New Sony Announcement Today

[Digital Pimp]

Sony will be making an announcement today concerning something, most think it will most likely be a PS3 announcement ending the media blackout on the actual system since E3 last year. My hope is it will be on either

A.) The Redesigned PS3 controller
B.) The unveiling of the "PSP Lite" to combat the new DS.
C.) Maybe a big divulging of PS3 info including new release time frame and price point
Most unlikely but would be cool D.) The first info on the rumored PS2 redesing to combat the Revolution

Info should start coming out at around 3 am EST, so if someone can get their hands on it and post that would be great, if not I'll post when I wake up.

[Downfall]

PlayStation 3 in Tokyo tomorrow, Sony confirms

Posted Mar 14th 2006 11:15AM by James Ransom-Wiley
Filed under: Culture, Sony PlayStation 3, Business
Ken Kutaragi with PS3Sony poked its head out from behind the curtain long enough to confirm rumors that new PlayStation 3 details will be announced tomorrow at a conference in Tokyo. Ken Kutaragi will address the media, analysts, and publishing partners, in what looks to be Sony's last opportunity to discuss the PS3 before Phil Harrison's GDC keynote. GameIndustry.biz speculates that the event will include information about the pricing, launch date and initial software line-up. Plans to officially unveil screenshots for a PS3 version of Untold Legends have already been revealed (note: the images were leaked last week).


and link to screenshots mentioned

http://www.evilavatar.com/forums/showpost.php?p=220675&postcount=60

[Digital Pimp]

Ok no price point yet, but a date and other specs were revealed:

-Launch within the first 10 days of Novemeber simultaneously in Japan, NA, and Europe
-System will include a service much like X-Box Live, actually its a virtual clone of it though has a few features MS doesn't have yet, and it will be FREE
-PS3 will be fully BC with every PS1 and PS2 title and will display them at HD resolutions when played
-PS3 will include a 60GB HDD with Linux preinstalled and they have told developers to make games with the HDD in mind.
-Final controllers and Dev Kits will be sent out in May with all the final tech in them.

Also the PSPis having its first pricedrop this month to 199.99 and also an Eye-toy device will be available soon too.

[tisl]

Any idea when they are going to announce PS3 prices?

[Digital Limit]

"-PS3 will include a 60GB HDD with Linux preinstalled and they have told developers to make games with the HDD in mind."

Whoa, really? That's awesome. And the backwards compatibility is even cooler. I can't wait for this beast.

[Digital Pimp]

Price will be NO LESS than 50,000 Yen or $425 USD (at current exchange rates)
Sony's "Live" service will run off of GameSpy architecture

Microsoft has said they are staying their course and this announcement has done nothing to phase them

[Downfall]

whelp, ill be waiting a year for it to drop then

[Digital Limit]

I was reading on Digg and there was no confirmation of the 60GB HD coming with the system.

Can you quote it?

[SuperDavidGT]

So your saying I should get both this and a 360?

Not on my budget.

I'll just get drunk instead

[tisl]

Holy shit, that's expensive. What the fuck happened to consoles? That's 6.76 barrels of oil (firefox plugin told me). Too expensive. Fuck this shit. Goddamn assholes. Gaming is ridiculous these days. I was playing Diablo the other day and I realized that that game is still more fun than most games that come out today and require an expensive rig to run. Remember how cheap shit was back during the PS1 days (compared to today)? I bet the games are going to cost $60 too, like the Xbox2 games.

[Digital Pimp]

The emulated PS1 games to the PSP is a saving grace for the system. Imagine FF 4,5,6,7,8,9 on the move.

[Yian]

and link to screenshots mentioned

http://www.evilavatar.com/forums/showpost.php?p=220675&postcount=60
Those shots look pretty sweet... but a bit of a let down comparing to what they advertised in Killzone video. Then again, it might not be fair to make such a comparison sinc everyone knows that Killzone video was fake.

The textures look incredibly sharp and clear, which is nice, but there isn't a single camera angle that gives a up-close look at any surface. I think all textures with decent resolution will look just great in any modern title as long as you maintain an isometric view, and zoom out as far as those shots have done. These shotsn don't say anythng about the texture.

The floor tiles have some incredible normal mapping going on, it seems, but that doesn't look like anything SM 1.1 couldn't do. Chronicle of Riddick with SM 1.1 look just as great, if not better... It doesn't say much about the shader capability, either. Besides, the thing isn't in motion. Everyone can thro in as many bump-mapped surfaces in one scene as he wants, but having it moving smoothly with 60+ fps is another story.

I don't see any dynamic shadow going on, either. Only the characters are given shadows. You don't see realistic projections from the torch, and the table in the room doesn't cast any shadow at all...

The outdoor scene looke great, but they also feature a terrible skybox and the trees look pethatic. There aren't a whole lot of trees in the field... in fact, just about 4 or 5. While PC games like Oblivion or Spellforce 2 and Gothic 3 are now busy making a forest, this PS 3 title still lives in the past.

Also, the ground texture looks sharp and all, but there is no grass. Even SOF II, a game based on the old-ass Quake 3 engine, has more grass than this. Newer games seem to do this usually through shaders, rather than actualy polygons and textures... but zero grass? Um... maybe the setting is in a barren land with,um, trees, but this is not the kind of "eye-candy" you expect from PS3.

There are never more than two characters in a scene in these shots. i wonder how well would the game handle the large battle scene.

Well, I guess if this is what PS3 game developers have to offer, they still have a long way to go to "utliize the full power of PS3," If it is really as powerful as it says it is.

[Digital Limit]

Untold Legends sucks, Yian - don't judge the console by such a crappy title.

[xenophage]

PS3 shortage may affect launch day

http://www.gametab.com/news/512639/

[Yian]

Untold Legends sucks, Yian - don't judge the console by such a crappy title.
Good to know...

PS3 shortage may affect launch day

http://www.gametab.com/news/512639/
Somehow I have a feeling that a shortage is always necessary to achieve certain goals...

[Downfall]

xbox 360 had a "shortage" as well if yall remember

[xenophage]

I'm sure that hampered sales to a certain extent

[Digital Limit]

"Our Sony representative has confirmed this morning that PlayStation 3 will come with a 60GB HDD as standard, but that can be upgraded if preferred."

[SuperDavidGT]

people who buy sonys have a shortage... of cock!

haha! Im so thirteen right now!

[Downfall]

ill still buy it eventualy

[Digital Limit]

ill still buy it eventualy

Same here: it's shaping up to be a solid addition to my system line-up.

[RADiator]

What I wonder about is content delivery. Bandwidth costs money and by relevant examples it will be required in ample supply. How will it be handled? Peer to peer to reduce the workload? Pay per download variation (just because the service is claimed to be free doesn't necessarily mean that the content has to be)?

[Digital Limit]

News: http://www.engadget.com/2006/03/22/sony-confirms-ps3-controller-redesign/

No crazy banana controller, woo hoo!

[SuperDavidGT]

that ball design is fucken awesome. if they want me to buy one, i want to see my ps3 have balls!

[Phobo]

omg i cant wait.

[Digital Pimp]

Umm the article says that isn't the controller redesign. Actually the whole console would be hilarious if it was the ball design, put two on either side of the console standing up. Its the Cock&BallsStation 3

[Digital Limit]

Yeah, that design is from Joystiq's contest awhile ago.

[xenophage]

PS3 to be region free:

http://www.engadget.com/2006/03/23/playstation-3-to-ship-region-free/

[Jwr5]

cool I wish the 360 was region free

[FATMAN]

Finally!, They should have done this a long time ago. :)

[wangstramedeous]

Why were consoles region restricted in the first place anyway?

[Mechanerd]

Why were consoles region restricted in the first place anyway?
Good question, thank fucking god Sony have gone multi region this time around. I'm sure region restrictions exist for numerous reasons, most obvious ones involving legal matters(distribution rights etc) and financial matters.
Who fucking knows, all I care about is that I can buy a PS3 in November and get ANY game I want from ANYWHERE shipped over. Fuck yeah.

This does raise a significant point though, will I be able to play US PS2 games on an Aussie PS3?

The 360 launched in Aus last week, no one I know has one and the purchasing of them doesn't seem to be anywhere near as chaotic as it was in Uk/US. I cancelled my pre order when I found out about PS3s supposed worldwide launch.
No point in lying, 360 can kiss my ass(at least for now anyway), PS3; fuck yeah.
Although I'll probably be annoyed at missing out on Too Human, Mass Effect, Lost Planet and Gears of War. Damn platform exclusivity to hell.

[SuperDavidGT]

So if it's region free, does that also mean that the differences between PAL and NTSC aren't going to be a problem?

[DisgruntledBunny]

Regions are used to enforce copyright restrictions or licensing agreements. This has nothing to do with the format of the picture. Your TV and/or PS3 decides whether you can view a PAL- or NTSC-encoded disc.

[Downfall]

would be cool to import games without having to worry if it works or not

[Mechanerd]

Each country usually has a different version of a game even though the game itself may be identical, the encoding software is different.(which mod chips bypass) I have 3 tv's, all of which support both pal and ntsc, so region encoding has nothing to do with the 2 standards.

Its like how dvd's are either 1: US, 4: AUS, etc.
What this means is that, based on the assumtion you have a pal/ntsc tv, you can have ANY ps3 game from ANYWHERE run on ANY PS3.
Sony did the same thing with PSP games, region free.

Bottem line:
360 - requires mod chip
PS3 - doesn't require mod chip

[Digital Limit]

Battlefield 2: Modern Combat demo is out.

Given it's a port, I'm not really caring too much about the graphics, though I was impressed by some of the more nuance-details such as bulletcasings on the ground in spades. Outside of jaggies and a less-than stellar framerate (see: 30fps), the gameplay is spot-on. I've experienced no lag, awesome situations in just my first two games, and a need to play more. I think I'll be getting this, even if it isn't a flagship title in the least. "Hey guys, check out the sweet Xbox graphics in HD! Oh man, you can bearly tell it's next-gen!" Yeah, I love the Battlefield series. They never disappoint in the gameplay deparment.