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Sony drops Router Functions from PS3
astrokid writes "Well, it has begun. Sony announced that the PlayStation 3 will no longer act as a home network router. How long before more news trickles in about the downgrading of other features?" From the GI.biz article: "Whether that means the bank of network ports on the back of the box has actually been reduced to a single port is not clear, however, as the company has previously hinted that it has other plans in mind for the multiple network ports."
This decision is probably not driven by the Bill Of Material cost, but the service cost.
The BOM cost is the cost of the parts to build a gizmo - in this case the cost to have a couple of extra ports is going to be pretty small - on the close order of US$10. While for a device that is targeting US$500 or less that is not trivial, it is not a huge value either.
The service cost is the cost of all the consumers calling in saying "I cain't git this here thimagigitt to work!" Making this thing be a router while it plays games would increase the software complexity (basically, it would have to be running the Linux kernel all the time, and would have to NOT reboot between games - a paradigm shift for game designers).
So they probably decided that the router idea just wasn't worth the hassle.
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Sony has a history of doing this sort of thing.
They promised a lot for PS2 too.
But features got dropped when it was finally released.
Same with PSX.
Why did the PS3 function as a router in the first place? Last time I checked, the reason I would buy a PS3 is to play games on my TV, and I really don't want my enterainment center doubling as my switch rack. I've got enough wires behind it as it is, without bringing in a bundle of CAT-5 as well. The best place for a router is in a closet somewhere, so I don't have to see the half dozen or so wires comming into it.
I think that this "feature" is another example of Sony and Microsoft pushing way too hard for the "media center" idea rather than making a good game console. We don't need an all-in-one device that does a bunch of different things, but none of them really well. Just give me a game console, where I can pop a disc/cartridge/whatever in, push a button or two and I am pointlessly slaughtering aliens/demons/humans. I have a DVD player, I will soon have a MythTV box, I have a nice NAT/router box, what the hell do I need these features in my PS3 for?
Necessity is the mother of invention.
Laziness is the father.
In other news Linksys announced that their routers will not support playing Doom3 on them.
If I want a router, I will buy a router. If I want a video game system I will buy a video game system. Making something more expensive by adding features that make absolutely no sense is not going to get my to buy your product. Frankly it wouldn't bother me if today's video game systems couldn't play DVDs either (although I understand why they do, it practically costs nothing to add that when you are using DVD media anyway). What I REALLY want to see is backward compatibility with older systems, which Sony seems to understand. Microsoft clearly does not.
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Finkployd
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Lots of people complained that Nintendo didn't reveal anything about the Revolution at the E3, and that it would lose the console war because the PS3 and the Xbox360 have so many cool features... Well guess what, not only did Sony just get one less cool feature, but they also just got bad publicity.
Did you really expect to see everything they bragged about at the E3 actually become reality?
After 3 days without programming, life becomes meaningless
- The Tao of Programming
Sony has already established themselves (in the mind of the press and public) as the "most advanced console" for the new generation. Having accomplished this through their littany of features and faked gameplay videos, we will now see Sony move back from their original claims: Less features, lower performance, etc.
I suggest this is brilliant marketing by one of the world's leading electronics companies, and it won't hurt them a bit.
Personally, it ticks me off, but hats off to them for playing *us* so well.