There's general agreement that Sony stumbled out of the gate with the PlayStation 3. Months of intense hype were followed by a late launch (fully a year after the Xbox 360) and a staggering $600 price tag for the deluxe model.
Even worse, the PS3 didn't initially have any real must-have exclusive titles, and despite the power of its vaunted Cell processor, multiplatform games from third-party developers didn't look appreciably better than the respective titles on the Xbox 360.
Since then, the company's been modifying the PlayStation product line to better fit the competitive market landscape. As of August 2008, a new "bargain" PS3 is available with a larger, 80GB hard drive, and a "deluxe" model is due in November, doubling the capacity to 160GB.
Both, however, lack backward compatibility with PS2 games and do not come with flash card readers. If those features are a must, it might be best to pick up the 80GB "Metal Gear" bundle version on eBay w... More »
Sony's Director of Hardware Marketing John Koller posted a special second birthday wish for the PlayStation 3 via the PS Blog today as follows:
November 17 is a special date for us at SCEA because, as many of you fans know, it’s when we launched PLAYSTATION 3.
Two years ago today, we delivered our next-generation console, providing consumers with a gaming and home entertainment system unlike anything in the market – the power of the Cell Broadband Engine, out-of-the-box HDMI support for 1080p resolution, and a Blu-ray drive for high-definition movies and expansive games.
The PS3’s launch was also when the Resistance franchise was born, and the original title’s success has spawned a blockbuster sequel with Resistance 2 and a unique PSP installment with the upcoming Resistance: Retribution.
But that’s just what we started with, and PS3 has come a long way since November 17, 2006. If you stood in line the night before ... More »
Engadget (linked above) writes: Hey, pal - remember that 160GB PS3 Drake's Fortune bundle we told you about back in August?
Well thanks to the totally awesome skills of one intrepid reader, we now know that they're available for purchasing pleasure at your local Best Buy (and other spots, we like to imagine).
From what we can tell based on that extremely blurry photo you see, the package will sell for a holiday-destroying $499.99, so you'd better hope grandma drops a big check on you this season.
Courtesy of HMV.com (linked above) comes the first picture of the new PlayStation 3 160GB console's box.
As you can see, it comes with Ratchet & Clank: Quest of Booty, Last Guy, Gran Torismo 5: Prologue and Super Stardust HD.
How's that for £340?
Details from their site:
PlayStation 3 Console
* £339.99
* free uk delivery
* availability: pre order now
Release date: 31-10-2008
Format: GAME
Number of Discs: 1
Catalogue Number: PRERELHC
Label: SONY
Visit our Web Shop for the latest Deals on gaming gear today!
Use Coupon Code: holiday at check-out to get 15% OFF your order!
ExtremeTech has found that replacing the PS3's hard drive with Intel's new X-25 solid-state 80GB drive can reduce a games load times by up to 40%.
However, the drive does not greatly improve install times as the read performance of the Blu-ray drive holds it back. If anyone is considering this upgrade, it will set you back $600.
To quote: We've already raved about the stellar performance of Intel's new X-25 solid-state drive, which just happens to come in an 80GB capacity and 2.5-inch SATA form factor. Perfect for a PS3!
So after a quick FAT32 format, we dropped the drive in the PS3 unit we keep in the HDTV lab here (an original 60GB unit) to see what kind of impact it has on install times, game start times, and load times.
We took four games notorious for long installs or load times and timed them both with the original 60GB hard drive and the Intel SSD. The results may surprise you—but at $600, it's certainly not a cheap upgrad... More »
Kaz Hirai has indicated that he expects PlayStation Home to boost sales of the PS3 this Holiday period. Moreover, he added that he expects the gaming division of Sony to be less affected by the current adverse economic conditions.
To quote: A Sony Corp. executive told the Wall Street Journal this month that the company expects the new online universe 'Home' to boost sales of the Playstation 3 this holiday.
Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Chairman and Group CEO Kaz Hirai told the publication that Home, which will allow PS3 owners to mingle in a virtual world, will be available by the end of the year.
Hirai added that he expects the company's game unit to be less affected by current economic conditions.
Sony in Sept. 2007 delayed the Home online service to spring 2008. It subsequently delayed the project to the end of the year.
Sony will sell a new 160GB PS3 bundle in Nov. next to the current 80GB SKU.
Who says $500 is too much to spend on a gaming system? Certainly not the game and Blu-ray shoppers at Amazon.com.
Roughly 24 hours after appearing for pre-order at Amazon, the new Sony Playstation 3 160GB Bundle with Drake's Fortune, a DualShock controller and voucher for PAIN from the Playstation Network has made waves on the movers and shakers charts.
As of Saturday morning, the bundle had climbed 441% from the 157th bestsellers spot to the 29th spot over the past 24 hours.
That's not bad for a bundle we had made fun of not too long ago. Of course, we still stand pat on our belief a fused bundle with games and Blu-ray will really move some hardware this holiday season. And we're not just saying that because our site is built upon a foundation of combined games and movie coverage.
For now, we'll keep our eye on this Drake's Fortune bundle and see if it can continue to climb the charts.
Will Microsoft launch its next-gen Xbox in 2011? There have been a couple of articles recently that have speculated on just that. We look at whether the 'Xbox 720' will feature a return to Intel chips, the inclusion of a Blu-ray drive, and more storage than you can ever fill.
A PlayStation 4 and potential 'Xbox 720' could arrive as early as 2011, estimates Crytek president and CEO Cevat Yerli. Industry analyst Colin Sebastian agrees, suggesting that "the general consensus amongst industry professionals is that a new generation of home consoles will arrive on the market in 2011 or 2012."
Terabyte storage for the Xbox 720?
We've already speculated about what Microsoft might be planning for its third Xbox – 16 or 32 processing cores (including onboard graphics), 8GB of DDR memory, broadband connectivity and a hard disk that delivers terabytes rather than gigabytes of storage space.
More storage is a given – Micro... More »
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