Sony's Meeting Reveals Brand Futures

1up.com has coverage of the meeting held yesterday in which Sony let more details slip on the future of the PSP, plans for the PS3, and the state of the Playstation 2. From the PS3 update: "One big piece of news is that Sony will be including both Havoc Complete and AEGIA, two physics modeling solutions, with the PlayStation 3 SDK. Even more importantly, Sony themselves will be providing 'frontline support' for Japanese developers. This should be a big boon to next generation development, as a lack of Japanese language documentation and support has been one of the major hurdles for Japanese developers to adopt middleware solutions."

Comments

Why the XBOX 360 will win

[RzUpAnmsCwrds]

Once again, Sony has produced a system that is difficult to develop for. Once again, they have over-hyped their system.

There's a problem with Sony's strategy, though: no one believes them anymore. The PS3 is like Windows Longhorn - far off, almost "mythical" in nature.

The XBOX 360 is real. It's hitting in time for the Christmas shopping season. It has strong online features. It integrates with Windows XP Media Center Edition.

Microsoft established "street cred" with the XBOX. Everyone now believes that Microsoft can deliver a game system that will offer a serious lineup of games and a real online component.

Sony has added tons of features to their console that push the price higher. Blu-Ray. Multiple HDMI connections. Multiple Gigabit Ethernet connections. Bluetooth. Wi-Fi. XDR DRAM. All of these features push the price higher. Right now, Sony is looking at a $400+ console. And all of them create the possibility of shortage.

On December 25, millions of people will be opening up an XBOX 360. Sony will have slides and promises.

Re:Why the XBOX 360 will win

[gl4ss]

not to say that sony hasn't over-hyped..

but so darn well has microsoft. the both consoles have specs "out of this world" and they've gone into a pissing contest over the hype(three cores 3.2 ghz... uhhuh).

question: does either one, microsoft or xbox, have their next gen cpu already delivered in actual silicon? neither had about a month or so back(the demos were run most probably on pc's or pre-recorded with simulators, more likely ran with pc's).

I don't think neither one of them will 'win', but both will be hard one's for the companies to make actual profit from(which of course doesn't matter to the end user that much). also, i don't think much of them untill they have them on actual sale, with actual pricing, with ACTUAL clues about how good the real games really look.

Re:Why the XBOX 360 will win

[Keeper]

Microsoft shipped the beta dev kits out about a month after E3, and apparently one kid managed to get his hands on a near final xbox 360 prototype that his dad brought home (http://www.360hacker.net/articles/07-18-2005/firs t-xbox-360-seen-in-the-wild/).

Sony has shipped out alpha dev kits as well, though what is in them at this point can't really be determined (not that it would matter; alpha dev kits, unlike beta dev kits, aren't representative of what you'll find in the final product). They are definately huge (http://www.engadget.com/entry/1234000747047835/) though ...

Re:Why the XBOX 360 will win

[Anonymous Coward]

Let's face it, all three of the developers are playing the hype machine for all it's worth.

I admit that Microsoft deserve slightly more credit than their competitors for actually releasing some snippets of what actually might, possibly, if you're perhaps a bit too trusting, be actual footage of the 360 in action. We've seen this kind of hype before though. Personally, I'll definitely be getting a 360 as soon as they're available in the UK, which will hopefully be by Christmas. On the other hand, I tend to buy pretty much any new console, so don't read too much into that. Whether the mass-market will go in the same direction is another question entirely.

The PS3 has been hidden behind a lot of smoke and mirrors so far. We've heard so much speculation about what it might or might not do that I've just given up tracking it. It's impossible to imagine the Gran Turismo, "main" Final Fantasy or Metal Gear Solid games jumping to another platform though, so I'd guess that the PS3's success is pretty much assured. The only question is whether it will manage to repeat the sales-dominance that the PS2 achieved.

I think Nintendo have been the most manipulative and disingenuous in terms of their marketing. As usual, they trot out the "it's all about the games, not the machines", "we don't do hype" and "innovation is king" arguments, which, despite continuing lack of evidence to support any of those lines, the fanboys and a good part of the gaming press swallow hook, line and sinker yet again. The "we don't do hype" line has, by now, become the centre-piece of the Nintendo hype machine. Funny, really. If I had to hazard a guess, I'd say that the Revolution will please the hardcore, but won't do much to reverse Nintendo's long-term mass-market decline.

Re:Why the XBOX 360 will win

[Anonymous Coward]

Lets look at this fairly. Microsoft says the xbox 360 will be out for the Christmas shopping season but they aren't known for telling the truth and being upfront with everyone.

I don't think you can claim that the xbox 360 has strong online features when Microsoft has just now announced 2 million subscribers for xbox live even though they gave away a free account with all 6 million copies of halo 2.

Does anybody really care if their video game system integrates with windows media center edition? It's an OEM only version of the operating system and even then it's a minority of the Windows OEM systems shipped.

Street Cred? A Serious lineup of games? While the xbox does have a decent library it has very few games other than Halo 1&2 with any kind of established public image. A real online component? As opposed to the fake ones from everyone else?

As for the added features. Blu ray MIGHT offer an advantage to gamers with bigger more immersive games but more than likely it's just an excuse by Sony to use their own format they don't have to pay royalties on and to try to sell movies and music in a new format AGAIN. Multiple HDMI outputs?

The DS gets away with using multiple displays because everything is included at one price. PC's get away with it because people can do more work at once. A console game with an option to use Multiple HD is insane. Most of the cheaper displays/TV's don't even have HDMI inputs and generally even if a person has to HD displays they aren't even in the same room as each other. If it's optional it will basicly never get used except by people showing off on MTV and such. If it's required then it will instantly flop. People complained pretty loudly about the purchase of a GBA for under $100 to play Zelda four swords or FF : CC on the gamecube. What kind of reaction do they expect people to have at being told to buy a second $1000+ HD display?

Multiple gigabit ethernet connections? Useless for a game system. In fairness I believe Sony announced they had axed the router functions from the PS3 but that could mean it will just be a hub.

Bluetooth? I have yet to see a bluetooth setup that was anywhere near what I would consider reliable. Short range isn't a big deal for wireless controllers but interferance is.

Wi-Fi. Sony gave this the axe as well but it may return as add on hardware similar to what the xbox 360 is using. Again in fairness Wi-Fi hardware is now pretty much dirt cheap for manufactures.

New RAM? This at least can offer some kind of clear benefit in terms of pure hardware numbers. We will have to wait and see if it is advantageous to gamers and developers in the real world.

Possibility of a shortage? Face it. This is Sony. They will make sure there is a shortage no matter what to create a false sense of popularity and artificially drive up demand.

It's also not fair to complain about Sony adding features that add to the cost and then brag about the xbox 360 which has done the same thing.

Re:Why the XBOX 360 will win

[Anonymous Coward]

"street cred"???

Only someone who works in MS's PR dept could say something that lame - same retards responsible for the 360 nightmare on MTV.

PS3 Realtime demos - enjoy:

http://media.ps3.ign.com/media/748/748465/vids_1.h tml

http://media.ps3.ign.com/articles/635/635625/vids_ 1.html

Funny how there is nothing coming from MS. Are they ashemed to show any of their realtime demos?

Re:Why the XBOX 360 will win

[Anonymous Coward]

Microsoft says the xbox 360 will be out for the Christmas shopping season but they aren't known for telling the truth and being upfront with everyone.

As opposed to Sony and the PS2: "Emotion Engine". Talk about overhyped. It would be funny if it wasn't so sad in retrospect.

Microsoft has just now announced 2 million subscribers for xbox live even though they gave away a free account with all 6 million copies of halo 2.

No, they gave away a free trial - just like they do with every Xbox live game. The trial gets you 30 days of free online play. You have to pay and subscribe after the end of the trial to continue playing online. I suspect that 2% would have been a good retention rate.

Does anybody really care if their video game system integrates with windows media center edition? It's an OEM only version of the operating system and even then it's a minority of the Windows OEM systems shipped.

That's completely untrue, it works with every version of XP. You can download and run the Windows Media Connect software on any Windows XP system. This includes XP Home, Pro, Tablet and Media Center Edition. AFAIK, the technology is linked to Windows Media Player 10 - NOT to XP Media Center (which adds TV-recording functions).

[Sony] will make sure there is a shortage no matter what to create a false sense of popularity and artificially drive up demand.

Because that worked so well for the PSP - which was "hot" for about 5 minutes, is now dead and trailing far behind the DS.

Bluetooth? I have yet to see a bluetooth setup that was anywhere near what I would consider reliable.

Several of my co-workers have a bluetooth wireless keyboard and mouse. I can testify that bluetooth for input devices works just fine and is perfectly reliable.

Re:Why the XBOX 360 will win

[TechniMyoko]

WiFi wasnt axed, the router functions were but they were apparently never announced. It will however serve as a gigabit switch

Re:Why the XBOX 360 will win

[fwitness]

"Nintendo have been the most manipulative and disingenuous in terms of their marketing. As usual, they trot out the "it's all about the games, not the machines", "we don't do hype" and "innovation is king" arguments, which, despite continuing lack of evidence to support any of those lines,"

You really are kidding right?

"We don't do hype" --What evidence do you need? The Gamecube delivered as promised. The DS has all the features included that Nintendo said it would, from the very earliest rumors. What hype is there on the revolution? There is like 4 screenshots, Nintendo has made some details available, and I have seen nothing that promises me the moon. Find one Nintendo sponsored hype and prove me wrong.

"Innovation is king" -- Um, a dual-screened touch enabled handheld device with a microphone and wi-fi? Yeah, there's a ton of those on the market, and if weren't for Nintendo, someone else would have done it. Yeah, ok. Bongo-based games? (DK:Jungle Beat is a fantastic showcase of why more buttons != more fun). 4 player fighting games that actually work? A golf based RPG? How about a game where 4 people hook up handhelds to play a quest on-screen, giving freedom of movement to all? What about a game that is really several hundred little games, which you only play for 5 seconds at a time? Are these all super-successes and wonderful ideas? Not really, but don't say Nintendo doesn't innovate. Without Nintendo, our last game innovation would be the EyeToy, a unique, wonderfully executed idea, but a grain of sand on the beach.

As for alluding that they use "we don't hype" as the hype itself is just a logical fallacy.

Sony gave us a great machine, with a untold amount of support, and backwards compatibility. Microsoft gave us a superior console online experience. Nintendo did everything else. Every one has their place, but leave Nintendo out of your "mainstream" talk, as they have never been the sheep of the industry.

Re:Why the XBOX 360 will win

[Anonymous Coward]

a gigabit switch is completly pointless for a gaming console.... Also, I'd say one of the biggest things that Sony needs to "win" would be online content. To which they have announced.. nothing.

Re:Why the XBOX 360 will win

[Keeper]

A real online component? As opposed to the fake ones from everyone else?

Nobody else has an online service yet. Some offer online play, but it is through 3rd parties and such a setup requires you to manage a subscription for each game you own.

Re:Why the XBOX 360 will win

[badasscat]

What hype is there on the revolution?

There are those of us who would argue that Nintendo's continuous and very public proclamations that "it's about the games, stupid" is its own form of hype. It's them saying "we know what's important, these other guys don't, and we're going to bring you the console that does what game consoles are supposed to do, unlike our competitors." That is hype, by both the dictionary and the colloquial definition. If they didn't want to hype, they would say nothing. After all, they have shown nothing of the Revolution, they have published no specs, they have not released the final design of the console, so why would they be talking about it besides hype? They have shown an empty box and said they're focusing on the games. That's their form of hype.

"Innovation is king"

Bongo-based games?

Are you serious? Even Shigeru Miyamoto himself has said this is basically ripped right off from Sega. I guess to you there is some massive difference between "bongo-based games" and "maraca-based games" - I personally don't see it.

4 player fighting games that actually work?

Capcom's been doing this at least as long as Nintendo has and probably longer.

A golf based RPG?

Huh?

What about a game that is really several hundred little games, which you only play for 5 seconds at a time?

I have dozens of these by different companies. They go by titles like "Intellivision Classics", "Namco Museum", etc.

Not to say WarioWare is not a good idea or that it's not a good game, but by your own criteria it is not innovative. All Nintendo did was look at these classic game compilations (including their own Game & Watch Gallery series compilations) and wonder if they could tweak the idea and come up with something new. The result was good, but it wasn't what I'd call a real invention.

Nintendo has done a lot of good things for the industry but they have also had their share of real cockups, and in general they seem to get a lot of credit for things they aren't really responsible for. It's really no different than how some people claim Apple is responsible for the GUI, when even Apple themselves acknowledge that they are not.

The DS, for example, is a nice device, but your claim that it is the first "dual-screened touch enabled handheld device with a microphone and wi-fi" is a little spurious. I mean I could say my HP laptop was the "first laptop with a black top and a silver bottom with two USB ports on one side and one on the other" - that doesn't mean anything whatsoever. All of those features have appeared on other devices individually - it didn't take a genius to put them together in one particular configuration. (I agree that the fact is nobody else did, but I'd argue it's because nobody else felt there was any great need to, not because it took a huge leap of imagination to invent anything special.)

Every one has their place, but leave Nintendo out of your "mainstream" talk, as they have never been the sheep of the industry.

I'm not sure what this means - Nintendo has never been mainstream? I don't think you can seriously be saying that. Nintendo used to define the mainstream. Nowadays they continue to try to but without nearly as much success. Just because they haven't been as successful as they used to does not mean they are not doing their best - they're not trying to be niche, which seems to be what you're suggesting. They're trying to sell as many systems and games as possible, as they always have. They would love nothing more to be mainstream; if you're saying they're not, then you're basically admitting their recent failures.

Re:Why the XBOX 360 will win

[rohlfinator]

"After all, they have shown nothing of the Revolution, they have published no specs, they have not released the final design of the console, so why would they be talking about it besides hype? They have shown an empty box and said they're focusing on the games. That's their form of hype."

By that definition, any next-gen related talk is hype. This is basically the extent of Nintendo's "hype":
* The Revolution will be able to download older games. This is most likely true. * The Revolution will have a unique new controller. This is also probably true. * Nintendo is working on Smash Bros, Zelda, Animal Crossing, Mario, and some new franchises for the Revolution. I think that's probably true. * They showed a mock-up of the console, which they explicitly said may or may not be the final design.

No flaunting numbers, no comparisons to the capabilities of the human brain, no mocked-up tech demos that were proven to be FMVs. Nintendo hasn't claimed anything that they can't follow up on. Their entire stance on the Revolution is to not announce anything that's not finalized. Sony has already dropped features from the PS3 and claimed absurd things like "HD-aging" to convert standard video to HD-quality.

Microsoft has done a better job, showing mainly in-game footage and having playable games. We'll see how their claims hold up, but at least their specs seem reasonable. Microsoft and Nintendo are marketing; Sony is hyping.

Re:Why the XBOX 360 will win

[fwitness]

Re: Hype -- You say if they didn't want to hype, they would say nothing. So anything said about the Revolution that is not 100% factoid is "hype?" I think you misunderstand what "hype" is. If I say, I saw a movie about tigers and it was good, this is information and a viewpoint. If I say, "I saw a movie that made me see God, and cured cancer for three people right in front of me. It also moved mars out of orbit." This is hype. Or you could have a special on MTV. That, if you watched (and I admit 5 minutes was more than enough for me) is hype too.

Re:Bongo's by Sega - Not sure what you mean about Maracas, I must have missed that one. Call it my bad.

Re:4 player fighting that works: You missed the "that works" part when mentioning Capcom, at least, in my opinion. Maybe I missed a good one. Call it my bad #2.

Re: Golf Based RPG -- http://www.mario-golf.com/ Check it out. I was amazed. I don't even like golf.

Re:5 second games -- I still have my Intellivision, these are not games designed to be, quite literally, 5 seconds long. I played some intellivsion games for hours. I don't see the comparison between an anthology of old games designed to be played for as long as was feasible, and a game designed around tens of "micro games" lasting 5 seconds or less.

Re:The DS -- My point in listing it's features is that it is the *combination* of all these things in a handheld gaming platform is innovative, even if the parts themselves are not. We have had GPS for a while, we have had voice recognition for a while. Combining the two to make a system in my car I can ask for directions is innovative. Don't know who was the first there (GM?) but that's not the point.

Re: Not mainstream -- Agreed there was a point where Nintendo defined the market, but now they are carving a niche. As gaming becomes more popular to a wider audience (mostly thanks to Sony's brilliant marketing), those people who like games not based on how many polygons we can move and how shiny they are now a niche audience. Unfortunatley. I don't really agree that N would love to be nothing more than mainstream. If that were the case, they would simply have the same library of ports the PS2/Xbox has, the controller would be similar (the cube controller is the most unique of our current generation), and we'd have more "ooooh look at my shiny graphics" games on the cube.

So point to a company that has done this many innovative things in gaming and I'll agree with you. Some are good (rumble packs, Wario Ware), some not so much (R.O.B., Virtual Boy ), but if we had the lifetime innovation awards, I don't think Sony and MS would be in the running for gaming, yet.

Sorry. Someone mod this as rant, but it seemed my points were missed entirely.

Re:Why the XBOX 360 will win

[Pranadevil2k]

Unless the game doesn't require a subscription fee... Like most games on the PS2 don't. I can only think of FFXI off the top of my head. Are there others?

Re:Why the XBOX 360 will win

[Keeper]

Good question; I don't own a network adapter for the PS2 so it isn't an area I track actively. I remember when it first came out that all of the review sites were saying you'd need a subscription for each game if you wanted to use online capabilities.

Developer Support is the key.

[Baddas]

It seems to me that one of Sony's major problems in the past generation was developer support for their complicated console.

From what I hear, the PS2 was very hard to develop for, leading to a lot of frustration getting the most out of the system, a big part of which was middleware inadequacy.

The faster Sony gets the developers to realize the full power of the system (especially important with a new architecture of the Cell) the faster they can claim technological victory.

Re:Developer Support is the key.

[Anonymous Coward]

"From what I hear, the PS2 was very hard to develop for, leading to a lot of frustration getting the most out of the system, a big part of which was middleware inadequacy."

Wow, did you like read that on teamxbox?

So, let me get this straight, Sony who has essentially every console dev house and publisher on the planet on board filling stores with games for the PS2 had a problem with 'developer support'

Do you have any idea what a dunce that makes you sound like?

"The faster Sony gets the developers to realize the full power of the system (especially important with a new architecture of the Cell) the faster they can claim technological victory."

http://forum.gaming-age.com/showthread.php?t=56146 &page=4

Sony wins.

Funny how MS is only a few months away from shipping the 360 and the aren't showing any real footage of games? The 360 is a nightmare to code for. Developers are struggling to get something out the door by November. Being stuck with DirectX on a multi-core machine is like trying to run a race with cement boots.

Re:Developer Support is the key.

[CokoBWare]

I believe the original poster was referring to the industry rags reporting that when the PS2 launched, the platform was harder to program for because of the lack of middleware support at the time, which was the case (I know, I read the mags). Sony had to moved quickly to remedey that, and and third-party engines and middleware have filled in the spaces with great technologies over the years (have you seen the screenshots for The Path of Neo?). The original poster's point is well taken, and you were just plain insulting. As an Anonymous Coward, you certainly seem to know what you are talking about! Go play your Xbox!

Re:Developer Support is the key.

[KDR_11k]

I love how you always make claims, never back them up and denounce anyone who doesn't trust some random AC that claims to be a developer on everything as a fanboy. How about getting at least an account? You're posting so much, how about adding a name to your posts?

Re:Developer Support is the key.

[FLAGGR]

Look at the quality of the launch titles compared to the titles now for the PS2. The PS2 is harder to program for because of its silly vectorization, and some other things. Just go to any homebrew'ing tutorial, it'll explain it nice and slowly so you can understand.

Re:Developer Support is the key.

[Anonymous Coward]

Same Sony troll everytime with the same stupid remarks!

Re:Developer Support is the key.

[CokoBWare]

Ok here are some internet resources to back up my statements regarding difficulty programming at the initial launch:

Wikipedia:
"Developers also complained about the system being difficult to develop for, with little in the way of reference material from Sony for its exotic architecture." - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayStation_2

If you don't like the history reference, then change it at Wikipedia...

Booty Project:
"Think back to the PS2's launch: it took several years for developers to really figure the system out." - http://www.bootyproject.org/show_article.asp?id_ar ticle=5416

Anyways, my two cents Mr. Anonymous. PS2 was hard to develop for when it launched. It got better. Middleware and game engines solved a lot of this... oh yah, and developers got smarter using the harder.

Re:Developer Support is the key.

[jericho4.0]

The core of the linked article is a big deal in this respect. The SDK will include Havoc Complete and AEGIA, and the Unreal Engine 3 is up and running. If these are all implemented well to leverage the power of the Cell, and scheduled well to leave room for the rest of the game, then much of the tough stuff is done! Well, at least the stuff that's going to keep coders awake at night in a cold sweat. The Cell should also be showing up in all sorts of devices, and it's in IBMs interest to have tips, tricks, and snippets widely distributed. The Emotion Engine didn't exactly have an open community.

Sony has at least shown themselves committed to easing the way for developers. What I'm dreaming for is a pathway for indy developers to leverage some of these tools.

I'm very much looking forward to this generation of consoles. I don't think many gamers really realize the leap in gameplay that can be possible with this kind of hardware, 360 and PS3 both, although my money's on the PS3. This is also why I think it's important to open the consoles to indys, as it's going to take some imagination to get there.

Re:Developer Support is the key.

[CokoBWare]

Not like I read Slashdot 5 times a day for the last 4 years and read tons of gaming industry mags since the mid '90s... no, I don't have even a single clue... I must be a dolt for keeping up with all the industry news... I find it facinating that you criticize me for posting posting a link to a wiki article since the _whole_ Internet community contributes to that encyclopedia, and that as a result, the information in there wasn't refuted or altered once since it was posted! If you don't like to hear the truth, fanboy, then go fuck yourself. I can't believe I've wasted my time even writing to you. I'm done.

Sony and OpenGL

[sn0wman3030]

With Sony extending and contributing to OpenGL for the PS3, one can only speculate upon the impact that they will have on Linux (and Mac!) gaming. Historically, DirectX has always been ahead of OpenGL, but with Sony siding with open source, maybe things will even up. We may have a serious graphics API war approaching.

PSP Goes Multimedia News

[MadMoses]

According to heise.de:

-new PSP firmware 2.0 on July 27th

-including a webbrowser, HTML 4.01 compatible, flash not yet supported, for surfing over WLAN

-support of WPA security

-photo browser now supports tiff, gif, png & bmp in addition to jpg

-support of AAC and WAV in addition to MP3

-videos from memory stick now also in H.264 encoded format in addition to MPEG4 (previously only from UMD)

-"Personal TV": streaming of videos, with ability to save them on the memory stick, support of 4:3 screen format

-of course, "better" security against hacks - we'll see how long this lasts ;)

No, we won't have another API war.

[Anonymous Coward]

It's not like the PS2 didn't have OpenGL:

http://ps2gl.playstation2-linux.com/

Although it was only good for rough porting - it was complete shit if you wanted anywhere near the optimal hardware performance. And there's only an API war if the same APIs are on a particular platform.

Now if DirectX popped up on PS3, we'd have a rumble.

Re:No, we won't have another API war.

[Anonymous Coward]

And there's only an API war if the same APIs are on a particular platform.

Like the PC?

So now, if you want to write a PC game you think you'll port to the xbox, you'll write it in directx. If you think you'll port it to the PS3, you'll seriously consider using openGL (hey look, mac and linux is that much easier to port to too!)

havoc

[milamber.net]

It's actually havok complete. (Havoc with a 'k').

In case you don't know who Havok is, here's their client list.

Most notable being Max Payne 2, Half-life 2, Halo 2 and Painkiller.

Re:havoc

[Fr05t]

What about Starsky and Hutch?!?! You can't forget Starsky and Hutch!

Re:havoc

[Anonymous Coward]

It's also AGEIA not AEGIA.

PR active but "underground" ?

[kartaron]

Isn's Sony claiming to go "underground" with PS3 info until near the release date next year? Whatever happened to that idea? Here is the link to that /. story. http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/06/30/ 1346221&tid=212&tid=98&tid=187&tid=233

o_O But I though Sony was a Japanese Company...

[DLWormwood]

as a lack of Japanese language documentation and support has been one of the major hurdles for Japanese developers to adopt middleware solutions

Strange, for a console developed by a Japanese company, debuted in Japan, with the majority of games first appearing (or only appearing there), you would think that the PS2 would have had Kanji/Kana documentation. Is the US/European market really that much more important now? I always thought that the US market in particular was an "afterthought" marketing-wise for many Japan-based developers.

Re:o_O But I though Sony was a Japanese Company...

[cowscows]

Well, the article summary mentions "middleware", and I'm guessing that that means that Japanese developers often had trouble integrating things like Havok into their games, due to a lack of documentation that they could read. I'm sure that the Japanese developers got plenty of useful documentation from Sony. But some guy hacking on OpenGL in his basement in upstate New York probably won't be localizing the comments he adds to the code.

Basically, If I wrote a library that would be functionally useful to s japanese developer as a part of their game, they're going to have a harder time learning about it and asking me questions, because I don't speak japanese one bit, and they might not have the best understanding of english. If Sony wanted to step in and do good translations of the documentation for me, then that's great, everyone benefits.

Hah!

[theREALMcCoy]

A brain training game? Sony is still playing catchup!

Nintendo

[Anonymous Coward]

More news about Nintendo please.

Whoa! attack of the fanboys!

[AzraelKans]

I RTFA and I have to say the article itself is a piece of crap (specially the one about the PSP) extremely biased comments (against it) with little to no info on what was really shown. (Apparently 1up has problems with fanboys posting news)

Anyway I would advice you to look for the info elsewhere as the report is not worth the bytes it wasted on the hdd.

My own comment about the PSP I think the PSP is a great device, but is just too freaking expensive, for the same price you can get any console which has twice the uses and 10 times the library game size! at the time is just a "deluxe" gaming device. And until that changes I dont think the public or the developers will accept it truly. However I definetily dont think it will go under there are good games for it coming (not mentioned in the biased article) and considering its price it has had good sales. (hint to sony: "price drop before xmas")

And about the ps3, is too damn early to tell, but if they can get killzone 2 and unreal working as shown in e3, the hell with everything! Im buying one regardless of stupid articles and/or fanboys.

Off topic: seriously guys this thread is being modded by every fanboy in slashdot! Just check the mods on the poor guy who dare mentioned the x360 -2 flamebait, -1 troll and -1 overrated, overrated ? the guy had -1!

Re:Whoa! attack of the fanboys!

[Anonymous Coward]

Compared to similar devices, PSP is worth it. I only paid $100 more for my PSP than my DS, and the PSP does so much more, and everything it does is better

Re:Whoa! attack of the fanboys!

[radish]

PS2 + memory card: $180
PSP (inc memory card) : $250
Being able to put it in your pocket: Priceless

Re:Whoa! attack of the fanboys!

[CokoBWare]

I went to EB Games and asked one of the guys who worked at the store if he owned a PSP... he said... "No, I own a DS... I like to touch..." I said you can touch a PSP... he said, "But I can touch Mario"... so I said "Does he giggle?"

I tell yah... some fanboys...

PSP is a versatile media device, hitting all the escapist markets (games, music, movies, photos, the Internet) in one little device. On the negative side, the PSP complaints I have:

battery life needs work...
game library needs work...
UMD movie pricing needs work...
Memory Stick Duo pricing and capacity needs work...

Once these things start getting ironed out, the PSP will be a device worth buying for more people. The PSP currently targets gamers with jobs, and will do well in that market. I waited to buy one in the US, and I am not disappointed. Once the price drops on a number of PSP elements, including the console, the platform is in really good shape.

Re:Whoa! attack of the fanboys!

[lion2]

LOL! Which of those can you fit in your pocket?

Re:Whoa! attack of the fanboys!

[superpulpsicle]

This is the most fair post today.

Meanwhile anyone who thinks M$ will release this Christmas with no major problems is on crack. The company has never been on time for anything.

Re:Whoa! attack of the fanboys!

[DarkYoshi]

Yup, just like longhorn...

If it was on time, it would be out now.

M$ is screwed.

Re:Whoa! attack of the fanboys!

[buffer-overflowed]

Here's the problem with the PSP in a nutshell:

Price and features.

You can get a GBA, Portable DVD Player, Cell Phone, and an iPod Shuffle for less than a PSP + memory stick. It will play music better and longer. Play your entire home DVD collection at a lower price per movie for a longer period of time without having to rebuy titles. You can browse the web just as well and also make phone calls. You have access to a huge homebrew community if you want to get a flash cart. You can play 3 generations of portable games each priced lower than a PSP game.

The only thing that could put the PSP above a combination of better, cheaper sole-purpose devices would be exclusive games. And they aren't here yet and don't really look like they're coming.

Re:Whoa! attack of the fanboys!

[CokoBWare]

If you add up the costs, it seems intially reasonable. Take GBA ($89 - Futureshop), portable DVD ($149 - Futureshop), iPod 512 MB shuffle ($129 - Futureshop) totaling $367 CAN vs PSP ($299 - Futureshop) and 512MB Memorystick Duo ($109 - Sony Store) totaling $408. It seems like a good idea (I didn't include the cell phone because the PSP doesn't include cellphone features... yet ;), but when you look at the cost of all those devices in portability, you are carrying a LOT more weight and bulk. Feature for feature, PSP is an evolving platform with a lot of potential for growth. These other platforms are mature, but they are what they are... media specific devices. GBA being probably being the biggest exception to the lot, but GBA is still a GBA and I would have to buy a homebrew kit to get the extra features from that scene, adding more cost (I'm betting a homebrew kit for GBA is at least $50 CAN).

I believe, for the extra $41, I spent my money wisely on the PSP... I don't have to spend more money on media, deal with multiple devices cluttering up my life and weighing me down, and I get a great gaming platform too! I have never had to buy a single UMD movie, as my DVD collection works fine on my PSP when I convert my movies... I can get a 2 hr movie in about 350 MB. I've converted over 25 movies, and I am very happy with the quality. I got a bunch of TV shows that I haven't seen that I converted, and now I can keep up with all of them.

Despite it's problems, the PSP does have its merits.

Havok etc..

[Iscariot_]

Whilst Sony may have Havok signed on, the 360 has "XNA" which already includes a physics library. It's no middleware, but it already available. This has been available for some time now.

Amazing PS3 Stuff

[Anonymous Coward]

Anyone checking out the latest PS3 demos? Wow.

Does anyone know if the 360 has anything like these? So far all I've seen is Perfect Dark which looked crappy.

Irony meet AzraelKans, AzraelKans meet irony

[Anonymous Coward]

Irony is you talking about an attack of the fanboys when everyone can find multiple flamebait/troll posts from you in virtually any Nintendo story posted on /.

don't believe the hype!!!

[KillShill]

how many times must people believe the lies that the likes of ms, sony spout?

if you don't recall, in 2000/1 bill gates gave a talk about how the xbox could do "1 trillion op/s"...

then it must be half as powerful as a ps3...

how about "they're all lying through their teeth, each generation".

and don't even get started with the toy story bullshit.

a supercomputer in 2020 couldn't even render toy story in real time. we're 5-10 generations from a system that could even begin to attempt something like that. i said "toy story" not "something that vaguely looks like toy story but has 100 fold less processing requirements".

one of the best features about the xbox360 is the "free" antialiasing (thanks to the eDRAM). the nvidia rsx cannot do AA without incurring a penalty or lowering the graphical detail.

frankly, all that hardware is mostly useless... since the DRM cripples all consoles. when we're allowed to run arbitrary code on OUR machines, it'll be a joyous day.

oh and btw, that physics accelerator from ageia is pure crap. if you've taken a look at the demos/videos you'll see how unconvincing the physics really are.

they claim 40 thousand simultaneous physics bodies... that all behave like something a toddler programmed in manually. i'd rather have 1-5k REALISTIC simulations rather than 40k useless moving objects that don't behave anything like their real world counterparts.

sony licensing the novodex or havoc apis is basically worthless from that standpoint as i haven't seen a single engine that is even remotely convincing.

it'll be another 10-15 years before we get REAL physics on any computer than isn't running scientific or military simulations.

and on a tangent, 300 bucks for an ageia card? i mean what the heck?! i might consider it if it were under 100 but 300 is way too much to ask for something so shitty.