Playstation 3 revealed
Okay, we've got our first communique and it's a whopper. According to our sources, the next Sony console will be called the Playstation 3. Not only that, we can now confirm that it will be out in the Spring of 2006. Wait! There's more. The PS3, as it will be known, will use Blu-Ray discs for its storage medium. The discs can hold 16 times as much as DV..
Hang on a moment, that information only seems to have been part of a carrier signal. Our techs have just decoded this:
The PS3's much vaunted Cell processor will run at 3.2GHz. While this sounds a similar speed to the 360's CPU, the Cell chip will actually be able to carry out a lot more operations per second. To Microsoft's 1.25 teraflops Sony counters with 2.18 teraflops of number-crushing power. With a teraflop being one trillion floating operations per second, that's a considerable difference in processing ability. The Cell chip will have access to 512KB of Level 2 cache, a standard amount for PC processors. The PS3 will have 256 MB of XDR main RAM which will run at a blindingly fast 3.2 GHz with a bandwidth of 25.6 GB per second. Running along side this will be a further 256MB of dedicated video RAM, which will clock at 700MHz, maxing out at a transfer rate of 24.4GB per second. Unlike the Xbox's shared memory Sony has decided to split the memory into two. This will have a number of benefits as far as reducing bottlenecks is concerned and should allow for some very fast data transfers. Although taking into consideration the sheer amount of data that hi-definition images with all the attendant buffing and polishing gamers will expect from the next generation the amount of space the PS3 has to play around with initially seems somewhat underwhelming. We are also able to peel back more of the secrecy that has surrounded the graphics chip that will push all those pretty colours and shapes onto your TV screen. The Nvidia-built Reality Synthesiser will run at 550MHz and will be capable of 128 bit pixel perfection. It will be capable of handling 1.8 teraflops. On top of that it will output to HDTV devices at resolutions of 1080. It's not surprising to learn that such power will require a lot of transistors, 300 million of them to be precise, which will initially be fabricated at 90nm. With an acronym that looks like this - RSX - the GPU driving the PS3 is apparently as powerful as two 6800s Ultras. For sound the console will pump things out in 5.1 channels and will be able to decode both DTS and LPCM. It looks like the CPU will handle all the sound duties as there's no mention of a dedicated sound chip in the tech specs, which you can find lower on down.
The Playstation 3 won't be a slouch when it comes to peripherals either. Featuring the ability to connect up to seven Bluetooth controllers as standard and boasting a total of 6 USB2 ports, the PS3 is geared up to utilise and talk to all sorts of different gadgets. The PS3 will naturally be able to use Memory Sticks, as will it be able to read Compact Flash and SD cards through appropriate slots. It looks like the PS3 is going to have more slots in it than Vegas, as it will also come with an SP/DIF optical audio connector, two HDMI ports for viewing pleasures and three gigabyte Ethernet ports. Even more intriguing is the support for a removable 2.5" hard disk drive. Whether or not this drive will ship with the console or be available as an extra is unknown. No doubt the Bluetooth will allow connection to all kinds of other gadgets. The PS3 will also be WiFi capable, so connection with PSP and other wireless devices is a given. It appears that Sony is emulating Microsoft in focusing more on the consoles possibilities as an entertainment hub. The PS3 will be happy handling such things as digital photo viewing, digital audio and video playback, (no word on streaming) video chat using an as yet un-revealed camera and internet access. Hopefully a Bluetooth keyboard will ship as an extra for the PS3, as the thought of trying to post in forums with a controller is not a pleasing prospect.
Using language that is shockingly similar to the unfounded hope surrounding the PS2, Sony Computer Entertainment head Ken Kutaragi introduced the new console as a "Super computer for computer entertainment." Looking at those specs it's easy enough to let him have his moment of glory, but we should remain cautious about how easy it will be to tap all this power. So far Sony haven't let slip any indication at the price of the PS3, but whatever it winds up costing consumers the PS3 is sure to be an expensive piece of hardware to manufacture. Looking at the power of just the GPU alone it looks like Sony will be taking a massive loss on each piece of PS3 hardware sold. The two 6800 cards that the RSX is supposed to be on a par with would cost in the region of $1000 at retail. While the GPU itself appears to be little more than a 6800 running at extremely high clock speeds, the graphics chip alone is going to be worth a lot of money. Until more is known about the internal architecture of the PS3 it would be wise to try and keep our enthusiasm under control, yet it seems at this point in time that the PS3 is going to be a machine to reckon with, even without the marketing hype.
We've intercepted another batch of data, this time totally unencrypted. The Playstation 3 will be fully compatible with PS2 games and will be able to read all PS2 discs. However, it looks like compatibility with the first generation of Playstations is no longer possible. A number of developers have already tied themselves into working with Sony in making the new generation of games. GTA 4 has been confirmed as a launch title, an announcement that is sure to please gamers and stockholders alike. A partial list of other games under development was found by a dazed combatant that wandered into our listening post in search of some ear-plugs and a raspberry ice-cream..
Tekken - Namco
Killzone - Guerilla
Vision Gran Turismo - Polyphony Digital
Formula One - Sony Liverpool
Untitled Old West Game - Rockstar
Oh-Ni - Koei
Mobile Suit Gundam - Bandai
Devil May Cry 4 - Capcom
Super Gory Wolfenstein Style FPS - Insomniac (that one will be almost finished then)
Metal Gear Solid 4 - Konami
PYEdentify Voice Recognition Game - SCEA
Fifth Phantom Saga - Sega
Heavenly Sword - Sony
Warhawk - Incognito
Killing Day - Ubisoft
Motor Storm - Evolution
Our technical team will no doubt win an award for gallantry once the night is over as they've managed to capture a selection of images that show the world for the first time what the PS3 is going to look like. With curves that evoke a bygone era of technical beauty while retaining a forward thrusting 'air of importance' that demands to be acknowledged, the PS3 marks a clear departure from the rather utilitarian look of the PS2. The controller is a radical departure from the iconic Dual-Shock pad that has seen Sony solidly through two generations. If the PS3 looks like something that wouldn't appear out of place in Battlestar Galactica then the new controller would fit right in on the set of Barberalla. A devilishly bold style is complemented by a button layout that seems in proportion with the current controllers. Looking at the joypad it's hard to allow for trigger style controllers, unless they curve around much flusher against the base of the pad. Hopefully this will not be an admission that carries through onto the final product that will be hitting the shelves sometime next year. In fact, with a Spring release touted there could be around a year to wait before it comes out. There's every chance that the PS3 which will cause a stampede in 2006 may look somewhat different to the one we are seeing at a press conference in 2005.
PLAYSTATION 3 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
total floating point performance: 218 GFLOPS
GPU RSX @550MHz
1.8 TFLOPS floating point performance
Full HD (up to 1080p) x 2 channels
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)
System Floating Point Performance 2 TFLOPS
Storage HDD Detachable 2.5" HDD slot x 1
I/O USB Front x 4, Rear x 2 (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 Bluetooth 2.0 (EDR)
Controller Bluetooth (up to 7)
USB2.0 (wired)
Wi-Fi (PSP(r))
Network (over IP)
AV Output Screen size 480i, 480p, 720p, 1080i, 1080p
HDMI HDMI out x 2
Analog AV MULTI OUT x 1
Digital audio DIGITAL OUT
(OPTICAL) x 1
Disc media CD PlayStation(r) CD-ROM
* read only PlayStation(r)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(r)2 DVD-ROM
PLAYSTATION(r)3 DVD-ROM DVD-Video DVD-ROM, DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD+R, DVD+RW
Blu-ray Disc PLAYSTATION(r)3 BD-ROM
BD-Video BD-ROM, BD-R, BD-RE
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Originally Posted by Gullwing
