Sony continues to play defense over PS3 pricing, HDMI
By Marc Perton 
posted May 11th 2006 11:02AM
posted May 11th 2006 11:02AM
Somehow, we suspect Sony's brass are not very happy right now. Instead of spending their time at E3 fielding softball questions about the Playstation 3's graphics, they're playing defense, as they continue to face queries about the new console's pricing and the missing features on the lower-priced version. In an interview with CNN, Sony's Kaz Hirai said the pricing -- $499 for the 20GB PS3 and $599 for the 60GB version -- was justified by the inclusion of technologies like the Cell processor and Blu-ray, and added that the "totality" of the product is a "good value for consumers." Hirai also defended the lack of HDMI on the 20GB PS3, commenting that "there's not a discernible difference between what you get between HDMI and other forms of high definition." While that might be the case with current Blu-ray flicks, all movie studios (including Sony Pictures) have reserved the right to implement the Image Constraint Token in future discs, which could force anyone using analog outputs -- including owners of the 20GB PS3 -- to watch downgraded video. We assume Hirai's familiar with the issue, so we have to wonder whether his claim that the PS3 is "future-proofed" is just a little bit disingenuous. All it would take is one Blu-ray disc with ICT for owners of 20GB PS3s to realize they've been locked out of the future.
with the ps3 price,ppl may turn to the wii. wii does have better games,and wii might get as much 3rd party support as the ps3,only the games cost less. and if nintendo can attract in 10% of the 3.7 billion nongamers,they'll really sell great. and the ability to download NES,SNES,N64,genesis,and turbografx-16 games online is any old school gamer's dream. and the wiiconnect24 service might even beat xbox live, considering its for free,easier to setup,and has more online games worth playing than the 360. let there be a console that wii all, casual,hardcore,softcore,old-school,and new gamers, can all enjoy. let there b a hell of a console wii all can hav a hell of a time with. wii r the chapmions!
Meh. I'm broke right now... I'm umpteen years old and male... I don't get an allowance... To make money, I work on a freaking ice cream truck, which only goes on weekends. I might make 10-40 bucks a weekend. I hear about some new consoles hitting wal-mart around thanksgiving. I want one... and I need to make enough money by then to buy one at launch, plus a game or two. Lets see... *procedes to research*... Cool, a PS3! Wait, 500 bucks? F*ck no. Oh, look at this neat little thing... Wii? Odd, name, but i'll go for it. Price... 250 bucks? More my type.
Does anyone posting realize how many people like me there are out there? Its not about confusing acronyms, its about having fun with friends or having fun solo. Honestly, what girl likes watching their possible boyfriend stare dead-eyed at a screen for 4 hours shooting stuff? Think about it. Then think about a girl watching her possible boyfriend play drums to her favorite song, then letting her do a karaoke (rumors or Wii having a Mic in the wiimote, along with a speaker). The later would go for a much more engaging time. Basically, simply having a Wii in the room will just kind of kindle fun. Everyone could just pick up a controller and go. The PS3 is a different story. Scenario:
Boy 1: Neato, a PS3!
Boy 2: Yup! I got it from santa for christmas.
Boy 1: Lets play it!!
Boy 2: I don't have any games though... and I only have one controller.
Boy 1: No games?
Boy 2: Mommy said santa said that the games were too much money and weren't good for kids.
Boy 1: F*ck this sh*t... I'm going home to play Vice City.
And yeah. Many of the current consoles sold go to Little Johnny, and at launch, the ps3 doesn't have an exactly kid-friendly line up.
And think about it: There are the parents who are just now buying their kids ps2's, because of a price drop. I know one of them personally. So if thousands of parents are only willing to buy a console for 100-150, Wii is a little closer to home.
HDMI, is middle ware resolution for teh Cheap PC gamer market. HDMi as an interface is developed for flatscreen technologies that bridge display drivers between 720x486 up to 1440x698 in display resolution. When you go to Future shop or Best buy you will see lots of middleware lower end HDMi monitors that are not yet 1080i HD resoltion. Xbox360 is NOT 1080i x 1920 in resolution. PS3 is exactly that, and teh cell chips are 8 processors in one box and a blu-ray HD 1080i device. Sony has hit the hammer on the head. Just try and buy the authoring equipment to design your console games and you will realize that SONY is the LEADER and not MS xbox. HD is here for editors, and its not going away. It's the future of home entertainment cinema and gaming. not HDMi middleware resolution.
HDMI 1.3
Released 22 June 2006.[1] [2]
Increases single-link bandwidth to 340 Mhz (10.2 Gbps)
Supports 30-bit, 36-bit, and 48-bit (RGB or YCbCr) color depths or over one billion colors, up from 24-bit in previous versions.
Supports xvYCC color standards.
Incorporates automatic audio syncing (lip sync) capability.
Supports output of Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio streams for external decoding by AV receivers.[3] TrueHD and DTS-HD are lossless audio codec formats used on HD DVDs and Blu-ray Discs. If the disk player can decode these streams into uncompressed audio, then HDMI 1.3 is not necessary, as all versions of HDMI can transport uncompressed audio.
Availability of a new mini connector for devices such as camcorders.[4]
PlayStation 3 is the first product available on consumer market with HDMI 1.3.