Some Playstation 3 tidbits

[Gryph]

This is taken from the latest PSM.

# No more memory cards.  You know all that stuff about backwards compatibility with the PS2 and the original Playstation?  Well, we've got good news and bad news for you.  Your old save games won't be usable, thanks to the PS3's reliance on the Memory Stick Duo for storing save data.  The good news is that downloading and saving shares via your PC (ahem, ahem) for all three Playstation versions and the PSP will be easy as pie.  And we like pie.

 

# Say bye-bye to peripherals.  No more using knockoff DDR pads and wireless controllers, gang.  Sony has officially disavowed support for all third-party controllers, but you'll still be able to play PS1/PS2 games just fine with a PS3 pad.  My money's on a USB adapter coming out for it soon after release, though.

 

# Specs?  Um, what specs?  Sure, Kutaragi might be singing "The best is yet to come, and babe, won't it be fine?" but he's a little off-key.  All those impressive tech specs revealed at E3 weren't the be-all, end-all of the story.  Engineers have begun talking about improvements to the system, including low-level memory upgrades and other things that make game developers all hot and bothered.

 

# That hard drive isn't for games.  No such luck in getting your save games for Avalon or Dark Sector onto the PS3's micro HDD; Sony wants you to use it for things like downloaded video content, MP3s, and photos.  The network hub capabilities will then let you access it from any network-enabled device.

 

# Use your PSP as a remote.  Ever wish you could just power on your PlayStation from the couch?  Well, grab a PSP and you'll be able to access the PS3 even in sleep mode.  Couch potatotes, rejoice!

 

# It will have TiVo-like capabilities.  Sure, Sony, you might have told me sweet nothings about a USB video input box that will allow the PS3 to record movies and TV to the micro HDD, and you got me so worked up when you whispered to me about being able to download the shows I've missed from my PS3 to my PSP over the Internet, but I think I'll stick with DirecTiVo, thank you ver much.

 

# Most games will be 720p.  Yes, you'll still have 1080i and 1080p high-definition modes, but you can put off that HDTV purchase a little while longer with the news that most game developers are using 720p as the standard target resolution.  Good thing, too; have you priced an HDTV-ready plasma recently?  (Edit: tanjou's been good enough to point out that all you folks with EDTV won't get any 720p loving.)

 

# Speed or quality, but not both.  PC gamers have it so good.  Battlefield 2 not running so well?  Play it at a lower resolution and watch the game speed up.  Sony wants to have games run faster and smoother by dropping the resolution, but it remains to be seen whether game developers will let us have that choice.

Source: PSM via http://arstechnica.com/journals/thumbs.ars/2005/8/1/846

[Lucandrake]

Having a person choose there resolution will be a pain in the butt.... doesn't microsoft's controler do the same thing ?

 

(I meant as in, I buy console games because there supposed to run perfect on the console with no problems or needs to change the resolution)

[Agozer]

Excellent news. I'm really interested in that save feature... No 3rd-party controllers? I know some people won't like that.

[Wizard]

I want them to burn. And burn they shall.

 

3rd Party prapherpeseirserlsersl support just died.

[Gryph]

I have some more tinbits that are taken from the same article. I don't know if these are direct quotes or paraphrases from the article.

None of the game footage was taken from software running on systems using the final PS3 graphics chip, the Reality Synthesizer (RSX).... The most stunning demo, Killzone PS3, was from an actual game engine running on an alpha kit--at less than five frames per second. The footage was sped up to 60fps in post-production.

 

And some of these are repeats but I want to present it to you how it was presented to me.

    * Exhaustive connectivity between PSP and PS3: PSP will interface with the PS3 through Bluetooth, serving as a remote and media manager for the console. PSP can also access PS3 over the internet, so the two can interface even when you're far away.

    * No standard 1080i (or 1080p) support: Most games will apparently run at 720p; use of 1080i and 1080p is only at the developer's discretion. All games should have support for 480p and 480i for gamers without HDTVs.

    * Wider storage medium support than expected: PS3 will support Memory Sticks, Compact Flash, SD cards, Blu-Ray (of course), and SACD. UMD support doesn't seem present, though.

    * Software-only backwards compatibility: While PS3 will play PS1/PS2 games, it has no ports for peripherals for those systems, including their memory cards. All save data must be accessed through flash memory cards (that means no save data can be stored on the hard drive either, according to PSM). PSM speculates that Sony will release a USB multi-tap like device with legacy support for controllers and memory cards.

    * Wireless access point: The PS3 will serve as a wireless access point (think they'll go out of their way to lock out access to Nintendo's DS online service?). The PSM article also mentions router functionality, though past reports have indicated that this will no longer be the case.

    * Release date: Just a general "spring 2006". Some developers assume this applies to Japan, Europe, and North America.

    * Wacky controller: Yeah, it's still a banana.

[i l l m a t i c]

no memory card slots kinda sucks, damn you sony