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Playstation 3 Development Underway

Posted by Zonk on from the next-gen-shiny dept.

At least in the United Kingdom, developers are already being handed development hardware for Sony's next-gen platform in anticipation of its debut at E3. From the article: "Sony plans to show the next-generation PlayStation off in public for the first time at its pre-E3 conference in Los Angeles in May, where it will almost certainly debut within a few hours of the public unveilings of Nintendo's Revolution and Microsoft's next-gen Xbox."

9 of 105 comments (clear)

  1. Too Fast? by Nos. · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I wonder at what point next-gen consoles will begin to not create the positive hype that seems to currently surround them. I'm not a huge console gamer, but at some point people will no longer be willing to shell out the money to move to the newest console until a time when the price of the console has dropped well below its initial levels. Even in the PC world, the percentage of people that will rush out to pick up the newest video card seems to be dropping. There isn't quite the anticipation that there once was.

    1. Re:Too Fast? by Crimsane · · Score: 5, Funny

      In most cases I would agree with you, but I would give an exception to the PS3.

      As a geek and longtime gamer, I'd let go of one of Natalie Portman's breasts to hold onto a cell processor right about now.

  2. I don't get it by dauthur · · Score: 5, Funny

    What's with all of this Playstation stuff? I've still got my NES.

  3. Re:Sorry your console is out of date... by ArsonSmith · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I think you meant years not minutes. I've had my PS2 for around that long. And yes I even updated my Debian Linux distribution twice in that time.

    --
    Paying taxes to buy civilization is like paying a hooker to buy love.
  4. not any time soon by Ender+Ryan · · Score: 4, Insightful
    That hasn't even BEGUN to happen with consoles. Console generations are generally at least 5 years apart, whereas new high-end video cards are released like ever single year.

    People jump to upgrade graphics cards based on the games they want to play. Several notable games have caused huge surges in card sales.

    With PC games in general waning in popularity, and with current cheap cards being able to play the top games well enough, it's no wonder people aren't jumping to buy the latest and greatest all the time.

    --
    Sticking feathers up your butt does not make you a chicken - Tyler Durden
    1. Re:not any time soon by Bios_Hakr · · Score: 4, Insightful

      When's the last time the resolution on your TV changed?

      For years, the PC monitor has had a resolution that cards couldn't max. That's starting to change.

      Especially with LCDs that top at 1280.

      But even with HDTV, the current consoles do just fine. A next-gen console has to offer something truly remarkable.

      Look at a PS game and then a PS2 game. Compare GT2 to GT4. But the differences between GT3 and GT4 are almost unnoticable.

      So, what will the PS3 offer? More CPUs to dedicate taskings between AI, graphics, and physics? Maybe another for sound? Then you add complexity to the developers's job. The games will become very expensive with the testing required to debug locking issues.

      Things I'd like to see:

      HDTV support.

      Better surround-sound.

      Better data caching to reduce load times.

      Support for a PC monitor.

      Headphone jack built in.

      Wireless controller standard built in.

      Standardised MP3 support for in-game audio.

      There are tons of other things they could add. But will they? Or will the PS3 be a PS2 with marginally better graphics?

      --
      I'd rather you do it wrong, than for me to have to do it at all.
  5. Hrmm by Ianoo · · Score: 4, Funny

    Playstation 3 - IBM Processor.
    X-Box Next - IBM Processor.
    Nintendo Revolution - IBM Processor.

    Is anyone noticing a pattern here?

  6. Re:Sorry your console is out of date... by oGMo · · Score: 4, Informative

    The 5-6 year lifespan on consoles is fairly typical, too. A brief timeline of consoles shows you have the NES at 6, SNES at 5, PS1 at 5. The trend continues, as you have noted, with the Cube and the PS2.

    Of course, if you look at some of the other, "runner-up" consoles... say, Sega's... you'll find them often being released in 3-4 year increments.

    --

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

  7. Re:This is one time... by hibiki_r · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Maybe you weren't paying much attention when Sony made the 'Rendering Toy Story in real time' claims. That sounded pretty revolutionary and cutting edge back in 2000. Unfortunately, it was all a big lie.

    A new console will cost up to $300 or so. Even if the console manufacturers take a, let's say, $100 loss on each console sold in the first year, it's still only $400 worth of hardware, built by the same companies that make computer processors and GPUs. The best we can hope for at a console launch is the same amount of raw power of a high end PC.

    If you were an ATI or nVidia executive, and you could manufacture a video card for a console manufacturer for, let's say, $200. Wouldn't you try to sell the same base components in the PC market for 2x the price? I know I would.