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Smaller Networked Sony "PStwo" Officially Announced
Asriel86 writes "Tokyo Game Show has
just kicked off, and with quite a bang. Sony just
officially
announced the PStwociting a stateside release date of November 1st, 2004. The
system will be 25% smaller than the current model, will feature a sleeker
design, and a built-in Ethernet port (no adapter required). Sony also says that
there will be 120 new Playstation 2 games with online compatibility by the end
of the year. That equates to thirty games per month or about one game per day
for the rest of 2004."
One hundred-twenty new online games before January? That equates to 30 games per month, or over one game per day until the end of 2004.
Woop! I am totally calling in sick -- for the rest of the year.
AC
"Sony also says that there will be 120 new Playstation 2 games with online compatibility by the end of the year." Developers are getting to the point on the PS2 where they've got to decide between creating a game that might be for a redundant system, or creating a game that might be ready for the new system's release. The change in status of the PS2 to the PStwo is symbolic, as it was for the PSone. It means that it's getting close to the end of it's lifecycle, which can only be downhill for developers.
Does anybody else get a little annoyed by this kind of thing? 25% smaller, half the weight and an included Ethernet port... enough to be jealous when my brother buys one, but not enough to buy one myself.
Will anyone that owns a regular PS2 buy one of these?
I think all of us agree this is a good thing from a gamers perspective. After all, we all agree smaller is generally better and what not, and dialup is evil.
However, on the flip side, how many people will buy them? Most people I know who enjoy using consoles already have a PS2, and are not likely to go buy a new one just because its a bit cooler. Even me being an addict, owning ever semi-modern console, I doubt I'll purchase anything that doesnt allow me to play more games.
And 120 games! By the end of the year? Do they realize what kind of a task that is? I realize its probably been planned for a while, but we all know that game developers have a hard enough time meeting deadlines without attempting to coordinate with a console release. They'll be lucky to clear 50.
Support more choices in goverment-Vote 3rd party.
Thats 75% smaller, not 25%. Its top loading as well. Check Gizmodo.com or engadget.com for better coverage.
I want 2D games back.
See a couple of pictures here.
It seems to me that Sony has always favored quantity over quality. If you go to any game store or video rental place there are many more PS and PS2 games than there are for the other consoles. And most of the PS2 games aren't all that good. I'd bet the ratio for good games to total games for PS2 compared to the GameCube and X-box is much lower.
"Armed forces abroad are of little value unless there is prudent counsel at home" - Cicero
No hard drive bay, which means no Final Fantasy XI.
Sort of similar to how they dumped the parallel port on later models of the original PlayStation, I suppose. It's interesting how support never really matierialised for the hard drive; but then again I can't think of an console expansion that has ever really flown in the marketplace.
Squenix can't be thrilled though.
The critical thing about the slimmed down version is that there doesn't appear to be anywhere to put a hard disk drive - which might well be a thinly veiled attempt by Sony to stop HDLoader or clones from being able to play copied games on newer consoles.
What about games that use or need the HDD? Final Fantasy XI in Europe? Hmm. The BBC and IGN are both running the story.
Meep meep
http://www.engadget.com/entry/8413288107686276/
Idiot, n. A member of a large and powerful tribe whose influence in human affairs has always been dominant
The PS3 will be like another year at least, maybe another two years. We won't even see first *signs* of the PS3 until March of next year. There has been zero indication whatsoever, even in the deepest depths of the rumor mill, that any developers even have the option of developing for the PS3 available to them yet.
Meanwhile unlike, say, XBox developers (and it does look possible the XBox2 may even be out before the PS3), PS2 developers have the comfort that their games will be compatible with the PS3 once it's released. For some time after the PS2 was released before the best-selling PS2 games were all PS1 games-- that's encouraging for developers of PS2 games.
External power supply
With that aggravating beauty, Lulu Walls.
I've got to say I'm suspicious of the number of games promised; the figure sounds incredibly high. However, there's no denying that Sony's greatest strength in the console market has always been their ability to get a vast number of third party titles on the shelves. The quality isn't uniformly high by any means and the PS2 probably has a higher ratio of turkeys to stars than any other platform. Nevertheless, the "shotgun" approach ensures that most gamers can find a good number of titles they like in their genre(s) of choice. I've owned all three consoles for over a year now and my PS2 is over two years old. However, I still find myself buying more games for the PS2 than for any other platform, because the sheer volume or releases means there are more titles that I want.
The alternative approach is best embodied by Nintendo (I'd say Microsoft fall somewhere in between the two). These days, Nintendo have a pretty sparse line-up of third party games. Their strategy seems to be to put out "big name" first party games on a fairly slow rotation. I won't get drawn into the argument over how good these games are; to some people they're the greatest and most innovative things ever, to other people they're insipid remakes of fifteen year old concepts. The point is that no game is going to appeal to all gamers. With a larger spread of games, the odds of you reaching the critical point at which your console becomes a "must buy" for an individual are inevitably going to be better in all sections of the market. This is why Sony have won the last two rounds of the console wars so comprehensively and why they will continue to do so (leaving aside the question of handhelds).
As many of us are aware, the youths in Asian countries, specifically Korea, Japan, Taiwan, and Malaysia (in that order) are very, very, VERY into online games.
Sure, Americans play Quake and Half-life and has its fair share of NeverEndingKnights (insert MMPORG of your choice), but what many people in US and EU may not realize is the extent and length of most games here in Asia-- all leading titles are Final Fantasy-type soap operas involving complex character building or multiple levels of progress, or are extended Command & Conquer-type 2-hour long epics dramas. There is an entire channel in the basic cable TV package that is essentially GTV (GameTV) and shows nothing but tournaments of overweight acne-ridden basement-dwellers duking out C&C-type games in a studio with cheeleaders, music, commentary, and bright flashing lights (it puts Iron Chef to shame).
Even car racing games have extended season-long stories, and you must match up against your arch rivals from across town. The arcades here have point cards not unlike the comp point cards at the casinos (which came first?).
In short, launching an electronic consumer good (TV, Stereo, Monitor, stand-along HD, Game Console, Guitar Amplifier) without an ethernet port nowadays is unthinkable.
davejenkins.com |
You know that you can turn off the PS2 from the front by holding down the green LED button (until it turns red), right? That's what the symbol on the button means (it's in the manual, too). This puts it in a very low-power stand-by state.
The switch in the back is only for turning off the machine for an extended period, or before you unplug it.
Here are a official press release(pdf) and some images by SCEI.
It comes smaller and slimmer: 900g weight(-55%) and 230x28x152mm size(-77% !!). It also have a new feature, a network interface(100BASE-TX/10BASE-T) as standard.
And still more, SCEI also announced PS3 will adopt blue-ray disc(pdf).
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They cost the same as the original console.
Personally, I think that integrated WiFi would be a better addition, either in addition to or in place of wired networking capabilities. This might make it a system-seller, but I doubt the slated feature set will sell many extras. Most likely just to the parents at Xmas time...
Sony needs to release a more advanced sdk for game developers. The PS2 isn't even near reaching it's potential and xbox games look SOOO much better simply because the authors can code in c++ and directx, which is what pc programmers have been programming in forever.
People say "graphics don't make the game" and are correct to a certain degree, but when aliased edges suspend your disbelief, it significantly reduces the amount of fun to be had in a sitting.
When you can get into the game and totally forget you're playing a game and just have fun in the "virtual world", that is when you know the developer has made a truly awesome game.
Chris
To the 50 - "blah blah blah how will they make 120 new games in 3 months, blah blah blah".
9
Here is a copy of the offical press release: http://www.gamegossip.com/pressrelease.php?id=995
And if you don't want to RTFA:
"During the year-end peak-selling season about 80 online game titles are expected to be available in Japan, with 120 titles and 65 titles respectively in North America and Europe. With the launch of the new network-ready(*2) PlayStation 2, the company expects to continually expand the world of online gaming in this generation."
I almost prefer people just copying other peoples work when submitting a story to reading something out of context and passing it along to the masses.
Has nothing to do with style, selling more consoles, or getting more people online.
Its because Sony figured out a way they could make more PS2s, cheaper, by changing the design... and probably get more cash per-sale for the units.
This is the same reason for the PS1.
This isnt necessarily a bad thing. I rather like the new PStwo (just as i really like the PSone) but dont go fooling yourself on the reason why. Its a cost-benifit analysis. Thats all.
no
I have heard from many sources that Sony released the slimmed down PSone because they had created a new chipset to allow the PS1 hardware to be integrated into the PS2 for backwards compatibility. Thus it made sense to package it as the small, inexpensive, stand-alone PSone to help revive that older market.
I wouldn't be surprised if this new PStwo stems from the exact same type of technology - a redesigned (aka smaller) PS2 chipset designed for integration into the future PS3.
Dan East
Better known as 318230.
Most PS2 games are free to play online. Only the MMORPGs actually cost money to play.
For more information, click here.
Uh, no major game company releases their big game _after_ the Christmas rush. The 10 games a day is actually somewhat believeable if you've looked at the release charts from now until Christmas with every developer trying to get their 3/4 finished game out the door and on the shelves before mommies everywhere try to find something for their kids.
I read the internet for the articles.
Do they seriously expect to be able to compete against Infinium Labs' Phantom? Good luck!
Anything worth doing is worth doing badly -- G.K. Chesterton