20-3-2006

Confirmed: HDD to ship with every PS3

Sony has confirmed to a number of gaming websites that the 60GB hard drive will ship with every PlayStation 3.

After Wednesday's conference, where Ken Kutaragi confirmed a worldwide PS3 launch in November, there was some ambiguity over whether the hard drive would be included as standard.

Kutaragi did say that the hard drive would be required, since Sony has told developers to assume the hard drive is present in every PS3.

But he also said that whether the hard drive would be included or not would depend on the market environment. Now, however, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe has ensured gamers that the hard drive will definitely be included.

This is of course relieving news. Not only would it be frustrating to purchase a required hard drive separately, it could also alienate a lot of consumers.

As reported last week, the PlayStation 3 has been delayed until November because of Blu-ray copyright protection issues. Sony's next generation console will now launch in Japan/Asia, USA/Canada and Europe simultaneously.

By Bhavin Shah

15-3-2006

Sony: Worldwide launch, 6 million units, hard drive and more...

Ken Kutaragi has officially confirmed that the PlayStation 3 will have a worldwide launch in November.

Sony will unleash one million units per month with a total of six million units by the end of the fiscal year (March 2007).

They have also announced that the PS3's online service will feature community tools including lobby matching and voice chat. Software can be purchased as well, and booted via the hard drive.

All PS3 games will be on the Blu-ray format, in an attempt to reduce piracy.

Kutaragi confirmed that a 60GB hard drive, which will support Linux, will ship with the system out of the box.

The PS3 will be 100% backwards compatible with PS1 and PS2 games. Furthermore, it will upscale old games into high defintion.

The final PS3 dev kits will ship in June, with 15 different companies making tools and middleware for the SDK.

So finally we have been given a fantastic amount of information, hopefully silencing some concerns brought about by analysts. It is true that the PS3 has been delayed, but thankfully '2007' is not a part of Sony's plans.

By Bhavin Shah

Originally posted by Double-J:
I'm more concerned about the controller...especially since Sony is involved in a lawsuit which may prevent them from having vibration in their controllers anymore...what do you think of the "wing" design?

Originally posted by Don Andrew:
I dunno. I'm thinking that since I couldn't get my hands on the 360 I should just wait and preorder the PS3.

What do you guys think? I've always been an XBOX guy, but I'm hearing good things about the PS3.

Juicy Playstation 3 Rumors
Posted by sjohnson - Wednesday, April 26, 2006 2:51 PM

Until E3, you'll all have to content yourself with rumors when it comes to the PlayStation 3, but these are some gooood rumors. PSM, "The Unofficial Playstation Magazine," is reporting that the PS3 will be released in November, come with a standard 60-gig harddrive, and be all Blu-rayed out. Oh, and the price? Only $399.00, cheap.

The titles on launch are said to be:

* John Woo's Strangehold
* Tekken
* Sonic the Hedgehog
* Resistance: Fall of Man
* Rainbow Six: Vegas
* Lair
* Motorstorm
* Untold Legends: Dark Kingdom

It almost sounds like wishful thinking... Hopefully, all will be revealed officially at the E3 and I'll let you know as soon as I hear. I promise.

PSM Magazine

E3 2006: PS3 Date and Price Announced
System to come in two configurations, will cost up to $599.
by Jeff Haynes

May 8, 2006 - In a last minute bombshell, Kaz Hirai announced the specific date and details of the PS3 launch. The PS3 will be arranged in two separate system configurations: a 20 and a 60 gigabyte hard drive system. What's more, Japan will see the PS3 first on November 11th, at a price for 59,800 yen for the 20 gigabyte system setup. The 60 gigabyte system will be open ended and set by retailers. North America, Europe and Australasia will see the system six days later on November 17th. The price? $499 dollars or 499 Euros for the 20 gig version, and $599 dollars or 599 Euros for the 60 gig version. In Canadian dollars, that will come to approximately $549 dollars for the 20 gig and $659 dollars for the 60 gig version.

Hirai also announced that Sony will try to get a grand total of six million units shipped by March 31, 2007, which is Sony's fiscal date: 2 million PS3s will be available during the initial launch window, another 2 million will be shipped before the end of 2006, and finally another 2 before March 31st.

We'll have more details shortly.

E3 2006: Sony reveals the PS3 controller
Say goodbye to the Batarang! Say hello to six degrees of freedom!
by Andrew Alfonso

May 8, 2006 - Today at SCEA's E3 press conference, Ken Kutaragi came on stage near the end of the conference to deliver the final piece of the PS3 puzzle: the controller. Last E3, Sony showed off a completely different controller from the usual Dual Shock 2 rev, and was reminiscent of a Batarang.

However, it seems that Sony has listened to the criticisms of fans and its clients and have reverted back to the traditional Dual Shock design for the PS3, which will make gamers happier. In addition, the new controller will be wireless, with a USB connection in case you want to be wired. When connected, the controller can be charged automatically. The controller can be connected and disconnected at any time.

The biggest surprise was when Phil Harrison joined Ken Kutaragi on stage to show off the secret feature of the Dual Shock 3: six degrees of freedom. Using technology similar to what we've seen in past games, players can now move the controller freely in order to manipulate the action on the screen.

This was shown by Dylan Jobe, who is the producer/director of Warhawk, which will make an appearance on the system. In the short two minute demo, Jobe was shown flying his craft by handling the controller in a similar fashion to that of an aircraft stick. Before that, Harrison also showed two demos using this feature, with a helicoptor and the traditional rubber duck.

While the new Dual Shock will gain motion detection, it will be losing its shock. Sony confirmed that the rumble feature will be disabled, as the vibration apparently interferes with information detected by the motion sensor.

Sony has also made a few fine adjustments to the controller. The L2/R2 shoulder buttons have been enlarged, allowing for increased stroke depth. The analogue sticks allow for greater tilting angle, a change that will apparently give more delicate controls to games. Both the sticks and the L2/R2 shoulder buttons benefit from an increase in precision from 8 to 10 bits.

We'll have more information on the new controller as soon as we get our hands on it!

Originally posted by xXx_DoN_CoRLeOnE_xXx:


I was only willing to pay $399 for the PS3. Looks like I'll be waiting for the first price drop...

Originally posted by xXx_DoN_CoRLeOnE_xXx:

I was unable to find any pictures of the controller.

E3 2006: PS3 20 Gig Missing Features?
Images of system with smaller hard drive missing HDMI input, other features.
by Jeff Haynes

May 8, 2006 - The announcement earlier tonight that the PS3 would come in two separate configurations easily caught the ear of PS3 fans eager for any news of Sony's system. However, upon closer analysis of the images for the systems itself, a rather curious system feature seemed to be missing from the 20 gig configuration.

Looking at the official press site of SCEA, we noticed that the PS3 with the 20 gigabyte hard drive seemed to lack HDMI support. This seems to be confirmed by an offical press release from SCEA, which indicates via comparison between the two systems. However, it also indicates that the 20 gigabyte system won't have Memory Stick, SD or Compact Flash reading capability or WiFi support. Even worse, it appears that rumble doesn't appear to be included with the new six axis sensing controller.

Could the 20 gig become a gamer shunned system? When Microsoft launched the Xbox 360, consumers hated the Core system that didn't come with a hard drive and other features, quickly dubbing it the "tard pack." Will the 20 gig suffer the same fate? We'll have more details as we get them from the show.

Update: It also appears that Sony has ditched dual-HDMI support altogether, even from its high-end 60GB system. Whether or not the system is still capable of running dual-displays by using both HDMI and the AV multi-out is unknown.

Also, Sony announced that the Blu-ray disc drive in the PS3 will run at 2X, or roughly 72Mbps.

Posted 15 May 2006
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GamesRadar rumor debunked
by Justin Pinter

There has been a rumor spreading across the internet that the 20GB version of the PS3 console will not have wireless bluetooth technology for the controllers.

GamesRadar.com reported, "Sony has today cleared up the confusion over the differences in specification between the two models of PlayStation 3 - and the cheaper version won't support wireless controllers...instead, gamers will have to make do with retro-style wired-up versions of the increasingly controversial PS3 pad."

It also claimed that the hard drive is not replacable.

However, if you read the Sony Press Release, it states that both versions of the console will ship with a "Wireless Controller (Bluetooth)". Also, in a number of interviews, Phil Harrison has confirmed that hard drive can be changed at any time.

GamesRadar's report is totally false. Have a look at our PlayStation 3 specification for a breakdown of what's included in each package.

Originally posted by Enzo Scifo:
Sony is the biggest copy cat in history. Now they have stolen, after all the other things they stole, the concept of the Wii controller.

Originally posted by Enzo Scifo:
Myeah, I'd expected this reponse.
Maybe I should have made myself more clear: what I don't like is that Sony suddenly moves to a controller that has these kind of functions (altough limited). To me it's too obvious that they have got the idea of using a move sensor from Nintendo.

Originally posted by Enzo Scifo:
But still, if the Wii didn't have this function, I think the PS3 wouldn't have it too.

Originally posted by Enzo Scifo:

So I'm not saying they copied the Wii

Originally posted by Enzo Scifo:
Sony is the biggest copy cat in history. Now they have stolen, after all the other things they stole, the concept of the Wii controller.

Originally posted by Enzo Scifo:
Why do they have to follow? Now it looks like they can't come up with something new themselves.

Originally posted by Double-J:

[quote]Originally posted by Enzo Scifo:
[b]
So I'm not saying they copied the Wii

Originally posted by Enzo Scifo:
Sony is the biggest copy cat in history. Now they have stolen, after all the other things they stole, the concept of the Wii controller.

Originally posted by Enzo Scifo:



Which doesn't take away that they did copy many things in the past.

Originally posted by Double-J:
How diplomatic.

Sony: If We Make It, They Will Buy
SCEE CEO brimming with confidence regarding PS3.
by Luke Smith, 05/19/2006

When Sony Computer Entertainment Europe CEO David Reeves admits that "key launch titles" will slip into 2007 he also admits that to Sony, it doesn't really matter what ships at launch.

"We have built up a certain brand equity over time since the launch of PlayStation in 1995 and PS2 in 2000 that the first five million are going to buy it, whatever it is, even it didn't have games," Reeves told Computer and Video Games in an interview. During the same interview, Reeves admits that Heavenly Sword, Motorstorm and Formula One will all see release in early 2007 within the PS3 "launch window." Insomniac's gritty World War II shooter (with aliens) Resistance: Fall of Man will be there at launch according to Reeves.

It's not games like Heavenly Sword slipping into the "launch window" instead of the "launch day" category that is concerning -- it's Sony admitting that even if there were no games to purchase, consumers would still be lining up en masse to grab the PS3.

We get it, Sony, you were the market leader for two solid generations of console making, but you might be placing a little too much faith in the perceived strength of your brand to ask people to fork over $600 for your console regardless of the available software.