PS3 the end of Sony?

[Fuggle]

WII Has FREE Online Play. LOW PRICE & A CONTROLLER THAT WILL CHANGE THE GAMING. I say wii wins. Although I've always been a sony fan, it wont be until the prices go down til i get one

PS2 had free online play but it ****ing sucked. I'd rather pay like 3$ a month for Xbox Live than have a shitty free Online mode, I'll see once it comes out if the online is up to par.

[PoTatoes]

wii + super smash brawls = pwnage


yah ps2 and xbox's internet was shitty. especially ps2 since xbox has halo 2 so everyone went to play xbox halo 2

[Fuggle]

wii + super smash brawls = pwnage


yah ps2 and xbox's internet was shitty. especially ps2 since xbox has halo 2 so everyone went to play xbox halo 2

Dude Xbox Live ****ing owns, you have no idea what you are talking about. I'm not talking about the games here, I mean the entire online concept on PS2 was based on each developers individual servers so every game = new name and you would never be able to meet friends from other games again. XBL shares a friends list among other great things.

[Fuji]

To add to SCF. People don't buy Xbox for Halo 2 Online. I barely ever see anyone playing it now a days. Everyone is playing Dead Rising, Madden 07, Saints Row, PGR3, and Final Fantasy XI. You can invite people that are on your list that are playing totally different games or you can even talk to them privately while both of you are playing totally different games. Actually yes, Halo CE was one of the first games I had for my original Xbox. But I played Doom 3, Tom Clancy's series, Splinter Cell, Madden, etc. everyday. Even when Halo 2 came out, I didn't only play Halo. I was mostly playing Madden, (which now I despise with a passion, sorry). For PS2 I played GTA3 for a week and got bored. Then the new ones came out and I didn't even want to buy them cuz I didn't like the original 3d game. Xbox 360 is also starting a community download center for the ordinary people to put games up for download. Didn't start yet but it should really soon. It's in the marketplace. Plus you can download demos for any game currently released. I don't know what Sony is doing with their online but I'm just going to state it now. Microsoft has had them beat in that department for 6 years. Sony is for nubs.

[fleaflickerx]

^^ damn straight

[Tyler.]

As long as you have asian kids video games wont die!

[Esuna]

Also seems like the prices for the PS3 will be going up. They wont sell much until later on, some websites states.

[Mushroomhead18nc]

yeah but u gotta think of it this way, ps3 has many more titles to offer than xbox 360, 360 has halo, fable, and 1 other really popular one. Ps3 has MGS4,FFXIII, gran turismo 5, and etc. people will buy there console of choice depending on what games they like. cause a multi-platform game will be the same on either console, just depends if ur a sony fan or microsoft fan.

[Exorcise]

I found this nice and big review on PS3, maybe it'll change your view on the PS3.

Aight suckas, this thread is for those of you who don't know much about PlayStation 3, but can't decide if you'll get one based on price, competition, etc. CAUTION: This posts has a lot of biased remarks, but you should be able to figure out what is and what isn't biased. I am basing everything I say off of developer interviews, insider information (that has become true) and official announcments acumulated over the past four years.

Chances are most of you don't know everything there is to know at this point regarding what the system is capable of out of the box. This thread will attempt to explain the features you may have overlooked, and hopefully understand why that $500-600 price point is not a problem for a significant number of people who have done their research on the system. I'll try to update the thread when I can, but these two posts are already boardering on 10000 characters.


20gb PS3 (left) and 60gb PS3 (right)

Technical Specifications

CPU
Cell Processor
PowerPC-base Core @3.2GHz
1 VMX vector unit per core
512KB L2 cache
7 x SPE @3.2GHz
7 x 128b 128 SIMD GPRs
7 x 256KB SRAM for SPE
* 1 of 8 SPEs reserved for redundancy

GPU
RSX @550MHz
Full HD (up to 1080p)
Multi-way programmable parallel floating point shader pipelines

Sound
Dolby 5.1ch, DTS, LPCM, etc. (Cell- base processing)
Memory
256MB XDR Main RAM @3.2GHz 256MB GDDR3 VRAM @700MHz

System Bandwidth
Main RAM 25.6GB/s
VRAM 22.4GB/s
RSX 20GB/s (write) + 15GB/s (read)
SB< 2.5GB/s (write) + 2.5GB/s (read)

Storage
Detachable 2.5" HDD slot x 1
60gb HDD (Premium Model)
20gb HDD (Basic Model)

I/O
USB Front x 4 (USB2.0)
Memory Stick standard/Duo, PRO x 1
SD standard/mini x 1
CompactFlash (Type I, II) x 1

Communication
Ethernet (10BASE-T, 100BASE-TX, 1000BASE-T) x 3 (input x 1 + output x 2)
Wi-Fi IEEE 802.11 b/g
Bluetooth 2.0 (EDR)

Controller
Bluetooth (up to 7)
USB 2.0 (wired)
Wi-Fi (PSP)
Network (over IP)

AV Output
Screen size: 480i, 480p, 720p, 1080i, 1080p
HDMI: HDMI out x 1
Analog: AV MULTI OUT x 1
Digital audio: DIGITAL OUT (OPTICAL) x 1

Disc Media
CD PlayStation CD-ROM, PlayStation 2 CD-ROM, CD-DA, CD-DA (ROM), CD-R, CD-RW, SACD, SACD Hybrid (CD layer), SACD HD, DualDisc, DualDisc (audio side), DualDisc (DVD side)
DVD: PlayStation 2 DVD-ROM, PlayStation 3 DVD-ROM, DVD-Video, DVD-ROM, DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD+R, DVD+RW
Blu-ray Disc: PlayStation 3 BD-ROM, BD-Video, BD-ROM, BD-R, BD-RE

The PS3 technical specifications and how they match up against the Xbox 360 system specs has generated quite a bit of controversy over the past few months. The CELL processor used in PS3 is quite a bit more powerful than the 360's tri-core PowerPC, but the 360's GPU (Xenos) is said to be a little more powerful than RSX. Many people take this and believe that simply because the 360 has the stronger GPU, it can pump out better and more graphical effects. If both systems were based on the PC architecture, this would be true. But it is CELL that gives PS3 an advantage in both graphics and physics, and this is why:

In a normal PC architecture such as that of the Xbox 360, the GPU handles nearly all of the graphical effects and the CPU calculates physics, AI, and other non-graphics based operations. But on PlayStation 3, graphical calculations such as particles, shadowing, and even geometry can be generated by both CELL and RSX. The original PS3 design was to include two CELL chips. One for graphics, and one for physics. However, CELL isn't capable of very advanced shader calculations, so Sony hired Nvidia to create a graphics chip based on their latest GPU. At the time, this was the GeForce 7800 GTX. So baisically, RSX is a beefed up 7800 who's only purpose is to help CELL with shading and some other effects. This design nearly eliminates system bottlenecks, which is why PS3 versions of games like Call of Duty 3 and Stranglehold retain a more consistant framerate than their 360 counterparts. In the 360 design, generally all CPU cores are used equally. So if they fill up, there's nowhere for that extra information to be handed off, even if the GPU isn't being used to its fullest. This causes a framedrop or slowdown in framerate. On PS3 however, if an SPE fills up, that extra information can be handed off to another SPE and the system only starts chugging when all SPEs AND RSX are being used to their maximum.


Formula 1

Games

As of today, these are the titles within the PS3 launch window:

* Blazing Angels: Squadrons of WWII
* Call of Duty 3
* College Hoops 2K7
* Fatal Inertia
* F.E.A.R.
* Fight Night: Round 3
* flOw
* Full Auto 2: Battlelines
* Genji: Days of the Blade
* Madden NFL 07
* Marvel: Ultimate Alliance
* Mobile Suit Gundam: Crossfire
* NBA 07
* NBA 2K7
* NHL 2K7
* Need for Speed: Carbon
* Resistance: Fall of Man
* Ridge Racer 7
* Sonic the Hedgehog
* Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2007
* Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas
* Tony Hawk's Project 8
* The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
* Untold Legends: Dark Kingdom

I would like to point out that the majority of these games will cost $59.99, as announced by Sony at TGS. This is the same price as nearly every 360 game. So much for those "omg blu-reh will mak mah gamz $100!!11" comments. The game that is not $59.99 is FlOw, which is a game you can download from the PlayStation store for $14.99. It is similar to the Xbox Live Arcade games you can get on the 360, and there are many more where that came from. More on that later...

Games are obviously what make a system, and the reason Sony owns the console market with PS2 and PS1 (over 100 million units each) is because they have a wide variety of games that apeal to a very large audience. It is NOT because of people buying multiple PS2s. Xbox and PS2 have a nearly identicle failure percentage. The only reason you hear about more PS2s breaking is because PS2 has a larger user base to begin with. Anyway, the tradition of a wide variety of games on the PlayStation platform will continue with PS3. It's not like the system is losing any major developers. Yes, some PS3 games have been cancelled. But this is more due to the lack of developer tools at the time when the 360 was the primary developement platform. It is an undisputed fact among industry journalists that PS3 has the most exclusive titles and developement support out of all the next-gen systems. Which exclusives you like is ultimately up to you. If you like Halo, Forza Motorsport, and Project Gothem, then 360 is for you. If you like Gran Turismo, Metal Gear Solid, Ratchet and Clank, Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts, and Katari Damacy, then you are probably getting a PS3. (Sorry about not having as much Xbox franchises on that list, but in all honesty I can't think of any other worthwhile Xbox exclusive franchise at the moment. If you can think of some, I'll gladly add them.) Also, you can expect PS3 exclusives to stay exclusives, especially first party games whereas on the 360, most of the so called "exclusives" are also going to be on the PC. This includes Gears of War, Halo (likely), Bioshock (which might be ported to PS3 as well), Alan Wake and possibly even Mass Effect. So in the end, game prefrences vary depending on the person. But it is safe to say that PS3 has a larger variety.


MotorStorm

1080p

Here's an interesting one.. At E3 2005, Sony announced that PS3 would support 1080 progressive resolution out of the box with PS3 as compared to 720p for Xbox 360. Microsoft then stated that 1080p is not possible even given how powerful both systems are. Then, at TGS this year, Sony and many other developers had many of their games running in 1080p. This included SEGA, who had Virtua Tennis 3 on both the PS3 and Xbox 360 running side-by-side. The PS3 version ran in 1080p and had higher resolution textures and character models. To top this all off, Microsoft announced that the 360 would support 1080p via a dashboard update later this fall. It's too bad though, that thanks to 360's tiny frame buffer and lack of HDMI port, that you probably won't see any 1080p games on the system other than those that come off XBLA. And on top of that, true 1080p is not possible unless you have an HDMI port, which is why Sony added one to the 20gb PS3 at the last minute. So really the only way to enjoy true 1080p entertainment on the 360 is to buy the optional $200 HD-DVD drive, and you're still not getting true 1080p gmaes with it. More on HD-DVD vs. Blu-Ray later.

Blu-Ray

One of the funniest things I find about people on the interwebz these days is how so many of them (including many of you) think a DVD9 is suficient for next generation games. Guess what? They're not. And it's one of the reasons why some developers (like Factor 5) have abandoned the 360 entirely. Given the fact that games like Gran Turismo 4 and Metal Gear Solid 3 had to have content cut to fit on a DVD9, do you honestly think that Gran Turismo 5 and MGS4 could fit on one as well? Absolutely not. And if not, how do you expect 360 games to compete with PS3 games in the future when there are already games on the 360 filling the disk? Remember when PS2 came out? Nobody thought DVD was a needed addition and many PS2 games were still on CD-ROM. Now, 90 percent of all PS2 games are on a DVD. "But there's compression," you say. Yes, there is. And compression requires CPU power to work - something the 360 struggles with in the first place. Resistence: Fall of Man (a PS3 launch title) currently takes up 16 gigs on a single-layer Blu-Ray disk. This isn't completely due to extra content, but because a large portion of that data is uncompressed. Doing this leaves more CPU power that can be used to perform more important tasks, such as physics and CELL-based graphical calculations. Gran Turismo 4 and Metal Gear Solid 3 also used a lot of uncompressed data, which is one of the reasons why those games are some of the best looking on the PS2. It should also be noted that Xbox 360 is the first console in history to NOT upgrade its optical media format from the previous generation. Oops.


Metal Gear Solid 4

Media Functionality

This is where PS3 REALLY stands out as a centerpiece in your living room, and here is why:

Blu-Ray

As you know, PS3 has a 2x Blu-Ray drive built in for both games and movies. If you were to go out and buy a standalone Blu-Ray player, it would cost you $1000 for the cheapest Samsung model. Sony's version is $1800. And if you have seen the difference between standard definition and high definition, you would know that an HD image is extremly better looking and better sounding. Both the 360 and PS3 are touted as being "HD consoles" but only one can deliver a true HD experience without a $200 add-on. This brings me to HD-DVD vs. Blu-Ray. People seem to have the idea that Blu-Ray will be the next Betamax. The reason Betamax failed isn't because it was created by Sony, it was because it didn't have as much studio support as VHS did. This time around it is the complete oposite. Many industry analysts are saying HD-DVD is already dead. Blu-Ray isn't just run by Sony, it's run by a board of directors, including Apple, Dell, and all but one of the major leading movie studios. The support Blu-Ray has is overwhelmingly greater than that of HD-DVD, and it will only get better when PS3 comes out. About 15,000 HD-DVD players have been snapped up by early adopters so far. And when PS3 comes out, there will be 500,000 Blu-Ray players on the market within minutes, and another 100,000 per week in both North America and Japan after that.

Music

PS3 uses the same XMB interface that the PSP uses, but adds many new features. One of them is how you store music on the system. With PS3, you can simply pop in a CD and listen to it through the Blu-Ray drive, or you can have the system rip the CD onto the hard drive and store it as an album. You can also have other catagories and playlists as you would expect. PS3 supports .MP3 and .ACC (iPod) format audio files, but more audio files can easily be added via a firmware update.

Video

Like the PSP, PS3 can play videos off the hard drive, and can also play Blu-Ray movies and regular DVDs. As of now PS3 supports the same video formats as the PSP, but more formats can be added with an update.

Photos

PS3 allows you to store photos on the hard drive and separate them into albums. There are also some nifty slide show effects you can use, demonstrated in the video further down. You can also view photos while listening to music, thanks to PS3 being able to multitask better than the PSP.

Internet

PS3 supports a multi-tab web browser similar to that of the PSP. The difference though, is the PS3 version is much faster and fully supports the latest version of Flash and Java. The browser can also be used with music, and even games. So if you're stuck in a particular game, you can open up a browser window without quiting the game, find a strategy guide, and resume the game seamlessly. The system will have the same text input style as the PSP, but if you want you can connect a USB keyboard and mouse.

LINUX

This is truly something that makes PS3 stand out from any other system. Shortly after PS3 comes out, you will be able to download and install Yellow Dog Linux ver.5 for free, turning your PS3 into a fully featured LINUX PC. So if you have a slow PC or are planning to buy a LINUX PC, this is serriously something to consider. Keep in mind that LINUX for PS3 can be used in conjunction with a regular PC monitor and keyboard+mouse combination.

PS3 XMB Demonstration


Fight Night Round 3

The PlayStation Network Platform

Sony's online service does not have an official name because Sony states that the online function is as part of the system as offline is. Xbox Live is a premium paid for service, whereas online gaming and networking with the PS3 is a standard feature, free of charge. Here are some of the features this new service offers:

* Online gaming (duh)
* Matchmaking
* Xfire support
* Downloadable demos and game content
* Coss-game chatting and video confrencing
* Friends list
* Voice chat
* Notifications
* Multiple user accounts per system

The service is very similar to Xbox Live. One aspect of the this system that has generated controversy is how well it will actually work in practice. Many people think that online PS3 games will be full of lag because there is no central base of servers paid for by user subscriptions. At Sony's Gamer's Day event a few days ago though, people were given hands-on time with the online mode in Resistence, where people at the show were able to compete in 40 player games over the internet with the developers of the game back at their offices. So far there have been absolutely no reports of web-based lag from that particular event. How will Sony pay for servers then? Well the answer should be obvious:

PlayStation Store

The PlayStation Store is Sony's eqivelent to the Xbox Live Marketplace. Here you can download game demos, buy add-ons for cirtain games ranging from a penny to a couple dollars, buy smaller XBLA-like games (such as FlOw and Crminal Crackdown), and even buy full versions of old PS1 games that can be transfered over to and played on your PSP. PS1 games are said to be priced under $10, with most of which being in the $5 range. The PlayStation Store uses actual currency, so there is no need to buy "points" in order to pay for something. You can either purchase a PlayStation Card with a set amount of money on the card, or you can use a credit card. Currency will vary and be converted depending on the country you live in. In the future there are plans to expand the PlayStation store into other forms of media. So you'll eventually be able to download music and movies as well. PS3 games that offer downloadable content will allow you to access the store while in-game, and will skin the store according to what game you're playing. It will do this using the internet browser. One nice feature about the PlayStation Store is the ability to purchase an item and re-download it on as many as five other PS3s. So if you go to a friend's house and log into his PS3 using your account information, you can re-download whatever you've purchased for free. Your friend can even access that content when offline, but he won't be able to use it in say, a multiplayer game if you downloaded new maps or something like that.

Folding@Home

PS3 supports a new project called Folding@Home. Baisically if you choose to participate, your PS3's unused processing power will be forwarded over the internet and combined with the power of other PS3s to help in computer-intensive cancer reseach studies. Yeah, Sony is just so evil.


Virtua Tennis 3

Conclusion

While PS3 is expensive, it is still an amazing multimedia system, and I hope this thread gives you a better understanding of how complex it is and why so many people are eagerly awaiting to pay the full $600 come this November. I'm sorry if you're one of the people who will inevitable say "I'm not reading all that chicken shit bullshit blah blah blah..." and remain left in the dark about the system's capabilities. And for those who did make it this far, thanks for reading! This took a long-ass time to type up.

And the fact some people believed that rented/borrowed/used games cannot be played on a PS3 has been proven false in this article.
[url=http://www.joystiq.com/2005/11/08/playstation-3-wont-play-used-games/][/url]

[Mushroomhead18nc]

^^ nice job, u've done your homework. the whole blu-ray thing is isnt much mroe expensive but it holds more data on a disc which means better/ longer games. the controllers on ps3 are awesome, they built in motion sensor, ex. if u move the actual controller left (not the joystick or d-pad) then ur character or vehicle will actually move left. its pretty awesome

[godlylegend]

The Ps3 still has a very good chance. Its basicly a fact its more better then the xbox360. PS3 has no gimmicks and the graphics are flawless.
The next generation blu-ray disk(25 gb Insane capcicty UNLIKE 4.7 gb dvds) brings better graphics. Better sound.Better gameplay.And longer storyline.In fact the ps3 is so powerful it could probaly make it to the next generation consles...

I have a ps3 and I have never regret buying it. I love it.

PS: PS3 is a blu-ray disk player,over blu ray disck players cost 1000$

600$ is a GOOOOOOOOD DEAL.thats 1 reason I don't regret it.

Free Online to. Fair quality? I dun anything wrong with it.

[Fuggle]

Mushroomhead, from what I know about the motion sensor it's for horizontal only, and as for the sales itself, Sony is looking terrible. All the places that they normally have a good hold on the market, be it Japan or here, are not buying there system. I think in Japan the Wii is being bought over the PS3 4:1, and here every store I've been to has tons of PS3's in stock and trying to do just about anything they can to sell them. The fact is, PS3 is a huge loss for the company, we'll just see if they can pull through it.

[Aemaeth]

poor people suck.
downfall my ass.

[godlylegend]

I personaly think wii is for kids.

[Mushroomhead18nc]

at fuggle. Idk much about if the motion sensors are just horizontal or not but ive only played ps3 in the display model where they have the crappy contoller like the old ps2 but idk if it has motion sensor. I dont think it does but its all locked up. I still like ps3 over wii. wii really did take it a level up but if most tennagers and adults dont want to play every game using their whole body. and actually ps2 beat them with using the eye toy. which sucked but they tried. Most true gamers dont want to play an rpg or sports game using there body. If they did i know i would just go to an arcade or something. but hey its all good. everyone has their opinions and if Wii does better then good for them. but i wouldn't own one over a ps3

[Jordanv78]

The ps3 has a motion controller where the motion sensing is build in! Also ps3's online play is free. I don't see how wii beats the ps3 in any way, shape or form except for the price.

[PoTatoes]

The ps3 has a motion controller where the motion sensing is build in! Also ps3's online play is free. I don't see how wii beats the ps3 in any way, shape or form except for the price.

The Wii Games are > than the Ps3 games..

[Fuggle]

Sony's online is beyond terrible, free is not always a good thing. I'd rather not play online at all rather than playing Online using Playstation.

The Wii features absolute position sensing via a control strip of three LEDs arranged below the television, whereas the PS3's controller merely senses relative motion, primarily involving tilting over the three axes of motion. Games written specifically for the Wii's controller will not be able to be ported to the PS3 without significant modification.

I'd much rather play Wii Zelda than regular Zelda, also you get to play all Nintendo games by downloading them, and they have a regular controller to play those.

[godlylegend]

Bs ppl ****ing says ps3 sux cause of the games in the 1st 3 months? I mean cmon you ppl really expect high quality release games in the 1st day -_-'

[PoTatoes]

Bs ppl ****ing says ps3 sux cause of the games in the 1st 3 months? I mean cmon you ppl really expect high quality release games in the 1st day -_-'

Um...Yes?