Some interesting facts about the PS3
By Ryan Block 
posted November 5th 2006 1:11PM
posted November 5th 2006 1:11PM
Even though we're basically on the eve of Sony's big launch of the PlayStation 3, we still had a few outstanding questions about some of the minutiae of the console. Yeah, we're dorky sticklers for detail like that. So here are a few interesting facts about the PlayStation 3 you may (or may not) be interested in knowing:- After plenty of gameplay the console is cool -- or at worst warm -- to the touch on every surface. In a side by side test with the Xbox 360, the console is comparably virtually silent, and the Blu-ray drive is significantly quieter than the 360's DVD drive.
- USB keyboards and mice will be plug-n-play, no fuss at all. Who really wants to browse the web with a PlayStation controller anyway?
- Bluetooth mice and keyboards will not work with the system at launch.
- Any (A2DP) Bluetooth headset should theoretically work with the system, though Sony will have a recommended hardware list.
- The EyeToy is the only USB webcam that will work with the system. The original PS2 EyeToy should still work with the PS3.
- There are currently no plans for VGA out on the PlayStation3.
- The system will not support more than seven controllers.
- There are currently no plans for a cheaper, wired version of the SIXAXIS.
- With its media playback software one can have in-game custom soundtracks, as with the Xbox 360, Wii, etc.
- Despite rumor, Sony insists the US is still officially targeted for a 400k unit launch; Japan is still set for a mere 80k. Sony execs are actually expecting an upturn in unit production before launch, so those numbers may actually go up.
- Some titles have an option to install some amount of game data (in addition to saved data) to the drive. Genji can install 4GB worth of data to decrease load times (quoted to drop from 12-15 seconds down to 3-4); this game data can be removed at any time without affecting your saved games.
- The drive can be upgraded, although not on any official basis (read: YMMV, do so at your own risk, you may void warranty, etc.).
- You cannot leave voice or picture messages for other users on the PlayStation Network, only text.
Hear here!
Cheaper in Hong Kong... Lik-sang, Sony... Tut Tut...
I like all the new info, but there is nothing about operating with the PSP. Where is that info.
Is there going to be any????
a PS3 fan will be able to kick a 360's fan's ass any day in a year; with the 360 dude stuck sitting on his/her ass letting muscles turn to mush, the PS3 will have muscle building power, as the user lifts the system to the desired location, plus the slight arm movement of the controller, but the wii will give gamers the best cardio workout of them all, lol...
now where's my shuffle.
sean, your r3t4rded.
but lets face the facts, a console can be as good as it wants to be, but what really matters is the games....and ps3 wins again!! haha stupid 360 fans
Well, everyone complains bout build quality, i have a 11 year old PS1 that still works flawlessly, 3 PS2's, the fat ones, and a Sony stereo, they all works flawlessly, maybe its because most people dont treat their things how theyre supposed to.
"Well, everyone complains bout build quality, i have a 11 year old PS1 that still works flawlessly, 3 PS2's, the fat ones, and a Sony stereo, they all works flawlessly, maybe its because most people dont treat their things how theyre supposed to."
So the lawsuit that Sony essentially lost in regards to their optical drives means that the fault is the users? While I'm very much aware of how badly people take care of their equipment, Sony is to blame for that. Google "Sony ps2 lawsuit". You can't miss it.
On topic, a 7 controller game would be really fun. It just takes an imaginative developer to create something. Mario Party-type games would work, but why stop there..? However, I'm not sure if the $1000 investment is worth it...
Now what if there were more than 1 PS3 within radio distance of each other? 14 controllers would be pretty irritating to set up..
I'm not getting a PS3 for at LEAST a year, if not much longer. Once I see how things develop, then I'll choose between PS3 and Wii. The 360 has very, very little I'm interested in.
Can't we all just get along??
BTW: whoever has the greater number of *FUN* games wins.
"Not everyone believes in Sony's Playstation 3 vision.
http://www.gametrailers.com/bonusround.php?ep=1&pt=2
The only reason I'm buying a PS3 is cause my company whored me on my bonus this year. I'd much rather have a MacBook Pro...
@#$%!!! My ONLY unanswered question BEFORE this list was:
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU PUT THE PS3'S "BLUETOOTH CONTROLLER" INTO DISCOVERY MODE AND THEN SEARCH FOR BLUETOOTH DEVICES FROM YOUR COMPUTER.
Has NO journalist even thought to TRY this?
"Who needs VGA if you have HDMI? Did you ever heard of HDMI to DVI to VGA adapter."
VGA is nice to have if you want to hook up a computer monitor to the console instead of a more expensive HDTV. It works quite nice and can be used for games and movies.
I suspect the lack of VGA in the PS3 is due to DRM restrictions because of Blu-Ray.
I also suspect an HDMI to DVI to VGA conversion would violate DRM restrictions and certainly wouldn't work for displaying movies. I'm unsure about if games would still work.
Well i look at it this way...who gives a crap about blu-ray i want a game system to play games not watch stupid movies and on top of that u probably guessed it i dont own an hdtv either so when it comes down to it for the people that cant afford all this expensive bullcrap *for the hardcore gamers* go xbox 360 and get on live November 07 HALO 3.See microsoft was smart hey lets come out with a core system for the people that cant afford everything right away and make the hard drive seperate,oh and a memory card for 40bux even tho it dont hold much its still a nice gesture for the poor.......Thanks for reading my comment im sure alot of people will appreciate it.
I don't give a sh"t bout 360,this system rocks and I'm getting it
I should have put a question mark after my question...o ;)
Wii > Xbox360 > Nothing > PS3
That is all.
lol the Wii owns the Xbox360 which owns nothing, while nothing owns the ps3.
How's the backward compatibility with PS2 (and PS1?) games? Found any that don't work?
Yeah, the way I read it too, Wii > 360, 360 > nothing, and nothing > ps3.
"Wow for 20% more than a 360 its quieter and runs cooler! Gee Golly thats great! I'm so glad they focused on that instead of, oh I don't know, GAMES!"
You've got to be kidding me. The PlayStation 3 has more killer-apps than any other seventh-generation video game console. The only edge that the XBox 360 has is Halo 3 and Dead or Alive Xtreme 2, and the Wii has no games. The PlayStation 3 on the other hand has Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, Resistance: Fall of Man, Final Fantasy XIII, Gran Turismo HD, Gran Turismo 5, et cetera.
And any non-exclusives will be on both the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, but with better graphics and features than the Xbox 360 counterparts due to the higher storage capacity of the Blu-ray disc and the higher processing capabilities of the Cell microprocessor and nVidia Reality Synthesizer.
Also, it's not just about the games, it's also about what you're getting for your money. With the PlayStation 3, video gamers will be having a great time, and when you're having a great time, the price is not a problem. The PlayStation 3 is just such a great value that people would buy it even if it didn't have any games.
Haha good job dumbass half thoughs PS3 games you listed arent really killer-aps, Grand Turismo?
"The only edge that the XBox 360 has is Halo 3 and Dead or Alive Xtreme 2, and the Wii has no games. The PlayStation 3 on the other hand has Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, Resistance: Fall of Man, Final Fantasy XIII, Gran Turismo HD, Gran Turismo 5, et cetera."
So lets make this Right.
Xbox 360: Halo 3, DOAX2 (thoughs for us who own a 360: Halo Wars), and then Gears of War.
Wii: None (But still the Wii rapes ((Sony Rips off Them ^_^))
PS3:Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, Resistance: Fall of Man
Also, I feel bad for PS3 this year they lost GTA.. Good-Bye GTA Sony Fans...
How are ANY of those games killer apps? MGS:4 is good one to two years out. Did you play snake eater? It didnt exactly tear up the charts. And nobody would be surprised to see the big budget mgs show up on the 360. Gran turismo HD (i used to LOVE the series) comes with no cars(hahahah Sony hates us all) GT5 is easily 2 or 3 years out. Resistance, super swell it looks pretty(!), unfortunately its(iirc) from the Tony Hawk(read:mediocre) guys and also Lost Planet looks to easily be the third person shooter of choice without trying to be a poor mans gears of war.
I can understand that your psyched and at 500 bones you sure as hell better be. But I'm still waiting for a REAL killer app and a REAL console price. Best of luck to you!
"Who needs VGA if you have HDMI? Did you ever heard of HDMI to DVI to VGA adapter."
no. no i haven't. HDMI = digital and VGA = analog.
there are HDMI -> DVI-D adapters. and there are DVI-A -> VGA adapters.
DVI-D to DVI-A adapters tend to cost at least $200-300 last time i checked.
good luck with that.
FOOLS RUSH IN and now some of you Xbox 360 owners are just envious PLAYER-HATERS! You had to rush in and snap at the MS bait instead of waiting for all 3 consoles to be available so that you could do a side by side system comparison didnt you. Hey look at it this way, at least you got a years worth of next gen under you belt, right? SUCKERS!
Well i know my Sony stuff works great,
as for Shade, goob bye Oblivion/MS fans. and, you have to count all the playable/offline Final Fantasys, none of which come for Xbox, GT is a really good game too. As for the Wii, is has SSBB, that says it all and gives you ENOUGH reason to buy one.
As for me, im getting all 3 lol, i just wait for them to appear on a local online flea market for like 100 bucks less.
"Some titles have an option to install some amount of game data (in addition to saved data) to the drive. Genji can install 4GB worth of data to decrease load times (quoted to drop from 12-15 seconds down to 3-4); this game data can be removed at any time without affecting your saved games."
"The drive can be upgraded, although not on any official basis (read: YMMV, do so at your own risk, you may void warranty, etc.)."
Do I smell the Halo 2 Xbox 1 Problem? Allowing for installation of game data onto your system AND allowing for upgraded HDDs just makes me think of how long its going to take for someone to load game data to the HDD, Get inside it, mod the game files, and cheat there way to victory online. It's going to be a huge cluster f*ck in the online region for Sony if they don't implement some decent file checking system before online play.
you should also mention that the current PS3 controller can indicates only four player(though PS3 supports 7 controller simultaneously) and currently there is no PS(1,2,3) games that supports that many controller.
Well, first off, regarding the Bluettoh for my powerbook, I am referencing a Keyboard with more features than the apple bluetooth keyboard. All logitech and a few other brands of bluetooth keyboards I have look at only work as basic keyboards on macs. However, that is not quiet to the point with the PS3, so I will leave this out of it.
Second, you listen to your music on a bluetooth microphone? You see, I understand bluetooth for phones, because it allows you to be actually unconnected. I even use one myself. However, when you are playing a game, you are holding a controller in your lap. This is very different from talking to someone on the phone, when all you are doing is talking, and not interacting with the phone, and also the same scenario for listening to music.
About the harddrive, while it wont alter the look of the system, it is still a mod for the PS3. Notice the whole, do at your own risk, it may void the warranty thing. That is usually on terms with a mod. But yes, I agree, having it swappable without altering external appearance is great.
About appropos of the online system, my appologies for jumping to conclusions, but I am not going to be expecting something living up to my expectations of on online based console.
I just want to say, the PS3 is perfect for techno-illiterate people.
All the basic uses you need, nothing you don't.
Teaching Grandma how to play the newest movies, surf the web, and videochat with her grandkid isn't so hard with this thing.
It's all unified, simplified, and on her TV. No need for monitors (and computer areas), viruses, troubleshooting.
Look at new pictures? Pop in the memory card in front. Music? Done. Home movies? Easy peasy. Play bridge online with her buddies? Not too hard.
Honestly, it's perfect for everyone. Hell, she can even help Folding@Home, which I bet she'll love, if she knew what it did.
Not only is this thing a media hub, it has the makings of being a basis for a truely connected society.
If there's a hole in this idea, please tell me. I don't want to be blindly advocating a foolish idea.
"What about "legacy" controllers such as the controllers for Guitar Hero, DDR, etc.?
How do you connect those to the PS3?"
You point the rumbleless suxasses at it and yell ALAKAZZAM! Or you buy the controller port adaptor for $29.99 or some other such thing you haven't been told about yet.
No bluetooth KB/mouse out of the box but the bluetooth suxaases works? WTF? I smell a SONY PS3 Keyboard and mouse in the offing. Can't have folks just plugging in their own diNovo keyboards now can we? It may turn out to be a nice console, but me thinks that fanboys are in for more than a few nasty surprises over the next 6 months or so. For example:
"Any (A2DP) Bluetooth headset should theoretically work with the system, though Sony will have a recommended hardware list."
Any bets on the recommended hardware list being all Sony gear? "Should theoretically work" sounds a little more like, not f*cking likely, PAY UP. Perhaps a litte tweaking of the Bluetooth standard to lock you into Sony gear? We all know how much they LOVE that idea so it's not THAT far fetched.
Looks like you're in the same boat as the 360 crowd as far as the hard drive is concerned as well unless you don't mind voiding the warranty. Cant have you hacking it and dropping half-terrabyte drives into it. (See what happened to the first Xbox for the answer to this.)
No VGA will no doubt be a result of Blu-ray's DRM as it relates to HDMI/HDCP.
Eye-Toy camera resriction is no surprise, I don't think you can just plug any old usb camera into the 360 either. Never tried.
I only say this because the 360 has had it's own raft of nasty surprises over the last year. All I'm saying is don't fawn all over Sony yet. They're not done hammering out the fine print yet.
And I gotta say, Sony's online network sounds like a non-event. Free it may be, but I have the feeling that it's just going to be a nickled and dime you to death microtransaction trap BECAUSE it's free. You're going to pay for that network one way or the other because Sony ain't doing it out of the goodness of the hearts.
With that, enjoy your console launch. I have 3 for sale if you don't get one, but cheap they won't be.
Wii/X360 can stand up vertically now - THEY COPY THEY COPY! OMGZ0RZ THEY COPY COPY COPY COPY COPY COPY!!
"IVE LOST ALL RESPECT FOR THE WII/X360"
@thai luong
"I would like to move around the room and listen to my music wirelessly without any cables."
ever hear of speakers?
I live in a quiet neighborhood with a quiet family. With speakers, I can't listen as loud as I would like, without stepping on someone's toes.
Sure, my situation might be rare, but I'm positive that there are people out there who would like to have untethered loud music in the middle of the night. Without getting noise complaints.
I think a lot of people are bashing PS3 because they couldn't wait for it and spent $500 bucks on xbox360. Now that PS3 is arriving they can do nothing but bash PS3, trying to justify those $500 bucks spent on a less powerful "next gen" console.
"You cannot leave voice or picture messages for other users on the PlayStation Network, only text."
Ok, this just here totally blows. I guess you get what you paid for, nothing.
"The drive can be upgraded, although not on any official basis (read: YMMV, do so at your own risk, you may void warranty, etc.)."
Uh... This sounds kinda fishy. Sony tells us the hdd is upgradable... But it will void your warranty, etc...?? WTF?! What is that supposed to mean? I demmand some clarification.
"So lets make this Right.
Xbox 360: Halo 3, DOAX2 (thoughs for us who own a 360: Halo Wars), and then Gears of War.
PS3:Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, Resistance: Fall of Man
Also, I feel bad for PS3 this year they lost GTA.. Good-Bye GTA Sony Fans..."
Resistance totally pwnz Gears of War. Gears of War is too generic. Also, the PlayStation 3 also has Final Fantasy XIII and Gran Turismo HD/5.
The PlayStation 3 will have Grand Theft Auto IV. They didn't lose it.
god the amount of Fanboys out in the world is sickening,
all those idiots with the attitude "lololz da PS3zorz gra fix is ganna be da more bomb dan da 360's!" do yourself a favor and stfu.
The diference in processing power between the two systems is so minute that thw two are just as comparable as two custom PC's built by two different people.
the ones that spout off about the 360 taking a year to get the feature the PS3 has out of the box... your point? The PS3 has an extra year of development. the only diff is the 360 got those features with the console out and the PS3 got em before production.
you people talk about the PS3 like its some kind of amazing tech inovation. when all it does is emulate current technologys.
I don't give a shit where you spend you'r money this holiday season, but stfu with all the fanboy garbage.
I'm not a fanboy, but I gotta say, your reasoning blows.
"The PS3 has an extra year of development. the only diff is the 360 got those features with the console out and the PS3 got em before production."
People complain about how the final devkits for the PS3 weren't received until August/September this year. So tell me how they have had more development time. And didn't the people who developed for the 360 also have time before the system launched to work with it? You can't say that since people developed for the 360 that they can just take that knowledge over to the PS3. It's a whole 'nother ball game, brutha.
Which brings me to my next point.
"The diference in processing power between the two systems is so minute that the two are just as comparable as two custom PC's built by two different people."
Are you kidding me? Ask anyone in the industry and they'll tell you, the PS3 is more powerful. By far. The argument is whether or not that matters in the long run.
You program differently for each system BECAUSE they are completely different architectures. Two comparable PCs? That's like saying that they are the same because they both play games. It's like comparing a Power5 to an x86 chip. Sure they are both procs, but they sure as hell don't do the same thing.
What is amazing is that they managed second gen looking games in the first generation, games that are able to compete with the newest 360 games. That says a lot about the ease of use and power of the PS3.
It is an amazing tech innovation, but so is the 360. You call others fanboys. You sound hypocritical all the while.
I appreciate both consoles for their merits. Because face it, both have shortcomings. So chill it with the attitude. Please.
ok hear goes im gonna get bashed but im going to bash first. i am a so called fan boy of sony. why? you may ask. cause their products are one of the best. i own sony cd plays (2). sony psp, sony mp3 player, sony tv, sony head phones, ps2, psx, psOne.
all you bitching bout ps2 problems look at when xbox came out. it didb't have a fan, your cpu melted one you. i have a second shipment ps2 and it runs just as good as the day i got it.
now technical stuff with ps3. blue ray pwns dvd 9 which is a dual layer dvd 8.5 gigs. blue ray has 50 gigs of data. hmm comparison 8.5 or 50 hmmm. when you look at this xbox has to sacrifice a lot more if they want a long running game while ps3 dosen't.
gameplay length, and graphics share one medium. so you have to choose do you want awsome graphic and a short game or do you want a long game but shitty graphics, or do you compromise and make a game that has simi good graphics and a medium lengh game. all of these are factors in choosing the medium. ps3 can off a 90hr game and have spectacular graphics while if 360 tried that the graphics would blow. now rendering ps3 is 60fps (frames per-second) but can go up to 120fps if you have the tv to do it with. 360 has only 60fps.
now people get a brain. read specs. about everything from non bias sites and you'll learn a lot more. ps3 dosen't have rumble for two reasons 1 it will interfear with the sixaxis. and 2 the real main reason. sony was sude for having a rumble in their ps2 controller.
now all you people well its an expensive game console. first off sony dosen't regard this a game console. why? cause its not. its a computer entertaiment system. if you want a console go buy the wii. oh by the way wii only good function you can buy and dl older nintendo games for it. other than that its really gamecube 1.5. its grapics aren't true next gen. oh and that coment about wii is from a non bias magazine made by ebgames.
now xbox360 supposed more powerful video card. true the have more pipelines i belive 48. but if your about 20 years old or at least 14 years you should know that quanity isn't always better. whats better is the more pwerful 24 pipelines ps3 has. oh heres the true processoing powers
"Processing Power:
How do the two systems compare when looking at brute processing power? The PS3 uses a Cell processor with a PowerPC-based core with seven synergistic processing units while the Xbox comes with a Custom IBM PowerPC CPU with three dual-threaded cores that can handle six total threads at a time.
An important comparison to look at is the number of dot product calculations per second the systems can perform. The reason this number is important is because it is used extensively during gameplay in 3d math to calculate various things such as vector lengths, projections, transformations, and more. Both systems are clocked at 3.2 Ghz. The PS3 can handle 51-billion dot product operations per second and the Xbox can handle 33.6." taken from http://www.thetechzone.com/?m=show&id=306&page=2
online capabiltis for ps3 i don't really give a damn. im not planing on buying an online game.
oh supposedly blu tooth is better than the 2.4 ghz rf contollers that xbox360 has.
hmm and personnally i like ps because of the rpgs which every other system lacks. my main type of games are rpgs and 90% of my ps2 collection of games are rpgs.
also you get blue-ray for 500 or 600 dollars. so even if you don't like ps3 you can get a pretty cheap blue ray player. in the US blue ray players cost $1000. hmmm so yeah i'll take the cheaper ps3 over that anyday. ohh and another thing xbox360 in the final run will cost you more than ps3. if you want the hd dvd games that with becaoming out for xbox360 next year you will have to cough up another $200. and another thing blue ray will most likely be the next main form of movies although it could be another dvd+r and dvd-r thing. because one blue ray has the backing of like 7 movie companies that are only making blue ray movies and one company which i believe is disney that fully backs hd dvd and like three other companys who make movies for both formats.
ohh to the idiot that said sony used nothing new. are you retarded or something. last time i check cell was not around untill sony's president said he wanted a chip that acts likes human cells to three comapnies. sony, toshiba and ibm. he said this about the time of ps2 launch. and cells finished product was earlier this year but plans on maiking its release debut on the ps3.hmmm the nvidia rsx card is also a completely new design although got its background from their latest card. then sixaxis, memory stick duo which by far beats the living hell out of xbox's memory card 4 gigs or 64mb hmmm.
now another processing comparision ps3 has 2tflops while xbox360 only has 1tflops.
did any of you ps3 haters actually read the spec for ps3 or just make stupid assumptions, which over half of you did.
oh and get this cell is basically a 7 core processor. the 7 spe run independently of each other making more caluculations than xbox360s 3 core. so seriously read up on things before you start showing how ignorant you are. oh and for the stupid ones (basically all 360 fansboys) ignorant means you don't know anything about the topic.
also i meant to say something else but i can't find the edit tab lol. basically when the hddvd games comes out xbox 360 will most likely be using a 2 layer hddvd but guess what it still dosen'r compare to the two layer blue ray ps3 is using. each layer of an hd dvd is only 15 gb and so far there is only up to a three layer disc which is not fully functional but in the testing stages. so at most if xbox 360 can get is 45 gb. no lets look at blue ray. each layer of blue ray is 25 gb. and sony has declared to use a two layer disc which is 50 gb. but you wanna know something toshiba made a fully functioning 6 layer blue ray disck that can store up to 200 gb of info. so yeah blue ray is a little bit more expensive but your getting your moneys worth.
GOD DAMN.....I'LL ONLY BE ABLE TO USE 7 CONTROLLERS AT ONCE!
why don't you test pal output by plugging it into a video card with a component-video in. my ati at least supported software changes from ntsc to pal. geez.
i see all this fan boy vs fan boy and there really is no point to debating which is better, its all just baised bullcrap. people like what they like for their own reason and who's to talk crap about it.
as i did for ps1 and ps2, i bought my console depending on the game it has. there is no point in me getting any of the systems(360, ps3, wii) because there arent any games iam interested in.
i bought my ps1 for tekken, grand turismo, and squaresoft's rpgs. it'll be the same with the new generation games and if i do buy one, it'll be ps3 just because of the same reasons, sq's rpgs, grand turismo, and tekken/soul calibur.
wii could have used bluray, 360 with motion sensing controllers, i can care less.
you can use the xbox 360 webcam on the PS3
johan seemed mostly unbiased, even though you can tell hes a 360 guy,
i liked his responce though, it makes me happy to see mature, unbiased arguments among the console wars and no "WHY WOUDL U NEED 7 CONTORLLERS"
well who says you need thenm? the reason its 7 is cause bluetooth netoworks can have a max of 8 devices,
and in the ps3's case: 1 console + 7 controllers, it's merely a bi product of bluetooth
not that infared garbage in the wii >.>
Please excuse my spelling, I'm tired
anybody, ask me ANYTHING about the ps3, I pretty much know it all, if you want unbiased and factual answers I'll tell you
hey yeh this probably sound stupid but do u need a hd/lcd tv for the ps3 or can u use a normal tv?
thanks