PlayStation 3

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PlayStation 3
PlayStation 3 Logo
PlayStation 3 Logo
PlayStation 3
PlayStation 3
ManufacturerSony Computer Entertainment
TypeVideo game console
GenerationSeventh generation era
LifespanNovember 11 2006 (JP)
November 17, 2006 (NA)
November 17, 2006 (EU)
November 17, 2006 (Australia)
MediaBD-ROM
DVD-ROM
CD-ROM
CPU3.2 GHz PPC Cell with 7 3.2 GHz SPEs
Online servicesPlayStation Network Platform (PNP)
PredecessorPlayStation 2

The PlayStation 3 (PS3) will be Sony's seventh generation era video game console in the PlayStation series. It is the successor to the PlayStation 2 and will mainly compete against Nintendo's Wii and Microsoft's Xbox 360. Sony has announced that the PS3 will be backward compatible with PS1 and PS2 games that meet Sony's TRC (Technical Requirements Checklist). The PS3 will be released on November 11, 2006 in Japan and November 17, 2006 in the rest of the world, and will ship in two initial configurations. Sony has announced that stores will be allowed to preorder systems starting May 25, 2006, and these stores should start to accept deposits for the Playstation 3 soon after.

The PS3 was officially unveiled on May 16, 2005 by Sony during an E3 conference, where the console was first shown to the public. A functional version of the console was not at E3 2005 or the Tokyo Game Show in September 2005, although at both events, demonstrations were held on devkits (for example Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots) and comparable PC hardware, and video footage based on the predicted PS3 specifications was produced (for example for Mobile Suit Gundam).

Retail configurations and pricing

Sony's current retail strategy for the PlayStation 3 will involve two different configurations that are detailed in Sony's own specifications sheet. The "premium" or 60GB version of the PlayStation 3 comes with an internal 60GB hard drive. This version of the console will also include Wi-Fi connectivity, HDMI connectivity, and a memory card reader out of the box.

The 20GB version of the console, so named for its 20GB internal hard drive, will not feature Wi-Fi, HDMI, or a memory card reader. The hard drive is upgradedable however, and memory card and Wi-Fi support can be added through adaptors. The only non-upgradable feature is the HDMI support.[1]

In most territories, the additional features of the 60GB configuration means a price increase of roughly USD$100.

Expected features
Feature 20 GB System 60 GB System
Size of hard drive 20 GB 60 GB
Upgradable hard drive Yes Yes
Wi-Fi connectivity No Yes
HDMI connection No Yes
Memory Stick reader No Yes
Suggested retail price by region
Region Expected pricing on release
20 GB version 60 GB version
Europe (Euro)
UK (GBP) 		€499
£349[2] 		€599
£425[2]
Japan (Yen) ¥59,800 Open Price
United States (USD) $499 $599
Canada (CAD) $549 $659
Australia (AUD) $829 $999

Games in development

Main article: List of PlayStation 3 games

As of March 2006, there are already over 230 PS3 games announced by multiple developers and publishers, like SCEI, Electronic Arts, Konami, Namco, Capcom, Square Enix, Sega and many others. As well as announced titles there are likely to be many 'secret projects' already under development.

Most developers have already announced games for the PS3. Some anticipated ones include Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots , Final Fantasy XIII, Killzone PS3, Resident Evil 5, Devil May Cry 4, Silent Hill 5, Shin Megami Tensei, Armored Core 4 , Unreal Tournament 2007, Resistance: Fall of Man, Grand Theft Auto 4, Call of Duty 3, Sonic the Hedgehog, WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2007,Tekken 6, Heavenly Sword and Warhawk.

At the E3 2005 Press booths, Sony showed some pre-rendered and some real-time videos of games in development with the codenames Eyedentify, Vision Gran Turismo and MotorStorm. However, it was later determined that the Grand Turismo demo was in fact, running on a PC system, not PS3 hardware. Also shown at E3 was a Final Fantasy VII technical demo of the opening sequence remade for the PlayStation 3 system. At this time, four games have been mentioned as PS3 launch titles: Lair from Factor 5, Warhawk from Incognito Entertainment, Unreal Tournament 2007 from Epic Games, and Resistance: Fall of Man from Insomniac Games.

Backward compatibility

Games

The PlayStation 3 will be compatible with all PlayStation 2 and PlayStation games. In a recent interview Ken Kutaragi stated that backward compatibility will be achieved through a combination of hardware and software.

At the PlayStation 3 briefing on March 14, 2006 in Japan, Sony revealed that the PlayStation 3 will display legacy recoded PlayStation titles in high-definition resolutions. However, backwards capability will be limited to only games that have strictly adhered to Sony's TRC (Technical Requirements Checklist).

Peripherals

Non-USB PlayStation 2 peripherals will not be compatable with the PS3.

Online services (PNP)

Main article: PlayStation Network Platform

As an answer to Microsoft's Xbox Live, Sony confirmed a unified online service at the 2006 PlayStation Business Briefing meeting in Tokyo.[3] The name of the service has been given the working title "PlayStation Network Platform". Sony has confirmed that the basic online service will be free and will have sufficient functionality for online gaming. The online service is being developed jointly by Sony Computer Entertainment and Sony Online Entertainment.

Online features

Communication/Community:

  • Voice/Video chat
  • Messaging
  • Lobby/Matchmaking
  • Score/Ranking
  • Friend list/Avatar
  • Game data upload/download

Commerce:

  • Shop (accessible from inside games)
  • Content Download
  • Micro Payment
  • Subscription
  • Entitlement (user access rights) management

Account:

  • User Registration
  • Login ID/Handling of name issues

Interface and operating system

According to DevStation Conference, the PS3 will use the Cross Media Bar already used in the PlayStation Portable and PSX devices. At the E3 2006, Sony presented the "Marketplace" where players can buy and download music, have a profile and act in karaoke's in a service called "SingStar".

It is currently unknown if the Linux that comes pre-installed will be a full distribution, allowing it to be used as a desktop computer, or if Linux will only be the kernel that is used to run the Cross Media Bar user interface. Previously Sony released the Linux Kit for the PlayStation2, alowing it to become a full Linux distribution. It's unclear if Sony will also do this for the PlayStation3. [1]

Hardware specifications

According to a press release by Sony at the May 16 2005 E3 Conference, the specifications of the PlayStation 3 are as follows: [4]

Central processing unit (CPU)

3.2 GHz Cell BE multi-core processor: 1 PowerPC-based 'Power Processing Element' and 8 3.2 GHz Synergistic Processing Elements (SPEs). The PPE has a 512 KB L2 cache and one VMX (AltiVec) vector unit. Each of the eight SPEs is a RISC processor with 128-bit 128 SIMD GPRs and superscalar functions. Each SPE has 256 KB of software-addressable SRAM.

Only seven SPEs are active; the eighth is redundant, to improve yield. If one of the eight has a manufacturing defect, it is disabled without rendering the entire unit defective.

Graphics processing unit (GPU)

File:Ps3 2.jpg
The rear of the 20GB PlayStation 3 as it was shown at E3 2006. AC IN, AV MULTI OUT, DIGITAL OUT and an RJ-45 network port are visible

Custom RSX or "Reality Synthesizer" design co-developed by NVIDIA and Sony:

  • Clocked at 550 MHz
  • 1.8 TFLOPS
  • 136 shader operations per clock
  • 74.8 billion shader operations per second (100 billion with CPU)
  • Full high definition output (up to 1080p)
  • Multi-way programmable parallel floating point shader pipelines
  • 128-bit pixel precision offers rendering of scenes with high dynamic range imaging
  • 1.1 billion vertices per second

Memory

Theoretical system bandwidth

  • 25.6 GB/s to Main Ram XDR DRAM: 64 bits × 3.2 GHz
  • 22.4 GB/s to GDDR3 VRAM: 128 bits × 700 MHz × 2 accesses per clock cycle (one per edge)
  • RSX 20 GB/s (write), 15 GB/s (read)
  • SB 2.5 GB/s write and 2.5 GB/s read
  • 204.8 GB/s Cell Element Interconnect Bus (Theoretical peak performance)[5]
  • Cell FlexIO Bus: 35 GB/s outbound, 25 GB/s inbound (7 outbound and 5 inbound 1Byte wide channels operating at 5 GHz) (effective bandwidth typically 50-80% of total)[6]

Audio/video output

Sound

Storage

  • Blu-ray Disc: PlayStation 3 BD-ROM, BD-Video, BD-R, BD-RE.
  • DVD: PlayStation 2 DVD-ROM, DVD-Video, DVD-ROM, DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD+R, DVD+RW
  • CD: PlayStation CD-ROM, PlayStation 2 CD-ROM, CD-DA, CD-DA (ROM), CD-R, CD-RW, SACD, SACD Hybrid (CD layer) SACD HD
  • Hard Drive: Pre-Installed 20GB/60GB (depending on package), 2.5", detachable/upgradeable, with Linux pre-installed.[7][8]
  • Memory card readers (60 GB model only)

Communications

Controller

File:Ps3controller.jpg
The final PlayStation 3 controller.

At Sony's 2006 E3 press conference, the PlayStation 3 controller was revealed to be a wireless version of the previous controller design, as opposed to the often maligned "boomerang" prototype wireless design that was previously showcased.

The PlayStation 3 controller features a USB cable port at the top of the controller for charging the internal battery through USB, and also for wired play. There are four numbered LED indicators at the top, presumably to identify and distinguish multiple connected wireless controllers. The fact that there are only four LEDs and a supposed maximum of seven players has led to confusion, and theories that maybe 'combinations' of LEDs will be used to signify the player number (e.g. 1 + 4 = 5; 2 + 4 = 6; 3 + 4 = 7).

In addition to the basic design, the other major feature revealed at the press conference was the ability to sense rotational and translational acceleration to allow for a full six degrees of freedom, similar to Nintendo's Wii. The new technology was demonstrated with the game Warhawk. The controller is lighter than prior DualShock controllers. According to Sony, because of inclusion of the motion-sensing function, the rumble capability of the previous controllers was omitted, so as not to interfere with motion sensing. Some have speculated that the removal of the rumble capability was influenced by Sony's loss of the latest round of the lawsuit with Immersion Corporation related to Immersion's haptic feedback technology patents. [9]

File:Boomerangps3controller.JPG
The 2005 "Boomerang" controller was officially abandoned.

Other, more minor refinements have also been made to the controller. Instead of the vestigial "Analog" button and light, a jewel-like button on the center has been added at the center of the controller face, in a similar fashion as the addition of a Guide button at the center of the Xbox 360 controller. Nearly all the buttons have been raised from their previous versions, presumably to enhance their pressure-sensitive analog functionality. The L2 and R2 shoulder buttons, in particular, have been redesigned to allow for a much deeper depression range (similar to the shoulder buttons on the GameCube controller, though with a feel more often compared to the hinged triggers of Microsoft's Xbox controllers). The analog sticks also have finer analog sensitivity, at 10-bit accuracy, as compared to the 8-bit accuracy of the previous models.[10]

Power

The power supply will be built into the console instead of having a separate power adapter as is the case with the slim PlayStation 2 and the Xbox 360. [2][3]

Overall floating-point capability

In a slide show at their E3 conference, Sony presented the "CPU floating point capability" of the PlayStation 3's Cell CPU, and compared it to other CPUs. In their official press release, the same statistic regarding the PS3 as a whole was reported to be 2 TFLOPS[4].

The figures are rounded estimates based on addition of the theoretical maximum floating point performances of the processing units in the Cell CPU and those of the RSX GPU. Inevitably, real-world performance for both systems will be lower. Additionally, programmers may find it difficult, initially, to optimize their game engines to make the best use of the highly parallel architectures of both systems, further reducing real-world performance.


Miscellaneous

Software development

The PlayStation 3, unlike the PlayStation and PlayStation 2 systems, is based on open and publicly available application programming interfaces.

The list of open standards includes:

Sublicensed technologies includes:

The list of standards they are reported to be considering includes:

Sony has selected several technologies and arranged several sublicensing agreements to create an advanced software development kit for developers. In addition, Sony recently purchased SN Systems, a former provider of Microsoft Windows based development tools for a variety of console platforms including the PlayStation 2, GameCube, PSP and Nintendo DS to create additional GNU development tools. Sony is providing all developers with GNU toolchains where SN Systems will provide more customer-oriented GNU tools at an additional cost.

Region coding

During a Q&A session at the 2006 Game Developers Conference, Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide Studios President Phil Harrison confirmed that the PlayStation 3 will indeed feature region-free gaming. [15]

Blu-ray movies will still use a region code. However, the Blu-ray region code will be different from the DVD region code.

Criticism

The PS3 has primarily been criticized for its relatively high price compared competing consoles [16]. It is also historically a relatively high price for a console launch. Corrected for inflation, the low-end model is slightly less expensive than the somewhat successful Sega Saturn, and is $100 more expensive than the successful PS2 [17].

Sony defended the prices, noting the PS3's higher performance and inclusion of the Blu-ray drive [18]. However, it is not clear how useful the Blu-ray drive will be on the less expensive model; movie producers may choose to turn on Blu-ray's ICT (Image Constraint Token) flag at any point, degrading the non-HDMI output to near DVD resolution. A Sony executive responded that it is "too early to speculate at this point" whether movie producers will turn on ICT [19].

See also

References

  1. ^ Gibson, Ellie Gibson (2006-05-16). "20GB PlayStation 3 will be upgradeable, says Sony". gamesindustry.biz. Retrieved May 16. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  2. ^ a b There has been no official Sony word on UK prices; values given are estimates by online stores offering pre-orders.
  3. ^ "PlayStation Network Platform detailed". www.gamespot.com. Retrieved Mar 15. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  4. ^ a b "Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. to launch its next generation computer entertainment system" (PDF). Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Retrieved June 10. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  5. ^ "Cell Broadband Engine Architecture and its first implementation: a performance view (subsection The Element Interconnect Bus)". IBM. Retrieved Nov 29. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  6. ^ "Cell Broadband Engine Architecture and its first implementation: a performance view (subsection Flexible I/O Interface)". IBM. Retrieved Nov 29. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  7. ^ "PS Biz Brief 06: PS3 HDD Required - It's 60GB and Linux too". ign.com. Retrieved 2006-03-15.
  8. ^ "CONFIRMED: PS3 to Ship with HDD". next-gen.biz. March 20, 2006. Retrieved 2006-03-20.
  9. ^ E3 06: PS3 specs tweaked, 20GB version stripped down, GameSpot News, 2006-05-08
  10. ^ "E3 2006: PS3 Controller". IGN. Retrieved May 08. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  11. ^ "pixeluxentertainment.com". Retrieved Sep 15. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |org= ignored (help)
  12. ^ "alias.com now autodesk". Retrieved Feb 25. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |org= ignored (help)
  13. ^ "Kynogon joins SCEI's "PLAYSTATION3" Tools & Middleware program" (PDF). Retrieved Jan 25. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |org= ignored (help)
  14. ^ "Juniper Networks on IPv6 and MPLS networking in Asia – Part I". DigiTimes Publication. Retrieved June 10. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  15. ^ "Region-Free PS3 Gaming Announced". IGN.com. Retrieved March 22. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  16. ^ "Analysts, Experts Debate Cost of Console". Forbes. Retrieved May 16. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  17. ^ "History of Console Prices (or: $500 ain't the worst...)". Curmudgeon Gamer. Retrieved Mar 15. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  18. ^ "PlayStation 3 boss defends high price". CNN. Retrieved May 16. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  19. ^ "Sony brass defends lack of features on low-end PS3". Ars Technica. Retrieved Mar 16. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)

External links

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