you seem to be the first person i found thats agreed with me on the subject.
its a workaround. a workaround used to speed up the development process. if time were not a factor, they would still require procedural content. in a perfect world the artists would have control over all content and asset minutiae. due to the increasing focus on deadlines and the limitations of the hardware, this is basically the only way the x360 can advance.
due to the space constraints of HD material on DVD9 and the lack of ability to require a harddrive for games, the xbox360 will need advancements in generating procedurally generated content in order to advance. MS is pushing for this. because the bottlenecks as you put them are firmly in place and have been tested already within the first couple of months. not a particularly good sign.
the PS3 seems to want to set its bottlenecks slightly higher. they want to give developers space for content storage [blu-ray]. they want to give them the ability to count on having a harddrive [ to cache data and speed up loading times]. the want to give us supposedly cutting edge superpowered nuclear cell chips and video card so powerful that its nickname should be HAL9000, just to make sure we can crunch and process all the graphical/physical data. [ excuse the sarcasm] thats great, but that takes time and comes at an expensive cost. one that's dirtied the playstation name in the eyes of many.
the wii on the other hand sees this as a losing battle. they can wait for procedural techniques to advance more before they charge ahead and push the line. they are going in the opposite direction. unfortunately this is only setting their bottlenecks lower. they are gambling on using a new form of gameplay control to offset that.
who will it work out for best? i guess we will have to see what happens in two years' time.
sorry about the remark, but why naysay a coding contest for what is probably one of the most homebrew friendly "major" consoles [yeah, even despite sony's best efforts].
whenever psp homebrew is mentioned, someone always decides to throw in the obligatory GP2X free ad. its starting to become yet another/. cliche. the GP2X is nice, but the PSP has much more visibility for amateur coders to have their work seen. which in effect, would be the "real" payoff of a contest such as this. the creators of various emulators are known by name to the majority of psp users. as a coder, you cant pay for that type of visibility. numbers dont lie... http://videogamecharts.com/page2.html now imagine that the majority of these users will have the ability to use your program, and even if they do not have that ability, they are likely to know of your program if it is popular enough.
im not on the sony payroll; i am a multiple console owner. i'll freely admit i prefer my various playstations to my other consoles, but that doesnt mean i love them any less nor does it mean that i havent spent as much money on all of my systems [and thats what really matters]. its a matter of the games. if i read a post that has misinformation, or is a blatant swipe at a console, i add my $0.02 just like any other slashdotter.
well, seeing that sony owns like 20% which equates back to about 9% of square-enix, sony has alot of pull in saying which titles will be released from the square enix backcatalog.
above is solid fact, but here i'm only repeating a unsourced, unconfirmed rumor, so excuse me if it sounds like FUD. apparently sony bought a major stake in square to ensure that the final fantasy series was playstation exclusive. when they merged with enix, that contract was "amended" so that only non-canon final fantasy games will be released on non-sony systems.
again, thats an unsourced rumor that i dont have the time to go research, but maybe there is some truth to that. as square-enix, i dont want to upset a company thats a major 10% stakeholder. however if that were truly the case, why is final fantasy3 being released only on the DS; a sony competitor?
yeah, i mean i will lose audio quality, but if i truly wanted to convert my vinyl and tape to mp3s to play on my ipod, it is possible. unless nintendo opens the file format for whatever they will be using as ROMs, and they dont sue the hell out of anyone ingenious enough to create a multi-card reader, there will be no equivalent way to convert games as i could convert vinyl, tapes, or even 8 track.
other than the GP2X, homebrew isnt "promoted" on any consoles. the playstation line maybe moreso since they at least "offered" a linux kit. homebrew isnt the issue, sony just cant condone the creation of emulators that are used to run other companies IP, and doesnt like the idea that homebrew enables ISO loaders and piracy.
all companies close found vulnerabilities over time. microsoft patched dashboard versions all the time with the xbox1. later revisions of xbox hardware changed solder points, etc... nintendo sticks with proprietary storage solutions. so personally other than PDA devices and the GP2X, its still even footing when it comes to homebrew and the like. sony aint the only enemy in that regard.
i never hear anyone complain about having their xbox live account disabled when trying to access live with a chipped xbox. no one cries foul when they opened the x360 and couldnt enable homebrew out the box... no one cried foul when the original mechwarrior, 007, and splinter cell games were pulled from the shelves since they enabled softmodding... i mean why the hypocrisy? if you dont want to upgrade your psp, you dont have to. you just have to live without the latest games, and firmware updates for a while at least.
Are you sure that there will ever be such an exploit?
Given enough time, there will be a firmware exploit [patience grasshopper...] Even if there were no firmware exploit, there is now a PSP mod chip. With enough time, the chip [just like all other modchips] will eventually become more and more increasingly easier to install. Eventually requiring no solder, and eventually will be external.
So how do I make flash applications without purchasing Macromedia's pricey authoring tools? And wouldn't it be called a Flash compo instead of a PSP homebrew compo?
The format that flash writes to is a open source standard file format. Hence there are cheaper alternatives to flash creation such as Swish [i think thats what its called] a few free alternatives and I believe that there is even a free linux flash alternative.
And watch it be stopped at customs.
if you check ebay, or your local classified newspaper section there is a very high percentage that you will be able to find someone local, or at least somewhere within your country that was able to get their hands on a copy and is willing to part ways.
because it is only a matter of time before there is an alternative way to load homebrew games on later firmware revisions. just as was the case with homebrew on 1.5, 2.0, 2.5, 2.6 PSPs previously.
as for GTA, a copy can be imported or bought through ebay since games are not region locked on the PSP. this is probably easier to do than to order a passthru device in order to enable ANY form of homebrew on the DS.
thats assuming that nintendo has made arrangements with all of their former third party developers. back when nintendo was king, they burned alot of bridges with their third party developers, hence why there were fewer releases for the n64 and gamecube.
many of the old companies have since then folded. their IP is up in the air. other companies have since then been bought out by other companies.
there are other "iffy" situations that have been discussed here in/. before as well. such as second party games made by rare; now owned by their competitor: microsoft. donkey kong is a nintendo IP, but the snes and n64 versions were developed by rare. nintendo can not directly port the code since it does not belong to them, but MS can not make a port of it either since it is a nintendo property.
MS let rare develop on the GBA, but only because the GBA isnt in direct competition with MS. even though they stand to make money from the deal, letting nintendo have the rare backcatalog available on wii would undermine their x360 success, so i wouldnt hope to see killer instinct, perfect dark, banjo kazooie, goldeneye, et al on wii anytime soon.
as the launch draws closer, im curious to see how nintendo lays out its plans fully.
i dont think the ps3 will do as well as the ps2, but i dont foresee imminent death for sony either.
the problem particularly with console game news, is that there is alot of misinformation across the net. tekken6 is only going to be released on ps3, haven't even heard a rumor to the contrary. so if you can provide a reputable link, i'd like to check it out.
UT2007 is only going to be on ps3 and the pc [with linux and mac ports down the line], although there is alot of wishful thinking for a x360 port as well. a port of UT to x360 is as likely as a port of GoW to ps3. the engines have already been created, so porting the game back and forth shouldnt be too major a deal.
final fantasy xiii was confirmed to only be released on ps3. final fantasy versus has not been confirmed or denied having a x360 port. so maybe there is hope...
i used full in quotes for precisely that reason. currently we do not know what backwards compatibility solution will be in place for the ps3. i have heard rumors that they will include the hardware, and i have seen an official statement that said that they arent disclosing the full details of their BC. we know that sony has a trackrecord of providing solid BC thusfar, so until proven otherwise i will just have to take their word that 99.8% of titles will run.
the wii will pretty much be in the same boat, at least in terms of emulating the GC if teh wii processor isnt that much more faster than the GC.
i would rather know that something runs on linux than knowing that its running on a bastardized win2k kernel. how about you? then again, i bought an xbox1 so it doesnt really matter.
if you have a problem with how sony decides to distribute linux, not a problem... it will be only a few months before the homebrew community finds a full linux solution for you. no big deal.
you mean coupled with/rumors/ about the ps3 cell yields, and underclocking...
first of all, how are you comparing the rsx to the xenon? the xenon is the xbox360s CPU, the RSX is the ps3's GPU. the x360 GPU is c1 or xenos. officially the name is c1.
"...Internally we called the GPU, interchangeably, C1 and Xenos. C1 was a code name defined before we had the contract, Xenos was the project name after the contract was won - but C1 stuck in everyone's minds. Once we started calling it C1, it was hard to change." --Bob Feldstein
right now, with the exception of halo3 and gears of war, sony has the bulk of "killer" exclusive titles. here, im defining killer as third party franchises that can be extrapolated to sell well into the 1M mark. halo isnt third party, but its guaranteed to move enough consoles, that i'll include that one.
thusfar, sony still has the metal gear, tekken, unreal tournament, devil may cry and final fantasy series exclusively. each of these will push lots of numbers. all of the wii first party frnachise titles will ease into the million seller range [metroid, mario, smash brothers, pokemon...]
the developers are lined up for the ps3, since japan doesnt seem to be all too receptive to the x360 i dont really see a mass exodus to the console. if nothing else, i can see wii third party development ramp up.
even now, im not adverse to buying all three, but someone is definitely going to wind up losing out this console generation. as much i as i can't wait to play gears of war and halo3 myself, its looking like microsoft may end up odd man out in the long run.
yeah, i think sony is banking on the gigabit ethernet port in the ps3, and providers such as verizon and the universities to provide the extra bandwidth. overall i dont see it being that huge a problem unless they plan to sell full HD movies.
i just dont want to have to wait hours to finish the download of the latest system update or the newest game demo or trailer. what i would like to hear is someone like sony jumping behind the bittorrent protocol or something similar for mass transmission of these huge files. it would save everyone a great deal on bandwidth and speed up file downloads. if they can just work it out for those that are under bandwidth caps, it would be almost ideal for HD.
imagine the irony of an MPAA company using bittorrent to promote its upcoming products and movies...
"although there's no way they're going to send you any HD over the wire"
what do you mean? surely sony would love the chance to broadcast their HD trailers via internet straight into consumers homes. as for buying full length movies... maybe not, but who is to say that other providers wont be able to tap into the captive ps3 market? the ps3 has an integrated web browser builtin, so in theory anyone that can set up a website can transmit streaming HD signals to any ps3.
exactly, in one years' time the two consoles will have had an equal cost; assuming that you play games online. however you also get the added benefit of being able to play blu-ray movies and "full" backwards compatibility. even without the online capabilities, i think those two functions make up the difference b/w the two consoles.
personally, until i get both consoles underneath my tv by the end of the year hopefully, i see them both on even ground. maybe with sony in the lead due to a better gaming lineup.
they have already gone on record stating that the ps3 accepts standard usb drives. as for additional internal storage? who knows...
for the $600 ps3, i expect that sucker to be able to connect to the home network and play any and every file imaginable from any filesystem i have connected. ha...
I feel like I'm the only nay-sayer here, but I love and hate the hype behind the wii's virtual console.
It's great to be able to have instant access to nintendo's full first party backcatalog, a few third party games, and the sega and TG-16 stuff, but then what? Personally, I've had access to those for years now. They are great for a few hours, but not worth spending money buying. Worse yet, most of us have grown up buying nintendo games. Ultimately, some titles will have to be bought all over again. They are using the iTunes example for video games, however iTunes always had the ability to import your current CD collection. If I have a cartridge copy of Super Mario 64 and I want to play it on my wii, I dont want to have to pay $10-20 to buy it again.
Until nintendo comes up with some way to allow games already bought by a user to be provided free, or imported onto the wii, I feel like it's a black mark on an otherwise wonderful idea.
when you still have the dominant console in the world, and you dont plan to kill it off like MS is did to the xbox you want to devote some time to promoting it. the ps2 has ALOT of life left in it; depending on who you talk to, it may have more life than the ps3 will this fall. the bulk of their e3 conference was devoted to the ps3. in fact, many people criticized them for not spending more time on the ps2 and psp.
"The next generation will not begin until [we] say it begins." microsoft said something to the same effect. i didnt hear any commentary about that one.
seriously, i understand that youre excited about the wii and all, but theres a time and a place man...
sony used the same marketting plan for the ps2 as well. the ps2 was a computer, etc etc etc. sony played up this idea and it worked for them. they are doing the same now, and adding the home theater media center deal.
personally i just want to know whether sony is going to just bring the ps3 featureset to the equal level of the x360, or if they truly intend to surpass its functionality.
Slashdot Mirror
you seem to be the first person i found thats agreed with me on the subject.
its a workaround. a workaround used to speed up the development process. if time were not a factor, they would still require procedural content. in a perfect world the artists would have control over all content and asset minutiae. due to the increasing focus on deadlines and the limitations of the hardware, this is basically the only way the x360 can advance.
due to the space constraints of HD material on DVD9 and the lack of ability to require a harddrive for games, the xbox360 will need advancements in generating procedurally generated content in order to advance. MS is pushing for this. because the bottlenecks as you put them are firmly in place and have been tested already within the first couple of months. not a particularly good sign.
the PS3 seems to want to set its bottlenecks slightly higher. they want to give developers space for content storage [blu-ray]. they want to give them the ability to count on having a harddrive [ to cache data and speed up loading times]. the want to give us supposedly cutting edge superpowered nuclear cell chips and video card so powerful that its nickname should be HAL9000, just to make sure we can crunch and process all the graphical/physical data. [ excuse the sarcasm] thats great, but that takes time and comes at an expensive cost. one that's dirtied the playstation name in the eyes of many.
the wii on the other hand sees this as a losing battle. they can wait for procedural techniques to advance more before they charge ahead and push the line. they are going in the opposite direction. unfortunately this is only setting their bottlenecks lower. they are gambling on using a new form of gameplay control to offset that.
who will it work out for best? i guess we will have to see what happens in two years' time.
sorry, i was just going by the info off of wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamecube#Media they called it a proprietary variant of miniDVD.
the wiki is known to be wrong at times, maybe you should edit the article.
sorry about the remark, but why naysay a coding contest for what is probably one of the most homebrew friendly "major" consoles [yeah, even despite sony's best efforts].
/. cliche. the GP2X is nice, but the PSP has much more visibility for amateur coders to have their work seen. which in effect, would be the "real" payoff of a contest such as this. the creators of various emulators are known by name to the majority of psp users. as a coder, you cant pay for that type of visibility. numbers dont lie... http://videogamecharts.com/page2.html now imagine that the majority of these users will have the ability to use your program, and even if they do not have that ability, they are likely to know of your program if it is popular enough.
whenever psp homebrew is mentioned, someone always decides to throw in the obligatory GP2X free ad. its starting to become yet another
im not on the sony payroll; i am a multiple console owner. i'll freely admit i prefer my various playstations to my other consoles, but that doesnt mean i love them any less nor does it mean that i havent spent as much money on all of my systems [and thats what really matters]. its a matter of the games. if i read a post that has misinformation, or is a blatant swipe at a console, i add my $0.02 just like any other slashdotter.
well, seeing that sony owns like 20% which equates back to about 9% of square-enix, sony has alot of pull in saying which titles will be released from the square enix backcatalog.
above is solid fact, but here i'm only repeating a unsourced, unconfirmed rumor, so excuse me if it sounds like FUD. apparently sony bought a major stake in square to ensure that the final fantasy series was playstation exclusive. when they merged with enix, that contract was "amended" so that only non-canon final fantasy games will be released on non-sony systems.
again, thats an unsourced rumor that i dont have the time to go research, but maybe there is some truth to that. as square-enix, i dont want to upset a company thats a major 10% stakeholder. however if that were truly the case, why is final fantasy3 being released only on the DS; a sony competitor?
yeah, i mean i will lose audio quality, but if i truly wanted to convert my vinyl and tape to mp3s to play on my ipod, it is possible. unless nintendo opens the file format for whatever they will be using as ROMs, and they dont sue the hell out of anyone ingenious enough to create a multi-card reader, there will be no equivalent way to convert games as i could convert vinyl, tapes, or even 8 track.
other than the GP2X, homebrew isnt "promoted" on any consoles. the playstation line maybe moreso since they at least "offered" a linux kit. homebrew isnt the issue, sony just cant condone the creation of emulators that are used to run other companies IP, and doesnt like the idea that homebrew enables ISO loaders and piracy.
all companies close found vulnerabilities over time. microsoft patched dashboard versions all the time with the xbox1. later revisions of xbox hardware changed solder points, etc... nintendo sticks with proprietary storage solutions. so personally other than PDA devices and the GP2X, its still even footing when it comes to homebrew and the like. sony aint the only enemy in that regard.
i never hear anyone complain about having their xbox live account disabled when trying to access live with a chipped xbox. no one cries foul when they opened the x360 and couldnt enable homebrew out the box... no one cried foul when the original mechwarrior, 007, and splinter cell games were pulled from the shelves since they enabled softmodding... i mean why the hypocrisy? if you dont want to upgrade your psp, you dont have to. you just have to live without the latest games, and firmware updates for a while at least.
Given enough time, there will be a firmware exploit [patience grasshopper...] Even if there were no firmware exploit, there is now a PSP mod chip. With enough time, the chip [just like all other modchips] will eventually become more and more increasingly easier to install. Eventually requiring no solder, and eventually will be external.
The format that flash writes to is a open source standard file format. Hence there are cheaper alternatives to flash creation such as Swish [i think thats what its called] a few free alternatives and I believe that there is even a free linux flash alternative.
if you check ebay, or your local classified newspaper section there is a very high percentage that you will be able to find someone local, or at least somewhere within your country that was able to get their hands on a copy and is willing to part ways.
Wow, how much do you get paid for your talents? A GP2X astroturf, and a dig at Sony for being evil. A troll double-play.
because it is only a matter of time before there is an alternative way to load homebrew games on later firmware revisions. just as was the case with homebrew on 1.5, 2.0, 2.5, 2.6 PSPs previously.
as for GTA, a copy can be imported or bought through ebay since games are not region locked on the PSP. this is probably easier to do than to order a passthru device in order to enable ANY form of homebrew on the DS.
thats assuming that nintendo has made arrangements with all of their former third party developers. back when nintendo was king, they burned alot of bridges with their third party developers, hence why there were fewer releases for the n64 and gamecube.
/. before as well. such as second party games made by rare; now owned by their competitor: microsoft. donkey kong is a nintendo IP, but the snes and n64 versions were developed by rare. nintendo can not directly port the code since it does not belong to them, but MS can not make a port of it either since it is a nintendo property.
many of the old companies have since then folded. their IP is up in the air. other companies have since then been bought out by other companies.
there are other "iffy" situations that have been discussed here in
MS let rare develop on the GBA, but only because the GBA isnt in direct competition with MS. even though they stand to make money from the deal, letting nintendo have the rare backcatalog available on wii would undermine their x360 success, so i wouldnt hope to see killer instinct, perfect dark, banjo kazooie, goldeneye, et al on wii anytime soon.
as the launch draws closer, im curious to see how nintendo lays out its plans fully.
i dont think the ps3 will do as well as the ps2, but i dont foresee imminent death for sony either.
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the problem particularly with console game news, is that there is alot of misinformation across the net. tekken6 is only going to be released on ps3, haven't even heard a rumor to the contrary. so if you can provide a reputable link, i'd like to check it out.
UT2007 is only going to be on ps3 and the pc [with linux and mac ports down the line], although there is alot of wishful thinking for a x360 port as well. a port of UT to x360 is as likely as a port of GoW to ps3. the engines have already been created, so porting the game back and forth shouldnt be too major a deal.
metal gear will NOT be ported to x360, straight from the mouth of kojima himself.
http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?
as a matter of fact, he went on record saying that certain effects used in the game are only available on the ps3.
http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?
final fantasy xiii was confirmed to only be released on ps3. final fantasy versus has not been confirmed or denied having a x360 port. so maybe there is hope...
i used full in quotes for precisely that reason. currently we do not know what backwards compatibility solution will be in place for the ps3. i have heard rumors that they will include the hardware, and i have seen an official statement that said that they arent disclosing the full details of their BC. we know that sony has a trackrecord of providing solid BC thusfar, so until proven otherwise i will just have to take their word that 99.8% of titles will run.
the wii will pretty much be in the same boat, at least in terms of emulating the GC if teh wii processor isnt that much more faster than the GC.
i would rather know that something runs on linux than knowing that its running on a bastardized win2k kernel. how about you? then again, i bought an xbox1 so it doesnt really matter.
if you have a problem with how sony decides to distribute linux, not a problem... it will be only a few months before the homebrew community finds a full linux solution for you. no big deal.
you mean coupled with /rumors/ about the ps3 cell yields, and underclocking...
first of all, how are you comparing the rsx to the xenon? the xenon is the xbox360s CPU, the RSX is the ps3's GPU. the x360 GPU is c1 or xenos. officially the name is c1.
"...Internally we called the GPU, interchangeably, C1 and Xenos. C1 was a code name defined before we had the contract, Xenos was the project name after the contract was won - but C1 stuck in everyone's minds. Once we started calling it C1, it was hard to change."
--Bob Feldstein
secondly who modded this misinformation up?
right now, with the exception of halo3 and gears of war, sony has the bulk of "killer" exclusive titles. here, im defining killer as third party franchises that can be extrapolated to sell well into the 1M mark. halo isnt third party, but its guaranteed to move enough consoles, that i'll include that one.
thusfar, sony still has the metal gear, tekken, unreal tournament, devil may cry and final fantasy series exclusively. each of these will push lots of numbers. all of the wii first party frnachise titles will ease into the million seller range [metroid, mario, smash brothers, pokemon...]
the developers are lined up for the ps3, since japan doesnt seem to be all too receptive to the x360 i dont really see a mass exodus to the console. if nothing else, i can see wii third party development ramp up.
even now, im not adverse to buying all three, but someone is definitely going to wind up losing out this console generation. as much i as i can't wait to play gears of war and halo3 myself, its looking like microsoft may end up odd man out in the long run.
yeah, i think sony is banking on the gigabit ethernet port in the ps3, and providers such as verizon and the universities to provide the extra bandwidth. overall i dont see it being that huge a problem unless they plan to sell full HD movies.
i just dont want to have to wait hours to finish the download of the latest system update or the newest game demo or trailer. what i would like to hear is someone like sony jumping behind the bittorrent protocol or something similar for mass transmission of these huge files. it would save everyone a great deal on bandwidth and speed up file downloads. if they can just work it out for those that are under bandwidth caps, it would be almost ideal for HD.
imagine the irony of an MPAA company using bittorrent to promote its upcoming products and movies...
"although there's no way they're going to send you any HD over the wire"
what do you mean? surely sony would love the chance to broadcast their HD trailers via internet straight into consumers homes. as for buying full length movies... maybe not, but who is to say that other providers wont be able to tap into the captive ps3 market? the ps3 has an integrated web browser builtin, so in theory anyone that can set up a website can transmit streaming HD signals to any ps3.
exactly, in one years' time the two consoles will have had an equal cost; assuming that you play games online. however you also get the added benefit of being able to play blu-ray movies and "full" backwards compatibility. even without the online capabilities, i think those two functions make up the difference b/w the two consoles.
personally, until i get both consoles underneath my tv by the end of the year hopefully, i see them both on even ground. maybe with sony in the lead due to a better gaming lineup.
they have already gone on record stating that the ps3 accepts standard usb drives. as for additional internal storage? who knows...
for the $600 ps3, i expect that sucker to be able to connect to the home network and play any and every file imaginable from any filesystem i have connected. ha...
I feel like I'm the only nay-sayer here, but I love and hate the hype behind the wii's virtual console.
It's great to be able to have instant access to nintendo's full first party backcatalog, a few third party games, and the sega and TG-16 stuff, but then what? Personally, I've had access to those for years now. They are great for a few hours, but not worth spending money buying. Worse yet, most of us have grown up buying nintendo games. Ultimately, some titles will have to be bought all over again. They are using the iTunes example for video games, however iTunes always had the ability to import your current CD collection. If I have a cartridge copy of Super Mario 64 and I want to play it on my wii, I dont want to have to pay $10-20 to buy it again.
Until nintendo comes up with some way to allow games already bought by a user to be provided free, or imported onto the wii, I feel like it's a black mark on an otherwise wonderful idea.
WTF? who are you talking about?
when you still have the dominant console in the world, and you dont plan to kill it off like MS is did to the xbox you want to devote some time to promoting it. the ps2 has ALOT of life left in it; depending on who you talk to, it may have more life than the ps3 will this fall. the bulk of their e3 conference was devoted to the ps3. in fact, many people criticized them for not spending more time on the ps2 and psp.
"The next generation will not begin until [we] say it begins." microsoft said something to the same effect. i didnt hear any commentary about that one.
seriously, i understand that youre excited about the wii and all, but theres a time and a place man...
wasnt god of war dvd9?
at e3, they demonstrated how game loading times were sped up due to being able to use the hard drive to cache data and perform read-aheads.
sony used the same marketting plan for the ps2 as well. the ps2 was a computer, etc etc etc. sony played up this idea and it worked for them. they are doing the same now, and adding the home theater media center deal.
personally i just want to know whether sony is going to just bring the ps3 featureset to the equal level of the x360, or if they truly intend to surpass its functionality.