I think this is a smart move, though I'm not surprised.

I'm actually anticipating a few more of the ports to be scrapped from the final build. Perhaps they will use one proprietary port with multi-functionality (i.e. S-video, RCA jacks, optical audio, etc.) which is common for a 'videogame' console.

Lest we forget, the PS3 is not being marketed as a 'videogame' console by Mr. Kutaragi.

We finally have some decent media:

http://www.ninjatheory.com/blinkblin...d=38&Itemid=61

Each screen is presented in 1080p - so there is at least one game aiming for this standard that we know of. These are captures from the E3 demo vid, which is running in realtime off the machine (not prerendered graphics). I was going to post a beautiful example here, but at 1080, its not even remotely logical. Check out the link for the screens.

From 1up.com - This is relevant because lack of support in Japan will be a big deciding factor for the next generation. 2% interest is not good for XBOX360 but is good for PS3


No Love for XBox 360 in Japan
Recent poll shows low interest in Microsoft's console.
by Jane Pinckard, 07/11/2005
45 of 63 users recommend this story.

Elsewhere we can write in agonizing detail about the extreme conservatism in Japanese gamers' tastes and how the Japanese games market is in dire need of resuscitation, but for now I would like to point out that a poll conducted by a Japanese news service among 1,000 gamers found that only two percent of respondents picked the Xbox 360 as their most-wanted Next Gen console. The leader, by an order of magnitide, was PS3, with a fan base of sixty percent.

It's not such a big surprise that Japanese gamers are not psyched about the Xbox 360, even after its redesigned prettification and despite some high-profile defections (Itagaki, Mizuguchi, and Sakaguchi just to name a few). Japanese consumers never really got into the Xbox: about 460,000 units have sold in Japan since launch. To put that number in perspective, think about this: the PS2 sold twice that...in the first two days.

The reason Japanese gamers find the PS3 more appealing is partly the massive brand recognition Sony has, of course; but it's also probably got a lot to do with the sheer numbers of sequels, franchises, and re-makes that Sony has at its power to command. Read the survey data: eighty percent want well-known franchises; 71.2 want RPGs. You're looking at another long string of repetitive Square Enix titles, my friend. As much as we might complain about lack of innovative game titles in the West, Japan has it even worse. Some of the quirkiest, most fascinating games ever made come from Japanese game studios, but they wither under the unending domination of Dragon Quest. A new console launch is not going to change that trend any time soon. Too bad.

Not surprising, I'm American, and lack of Japanese support is why I regret my X-box purchase and why I'm not considering a 360 unless things change dramatically.

When MS released the Xbox they made the exact same mistake American car makers made thirty years ago when they tried to introduce cars there, they were more powerful, but bigger and awkward for their culture. Despite their reinvention through offering cars that are as high in quality, similar size, and even out perform their Japanese counterparts, American makers are still hard pressed to sell automobiles in Japan.

Some of this can be attribuited to Japanese loyalty in "buying Japanese" (similar to what America used to experience) but its more directly tied to Japanese culture of not forgetting past transgressions.

Microsoft has set themselves a very difficult battle in Japan to win over gamers there, a battle they could have made much easier had they paid attention to history and tailored the original xbox with more global appeal.

Nvidia's Chief Scientist David Kirk on RSX

RSX and the PlayStation 3

For those that don't know, if you've been living under a rock for the last few months, the graphics processor in the PlayStation 3 is NVIDIA-designed and is called RSX. How does it compare next to the 7800?

"The two products share the same heritage, the same technology. But RSX is faster," said Kirk.

But for how much longer, we wonder? With the PlayStation 3 not due until March 2006, won't the next generation of PC graphics be here by then? "At the time consoles are announced, they are so far beyond what people are used to, it's unimaginable," David comments. "At the time they're shipped, there's a narrower window until the next PC architecture." In other words, RSX looks incredible now, but when it launches, there'll be a smaller time until PC looks better.

"However, what consoles have is a huge price advantage." And 'huge' is the appropriate word: pricing is still to be announed by Sony, but Playstation 3 could debut at £399 - the price of a 7800GTX board, yet offering so much more.

Whilst their relationship with Microsoft has become publicly tenuous, what about NVIDIA's relationship with their new console partner?

"So far our relationship with Sony has been great. We have a much closer relationship and share a much broader vision for the future of computing and graphics.

"When we came together a few years ago, we found a vision and experience that we shared. It sounds cliched, but Japanese companies are often trying to create a vision and make the technology follow that, not the other way round. We believed in that."


"Our commonality with Sony has led to a number of product areas that go beyond PlayStation 3. The business deal is structured so that both companies benefit. It's a really good realtionship."

So I put it to David that there might be more to come from Sony and NVIDIA: "The deal goes beyond PS3. The future is looking good."

What does this mean exactly? Until we get some concrete details, it could in theory translate to NVIDIA-powered graphics in just about any suitable device that Sony make: Sony VAIO desktop and notebook computers would be an obvious opportunity; another distinct possibility is NVIDIA GoForce wireless media processors (WMP) inside future SonyEricsson mobile phones.

A rank outsider would be NVIDIA Inside for a future replacement for the PSP, but we should stress that this is all pure speculation. What we do know is that NVIDIA design kick-ass graphics chips and Sony make some of the most desirable consumer electronics available. Put those two together and you have quite a potent combination - we look forward to seeing what they come up with.



I added the pic from the article since we hadn't had one in a while!

Some new rumors of things to be announced at the PlayStation Meeting:


* Sony will announce a 'value bundle' for the PS3 that includes a hard drive, similar in concept to the PSP's Value Pack

* Namco will announce two titles for PS3's Japanese launch

* Koei will announce Dynasty Warriors 6 and Nobunaga's Ambition for the PS3

* Final Fantasy XIII and Dragon Quest/Warrior IX to be PS3 exclusives

* Japanese and United States PS3 launches to be simultaneous in late Spring of 06; Europe and Australia to see launch in Fall

* Team Ninja developing two titles for PS3

* Resident Evil series being developed on PS3 and PSP

* Silent Hill 5 in development

* Mistwalker/Sony surprise announcement (not Blue Dragon or Lost Odyssey related)

* Level 5 to develop exclusively for Sony

* Forty-five new PSP titles to launch by Fall '06

* SquareEnix developing two additional PSP titles

* PS3 and PSP will use the same online network

Some of these are obviously true - like the last one (it was already spoken about many times) - but some would be huge surprises. I'll guess we'll have to wait and see on the 21st.

That means Sony published titles right?

No, they get predricted release dates from manufacturers and are basing this number on what they have been told. If you look at old PSP movies, there was one which had a list of like 120 titles by 2007. And it counts up from the first PSP title revealed, all the way til the 120th (or whatever number it was) showing some clips or screens all the way.

That was from TGS 04, IIRC.

Edit: Its here: http://www.playstation.jp/tgs2004/tv.html Called "Count-up"

Getting Mistwalker on board and Team Ninja will be a big blow to XBOX 360's game "exclusivity". Plus getting FF13 will be a big boost!

Of course these are only rumors.

I also heard they may make cosmetic changes to the actual chasis and drop some features like the 2nd HDMI port. Fine by me as long as the costs are kept in check.

From the team who brought you The Getaway comes an exclusive PS3 game titled L.A. Noire

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=10180

More rumors (read with a scoop of salt handy). The source is some "insider" on a japanese forum:

In regards to the Mistwalker deal, he said he's unsure to what exact context the rumblings he's been hearing refer to. He says they may be in reference to the supposed deal that Sony and Mistwalker had for BD and LO prior to MS swooping in and paying for the games dev. He did state however that Mistwalker is NOT in any way exclusive to MS on consoles, despite what MS has said. BD and LO though have 0% chance of ever hitting PS3, even a few years from now.

All the info he posted has turned out to be the key announcements Sony is prepping to build hype for the PS3; ie. Sony will likely spread them out so as to not throw all their eggs into one basket. Thus, don't expect all these points to hit the conference anymore. Many may be postponed til TGS. The thread has now turned into a sort of general upcoming Sony announcements thread, and many are speculating what will be announced at PM, TGS, etc.

One of the two Namco titles is definitely Ridge Racer 6. No surprise there. The other is supposedly not a Tekken title.

It is looking more and more likely that Tecmo does not want Team Ninja to remain exclusive to a single console this coming gen in order to increase revenues and brand awareness.

Square Enix announcing FF and DQ being PS3 exclusive likely will not happen now (however they will still be exclusive), as Sony feels it is more significant to simply let it happen, as if it is a common occurence that happens every gen. They feel announcing it may seem as if they earned or bought the exclusive rights, whereas just letting them release makes it seem as if DQ and FF will always be PlayStation only properties.

Someone asked why Konami would bother releasing Winning Eleven in Europe (as Pro Evolution) and not in Japan, and he was reminded that Winning Eleven 9 is releasing exclusively on PS2 next month, despite Pro Evo 5 hitting Xbox in Europe later this year. The decision to keep WE exclusive to PS2 and PS3 was Konami's, Sony did not buy the rights.

From Software is likely going to port all its 360 games to PS3, including Chrome Hounds and eNchant aRm.

Sony is going to market the PSP and PS3 hand-in-hand as two companion electronics when the PS3 releases, and they are going to offer levels of connectivity between the devices beyond just gaming.

Sony will announce that PS3 titles will not be playable at TGS. They may plan a special event in early 2006 to display playable titles to the public.

Sony is confident their relationship with Game Republic will continue.

SCEI is aiming to lessen the amount of money they spend to gain exclusive contracts to increase profitability, and instead maintain their relationships through improved development tools, developer support and game development assistance.

Almost all of SCEI internals studios and second party developers have now shifted development to the PS3. SCEA has done the same, however SCEE is more evenly balanced between PS2 and PS3.

Sony is contemplating offering reduced royalty fees for original properties after the success of Nintendogs.

The PS3 console design is being slightly redesigned so it looks its best when upright, not laying flat. The slot loading drive is a key feature added to allow the upright position to be more convenient.

Sony is looking to differentiate the use of memory sticks and the HDD as memory sticks = game/online content, HDD = media content. They feel 1GB and larger sticks will retail for as low as the price of PS2 memory cards when they were first released.

Everybody's Golf 5 to be announced for Japanese launch.

It is rumored within Sony (although the insider thinks its a bit far-fetched, and personally doesn't believe its true) that 2 different internal SCEI teams are co-developing 2 PS3 titles with... are you ready?... Nintendo EAD. Yeah, I know. I don't believe it either.

The PS3 launch will be the largest launch software wise in the history of the Japanese games industry. Sony hopes to have over 40 titles available.

I always saw the Memory Stick thing, but I just have a hard time believing it. Even if a 1 GB Memory Stick is on $35 when the system launches, will that be enough to hold all the online content out there? I guess it could be, but you definitely would run out of space after a few games.

I'm still hoping for a bundled hard drive.

http://www.eetasia.com/ARTICLES/2005...UN_INT_WK2.HTM

Interview with Ken about the Cell processor and his idea of its future.

Microsoft never said that Mistwalker was exclusive to 360, and that was always clear to me anyway.

* Sony will announce a 'value bundle' for the PS3 that includes a hard drive, similar in concept to the PSP's Value Pack

Just make the HD a standard feature, duh Sony.

* Namco will announce two titles for PS3's Japanese launch

woo!

* Koei will announce Dynasty Warriors 6 and Nobunaga's Ambition for the PS3

woo!

* Japanese and United States PS3 launches to be simultaneous in late Spring of 06; Europe and Australia to see launch in Fall

Possibly a mistake shafting Europe yet again (nearly as big as the Japanese market).

* Silent Hill 5 in development

I would have liked to have seen another on the ps2 hardware, but woo!

* Mistwalker/Sony surprise announcement (not Blue Dragon or Lost Odyssey related)

Surprise for who .

* PS3 and PSP will use the same online network

What, the internet? But seriously, Sony needs to start putting some serious work into this area, their efforts so far have been an after thought.

I agree, even the current level of xbox live downloads would start to fill up a 1 gig stick. I don't really want to go back to the ps1 days of having a pile of memory cards for all my games.

I disagree with that. We know there will be a "PlayStation Network" which will encompass PS2, PS3 and PSP. Beyond that, everything has been kept secret (hopefully to be revealed at TGS). We know they are working hard at a solution - even if we don't know what that solution is.

Resident Evil 5 Confirmed for PS3 and Xbox360

Here is some bad news if it turns out to be true....

The "bundled" hd or anything that isn't standard will make 3rd party people think twice. Already Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion is rumored to having been pulled from the PS3. Fortunately, Sony has time to figure this out.

Also, currently the drive used is a blue ray 1x drive. That is a transfer rate of 6.75 mb/sec compared to the 12x dvd drive for MS which will do 16.65 mb/sec. If the dvd is plenty big for most games (and I think it is) sony needs to put a faster drive in by launch or this will do nothing but hurt them.

Again, plenty of time to figure these things out, but Sony seems to do some odd things at time. I can't imagine a machine with DVI out and no standard HD.

Where are you getting those b/s rates from?

It was in Game Informer. There was speculation that by the time the PS3 came out, Sony might put in 4x drives which would put it around 26 mb/sec. but much of that will depend on how spendy the drive is at launch.

I fear that Sony will cheap themselves out of domination.

PlayStation Meeting 2005

*Factor 5 shows its next game "Lair" to be exclusive to PS3.
*Game Republic is working on a sequal to Genji
*SCE is planning to acquire SN Systems who provide system develop tools for most major platforms
*SCE signed a deal with AGEIA to provide a physics development program for SDK.
*SCE again announces a signed deal with Epic for the Unreal Engine 3.
*SCE signs a deal to include the Havok engine with SDK.

No more complaining. SCE has provided all the tools necessary to build great games, and then some.

Who was complaining? Still doesn't lower costs significantly if thats what you are refering to.

Fanboys saying "The Cell makes the PS3 too difficult to program for" etc.

We have some media:

Resident Evil 5 Trailer: http://media.ps3.ign.com/media/734/7...l_1179151.html
Project Force Screens (1080p): http://www.watch.impress.co.jp/game/...50721/from.htm
Project Force Vid: http://media.ps3.ign.com/media/761/761163/vids_1.html
Genji PS3 Vid: http://media.ps3.ign.com/media/761/761160/vids_1.html
Lair Vid: http://media.ps3.ign.com/media/761/761161/vids_1.html
Endless Saga Vid: http://media.ps3.ign.com/media/761/761165/vids_1.html

There is some realtime media floating around, I'm waiting to find a good source.

Hmmm... may have to wait to buy a 1080p TV now!

Hope they fix those jaggies though (I know it's a very early screenshot but still c'mon!)

EDIT: If that Lair video is realtime then "I love you Factor 5"! Holy crap!

EDIT AGAIN: Hell if any of those videos are realtime then Holy Crap!