[PS3] PlayStation 3 Discussion Thread

Now that I've taken in all of this, it really does seem to be a good thing for Sony. Watch the $425 price point end up being $400, with the losses reduced by the $150 PS2 and HDD sales. Heck, even the hard drive will likely be cheap since they're far more in production for other things (laptops, etc).

Oh and like neo just said, this'll help quality on the whole. Especially with the games. The only part that is going to suck is launch, quite possibly the first one with bodycounts.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

What's funny is that Musharraf basically summed all that up in one sentence.

These predictions are essentially like throwing shit at a wall hoping one will stick. Kind of like when the PS2 was going to be released.

How ya doing, buddy?

Originally Posted by Elixir

It really isn't, we haevn't seen squat in terms of PS3 material. You have the CG scenes, and about 5 seconds of actual gameplay. And that's for a single game. Whose to say that the single game will be the most popular title? It could be Perfect Dark Zero all over again, except it will sell.

I wouldn't want to rush to conclusions and get my hopes up over the PS3. The price is automatically going to put me off, no matter how impressive the games are.

Of course, but you can thank Microsoft for actually making a $400 price point acceptable.

How ya doing, buddy?

Originally Posted by SketchTheArtist

Gullible little fan boy.

Only MGS4 was displayed on actual PS3 hardware and it didn't have any AI or anything else running side-by-side with the Graphical engine.

Get informed, then start talking.

There was quite a bit of realtime footage shown running off the earliest kits at E3, it's just that folks decided to focus on fantasy (Killzone, Motorstorm) rather than reality (I-8, Heavenly Sword).

Odd enough, those last two games are the ones I'm interested in the most.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Originally Posted by SketchTheArtist

Didn't PHIL HARRISON said himself in an interview that nothing was running on actual hardware at E3?

Then I suggest you head on over to B3D, since they've got 3 members of HS's development team and they've gone over, time and again, that aside from the character's face at the beginning, the rest was real-time. Then there's Ted Price from Insomniac introducing Resistance, which no one said was CG.

Really, how hard is it to believe that developers had the alpha kit before E3 '05?

Quote:

Also, MGS4 was 'hailed' by PS3 fans because it was the first piece of actual Software shown.

It was "hailed" because it poked skeptics in the eyes by dragging the "LOL CG" crowd through the mud. Following that, they proved it wasn't CG by manipulating every part of the demo it with the code showing. Oh, and because it's MGS4.


Cue inane Megalith response

How ya doing, buddy?

Originally Posted by Hauton

Metal, I'm pretty sure Motorstorm is real.

Go check out one of those screenshots, and the huge amount of aliasing they have.

Well, that's debatable Hauton. It's often held under the same scrutiny as Killzone, given the insane level of physics going on in that trailer. There is one brief section of the trailer that could possibly be what the the final game may look like (a 5 second chase cam view of one of the cars).

FELIPE NO

Sega, you've got to be kidding me. Any half-assed PS3 game would stomp the shit out of a the best looking PS2 game around, especially when the original Xbox has done that for quite some time now.

The only place where we're really going to see a noticeable jump in graphics is between the PS2 and PS3 given how old the former's hardware is compared to the latter.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Originally Posted by www.sega.co.jp

Most of the PS3 games I've seem (at least real in-game screenshots) don't really take advantage of the hardware. UT2007 looks the best by far, but I do remember many PS2 games (especially early on) that didn't look much better than the best PS1 games, save for a higher resolution and better lighting.

Problem is, the PS2 is ridiculously outdated, and the only reason it's survived this far is because developers have been able to wring out an impressive amount of power out of the machine. Unless these guys don't try at all or don't applly AA or AF or even DOF, they'll easily look far better than a PS2 game. All you'd need to see is a screen cap of MGS3 and compare it to any of the 9 month old shots from games like Resistance or Heavenly Sword.

Quote:

It took PS2 devs quite a while to get used to developing for the PS2 before they could pull games that looked as good as DMC3 and Prince of Persia.
Tech demoes don't take into account, physics, controls, or anything else gameplay related. They only show what the graphics and sound capabilities of the system are.

And yet, like I said before, a half-assed effort on the part o developers would trump the best efforts of PS2 games simply because of the difference in hardware. And tech demos show off everything in a game and console except actual gameplay. How can you include physics in there when that was a major part of Sony's presentation at E3 '05.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Originally Posted by SouthJag

I'm really excited about the news of Ratchet and Clank making the jump to PS3. I was fearful that, like the Jak and Daxter series, R&C was over after Deadlocked as far as consoles were concerned.

Hopefully with this announcement will soon come a similar one regarding Sly Cooper and Jak and Daxter.

Wow, you said it SouthJag. Though Deadlocked's ending could be interepreted as either the end of the series of possibly the start of a new adventure, there was never any word of a next-gen R&C game being worked on. Guess that little teaser today all but confirmed it.

About the region coding and controller redesign, it sounds like great news. But both really aren't all that surprising, given Kutaragi's announcement that all PS3 games would be on BD. The U.S. and Japan are in the same region according to Blu-Ray so even if it wasn't region free, the games could still play. Oh, and everyone and their mother knew the controller wasn't the final one.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Here's the teaser, Sega;

Quote:

Update 11:23am - A clip showing a futuristic city is ran, displaying a blimp with the words Ratchet and Clank on the side. The camera pans down through the site with enemy robots and flying vehicles overhead. It has been revealed that I-8, their first PS3 project, is now called Resistance: Fall of Man and looks "incredible". Price speaks a bit more about the hardware at hand.

Remember the Blimp in Metropolis from the first game? Well, yeah and the robots and futuristic ships pretty much point to a new game. That and the R&C across the blimp.

Oh, and the new design hasn't been revealed, they're saving it for E3.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Originally Posted by SouthJag

About the Ratchet and Clank game -- I read somewhere that the city they were overlooking was similar to one in a Star Wars game; something that started with a C. Oh well.

Coruscant or whatever the hell it is? That's that massive city in Star Wars with the enormous skyscapers and endless number of cars. There have already been worlds like that in R&C, SouthJag.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

http://www.google.com/search?q=Corus...00&sa=N&tab=iw

That's what Coruscant looks like, but why would it seem like a big deal? Sprawling mega-cities are extremely common in R&C and in Sci-Fi in general.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Blu-Ray discs, as well, will be region locked. This isn't retroactive, but on the bright side, Japan and the U.S. are in the same region according to the Blu-Ray specs floating around.

Most amazing jew boots

The PS3 hardware itself, is region-free. Publishers can still region-code their games to prevent them from playing on machines in other areas, but that'll be due to their software solution and not the machine itself.

This is not retroactive, so PS1/PS2 games are still region locked.

FELIPE NO

Originally Posted by www.sega.co.jp

About PS1/PS2 imports: Can you confirm this?
So they are going to put region reading hardware in the PS3. Most likely, only games that will be released in the US will get any region coding.
Why would some obscure Japanese dev care about his game going to the US?

PS1/PS2 games are still region locked and given Sony's comments about how BC is achieves (having the Dragon chip, EE+GS, in the machine as well as software emulation) pretty much kicks this one out the door. These games will still be locked, because of the presence of the PS2 hardware in there, and if not, by software means.

The PS3, according to this, has no region locking feature in the hardware and so it's up to publishers if they want to lock their games via software means.

Edit: Here's some screenshots of the clips shown at GDC of R&C, Resistance, Motorstorm, and the interface.

Resistance: Fall of Man







Ratchet & Clank (I was right, it was Metropolis from R&C1)









Motorstorm







F1/Interface









Warhawk







The Getaway








Vehicle Dynamics











What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Originally Posted by Mucknuggle

Wow, those Ratchet and Clank screens are crazy. Is it actual game footage or a tech demo style thing?

Given that this is developer's conference, not open to the public (hence these leaked pictures) and that all of the other things shown were real-time demonstrations of various features of the console, I'd lean more towards real-time. Especially given Insomniac's record of pumping out impressive graphics (and the relative or complete lack of CG in their games).

I'm glad they went back to the bright and expansive areas of the first few games, and even more so that they used Metropolis as the scene for that little teaser.

A lot of folks want to see these things in motion since there's only so much you can get from a static object (like the car, or the new chickens demo).

How ya doing, buddy?

Originally Posted by www.sega.co.jp

I'd believe those (excellent) screens as well. It'd be very special to see R&C rendered in graphics that rival the pre-renderd videos from the PS2. It'll take time though before we see games on the PS3 like that, probably one to two years. Just like it did with the PS2.

Oh, of course. I don't doubt Insomniac's skill in making solid titles that impress visually. Each of their PS2 games has at least improved upon the last visually, and even more so via gameplay. The fact that Naughty Dog and Insomniac work very closely (now even more so with the creation of SCEWW) bodes well for projects coming from both camps.

And you're right about it taking some time until we see some truly next-gen titles, we can already see it happening with Ghost Recon and later on in the year with Gears of War.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

You know what struck me? So far, most people commenting on these shots (check out GAF) have said the same thing. It looks like it was the PS2's hardware limitations that held back these guys, because what we're seeing in those R&C screens is basically Metropolis city, unaltered, from R&C1.

Oh, and according to GDC attendees, the best part about the Resistance showing was the weapons. Sounds like a typical Ratchet feature, eh?

Edit: Ah, here's some off-screen photos @ 720p of the Ratchet & Clank teaser.









This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Originally Posted by T1249NTSCJ

Here is some interesting news...Seems more is left to be done.

http://www.tgdaily.com/2006/03/24/gdc2006_ps3_no_hdmi/

HDMI output is required for BD movie playback, so it's going to output over HDMI as well. What on earth are those guys talking about? The machine was even shown at E3 2005 and CES 2006 with this feature being touted.

This was a developer's conference, not open to the public, since they wouldn't see past the early screens and see issues that they're dealing with or things that they'd want to ask colleagues about.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Originally Posted by Technophile

Wait, wait, wait. So, all those people buying HD TVs now in preperation for the PS3 are gonna be screwed over cause their TVs' HDMI inputs are incompatible with PS3's HDMI output? If that's the case, I can't wait to see the angry cosumers. I get at least 5 people a day telling me they're getting an HD tv just for the PS3. I really, really like how Sony's thinking about the future and making sure the PS3 won't be obsolete anytime soon but it's almost as if it's too good and advanced for the current standards.


Oh and I want that GIANT panasonic touch screen TV! ;__;

Along with the Region-free announcement and the HDD bit, it was revealed that the PS3 will have the HDMI 1.3 revision which is backwards compatible with older versions. The only difference in this one being the ability to carry DTS-HD and Dolby TrueHD sound.

I was speaking idiomatically.

I'd wait until at least the third gen of SEDs, since they're bound to have issues that didn't come up during testing. The same would apply to the PS3, though swap out generation for revision.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Originally Posted by Megalith

Good thing SEDs have been in testing since 1998.

Most of these technologies have been in "testing" for long periods too, and look what happens when they're finally out in public. There's no test better than reality, where the variables are damn near endless. And even if by some miracle they don't have problems, expect improvements on the TVs that often renders the first ones obsolete.

The launch price is meant for early adopters who will buy the machine at any price, while lower prices points (like $200 for the PS2) are for the mass market, where most of the sales comes from.

FELIPE NO

Originally Posted by Pietak

You uh, didn't read the post? Even in PC games, this is a relevant and obvious issue; it just isn't as appearant because PC games are displayed at a higher resolution. Taking a single screen of a console game will have the same "jaggies" no matter what kind of AA hardware is in place, it is when the actual image is being projected on the screen, when the AA is able to take into effect and the "jaggies" appear smoother, and less noticeable.

Why do you try to reason with him? That whole post is joke, and come AC6, he'll be nutting over it's Blu-Ray disc with the Bananarang in hand (Yes, I know it's been scrapped).

Cetra pretty much summed it up well, but this is a framebuffer grab if you track it back to it's source. This and Warhawk are the only confirmed games from Sony, and take what Cetra said, the 7 1/2 months available to tweak this game until the new "launch date" and Factor 5's skill at making eye candy at launch and it's unlikely "jaggies" will be a problem.

Oh, Sega, you're right about that. Whatever harsh edges that remain will end up getting smoothed over to some extent due to the lower resolution and the blurring it introduces into the picture because of this. The effect will be more dramatic as the difference between the output and final resolution increases, IIRC.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Originally Posted by Shonos

Third-party developers could also shy away from the Xbox 360 because of the high costs needed to create the games. The draw of lower costs to develop with the Revo could bring in alot of people.

See what I did there? There's no such thing happening. Developers expected a jump in development costs way back, and the big three have provided various ways of cutting costs. Either by providing middleware along with development kits or just plain old added support.

The Revolution could very well be mired in a sea of 1st party titles, with 3rd party developers avoiding the machine because of it's anti-port controller and high probability of a smaller market than either Sony or Microsoft.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Originally Posted by Spatula

Note that this is UNCONFIRMED but this is a concept controller for the PS3.



Source:http://www.gamespot.com/forums/show_...ic_id=24492033

I'm not too sure what to think of it. It doesn't seem to go well with the PS3 console, but it does look more comfortable than the boomerang.

The thing though is I'm surprised it's using the old PS logo instead of the "spiderman" font. But again it's a placeholder image I guess.

Stealth is on the fucking money. If this concept is indeed true, the PS3's going to have a very nice controller. But this is damn near a perfect rip of Logitech's product, how the hell are they going to avoid getting sued?

BTW, Blu-Ray discs are just high capacity discs and the drives simply read them. The only thing special about the format is how huge it is compared to current DVDs and how much HD material it can carry.

There's nowhere I can't reach.