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PS3 Details Slowly Emerging

Posted by Zonk on from the more-fuel-for-the-fire dept.

The Playstation Magazine (PSM) has a feature coming up in the next issue which discusses Sony's new console with a few new details. Both Maxconsole and Ferrago have a look at the piece. From the Maxconsole article: "We've received a lot of letters asking about how PS2 will be backwards compatible with PS2 and the original Playstation if it doesn't have memory card slot. Well, we have an answer, and it's both good and bad. First, the bad news: All of those old memory cards you have won't be usable with PS3. Okay then, wha's the solution? Sony has actually decided to only use Memory Stick Duo cards(the same format PSP uses) for PS3 save data. However, if you play a PS1 or PS2 game on PS3, the system will treat the Memory Stick like it's a normal memory card."

13 of 169 comments (clear)

  1. Oh come on people... by Godeke · · Score: 3, Insightful

    OK, so there I am on the prior story saying how much I look forward to the PS3 because of the backwards compatibility and here comes an article telling me that my save files are junk. Good grief, they couldn't put a *single* reader slot for the old cards? I wouldn't care if they made me copy the data over prior to use, except for those few games with "protected" save files that you can't move are still in trouble. I wouldn't even care if it was on the back or something silly, since I would only copy the files once.

    Please tell me that they aren't this stupid? I have games from the PS1 that I haven't finished (turn based strategy games may look bad, but still play great) and a lot of games on the PS2 in progress.

    --
    Sig under construction since 1998.
    1. Re:Oh come on people... by WaterBreath · · Score: 4, Insightful
      Please tell me that they aren't this stupid?

      They aren't "this stupid". "This stupid" would be to guarantee full backward compatility at every step, tying themselves indefinitely to ancient, obsolete hardware and software.

      We should be thanking Sony for even bothering to support the PS1 at all. It's two generations back now. Heaven forbid you should have to start a game over. We're lucky we'll even be able to play them at all. I certainly was surprised.

      I have games from the PS1 that I haven't finished...

      PS1 machines aren't going to magically stop working once the PS3 comes out. Keep your PS1.

      ...and a lot of games on the PS2 in progress

      PS2 machines aren't going to magically stop working once the PS3 comes out. Keep your PS2.

      Sorry to sound snide. I just don't understand where you're coming from with this complaint. Are you really outraged, or just disappointed? Either way, I don't think it's fair, or correct, to call it a stupid move.

    2. Re:Oh come on people... by bleaknik · · Score: 3, Funny

      After reading your comment, I ran some numbers. I've got enough games that I still want to complete that I figure I should be done just in time for the next Duke Nukem title.

      Wait a minute.................

      --
      Deja Vu
      n. 1. The sensation that you've read this very article before.
  2. I predict 100% backwards compatibility... by It+doesn't+come+easy · · Score: 3, Funny

    We've received a lot of letters asking about how PS2 will be backwards compatible with PS2 and the original Playstation [...]

    --
    The NSA: The only part of the US government that actually listens.
  3. All of Sony's electronic products exist just to... by rokzy · · Score: 4, Insightful

    ...sell Memory Sticks.

    it wouldn't be so bad if they didn't keep updating the specs so you can't use new high-capacity sticks in previous-generation electronics.

  4. Compatibility by BigZaphod · · Score: 3, Funny

    "about how PS2 will be backwards compatible with PS2"

    Boy, I hope they are compatible! I'd hate to buy a PS2 and find myself with a suddenly obsolete PS2 when the PS2 comes out a week later or something. That'd suck.

    --
    Hexy - a strategy game for iPhone/iPod Touch
  5. What doesn't it do? by alvinrod · · Score: 4, Insightful
    A TiVo style peripheral will enable TV programmes to be saved on to the optional mini hard-disk.

    So it plays PS, PS2, and PS3 games, can play Blu-ray movies if they ever come into frutation, can display 2 HD outputs, used to serve as a router (functionality removed), supposedly it will run Linux out of the box, and other impressive features.

    Unfortunately, it doesn't take old PS and PS2 memory cards (I found it annoying that you could save PS data onto a PS2 card, but this just really sucks). Dance pads and other old PS2 periphels won't work on it (I guess I can laugh at my brother for buying a $300 DDR dance mat that won't work with a PS3). Next thing we know, it won't even play games.

    Is anyone else disappointed that the PS3 is becoming less and less of a game machine and turning more and more in to an all-in-wonder-box? I recall when Sony talked about how MS was basically releasing a PC with the Xbox, and now it seems the tables have turned. Some part of me honestly hopes that Nintendo and MS kick the crap out of Sony this round.

    1. Re:What doesn't it do? by oGMo · · Score: 4, Insightful
      Unfortunately, it doesn't take old PS and PS2 memory cards (I found it annoying that you could save PS data onto a PS2 card, but this just really sucks).

      Yes, because it's so hard to transfer files to a Memory Stick Duo. I might even be able to do that with a $10 USB interface. (And you've been able to transfer PS1/PS2 savegames for ages.)

      Dance pads and other old PS2 periphels won't work on it (I guess I can laugh at my brother for buying a $300 DDR dance mat that won't work with a PS3).

      Sure, because even though they already build a PS2->USB box for $13, building either a bluetooth-based box or just connecting your dance pad to the PS3 USB port will be impossible. After all, it's clearly in the best interests of Sony and Konami/Bemani to alienate all those users. That's why they're ensuring backward compatibility in the first place.

      Next thing we know, it won't even play games.

      Sure, dumbass.

      --

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

    2. Re:What doesn't it do? by NanoGator · · Score: 3, Insightful

      "Is anyone else disappointed that the PS3 is becoming less and less of a game machine and turning more and more in to an all-in-wonder-box?"

      It didn't really bother me until the rumored $465 price tag. Then I start thinking about things like "You know, I never got around to playing Metroid Prime..."

      Then again, I think launch is a terrible time to buy a system. That's when it's at it's most expensive, most likely to break, and when the fewest games are launched.

      --
      "Derp de derp."
    3. Re:What doesn't it do? by nunchux · · Score: 4, Funny

      I guess I can laugh at my brother for buying a $300 DDR dance mat that won't work with a PS3

      Let me get this straight... Your brother is dancing like an idiot in front of the TV set, and the reason you're laughing at him is because his dance mat won't work with the next generation consoles?

  6. Great. by bk_veggie · · Score: 3, Insightful

    So I get to buy some kooky, expensive third party device in order to transfer my final fantasy, xenosaga and street fighter data to this expensive memory stick?

  7. The Rub, 10 years down the road.... by telstar · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I've got a great 36" Sony TV. Picture is beautiful. Nice HD display. Takes Sony memory sticks as the memory stick of choice ... but NOT the duo. Now, I don't really expect a TV to take ANY type of memory card, so it doesn't bother me that much ... but it was a brand new TV 2 years ago and it didn't support the Duo. The manual was even new enough to know that the Duo existed, but that it wasn't supported by my TV. Like I said, it doesn't bother me since I don't use memory sticks.

    Now Sony has billed the Playstation3 as a 10-year device. It makes me wonder if they truly intend to stop the evolution of their memory stick line at the form factor of the Memory Stick Duo. What happens if 4 years down the road, they come up with a new format with a new form factor that's incompatible with the interface of the PS3? Is everyone that's 4 years into a 10 year PS3 investment screwed?

    The ONLY reason Sony is obligating users to use the Memory Stick Duo as the storage media is that it allows them to recoup some of the loss they're taking on each machine sold. And while it may seem okay today ... "hey, it's their product ... they can do what they want ... right?" ... talk to me in 10 years, when a new storage medium has come out ... and your PS3 is still using a storage format you can only find used on eBay.

    1. Re:The Rub, 10 years down the road.... by alvinrod · · Score: 3, Informative
      Now Sony has billed the Playstation3 as a 10-year device.

      They've also said things about how the PS2/PS3 would be 200 times more powerful than their last console.

      If you believe them when they say it will have a 10 year life cycle, you should probably get your head examined. If anything, it seems that the lifespan of consoles is decreasing: (based on information from GameFAQs.

      Nintendo: 7/83 - 11/90

      Super Nintendo: 11/90 - 6/96

      Nintendo 64: 6/96 - 9/01

      GameCube: 9/01 - 8/06 (guess based on current information)

      As you can see, the lifespan of consoles is decreasing as they become more advanced. The Xbox has only existed for roughly 4 years and it's already being replaced. People will still makes games for a system after a new one comes out, but most of the killer apps will be for the new platform.

      I think what Sony meant to say when they threw out the 10 year figure is that it has technology in it that will finally come into wide acceptance and be standard in 10 years. 1080p TVs, good luck finding those today, but in 10 years I think a lot of people will have HD TVs capable of making full use of the PS3's graphical output abilities. Blu-ray discs won't be heavily used now since most people are satisfied with DVDs, but in 10 years it's possible that they will have replaced the DVD as the standard. There is no way, however, that the PS3 will last for 10 years. That's like saying if you purchased a top of the line computer right now that it would still be competitive 10 years down the road. It might handle Doom 3 just fine now, but what about Doom 5?

      Essentially what we get is another bullshit figure pulled from the ass of Sony to get people to buy what they're selling. 10 is a nice round number and sounds impressive and somewhat believable after all the hype about the PS3 we've had thrown at us, but in 10 years I think we'll be looking at getting a nice new shiny PS5, which will replace our PS4, which 5 years before replaced the then almost pathetic PS3. Moore's law just won't allow something like the PS3 a 10 year life span.