

Re:More info on the PSP

[Rallion]

Sony said the PS2 was vastly more powerful than the Dreamcast. That's a lie in my book.

Re:More info on the PSP

[RyuuzakiTetsuya]

well, I was hoping the stick would be easier to reach,b ut looking at my ps2's controller, it might not be so bad.

Re:More info on the PSP

[cujo_1111]

It has an analog controller as well as a digital controller. The round textured surface below the directional pad is the analog controller.

Re:More info on the PSP

[Moofie]

We'll see. I'm skeptical of an analog controller that's low-profile enough for me to stick in my pocket. Maybe I'm wrong...that'd be grand. But I'm not spending my money on this thing yet.

Re:More info on the PSP

[Anonymous Coward]

Even if the battery life does turn out to suck, it's got a 5V DC-in socket. So you can bet that 3rd party manufacturers will be providing battery pack units powered by AAs, just like they've done for mobile phones.

Re:More info on the PSP

[Anonymous Coward]

The region coding could be just specific to the movies. Maybe Sony will do what Microsoft did with Xbox, and make region coding up to the discretion of the publisher... oh, but wait, I don't think there's a single case where an Xbox publisher decided NOT to region code their game.

Re:More info on the PSP

[doctor_no]

This is clearly a stupid statement.

These specs are there for developers, how the hell can you develop a game if Sony is going to change it a week before.

Re:More info on the PSP

[TechniMyoko]

it has and better, Beyond Good and Evil looks better. Final fantasy 8 fmvs were done in real time as tech demos when they were showing off PS2 originally, those still looked better

Re:More info on the PSP

[iamblades]

Huh? The DS is supposed to get as much battery life as the SP.

Nintendo DS

[Microlith]

And Nintendo finished their thing where they introduced the DS.

It's got both bluetooth local play for up to 16 players but also supports WiFi for internet play. Two slots for DS carts and GB/GBA carts, touch screen, 3D support (with Super Mario 64 and a 3D Metroid game on the way for it.)

To be honest, watching the demonstrations of it give me high hopes for the DS.

Re:Nintendo DS

[NanoGator]

Won't it be cool if you were able to sit on the recliner with the DS, connecting on-line, playing multiplayer wirlessly, and using the touch screen as an OSD to chat? I can't believe how overwhelmingly cool that is compared to what Sony's shown today.

Re:Nintendo DS

[RickHunter]

Even just looking at the pictures and reading that it supports Bluetooth gave me high hopes for it. Unlike Sony's PSP, this device actually looks nice, and even though the screen's smaller and the CPU is less powerful, the touchscreen and backwards-compatibility seem to seal the deal. I'm sure the Sony fanboys are going to prattle endlessly about how Nintendo's doomed, but I think the DS, especially since its going to be parallel with the SP, has a real shot at success.

Especially since Square's already confirmed to be making games for it, among others...

And that the Bluetooth support means that you could, in theory, play multiplayer against GB games ported to PDAs, Apple laptops, or even some mobile phones! If Nintendo has their act together there, that could be a massive advantage for them.

Re:Nintendo DS

[Anonymous Coward]

And doesn't that make you a Nintendo fan-boy with your rebuttal? Maybe, they're both going to do well and fill different market segments? This isn't winner takes all, you know! You don't have to take sides 12 months before they're even released and start fights over your favourites, just be grateful there's some competition and the only winner is the consumer who gets better machines... sometimes it's like being in kinderfarten round here!

Re:Nintendo DS

[RickHunter]

Yes, especially when 90% of the posters are anonymous and don't want to own up to the comments they make. Ass.

WHY! Why does a portable system have so many ports

[DarkFencer]

I know the financial reasons for it, but why must every damn portable system have so many ports from their non-portable cousins?

Metal Gear Solid, Gran Turismo... make some new games for launch! Don't just sell the system with "play your console games that you've already paid for on your portable!".

I don't mind a few ports, but if you look at the GBA it seems like a majority of the games are ports/remakes/pokemon. If the PSP will be the same I will great it less then enthusiastically. At least the GBA is $100

Long term

[DarkMavis]

I wonder if in the long term, the PSP will have any impact on the Gameboy. Many in the past have tried to dethrone the king but have failed. Look at the only handheld gaming device that had any market share, the Sega Game Gear. It was ahead of its time with a color screen but it was huge and ate batteries one after another. I'm sure the PSP will have some following but I don't think, in the long run, it'll make much of an impact to Nintendo's stronghold.

Re:Long term

[Anonymous Coward]

That's nice. I like pineapples and talking about stuff. Want to be my friend?

Re:Long term

[cens0r]

People said the same thing about the playstation, and look where sony is in the console market now.

where?

[AresTheImpaler]

Ok damn it.. maybe a stupid question, but where is the best place to get all the e3 news? thanks!

Re:where?

[ProudClod]

Sorry to pimp ourselves out yet again, but over at Gamers Europe News, we're working flat out to bring you the digest of all the latest news coming out of LA. Seriously, my keyboard is taking a major beating at the moment :)

Such is the life of a games journalist. It's harder than you think.

Re:where?

[Golgafrinchan]

I use IGN.com..

Re:where?

[AresTheImpaler]

I was already looking at your site... thanks!

Re:where?

[kevinvee]

Blue's News always has more gaming news than you can read in a day (but you should still try!), including slashdot-friendly summarizations of the proceedings. E3 Insider is the "official virtual gateway" to E3 that started I believe last year. I don't know to what extent the coverage will be, but its got more of a marketing feel to it so take that for what its worth.

Re:where?

[NanoGator]

"Ok damn it.. maybe a stupid question, but where is the best place to get all the e3 news? thanks! "

I went to news.google.com, typed in the part I was curious about (Nintendo DS) and set it to "show stories from the last hour"... Not too shabby.

Re:where?

[ProudClod]

Part of the team effort that just brought it down I guess :)

wi-fi ahoy?

[burgburgburg]

Arghh, there be the dreaded wireless networking protocol, mateys. Sharpen your harpoons and we'll untether our gaming devices yet!

What precisely would place wi-fi into the sea-faring realm?

Re:wi-fi ahoy?

[nukem1999]

Because if you hit a wave when your handheld console is cabled to one on another boat, it's game overboard.

Re:wi-fi ahoy?

[Jeff DeMaagd]

Well, "Wi-Fi", as people seem to like to call it, only has three useful non-overlapping shipping lanes, so maybe it's like some canal system sonewhere.

Re:wi-fi ahoy?

[merlin_jim]

What precisely would place wi-fi into the sea-faring realm?

Well a ship can't exactly drag a fiber optic cable behind it...

Unless its a fiber laying ship...

Re:Yea, but does the PS2 run Linux?

[Taxilian]

I'm pretty sure it can... I think it just doesn't have as much PC-like hardware, so you can't do as much with it.

Re:Yea, but does the PS2 run Linux?

[VanWEric]

With this newest price cut, is it finally reasonable to cluster these little guys? I'd really like to get a few more flops under my belt with finals coming up - 4 math/sci/engineering courses + Euler = I need more computing power if I want to go home before the summer is over.

Server Error in '/' Application.

[rjstanford]

Shouldn't that read, Server Error in '/.' Application.?

Re:poor microsoft

[nate1138]

Hello, earth to guy with no clue how the market for game systems works. Can you hear me?

Microsoft NEVER made any money on the Xbox. The console is sold at a loss, and the profits come from the games. I believe it took 3 titles purchased for Microsoft to break even when the XBox was launched. With the reduction in component prices and the increases in manufacturing efficiency, they probably aren't losing much, if any, more than they were when the console was launched.

Re:Not using Firefox?

[simoniker]

Actually, I think GameSpot are having network problems, which may be the issue - doh.

Re:poor microsoft

[Anonymous Coward]

I know (or rather, I heard from several sources) that the X-box was originally selling for less than the cost of the hardware in the box (something like $300 for the system, which cost them $400 to make or something like that). I'm curious -- with the standard price drops in hardware, is this still the case? Obviuosly it doesn't cost 300-400 to make anymore, but is it cheaper than $150 for them? Or are they still eating the cost?

ps2 network adaptor?

[lawngnome]

Why are they including this now? I understand why you would want it for certain games like EA's sports line or FF11 but is there really such a huge market to include it?

Not to bash the whole digital convergence thing, but Ive been very happy with my "old school" non connected ps2...

Re:Not using Firefox?

[strictnein]

I had problems seeing it in Firefox but it seemed to show up fine in IE. Haven't tried that google cache link yet.

Re:Yea, but does the PS2 run Linux?

[incubusnb]

it does, and you don't even have to Hack the PS2 to get it to run Linux, you just have to Buy the Linux Kit from Sony

And we all know what chip the PS3 will use...

[Power Everywhere]

The one that's changing everything. :-)

Re:poor microsoft

[stratjakt]

No, it's been improving, and ahead of schedule. Word is xbox will profitable sooner than originally expected, due to increased sales and drastically lower production costs. It makes me wonder how much of that includes boxes sold to dorks who think buying xboxes to mod and run linux on "screws microsoft over". It doesnt. An item sold is an item sold.

Xbox outsold PS2 this month. The list of third party titles and developers is snowballing.

I really dont get being a fanboy for any console based on the "company x is evil!" philosophy. Both are big companies with histories of Evil(tm), hell add Nintendo and their emulator witchhunts and censorship of games to the list, oh and their illegal developer lockin contracts of days-gone-by. Hell, if they had their way, Capcom, EA, et al would be contractually obliged to only develop for them.

Re:poor microsoft

[hambonewilkins]

They were selling it at a loss on launch day, it's just been getting worse since then.

Time and time again this has shown to be false. Microsoft has continued to redesign the Xbox (ie combining separate processors) to lower the costs of production. It has been shown that they effectively reduced the costs through these redesigns, in addition to the costs saved by using older hardware. I don't think the loss has been getting worse, but rather better.

Slashdotted...

[Anonymous Coward]

So here's the article:

With Sony's pre-show conference now in full swing the Playstation Portable has been fully unveiled to the awed masses. As well as the first images of the wee beast in action, we've news herein on the specifications and other such details, including clues to the titles that we'll be playing on this device Sony claim can produce full-motion "3D-CG" visuals similar to the PS2.
The PSP will initially be available in black, and will include a 16:9 ratio TFT LCD wide screen, centred on a sleek, ergonomically designed controller that Sony hope will fit snugly in the hand. The dimensions are 170mm x 74mm x 23mm and it will reportedly weigh 260g. The screen will support the full sixteen-million or so colours of the spectrum, in a resolution of 480 x 272. The positioning of the PSP's D-Pad and buttons are apparently based on the Playstation's - for convenience - and the device will incorporate stereo speakers, a headphone jack and volume/brightness controls.

Connectors offered include a full 802.11b wireless LAN option (for connection in the home and to the wider network), as well as USB 2.0. The wireless functionality will allow several PSPs to connect and enjoy multiplayer gaming or take the player online. Data will be downloadable wirelessly, via USB, or using the Sony Memory Stick compatibility offered.

PSP software will come in Universal Media Disc format, which supports 1.8gb of data, despite being only 60mm in diameter. This format will offer support for movie and music files as well as games and other software, and a robust anti-piracy encryption system is touted.

Here's the cold hard technical truths of this prodigious new handheld:

Product Name: PlayStationPortable (PSP)
Color: Black
Dimensions: Approx. 170 mm (L) x 74 mm (W) x 23 mm (D)
Weight: Approx. 260 g (including battery)
CPU: PSP CPU (System clock frequency 1~333MHz)
Main Memory: 32MB
Embedded DRAM: 4MB
Display: 4.3 inch, 16:9 widescreen TFT LCD
480 x 272 pixel (16.77 million colors)
Max. 200 cd/m2 (with brightness control)
Speakers: Built-in stereo speakers
Main Input/Output: IEEE 802.11b (Wi-Fi)
USB 2.0 (Target)
Memory StickTM PRO Duo
IrDA
IR Remote (SIRCS)
Disc Drive: UMD Drive (Playback only)
Profile: PSP Game
UMD Audio
UMD Video
Main Connectors: DC IN 5V
Terminals for charging built-in battery
Headphone/Microphone/Control connector
Keys/Switches: Directional buttons (Up/Down/Right/Left)
Analog pad
Enter keys (Triangle, Circle, Cross, Square)
Left, Right keys
START, SELECT, HOME
POWER On/Hold/Off switch
Brightness control, Sound Mode, Volume +/-
Wireless LAN On/Off switch
UMD Eject
Power: Built-in lithium-ion battery, AC adaptor
Access Control: Region Code, Parental Control

Accessories:
Stand
Headphone with remote commander
Headphone with remote commander and microphone
External battery pack
Case
Strap
E3 Prototype Exhibition: USB Camera for PSP
USB GPS for PSP
USB Keyboard for PSP

UMD Specifications
Dimensions: Approx. 65 mm (W) x 64 mm (D) x 4.2 mm (H)
Weight: Approx. 10g
Disc Diameter: 60 mm
Maximum Capacity: 1.8GB (Single-sided, dual layer)
Laser wavelength: 660nm (Red laser)
Encryption: AES 128bit
Profile: PSP Game (full function)
UMD Audio (codec ATRAC3plus, PCM, (MPEG4 AVC))
UMD Video (codec MPEG4 AVC, ATRAC3plus, Caption PNG)
The lucky blighters in Japan will be getting their paws on the PSP at the end of 2004, whilst North American and European gamers will have to wait until the Spring of 2005 for local launches. The following 99 firms have also pledged their support of the new device:

Re:Slashdotted...

[Zangief]

The Gamespot site on the PSP mentions that battery life would be like 2,5 hours with video enabled, 10 hours with only audio. It sounds BAD. I charge my GBA SP once a week, put it in my pocket, play on trains and while waiting other people, and neverhave a problem

Slashdotted!

[MonkeyCookie]

The web site is already toast. Looks like someone is running ASP.NET

Server Error in '/' Application.
Runtime Error
Description: An application error occurred on the server. The current custom error settings for this application prevent the details of the application error from being viewed remotely (for security reasons). It could, however, be viewed by browsers running on the local server machine.

Details: To enable the details of this specific error message to be viewable on remote machines, please create a <customErrors> tag within a "web.config" configuration file located in the root directory of the current web application. This <customErrors> tag should then have its "mode" attribute set to "Off".

<!-- Web.Config Configuration File -->

<configuration>
<system.web>
<customErrors mode="Off"/>
</system.web>
</configuration>

Notes: The current error page you are seeing can be replaced by a custom error page by modifying the "defaultRedirect" attribute of the application's <customErrors> configuration tag to point to a custom error page URL.

<!-- Web.Config Configuration File -->

<configuration>
<system.web>
<customErrors mode="RemoteOnly" defaultRedirect="mycustompage.htm"/>
</system.web>
</configuration>

Re:Slashdotted!

[bonch]

After all, Apache sites never go down when Slashdot links them.

Re:Slashdotted!

[Anonymous Coward]

Man, look at how crappy .Net is!! Woohoo!! Man that's funny!!

In other news, everytime an Apache box is slashdot'd, everyone keeps their mouths shut about how funny that is.

Re:Slashdotted!

[MonkeyCookie]

LOL. Good point :)

It is my experience though that IIS-hosted sites tend to buckle faster under a heavy pounding than Apache-hosted sites.

PSP looks very slick!

[Humorously_Inept]

My N-Gage just scuttled back into the comforting environment of my pocket. I think it's crying.

Re:PSP looks very slick!

[fatgraham]

so YOUR the guy who bought the other one

Re:PSP looks very slick!

[Anonymous Coward]

Your - Posessive form of "you"
This is your grammar lesson for the day.

You're - Contraction of the words "You" and "Are"
You're an idiot for not being gooder at grammar.

TY,HAND
-Grammar Nazi

Re:PSP looks very slick!

[Elmdor]

Hell, I think you'd be crying just owning one...

Re:PSP looks very slick!

[Thrakkerzog]

it fit in your pocket?

Re:PSP looks very slick!

[Anonymous Coward]

More like a pouch, he's a marsupial.

Re:PSP looks very slick!

[Humorously_Inept]

Actually, I really like my N-Gage. There isn't any phone on the market now that I'd rather have. Granted, I use it as a phone more than anything, but it's the only gadget I carry around anymore.

Re:PSP looks very slick!

[Nogami_Saeko]

Taco.... Grande!

I still have my SE P800, which is a pretty nice smartphone, although I'm waiting for a new SE offering which will hopefully have Wifi enabled.

If the new model is Wifi-able, I'll buy one instantly. If not, I'll hold off until the P800 dies.

N.

Re:PSP looks very slick!

[Anonymous Coward]

What's Really Funny...

According to those specs, PSP will be twice the size and weight of n-gage - And yet I see nobody complaining about that...

Re:huh?

[Anonymous Coward]

How many Slashdotters does it take to screw in a light bulb?

One to screw in the light bulb, one to suggest porting Linux to the lightbulb, one to suggest porting NetBSD instead, one to remind the others that *BSD is dead, one to post an unnecessary "Micro$oft" comment, one to mod said "Micro$oft" comment to +5 Funny, one to submit it as an article even though it was "mentioned yesterday," and one to link to the Google cache of the link.

Re:DID YOU LEARN TO READ BY PLAYING POKEMON???

[DarkFencer]

I'm glad the grammar nazi's are out in force.

What the hell, is this E3 week on slashdot?

[Anonymous Coward]

Oh, wait...

Re:poor microsoft

[incubusnb]

all Consoles sell at a Loss for usually the first year after release, after that, the Income starts catching up to the Expenses.

Re:poor microsoft

[OrangeTide]

I'm going to buy an Xbox every week and throw it away just to hurt microsoft!

Workstation

[leandrod]

Not playing games, I was still interested in the workstation. As it seems the Cell processor is some variant of PowerPC, and given the current state of GNU/Linux in both Sony entertainment and IBM, it seems like a sure bet that this workstation will mark one more step by IBM in trying to validate GNU/Linux on the PowerPC as a general purpose platform rivalling Wintel.

Were I still in Europe I would hopefully already have an IBM POP-based Pegaso or A1 system running Debian GNU/Linux on the PowerPC. Sony seems to base their PS2 port of GNU/Linux on Red Hat. Perhaps the Sony Cell workstation will reach my country before the POP systems do.

While a port rivalling Wintel can only be a good thing, and perhaps may help validate GNU/Linux as a platform and give it a better competitive advantage agains MS, it still remains to be seen how much freedom will benefit, given the doubtful records of Sony (DRM, crippled PS2 GNU/Linux) and IBM (soft patents).

Re:Workstation

[Anonymous Coward]

NetBSD beats Linux hands down outside of the x86 architecture. Hell, NetBSD is getting close to Mac OS X emulation on PowerPC. Soon you'll be able to run Aqua under NetBSD!

Re:Workstation

[leandrod]

> NetBSD beats Linux hands down outside of the x86 architecture

In which aspects?

> NetBSD is getting close to Mac OS X emulation

How?

> you'll be able to run Aqua under NetBSD!

I am interested in Cairo, SVG and GNUStep, not Aqua.

SoComII

[Anonymous Coward]

It freakin ROCKS!!!

Get a copy and get online so that I CAN FRAG YOUR PASTY WHITE ASS!!!

Swoon...

[bobej1977]

I realize how deep my geekiness really runs when I see things like the PSP. Were there cave men at the other end of history that couldn't wait to get their hands on the latest in sharp sticks?

Re:Swoon...

[mamer-retrogamer]

Ah, but sharp sticks served a useful purpose.

Perhaps that last interrogative should read, "Were there cave men at the other end of history that couldn't wait to get their hands on the latest in pretty, useless, time-sucking objects?".

Oh, wait... they had cave women.

Re:Swoon...

[Adriax]

Oog: Grog stick very pointy.

Grog: Grog stick made with new flint technology. Oog should get new flint sharpened stick, it very pointy.

Oog: Oog wish, but Oog's wife Ooma yell at Oog for upgrading to fire hardened stick without asking... Ooma no buy story of Oog needing it to hunt better, say stick is stick and stone ground stick just as good as fire hardened. Ooma not know what she talk about.

Grog: Grog feel Oog pain. Come, we go hunt, Grog let Oog use Grog stick later.

Re:Swoon...

[alien_blueprint]

Were there cave men at the other end of history that couldn't wait to get their hands on the latest in sharp sticks?

Definitely. Imagine the first time you saw one announced at SS3 that had a sharp bone tied to the end, and then soon after a specially chipped and sharpened *rock*?

And then later, when the ones made from *metal* were developed the excitement would have even approached the fever pitch of the Ginger/IT hype. Except that it would have been well justified in that case ...

Re:WHY! Why does a portable system have so many po

[garcia]

It appears, in the screenshots, that the version of GranTurismo is 4. The last version of GT available for PS3 is GT3.

I wouldn't mind playing GT4 but I certainly wouldn't only want it available on the portable.

Re:WHY! Why does a portable system have so many po

[incubusnb]

frankly, i like the Idea of having Gran Turismo on the PSP, i just hope it'll link with GT4 on the PS2 so that i can have one GT save for both instead of 2 seperate saves

but i do agree that they should Emphasise creating new IPs(Intelectual Properties) for the PSP

Re:poor microsoft

[buffer-overflowed]

Wrong. All consoles(except the Dreamcast and XBox) have sold at at worst a break even point upon launch.

If you count R&D sunk costs, they yea, they all sell at a loss, but that's not how you calculate such things.

who cares?

[jared_hanson]

Think of it as being included for free and quit your complaining. Is it really such a problem that you are getting more for your money? If you don't want to use it, don't plug a network cable into it. Then it will behave exactly like your "old school" PS2.

I could understand complaining if they started not including essential things like controllers, but this is just rediculous.

WiFi? hrm..

[d4rkmoon]

Battery life must drain pretty quickly out of that. WiFi is a power hog. Or else they're sporting some new fangled battery pack. That, or you're getting some major suckage on range.

Re:WiFi? hrm..

[Anonymous Coward]

They probably forgot to add a caption to the pictures. "Not shown is the required diesel generator."

Re:WiFi? hrm..

[rastachops]

Yeah, well as *we* all know Bluetooth was designed for low power wireless connectivity for small portable devices. It's just a big shame that most Americans either misunderstand this or seem to think that it would be better to have 802.11x in their phones than Bluetooth.

Re:WiFi? hrm..

[Anonymous Coward]

Why in the name of god does this have to be an American-bashing thing? Does the fact that this is a japanese product make any dent in your prejudiced brain?

Re:WiFi? hrm..

[SleazyC]

Well, during the Sony press conference, it was said that the PSP battery life would roll out like this:

- Playing regular games: 10 hrs

- Listening to music: about 6 hrs (?)

- Watching movies: 2 1/2 hrs

Can't quite remember if the "Listening to music" part is right but I know that the other two should be correct.

Re:WiFi? hrm..

[d4rkmoon]

I think the bigger issue is: if you have your WiFi on... what's the lifespan. Knowing my love of online games, here's my point: a CompactFlash card runs one single power connector (thereby decreasing the range of the 802.11 signal). A PCMCIA card by contrast has two power pins (allowing maximum card outputs to 200mW transmit). Granted, the PSP is probably less of a power hog than most laptops, but graphics graphics graphics. I wouldn't mind seeing some stress test results.

Re:WiFi? hrm..

[suyashs]

Looks like we won't be seening Lord of the Rings on UMD anytime soon...at least until they fix that battery situation.

Re:WiFi? hrm..

[SleazyC]

One of the peripherals mentioned was a battery pack to extend life, but then again, how many of us want to by an extra battery pack if we shell out $250 (price most people are estimating the PSP at) for the PSP.

Re:WiFi? hrm..

[suyashs]

My experience with Sony extra battery packs has been horrible. They are very big and bulky compared to the device size. Check out the MZ-R50's extra battery pack for an example. I wonder if the battery will last longer if they use a Lithium Polymer Battery instead of a Lithium Ion one.

Re:WiFi? hrm..

[IANAAC]

I don't know that it's misunderstanding... I think it's more the actual implementation. Ever tried to use a bluetooth mouse AND bluetooth printer on your laptop at the same time? Damn difficult (read impossible). If it were correctly implemented, I think it would be much more accepted.

Re:Yea, but does the PS2 run Linux?

[worst_name_ever]

I'd really like to get a few more flops under my belt

Overdid it on the herbal Viagra, eh?

Addtional links

[doctor_no]

Here are some additional links with pictures in case of /. effect:

Gamespot
GameAsylum
IGN PSP
Reuters

and info about Movies and Music on the PSP

Re:Yea, but does the PS2 run Linux?

[anthonyclark]

instead pick up a bunch of old PCs in the local papers' classified adverts. Then cluster those together, if you must cluster something.

Re:poor microsoft

[bobej1977]

Dork Quixote?

No offense, just had to share that.

Re:Yea, but does the PS2 run Linux?

[Jason1729]

Isn't that Sony's motto these days?

Re:huh?

[Anonymous Coward]

Don't forget the one who will blame Bush for the high price of lightbulbs.

Re:Yea, but does the PS2 run Linux?

[Anonymous Coward]

I think his original comment should have said something like "does the PS2 run a current version of Linux for much less than the Xbox"

GameTab.com

[Anonymous Coward]

I use GameTab to keep up with the massive quantity of E3 news. GameTab uses RSS to show news stories from a variety of gaming news sources.

They've also set up a nifty page where you can see all of the E3 headlines as they happen. They're a great news aggregator!

Re:poor microsoft

[Lord Kano]

MS already doesn't make money on the XBox, their money comes from licensing and games.

It's like the old model of giving away razors and selling blades.

LK

Re:huh?

[Espectr0]

How many Slashdotters does it take to screw in a light bulb?

You forgot one saying that in soviet russia, light bulbs screw you, one saying imagine a beowulf cluster of bulbs and one welcoming their new light bulb overlords

Mirror of Images here

[aardwolf204]

Mirror of Images

Just incase you get that nasty "Server Error in '/' Application."

Re:Mirror of Images here

[wheany]

I'm mirroring the bigger images here as soon as I get them.

SCE == Vaporware

[CMiYC]

I'd like to point out that SCE is really good at promoting vaporware. They *always* announce incredible specs and features with their products, but then change over time.

These are just fresh on my mind... I'm sure there are older examples:

Remember how the PS2 was going to ship with a hard drive?

How about the LCD panel or AOL?

All the cool features that were going to be included in America's version of the HDD... web browser, music jukebox, etc... nope.

The PSX with all its great features... scaled back at the last minute.

I'd love to believe that the PS3 and PSP will come out with the features and specs promised, but I just don't think it'll happen.

I guess we'll see what happens. Of course, despite my negativity, I'm sure I'll end up buying a PSP to go with my PS2... ;)

Re:SCE == Vaporware

[doctor_no]

Sony NEVER said they were going to ship the PS2 with a Hard drive.

You must be thinking of that rumor that Sony was going to add the HDD for the US PS2 in response to the Xbox (when that rumor began the PS2 was already launced in Japan).

Later it was proven to be just a another stupid rumor. You have learn to tell the difference between rumors and actual news.

Re:SCE == Vaporware

[Anonymous Coward]

Considering Sony actively promotes rumors as a form of marketing, it would take an expert to tell the two apart.

ps3 workstation

[Johnny Mnemonic]

Article states that IBM and Sony are collaborating to develop a workstation, which will be used to develop games for the PS3. IBM will supply the OS, Sony will supply the development tools, etc. Seems like the emphasis will be on game-development, but will have other uses like movie editing etc (and who will develop applications for that process remains unsaid--Adobe? Avid?)

Question is, why redevelop the wheel? Why not use G5s from Apple? Or, G5s from Apple with a "PS3" personality PCI card? Wouldn't that be a whole lot cheaper?

Re:ps3 workstation

[AltaMannen]

I think they mean development tool like the ps2 tool, which is a linux pc you can't access (no video out, no keyboard or mouse interface other than the ps2 USB & firewire) but that handles debugging over LAN. You still need another computer to interface with the machine.

They are not in the business of making cheap development systems - the more expensive to the developer the fewer low-budget developers.

Re:ps3 workstation

[El_Ge_Ex]

hmmm... they (Sony, IBM, and Toshiba) plan to have a development station available sometime this fall.

Meanwhile, Microsoft already and developers using G5's to develop for the X-Box2.

Considering it can sometimes take two years for a game development project from start to finish, who should start to be worried???

Just a thought,
-B

Re:ps3 workstation

[RyuuzakiTetsuya]

It's a DevKit machine.

It better BE a giant, bloated workstation version of the console it's being used to develop for.

Re:ps3 workstation

[MJOverkill]

No, for several reasons.

1. When buying from Apple (or from any middleware company, for that matter), you will end up paying extra because of the markup so that Apple can make money. IBM and Sony both have the capabilities to produce their own hardware systems, which is ultimately cheaper in the long run.

2. The G5 processor is IBM's chip, not Apples. IBM already has the hardware to make their own systems using the PPC 970 (G5) processor. Again, they do not need to go through the middleman and pay the mark up if they want to use a PPC 970 based system.

3. The cell processor will be used in many more systems than just the PS3. An operating system and development platform will be needed to develop for the new platform. It's in IBM's interest to develop these tools quickly, and preferably long before it launches its own cell processor based produces.

And finally...
4. Developers need a test system to run and debug their programs on. It is much easier to use a native system than to use emulation on a completely different platform.

Re:ps3 workstation

[Anonymous Coward]

Why not use G5s from Apple?

Off the top of my head:
Because they don't want it to be gay.
Because they want people outside of marketing to use it.
Because they don't want to call it the "iWorkstation."
Because they would like to have more than 2% market share.

Re:ps3 workstation

[Wesley Felter]

A volume system (Power Mac) plus Apple markup is still cheaper than a low-volume exotic workstation.

The article says that the Cell workstation is not the PS3 developer system.

Re:ps3 workstation

[MJOverkill]

Not if you make your own. It is always cheaper to produce than to buy. And the workstation will be used for cell processor platforms, which includes the PS3.

Besides, why Power Macs? There are less expensive workstations out there that are just as powerful, especially if you go with a large vendor like dell or HP.

Gameboy DS

[Anonymous Coward]

Nintendo's idea of having more than one screen on the gameboy is good .. BUT if the top screen of the Nintendo Gameboy DS were wider and high resolution that would make it more desirable than the Sony PSP.

Why is the top screen so square instead of rectangular? They have all that empty space on either side!

Annoying.

Re:Gameboy DS

[Anonymous Coward]

There are no real pictures of Nintendo's DS out yet, so time will tell.

Re:Gameboy DS

[Goldfinger7400]

They did put nice stereo speakers on each side of the top screen, but I'd much have a bigger display. If they made the top display bigger it would stay the same aspect ratio, it looks like both top and bottom are widescren displays with a little dead space above and below. All in all I'm more interested in the GameBoy than the PSP, do you really need a 3D chip better than the N64 for a handheld?

Re:Gameboy DS

[Anonymous Coward]

Actually, STFU.

USA Today has a picture.

Re:Gameboy DS

[Anonymous Coward]

Oh, the hoax image that's been floating around for awhile. You'd think USA Today would be smart enough to spot it.

Then again, it is USA Today..

Re:Gameboy DS

[Anonymous Coward]

Oddly enough, Nintendo of America's website has now been updated with the DS shots. While I'm a little hazy about choosing top or bottom screen in different games as the main screen, it is official Nintendo info.

Nintendo DS

Alas, their own website is getting hit pretty hard at the moment too.

Re:Gameboy DS

[Rallion]

That's funny, it looks EXACTLY like the one Nintendo actually showed today! They copied the hoaxers!

Re:Gameboy DS

[sbszine]

Why is the top screen so square instead of rectangular?

It's cheaper to make 2 square screens rather than 1 square and one rectangular.

Be sure and tune in next week when I reveal why your VCR has mono sound...

Mirror

[aardwolf204]

Mirror of images

Ok, now dont slash me, I'm one of you guys!

Flawed design!

[oasis3582]

Didn't anyone notice the fact that when you are operating the d-pad, you will likely be covering the little-ass speaker? Also, when are we going to get a damn portable with analog control? Also, wonder what sort of screen covering we will be looking at. Finally, that would be so money if they had some sort of licensing where if you bought GT4, you'd get GT4 Mobile for half price or something. Just my 2c.

Re:Flawed design!

[Anonymous Coward]

That's not a speaker. That IS the analog pad. Kind of like the analog mouse control used in some laptops.

Re:Flawed design!

[BensonLeung]

As far as I can tell, that little thing in the lower left is NOT the speaker on the PSP... The specs seem to talk about stereo speakers, and there is not the same thing on the other side of the device.

No.. that bumpy pad in the corner is the PSP's analog thumbstick... probably along the lines of the belly-button touch mouse pointer on a laptop.

Re:WHY! Why does a portable system have so many po

[MMaestro]

Well first off, Pokemon ORIGINATED on the Gameboy so saying it they're all remakes is like saying every sports games series simply 'remakes' itself. That Metal Gear Solid 2 is just a 'remake' of MGS1 since they're both on the Playstation systems. Sony is just trying to cover their asses by releasing games with huge names on them. We've all seenen it before (Nintendo and Mario, Sega with Sonic). Can't say that I blaim them, but I will say I wish Sony would come up with their own ideas and stop relying on third-party developers (which have a tendancy to jump ship without warning.)

As for the old NES and SNES ports, thats mostly because Nintendo got tired of having to battle piracy over ROMs. We've all heard the argument before 'well if Nintendo doesn't want me to pirate a copy of Metroid for the NES, they should just re-release it or something'. Which, recently, they did.

Re:WHY! Why does a portable system have so many po

[cubicledrone]

have so many ports from their non-portable cousins?

Because games are too expensive to develop.

Why are people fawning over the specs?

[LilMikey]

Yes, they slaughter the GBA and Gamepark but those were fairly underpowered on release. Compare it to something like the Zodiac it doesn't beat it on any field except the 1.8gig disk.

We all know it's going to be the games that make the system... so I'm sure this thing will be stunningly successful. As for the specs, it's almost exactly what I was expecting at the price-point, nothing more, nothing less.

Re:WHY! Why does a portable system have so many po

[Anonymous Coward]

Because console gaming is not a monoculture. I've only owned Sega systems until recently, so all the ports to the GBA are new to me. Everybody that stuck with Nintendo can get a PSP and play the Playstation games they missed, and the young'uns who started with Playstation could get a DS and play all the games they missed.

How Can These Consoles Last So Long

[theManInTheYellowHat]

The average life of a console (even one which is mostly a PC) seems to be measured in years, but we get a new PC's from Sony every quarter.

Does not Moore's law apply to game console's?

Re:How Can These Consoles Last So Long

[mrdrivel]

Does not Moore's law apply to game console's?

Yes it does, but the advancement of consoles looks more like a staircase then a straight line.

Also remember that Moore's Law applies to the transistor count on chips and not the actual processing power (although the two are often closely related).

Re:huh?

[Frizzle Fry]

You're neglecting the one who says "I'm a slashdotter, I don't screw anywhere, you insensitive clod!", you insensitive clod!

Re:Sega's "Big News"?

[Anonymous Coward]

Liquidation.

Battery pack!

[mebob]

Sony has big ambitions in the peripheral market for the PSP with all manner of addons planned, including an external battery pack, a stand, a microphone and a case. Several devices are being showen communicating with the PSP at Sony's E3 stand, noticeably a GPS system.

Good battery life doesn't seem too hopeful if an external battery pack is already on the list of accessories!

Re:Battery pack!

[Anonymous Coward]

How ever long the battery life is, someone will want more.

bad slashdot, bad slashdot!!

[shione]

I feel sorry for those guys but in some ways it's kinda amusing...

Posted at that link in case it goes down:

proudclod (Staff) at 20:29, Tue 11 May 2004
Hi Slashdot Guys, our server is taking a mighty beating even from a link in the comments - damned moderation :)

Well, welcome to GE anyway, bookmark if you like what you see, and if you want to support our bandwidth bill, check out one of the Google Ads.

Cheers,
Tom Parry-Jones
Article Writer

MarkMI6 (Editor) at 20:34, Tue 11 May 2004
Please God support out bandwidth bill! You use it you pay it right!? Then click a Google Adsense link, please!

And welcome all /.ers, I hope you're having fun melting our server because I'm fucking loving it (:

Kind regards,
Mark Murphy
Editor
www.gamerseurope.com

proudclod (Staff) at 20:39, Tue 11 May 2004
Well, to be fair, the server's standing up all right, but the unpredictable spiky nature of the hits from /. makes watching our referrer logs more fun than it really should be.

There's a chance we might hit the SQL query limit we set for the main site at some point this hour, but I'll try to go in and fix that for now :)

Re:bad slashdot, bad slashdot!!

[ProudClod]

As Mark said, we love it really :)

See my other reply for the text of the post, and an explanation of what happened.

Unfortunately, our server admin isn't around at the moment, so we can't switch to either of the backup DB servers - you'll just have to wait :)

Hmmm

[ndogg]

I wonder what the battery life will be like. That's been a major factor in Nintendo's dominance and if Sony doesn't get that right, they're going to be squashed in this area like everyone else.

Looks great...

[Metroid72]

I wonder how much Shock and drop tests they have done.

I'd be affraid to drop it after shelling out $250.

Re:Looks great...

[capt.mellow]

good reason to use the lanyard hole on the lower-left corner . . .

Re:Looks great...

[TheLoneDanger]

I also have concerns about Sony's ability to build durable gaming products. With PS1, the first generation had overheating problems and problems with the laser. With PS2, people report that it scratches their discs (especially if placed standing upright), and also problems with the laser.

Frankly, I've NEVER had any problem with any Nintendo hardware, but I've had numerous problems with Playstation hardware. I definitely won't pay $250 for something that I will always have to be afraid of breaking just by bouncing it around.

Check out the controls

[b00y4]

I'm a little worried about the placement of the d-pad and the buttons. In the pictures they appear to be located right at the edge of the unit. It appears as though you'll have to hold it in your fingers rather than letting it rest in your palms to be able to operate the buttons.

Battery life

[SuperKendall]

Nintento right now is probably chortling with glee that SOny did not include bluetooth support for the PSP, which the DS has (as well as WiFi).

That should equate to better battery life for the DS, which Nintento has always been very careful about.

Re:Battery life

[Short Circuit]

Uhm, that sounds backwards. Wouldn't wireless networking detract from battery life?

Re:Battery life

[TechniMyoko]

The DS doesnt have bluetooth. DS and PSP have 802.11, which is better. DS also uses its own proprietary format (not bluetooth)

PS3...P.S. Three

[hawado]

The PS3 has been out here in Japan since about Christmas and I have had the chance to take a close look at it. The design of the two levels of machine is, as would be expected, is impecable. Sony did a great job turning a black plastic gaming box into a beautiful, if not white, piece of home entertainment worthy of a place above your top end home theatre setup.
I find the prices for the two levels of units to be a bit high for my taste... the lower level machine coming in at around 70,000 yen and the top unit priced at around 90,000 yen. You get all the bells and whistles on either unit with a slightly larger hard drive on the top end unit.
It appears to me that with these units, Sony is not so much trying to put a gaming machine in every home, they have near done that with the PS1 and PS2, but rather they seem to be trying to redefine the home entertainment idology. Sony creates all the hardware needed for a full home entertainment system, from TV to 5.1 to speakers and now to networked gaming. Add to that their portable devices and their top knotch work in mobile phone tech and all the sony entertainment content provided by sony picture and sony music, and you have a hard time believing that thier last 10 years of positioning has been anything but planned for the future.
Whether Microsoft, or any other company releases a game unit that one day might blow away the PS3 in ability, Sony still commands a huge lead in the interconectivity of "entertainment". They seem to be doing for the whole home entertainment areana what they did with the Sony Walkman... They are defining the vernacular that will become the cornerstone of future entertainment. When, 10 or 20 years from now, someone says, "lets get a home entertainment unit hunny. (HEU ;))" it will be like saying, "I am going to buy a new walkman this afternoon.", of course it would make no diference if it were a sony or a panasonic or a sharper image unit... The walkman vernacular was defined and like Q-tips or Jet-Ski the brand name will define the iconography and ideology.
Back to the PS3. I think I will wait until they hit the same price as a good DVD player or provide a more streamlined interface with other standard home theatre parts before I shell out my hardly earned cash for one.

Re:Yea, but does the PS2 run Linux?

[LinuxGuyFriend]

PS2's run Linux perfectly well and you can of course cluster them. But in my opinion, you'd be better off just getting a brand new PC with 1GB and an AhtlonXP 2500+. Faster in every way, a usable amount of RAM (unlike a PS2), easier maintenance, etc. Almost certainly cheaper too, especially if you add a hard drive to each PS2...

I don't believe it..

[DrEldarion]

Hold the phone... you actually BOUGHT an N-Gage? What were you thinking?

Re:I don't believe it..

[Moofie]

You mean "Hold the taco..."

Sony/PSP Owned

[lotsofno]

DS (2 high res shots):

WarioWare Inc. DS, & Super Mario 64x4 screens

WarioWare, Inc. DS: One screen isn't big enough to contain Wario's greed and ego. He appears on the top screen and drops boxes to the bottom one, where they open an assortment of wild mini-games. Use the stylus and touch screen to drag a net and catch some fish, or to cut a rope to drop a cage around a duck. Players might have to erase or draw pictures, or slice at food that gets thrown at them. Finish as many mini-games in 35 seconds as possible. The game features the same good humor and fast pace that are hallmarks of the WarioWare franchise.

Super Mario 64x4: The landscape and the characters all look familiar. This is the opening castle area of Super Mario 64, only with a few DS twists thrown in. Up to four players can link up using the wireless capabilities. Players move familiar characters like Mario, Luigi, Yoshi and Wario around the 3-D landscape, exploring and looking for stars. While one screen shows the player's character position, the other provides an overall map of the area. Touch a spot on the screen to pop the camera over to another player's position, or to take a close-up look at the castle.

Metroid Prime: Hunters, & Pictochat screens

Metroid Prime: Hunters: This amazing first-person battle game uses wireless technology to connect up to four players simultaneously (in the E3 demo version). Each player gets a Metroid suit of a different color, and then tries to destroy the three opponents. Touch the stylus to the bottom screen to rotate the camera, aim and fire, or to transform into a Morph Ball. The game features the same artwork, sound, graphics, architecture and ambience found in the huge hit Metroid Prime.

PictoChat: Up to 16 players (two in the E3 demo version) can use the wireless functions to link together and exchange instant messages or drawings. The bottom screen shows a standard keyboard, while instant messages from other users appear in the top screen. Players can type text messages using the keyboard, use the stylus to send messages in their own handwriting or simply draw and transmit a picture. If another user sends a picture, the recipient can modify it and send it back. Play a game of wireless virtual hangman or send covert messages to other users.

Other 1st party demos they will be showing includes Mario Kart DS, Animal Crossing DS, NEW Super Mario Bros., Nintendogs

GCN:

Advance Wars: Under Fire screens

Metroid Prime 2: Echoes quicktime movie

MATURE ZELDA screens

Re:Sony/PSP Owned

[Anonymous Coward]

Umm...
Holy Crap...

Re:Sony/PSP Owned

[ZaMoose]

Holy crap, indeed! Those Advance Wars shots for the GC look amazing!

Great, just great. I had enough problems kicking my addiction to the AW GBA incarnations.

Re:Sony/PSP Owned

[Anonymous Coward]

Great. Another rehash.

Nintendo's gotta get some new ideas.. I am sick of playing the same games over and over again.

Re:Sony/PSP Owned

[metroid composite]

Nintendo's gotta get some new ideas.. I am sick of playing the same games over and over again.

In that case, enjoy your almighty PSP games consisting of...

Metal Gear Acid
Gran Turismo 4
Tales of Eternia (already released on PS1 incidentally)
Devil May Cry (or was it DMC3?)
Viewtiful Joe
Frogger!
What seem to be a bunch of other PS1 ports

I'm also guessing you haven't played the original Warioware (a new fresh idea, incidentally) since the gameplay in the parent's description sounds totally different (given that you only used the A-button and D-pad in the first one; compare that to a touch screen).

RIDICULOUS

[Anonymous Coward]

rIdiculous
rIdiculous
rIdiculous
rIdiculous
rI diculous
rIdiculous!!!!!

Important Stuff

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Re:PS3...P.S. Three

[Anonymous Coward]

What are you, high?

Whoa flashback!

[los furtive]

Am I the only one who thought this looks just like the Atari Lynx?

Oh how I miss my Lynx.

Re:Whoa flashback!

[Anonymous Coward]

Yes, you are.

Re:Whoa flashback!

[Anonymous Coward]

I still have a working Lynx with about a dozen games. People give the Game Gear a lot of honors, but they forget that the Lynx had much better games and capabilities and was there first. When I was young I really wanted a portable game device so I went to the store with the intention of buying a Game Boy. However, after playing the Lynx demo unit for a few minutes, I realized how much of a better device it was. Unfortunately the Lynx is another one of those examples were a good product dies because of poor marketing. Oh well.

What about the F'ing HDD!!!!

[mhoover]

All I want are some maps for Socom and a media player! Is it so hard?

I dont see how this is a troll...

[beakerMeep]

I don't see why this post was modded as a troll and this is coming from someone who is far from a sony fanboi (don't even own a Playstation but I do have a GBA).

Sony did what sony does best - it made the PSP look cool. This will help A LOT as I am sure both systems will be able to play games well.

I'll say I have to agree nintendo is making a big mistake with the DS -- it's got cool advanced features but they might be hard to market to kids (bluetooth,wi-fi,dual screen,touchscreen) which is nintendo's traditional market. And it may be losing some of it's best features (compact size, battery life?) I dont really know. All I know is when I first heard of the DS, all I could think was what a silly idea it was and I usually am not the critical of new products. It's all comes down to a big "we'll see". But if i were nintendo I would be shaking in my boots (or muchrooms as the case may be) because the compitition looks to be feirce.

Re:I dont see how this is a troll...

[dunsurfin]

bluetooth,wi-fi,dual screen,touchscreen are going to be the reasons kids buy the DS - think about it. Straight away you have a solidly built gamemachine that is designed for competitive and collaborative play. Nintendo will own the kid market here. Sony will do better with the older and more solitary markets - because it looks "cool."

Kids will be trying to sneak these things into class so they can play against their mates and send messages to each other. You will get DS smart mobs

Personally I am inclined towards getting the DS myself, if only because Nintendo seems to get the ergonomics of games better than anyone else. Less hung up on technical superiority and more on gameplay.

That said, I wish there was something like GTA available on Nintendo......

Re:I dont see how this is a troll...

[Anonymous Coward]

Nintendo has made a mistake before, Remember Nintendo's Virtual Boy, http://www.nintendo.com/systemsclassic?type=vb

Re:I dont see how this is a troll...

[Short Circuit]

With mesh network routing, it could add a whole new meaning to passing notes in class.

Or, in a lecture hall.

Re:I dont see how this is a troll...

[Anonymous Coward]

How the hell can you compare the DS to the Virual Boy??

Might as well say "Remember that robot thing with 2 games?"...just as pointless.

The DS is hitting the market with a large and established library of games, neither the VB or the damn robot had many games...ever

I see the PSP as a fad and it will gain a small cult following, but overall it will be about as exciting as the Nokia N-Gage with a slightly larger library and fanboy base.

Not Likely

[oGMo]

Heck, Maybe in the future all controllers will be touch screen, and the button configurations will depend on the game programmers themselves

Given current touchscreen technology this isn't likely. Currently, touch screens (or even touch pad mice) register only a single touch at a time, and they wear out after a number of touches (usually like 100k). Given that you at least need two buttons at a time (direction and action), usually more, this probably won't happen.

Maybe someone will come along with cheaper better technology that makes this possible, but the tactility of mechanical buttons along with the cheaper manufacturing costs will keep them around for the foreseeable future.

Re:Not Likely

[Short Circuit]

1. Take two sheets of tin foil
   
2. Place them on top of each other
   
3. Cut them into identical 10x10 grids.
   
4. Now attach a wire to each piece.
   
5. Place a soft insulator (e.g. plastic wrap) between the two sheets of squares
   
6. poll the pairs of wires for a change in capacitance
   

Voila!

You've got a pressure-sensitive touchpad that will register any number of identical presses on an XY grid.

Repeat the process with transparent conductors (e.g. saltwater) and you'll have a touchscreen you can see through.

Make it a little more advanced, and you can measure the distance between the conductors by sending a signal to only one of the two conductors in a cell. (for example, measure the current flow in an AC signal of sufficient voltage.)

BTW...I claim this as prior art for patents.

Re:Not Likely

[Short Circuit]

er... s/identical presses/individual presses/

2.5 Hours!!!

[Anonymous Coward]

According to Gamespot, the battery life is only 2.5 hours with video, and 10 if audio only. I imagine audio-only means through the memory stick (to keep those lasez from burning through the batteries).

2.5 hours, even rechargable, sounds like a DOA product to me. It's like the Lynx all over again?

MOD PARENT UP +2*PI!

[Anonymous Coward]

Seriously, that is some funny shit. I actually laughed out loud. Sega's days are numbered. Hell, you could probably count them on one hand.

PSP Vs. NGage

[mebob]

The screen is impressive. The NGage designers must really be crying now. 16:9 Vs. god knows what... or the two screens (4:3??) on the DS. ...looking at the pictures again, it reminds me a lot of the Atari Lynx.

Re:WHY! Why does a portable system have so many po

[DarkFencer]

I know Pokemon originated on GB. I wasn't that clear, but it seemes like the vast majority of games on GBA are Ports OR remakes OR pokemon (which I can't stand).

There are some great games out there though. Golden Sun and Golden Sun: The Lost Age are two of the best Console RPGs out there. Other then those Pokemon and a scant few others, there are no original RPGs on the system.

My God, Sony Is Going To Get Their Asses Sued

[BRock97]

Check out the following image!

Look at all those poor cross-eyed people! Who in their right mind would sacrifice their eyes for that little handheld?!

Navin Johnson is probably rolling in his grave!

Re:My God, Sony Is Going To Get Their Asses Sued

[adwb]

Those people were obviously posed for the pictures to keep their faces and the logo in focus.

Look how close their hands are to their chests... no one with a screen that large would hold it so close.

Re:My God, Sony Is Going To Get Their Asses Sued

[Tezkah]

Yeah, remember all the lawsuits that bankrupted Nintendo during the fateful run of the virtual boy...?

Yeah, neither do I.

Re:poor microsoft

[Anonymous Coward]

Yes, but AFAIK the PS2 has been selling at a profit for a couple of years now, and the next gen of consoles is round the corner...

Re:WHY! Why does a portable system have so many po

[karnal]

On an offtopic note, I hope that GT will allow for multiple saves on one memory card.

Had a roomate at one point that couldn't really "play" the game, since I wouldn't go buy a memory card for him. (Wasn't his PS2, and I don't blame him for not throwing away 30$ just to save his GT stuff...)

Re:huh?

[MBraynard]

Don't forget: all your lightbulbs are belong to us.

Re:poor microsoft

[thaddjuice]

I'm going to buy an Xbox every week and throw it away just to hurt microsoft!

Why throw it away? At least build a beowulf cluster of those!.

Re:PS3...P.S. Three

[MJOverkill]

umm... The PS3 isn't finished yet! I'm assuming by the content of your post that you are talkin about the new PS2 multimedia center box they released last year.

Re:STEP ASIDE THERE PAL!!!

[Anonymous Coward]

ditracts?

Re:PS3...P.S. Three

[dancingmad]

Who modded this interesting? Unlss this guy is completely talking out of his ass, he means the PSX, not the PS3. The PSX is a home entertainment version of the PS2 with a lot of additional bells and whistles (TV recording onto a hard disk, etc). At its gameplaying core, the PSX is nothing but a PS2.

The PS3 hasn't even been fully spec'd yet, let alone in production. Although it will likely be similar in architecture to the PS2, it is NOT the PS2 nor is it the PSX.

Also, if this guy is actually in Japan, how on earth does he believe Sony is the end all, be all of entertainment? They're still selling (and buying!) Dreamcast games over there, let alone the Gamecube, which is doing well in its homeland. My experience has been there has always been plenty of room for the dominant company and other secondary companies (PS2/Gamecube, Gameboy/Wonderswan.

All and all, I call shennigans. As for the mods, don't mod stuff up unless you know what's being discussed.

Another Nomad

[Anonymous Coward]

My bet is the sony PSP will be another nomad. All the PSX (genesis) games on a handheld. I doubt that people want to buy all their games all over again, or DVDs to watch it on a 300$ over priced handheld, Nintendo will corner Sony here.

Call me crazy, but....

[freetolio]

Is that a mic hole at the bottom right corner of the screen?

Re:Call me crazy, but....

[Anonymous Coward]

ok ... you are crazy. down in the lower right hand side is the dc in jack. i can't find the image i saw it in, but the fact that the jack is yellow says it all.

PSP == Sw333333t = true

[blueZhift]

OMG, the PSP's about the sexiest thing I've seen today (hope the wife doesn't see this...). I love good clean attractive design. Like the iPod, it has a look that just whispers "i am cool, buy me."

If the PSP has the goods in terms of games and performance, then Sony has just renewed its license to print money. In the US style is important, but in Japan it's essential. I wouldn't be too surprised if the Nintendo DS goes back to the drawing board for some work before release.

I never really liked the PS2 design, the PS and PSOne were much more attractive to me. But with the PSP, Sony has a machine that casual gamers and the fashion conscious will line up for. If they come out at about $199 in the US, they won't be able to keep up with demand.

Re:PSP == Sw333333t = true

[Rallion]

Bah, forget the wife. I told my girlfriend I was breaking up with her to date the new Zelda game.

Her response was something like, "Fuck you, that bitch is mine."

Life is good.

Re:huh?

[Anonymous Coward]

And:

1. Screw in lightbulb
2. ???
3. Profit

Some thoughts...

[Hellasboy]

Battery life has always been the killer on portable systems. The turboexpress had a color screen before any other portable and rivaled the systems of the time (basically a shrunk down tg16). but it was expensive and drained batteries quickly. The atari lynx had a color screen but ate batteries even worse than the game gear, and of course the game gear. all superior systems to the game boy of their respective eras and all dead within a few years.

Rumors have it that the PSP has 2-2.5 hours of game playing time. How much time with the audio turned up? How much less with 802.11b enabled? Also, it's not too portable considering its size. If the dpad and buttons areas would have folded up to protect the screen, well, it would be an improvement in portability. (I expect a check from you, sony).

The DS seems nice but looks horrible. What's up with the extremely rounded edges? The top screen that utilizes the ARM-9 chip should have used a larger screen. If I was a designing student, this would be something I would crank out the night before it was due. The buttons are tiny. Sizewise it looks to be about a little smaller than the PSP.

Overall, the DS will have backward compatibility, 100$ cheaper, no region encoding, graphics just slightly less than the PSP. No word on battery life or media type of the new format.
The PSP will be able to play movies, mp3, horrid battery life, region encoding, 100$ more expensive, and slightly better graphics.

Other portables have offered to do more than the game boys of their generations and they've all failed. I think that the outcome will really depend on the DS. If the DS has a strong start and really takes advantage of the 2 screens, then I don't think we will see the PSP last long.

Re:Some thoughts...

[Anonymous Coward]

Nintendo didn't mention price, and Sony hasn't said anything officially either, so I wouldn't be comparing prices just yet.

Nintendo has some great franchises for DS, so Sony will find this a tough battle for those who think that it's all about software. And if they launch in America this year, that'll be a 3 month lead (and the all important Christmas!) over Sony.

But in Sony's corner is the fact that they're much more open to 3rd party development (did you see the long list of developers?) and the minidisc thing will bring production costs down too. Cartridges are expensive to make (compared with minidiscs) so you have to get your sales estimates just right, otherwise you might end up with a truckload of cartridges to bury in the desert. Publishers much prefer discs to cartridges.

I also wonder how durable the touchscreen is. With lots of little kids playing this thing, how soon before someone jabs their fat paw right through it?

Re:Some thoughts...

[paradesign]

I think battery life was much more an issue before built in rechargables. As long as i dont need to buy a pack of AAs for every session im fine with charging it every night, just like my cell phone, camera and other battery driven devices.

I do think that size will be an issue, its big, limiting its portability. Although its nice that its big in that the screen will be easily viewable without squinting or holding the thing 2 inches away from my face.

Re:poor microsoft

[theLOUDroom]

I believe it took 3 titles purchased for Microsoft to break even when the XBox was launched. With the reduction in component prices and the increases in manufacturing efficiency, they probably aren't losing much, if any, more than they were when the console was launched.

AFAIK the entire xbox endevor is still in the red, it's just that MS doesn't really care.

The situation reminds me of a quote from the movie Citizen Kane:
"at the rate of a million a year - we'll have to close this place in sixty years."

The xbox has continually been losing money, it's just that MS sees this as "buying in" to the console market. Companies do this all the time, especially large ones who see a particular market as important to their success.

Re:huh?

[Anonymous Coward]

One person can't mod it to +5. You'll need 4-5 of them.

a caddy? woo hoo!

[benderbending]

finally!

some sensible media! from this screenshot it appears that the little, shiny, fragile disc will be protected in a caddy!

now, if we could only convince everyone else to do this... i really hate that if my cds or games become scratched and unplayayble i am forced to purchase the flimsy media again. bastards.

Re:huh?

[king-manic]

to be complete you have to have one pull out a chart displaying
1- screw light bulb
2- ?
3-profit

Eye Toy

[mi]

Is there anything like EyeToy for anything but the PlayStation2? IMHO, this is the greatest entertainment device ever, and just might put most aerobics instructors out of business -- you play with your entire body and an hour or two provide quite a workout...

Re:Eye Toy

[rjung2k]

Mac users can get ToySight for use with their iSight cameras (or any other Firewire camera).

Re:Eye Toy

[JFMulder]

Yes, there is. It's called sex. And you don't even need a partner, tough you'll have to work harder to lose these pounds.

Re:poor microsoft

[Metallic Matty]

Actually, at current prices, Xbox is selling at a loss to Microsoft. They are hoping this will encourage sales for the system, and that they'll make it up on the sale of games.

And you're right, no point in supporting one company over another for "evil corp" reasons. Frankly, the way I see it, each company has its own domain. Up until recently I would say PS2 was the best system; but I think Xbox has taken over, with an excellent selection of games. Not to say that PS2 or Gamecube aren't good. Crystal Chronicles alone makes that system amazing.

New Poll: PSP

[CosmicDreams]

Here's an open-ended poll for this topic. How much would you pay for either the Sony's PSP or Nintendo's DS.

Re:poor microsoft

[incubusnb]

to lower the costs of production.

don't you mean, to prevent people from easily Modding it? thats was the original Purpose for all the Re-tooling, they where trying to Prevent Modding

Re: Snowballing

[Anonymous Coward]

The list of third party titles and developers is snowballing.

Veronica: That was "Snowball."
Dante: Why do you call him that?
Veronica: Sylvan made it up, it's a -- blowjob thing.
Dante: What do you mean?
Veronica: After he gets a blowjob, he likes to have it spit back in his mouth while kissing -- it's called 'snowballing.'

New Poll: How much would you pay?

[CosmicDreams]

Here's an open-ended poll for this topic. How much would you pay for either the Sony's PSP or Nintendo's DS?

Re:New Poll: How much would you pay?

[CosmicDreams]

Sorry for the double-post. Please excuse my stupidity.

Re:New Poll: How much would you pay?

[Anonymous Coward]

The typical parent won't pay more than $100 per portable system. That's really all that matters.

Re:poor microsoft

[theLOUDroom]

No, it's been improving, and ahead of schedule. Word is xbox will profitable sooner than originally expected, due to increased sales and drastically lower production costs. It makes me wonder how much of that includes boxes sold to dorks who think buying xboxes to mod and run linux on "screws microsoft over". It doesnt. An item sold is an item sold.

So if I start buying up gold and selling it for half what I'm paying for it, the more I sell the better?
I don't think so.

As long as the xbox is in active production and you're buying it for less that it cost MS to make it, they're loosing money on the deal (assuming you aren't going to buy games).

Re:huh?

[incubusnb]

don't forget the guy thats says "changing the Lightbulb, is it good, or is it whack?"

lots of networking features, just.......

[snellgrove2]

...imagine a cluster of those!!! ...ok, I really shouldn't have posted that, but I (ctrl+F, even... give it the credit) couldn't find anyone else who had. I apologise in advance!

In a related story...

[DanTheLewis]

Mr. William Gibson announced through his counsel today that he is suing the Sony Corporation (SNE) for patent infringement in its forthcoming "Cyber World" technology.

"Our client holds the prior art for all forms of cyberspace, jacking in, and networked virtual worlds," said David Boies, citing Neuromancer (1984).

"William Gibson is in the enviable position of owning the Internet," said Boies, in an interview with eWeek Tuesday. "It is clear from our stand point that we have an extremely compelling case against Sony. Mr. Gibson has millions of circulating copies and defending these ideas is as important today as the day they were published."

When asked if Gibson was contemplating further lawsuits, Boies replied "Right now we're focused on Sony. It's not that there's a shortage of companies in violation but, in terms of our resolve issues, we are not trying to announce a litigation path. For now, we are trying to get things resolved with Sony."

Burns through batteries?

[CaffeineKills]

As others have pointed out, it looks reminiscent of a sega game gear. I can only hope it doesn't go through power as quick.

Re:WHY! Why does a portable system have so many po

[mog007]

There's a very good reason that RPGs don't show up on portable consoles very often. How many consoles can be beaten in less than, say, 35 hours of continuous play? I can't think of a decent RPG that doesn't have a life of at least 40 hours in a straight run through, nevermind going through all of the side quests and other stuff that's optional. Battery life is getting better, but not that good. You'd still eat through 2 sets of batteries from a 35 hour game.

Re:poor microsoft

[DeXtroMe]

The figures saying Microsoft was taking a loss on each console was very early in the life of the Xbox. As with any technology the manufacturing technology has progressed enough that the production costs are a fraction of what they once were, and presumably, MS is no longer take a large loss, if any at all.

All Console Makers == Vaporware

[Anonymous Coward]

I find that all the console makers play pretty fast and loose with the truth up to the moment the system hits the street.

To counter your Sony examples, here are a couple of Nintendo examples off the top of my head:
GC will play DVDs
N64 will be upgradeable with the Bulky Drive

I'm sure if I was more of a Sega buyer I could spit off some Sega ones, too.

And many different consoles claim they will play the games of the previous one. I was actually pretty shocked that the PS2 really truly DID play PSX games.

Re:All Console Makers == Vaporware

[Cryptnotic]

There was a version of the GC made by Panasonic in Japan that also played DVDs.

The N64 DD drive was released in Japan. I think there were about 10 games for it.

Nintendo DS

[Anonymous Coward]

i hear the Xbox handheld will come with 2 screens also. that's so if one crashes, the other will take over.

Cracked

[CelticWhisper]

a robust anti-piracy encryption scheme...

Okay...so what do we give this one, 3 weeks? 4? I'm taking bets, winner gets my Natalie Portman picture collection.

Not enough buttons for an FPS

[Anonymous Coward]

Needs a least an extra joystick/d-pad. Shame, I had visions of wireless timesplitters DM.

Never buy first generation Sony stuff

[DigiShaman]

I've been burned with the failure of both my PS1 (the original that was released on 9/9/95) and PS2. And of course, they managed to fix the bugs with future product revisions. And this isn't limited with game systems, but it's rather more apparent with all of Sony's products I've encountered. As much as I want a PSP, I'll wait till a newer product revision (I don't mean model) is released before I crack open my wallet.

Re:Never buy first generation Sony stuff

[cens0r]

My PS2 failed as well, but when sony fixed the problem with a future revision, they fixed mine for free. I didn't even have to pay shipping to them.

Re:Never buy first generation Sony stuff

[Anonymous Coward]

hmm sort sounds like the business practices of apple to me...

Re:poor microsoft

[SphericalCrusher]

That... wouldn't hurt Microsoft. Taking it back in exchange for your money, then the store throwing it away would though.

My vote is for the DS

[gilmet]

I just want to throw it out there that I'm extremely excited about the DS. I mean, the PSP is really awesome, but I'll definitely spend my first $150 (or whatever it ends up being) on the DS.

Also, does anyone else get the feeling that non-portable consoles are going to go by the wayside? I really never thought about it before, but after seeing the PSP and the DS, I really have no interest in a PS3 or an xbox 2.

Re:My vote is for the DS

[DannyiMac]

Aww but the PSP has a memory stick slot! That should make you orgasm and buy it ASAP!!!

Re:a caddy? woo hoo!

[Anonymous Coward]

CD used to have those. I've used old drives that required you to put a cd into one just to be able to read one. It is a shame that with cds and dvds we didn't look at protecting them the same way we protect floppy disks.

Re:WHY! Why does a portable system have so many po

[Elwood P Dowd]

I know the financial reasons for it, but

But what? If you know the financial reasons for it, then you know all the reasons.

Re:WHY! Why does a portable system have so many po

[Anonymous Coward]

GT on a handheld? NO thanks. Can you imagine an endurance race? The battery would die before you'd finish!

Re:More info on the PSP - MOD PARENT UP

[RyuuzakiTetsuya]

:O
Indeed sir

MOD PARENT UP

In-Vehicle monitor, anyone?

[puddles]

16:9 aspect ratio, MPEG4 codec, Wifi ...

I hope Sony has the foresight to make it easy to
stream video to this thing via the wireless interface. This would make a KICK-ASS in-vehicle monitor for watching movies. No need to modify the backrest or use cumbersome headrest mount ...

It plays Toy Story in realtime!

[MacFury]

"ps2 renders toystory in real time." Indeed. PSH

I was able to pop in the toy story DVD and it rendered the video in real time. :-)

Re:It plays Toy Story in realtime!

[Anonymous Coward]

I was able to pop in the toy story DVD and it rendered the video in real time. :-)

Not to be a jerk or anything, but the Toy Story DVD is pre-rendered. You're just playing back video.

Of course, I'm rather drunk so I may have totally missed if you were being sarcastic/joking.

Why b?

[rockhome]

I mean, I know that most hot spots are 802.11b, but even still, 802.11b is superceded by 802.11g, is it not?

Not to mention, WEP is pretty weak, and the better data rates and range. I would much rather have a device with 802.11g these days.

How wrong am I?

Re:Why b?

[IANAAC]

You said it yourself: Most hotspots are 802.11b. Personally, I don't know of any public hotspots that are 802.11g (private, corporate, yes).

It really doesn't make sense to sink money into a sepc that will only frustrate users because they can't use it.

Re:Why b?

[EllF]

Well, they'd be able to use the 802.11b hot spots, just not at the full capacities of their devices. And presumably, the day will come when those older hot-spots are upgraded, making that access available.

They'll either be frustrated now, or frustrated later.

Alpine Touch Screens Have Tactile Feel.

[albieomoss]

although i pretty much agree with you, there are touch screens now that use a technolgy called PulseTouch(TM), it uses vibrations to simulate the effect of pushing a real button. Here is a link to one model that incorporates the technology.

Whatever it takes!

[Anonymous Coward]

Now that's a hard one to answer. If I give up an arm for it... well, it's just not designed for single hand usage. If I give up a leg or two, the portability aspect becomes moot. I'd offer first born, but I'm wary of the interest accrued until it's payable. I guess that leaves... organs? Liver, lung, and a kidney. Will that cover it?

Re:poor microsoft

[Rallion]

I know that the Gamecube was sold at profit at launch, and I believe the profit per console has actually dropped as the price cuts have been a bit quicker than production improvements.

I also know the PS2 didn't lose nearly as much per sale as the XBox did, if any. I think it was pretty much even, however.

wireless chat?

[Cryptnotic]

Um, unless your friends are deaf, why not use your voice to chat?

Re:wireless chat?

[NanoGator]

"Um, unless your friends are deaf, why not use your voice to chat?"

What's really frustrating about your comment is that you were modded insightful even though I said "on-line".

Re:wireless chat?

[DeadScreenSky]

Doesn't the DS have a built-in mic? That is what all the E3 articles I looked at said...

Re:poor microsoft

[OrangeTide]

Stores throw it away? Nonsense. Not unless it's broken. and some manufactures have deals with the store to have items sent back. Many don't of course. so if I take it back and say it didn't work. Then they might through it away. but even that is iffy. Many places just sell it again.

Now I will admit though that it would be more costly for microsoft to go and return items, and I would not have a significant cost to myself to do it. Until places stop accepting my returns. Or if I can't stand having thousands in store credit because they refuse to give cash refunds on opened items.

Re:poor microsoft

[Anonymous Coward]

Both the Sega Saturn and Sony Playstation sold at a loss; about %50 for the PSX and over $100 for the Saturn.

3D0 sold at a lost for awhile as well, after the initial $700 price point was quickly adjusted to something more realistic (at $700 I'm sure it was making a profit for the hardware manufacturers since they did not have a piece of the software pie to make money on at that time).

I wouldn't be surprised if all of the "post 16-bit" machines lost money up front. The only one I think probably broke even was the N64, thanks to its use of cartridges.

Re:poor microsoft

[SphericalCrusher]

Yeah man, stores throw away most of the junk that is returned to them. I have friends and relatives that work at major stores around here that bring home some nice shit. Of course they won't throw away televisions and computers, but DVD players, cellphones, digital cameras, etc... they just give to employees and mark as damaged on their list.

Re:Yea, but does the PS2 run Linux?

[CronoCloud]

There's been a price drop, the Linux kit is now available for $99

Define "crippled"

Re:Yea, but does the PS2 run Linux?

[CronoCloud]

What would you want to do with it that you think you can't?

There's a hard drive in there, USB ports, Ethernet. You can do all sorts of things with one:

Telnet into it from your WinXP box and play tty Nethack

Use Cygwin/X and run applications remotely, like tiled Nethack

Plug in a memory card reader and put photos from your digital camera on it and actually edit them in the GIMP.

Start up FireFox and read/post to Slashdot.

Start up Thunderbird and read/post to rec.games.roguelike.nethack

Hang out in #nethack on irc.freenode.net with a graphical or console based IRC client.

IM your friends with Gaim.

Write a novel.

Play mp3's on it

Encode mp3's with lame (takes about an hour and twenty minutes for that though)

Run Samba, and use it as a file server

or ftp

You can use it as a webserver too.

Cluster a whole bunch of them and use them for scientific applications like the NCSA does.

All sorts of things.

Re:poor microsoft

[dabraun]

I think that was just a convenient side effect that they were able to work in ... similar to having XP SP1 block known pirate keys - they didn't create SP1 just so that they could block pirate keys.

They need to do periodic redesigns to cut the costs down when the potential cost reduction is significant.

David

Hmm.

[Inoshiro]

"they wear out after a number of touches (usually like 100k)"

When I worked at McD's in high school, they had touch screen registers. That was 7 years ago. They still use the registers today. In a similar vein, I'm still using my touch-screen PDA that I've used for 3 years. It gets quite heavily used.

I don't think the "wear out" factor is a real factor ;p

off topic but its gotta be said

[CrystalChronicles]

um.. you should try uses their newer stuff. The mzr-50 was released in 1997 man!

but in defence of the mz-r50, the mz-r50s battery pack fits a 2 *standard* AA batteries giving you hte choice of using rechargables of your choosing or cheap AA alkalines. Also the mzr-50 was a big power hog because it used a 3v lens. it wa soon replaced, one to half a year later by the mzr-55 which used a 1.5v lens.

Re:off topic but its gotta be said

[suyashs]

Interesting...hah, thanks for the correction. And thats why people always comment on the quality of the MZ-R50 and how many other people have problems with the MZ-R55, not that I've researched it or anything...I just read a few forum posts a few years back.

Tahya al-moqawama al-Iraqiyah!

[Anonymous Coward]

Tahya al-moqawama al-Iraqiyah!

Re:poor microsoft

[DeadScreenSky]

Wrong. At least PS2, GC, Saturn, and PSX all sold at an initial loss as well. Some of these were very brief (supposedly for the GC it was just the first few months), but overall it is far more common than the urban legend you are restating.

Re:huh?

[stanmann]

Silly AC, Slashdotters screw in hottubs

Re:WHY! Why does a portable system have so many po

[N1KO]

If people weren't morons, they wouldn't keep buying the games they already paid for and the financial reasons wouldn't exist.

This applies both to the ports of (S)NES and Pokemon. I've played 3 or 4 different versions of Pokemon to see what was different and they were all exactly the same.

Re:WHY! Why does a portable system have so many po

[Sri Lumpa]

The gaming market today is much bigger than when the SNES ruled so while mot old time gamers already have played the original SNES games there are still plenty of new gamers that haven't and since they are still good games and the most expensive part of developing them is done it is only natural to have so many ports.

I agree with you in general but I realise that only "old timers" have enough perspective to view it that way and I don't think they are the majority of gamers today.

I disagree with you in particular (for my situation) because when the SNES was out I was a kid and my parents wouldn't buy a game-only machine (had an Atari ST) and today, when I have more disposable income, it is much harder to find old SNES games so G ports can be a welcome alternative.

The real problem is not so much their existance but their price which makes them look like rip-off when you know how old they are.

Re:poor microsoft

[Anonymous Coward]

"the profits come from the games."

Profits? What profits? Microsofts home entertainment division has never even been close to breaking even. Most analists agree that the Xbox has already lost more then 4 billion dollars.

Lets face it. The only reason Microsfot is still in the buisness is that they are sitting on a fat Monopoly. No other company would be willing to take such massive losses.

Re:poor microsoft

[buffer-overflowed]

No, the GCN was sold to retailers for more than it cost Nintendo to make until the price drop Nintendo used to clear out backstock last November. It now sells at a minimal loss(I'm not even sure if it still does) which they make up for with IIRC only one game sale. The PS2 and PSX were also sold to retailers for as much(and more at times) than they cost Sony to make.

Have proof otherwise? Atari couldn't prove it when they were accusing Sony of dumping, and Sony vehemantly denied selling systems at a loss. Both with the PS2 and the PS1. Rather the myth was born in the PS1 era due to reductions in manufacturing costs and a change in exchange rates.

How could the PS1 cost $500 at launch in Japan and a year later cost only $300 here!? The people cried.

Well, RAM dropped in price by half, Sony made all the parts themselves, and the exchange rate went from 80 yen to the dollar to 110 yen to the dollar. Had they made NO improvements in the product line at all, and RAM hadn't dropped in price at all, it would've gone from $500 to $363 just due to exchange rates. Add in a $30(adjusted to $21) per megabyte reduction in the cost of RAM plus production improvements and you can easily see how Sony was making a TIDY profit off every unit sold @ $300.

The N64 never took a loss either per Nintendo. Got proof otherwise?

SEGA sold both the Saturn and the Dreamcast at a loss. Neither Nintendo(until last November) nor Sony ever DID.

MS has taken the highly successful end-era SEGA model and sells the XBox at a massive loss in a bid for market share, hoping to defer part of it through game sales. This isn't the typical console business model, contrary to what many think.

Stop perpetuating the fiction.

Both support wireless...

[SuperKendall]

Both support wireless, but the DS supports Bluetooth (which uses much less power than WiFi) while the PSP supports only WiFi.

Worse, not better

[SuperKendall]

The DS doesnt have bluetooth. DS and PSP have 802.11, which is better. DS also uses its own proprietary format (not bluetooth).

Sorry, I read that in TheRegister and around /... but from the sounds of things the "Nintendo Proprietary" thing is basically bluetooth, just with a proprietary Nintento profle.

However I have to correct your misperception that WiFi is automatically better. Yes it is faster. But that comes at the price of using an order of magitude (yes that is correct) more power than Bluetooth and things like it. If you are going to be sitting a few feet away from your friend anyway, why not use Bluetooth and get a few extra hours out of the battery?

Furthermore, the processors in these things are not all that powerful and are not going to be able to take full advatnage of the WiFi bandwith anyway. The WiFi is there probably more to download content from computer networks (or perhaps act as a simple browser) and is probably not gong to be used often, as Nintendo is smart enough to keep the battery life as high as possible.

Re:poor microsoft

[DeadScreenSky]

The Gamecube was sold for a loss initially, as Nintendo (via Peter Main) themselves admitted. Don't have the time/energy to find an exact transcript, but a couple of places you can see references to it are here, and here. The highly regarded (and massively overrated) "Acts of Gord" website also references it, as do many other places. For some reason the GC got an early reputation for not selling at a loss, even though Nintendo said otherwise. This myth is slowly dying out, at least.

Most PS2s were of course rush-shipped by (massively expensive) air transport to make the US launch, so there is no way they were sold at a profit initially.

You very well could be right about the PSX, though I still suspect a slight loss in the beginning. I am perfectly willing to concede that, however.

Never argued the N64 was sold at a loss, so I won't defend that statement now, either. :P

I certainly wouldn't argue that selling at an initial loss is the "typical console business model", but it has been used by every major manufacturer (short of perhaps Atari). Especially if you expanded the idea to include selling for a loss at any point in the console's life, which seems fair to me. It is perfectly true to say that most recent consoles are sold using the razorblade model at one time or another, even if via a 'forced' early price-drop.

Glad to see you admit the Saturn was sold at a loss now, though. :D