Sony Introduces Playstation 3, to launch in 2006
by Anand Lal Shimpi on May 16, 2005 9:12 PM EST- Posted in
- Trade Shows
Introducing the Playstation 3
Ken Kutaragi, President and Group CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment, lead the introduction to most of the Playstation 3 specifications. For starters, the console will not be out until Spring 2006 - contrary to recent rumors.
The console itself will be available in three colors - white, grey and black:
As we all know already, the Playstation 3 supports Blu-ray storage technology, marking one of the fundamental differences between it and Microsoft's Xbox 360, which will ship with a DVD drive.
Mr. Kutaragi also reaffirmed that the PS3 would feature backwards compatibility with both the original Playstation and PS2 games, potentially another major advantage over Microsoft's Xbox 360 from a developer and even a consumer standpoint. Microsoft has yet to confirm backwards compatibility for original Xbox games on their new 360 console, but we expect to find out for sure this week.
One of the most publicized features of the Playstation 3 is the new Cell processor. We've talked about Cell in great depth already, but here's how it applies to the Playstation 3:
Contrary to the rumors we've heard, it looks like the PS3 will implement the Cell processor that we all were introduced to a few months ago - featuring a single PPE and 8 SPEs. There is one caveat however; the Cell processor in the PS3 will only feature 7 working SPEs, one will remain disabled in order to improve yields.
The processor will also feature a 512KB L2 cache and each SPE will feature 256KB of local memory, all running at 3.2GHz built on a 90nm process.
The Cell in PS3 can decode up to 12 HD streams simultaneously at full frame rate.
Sony also showed off Cell displaying 1000 movie thumbnails at the same time:
With one fewer SPE than we originally expected, Cell continues to be the shining star of the PS3 and we aren't disappointed with its implementation in the console.
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milomnderbnder21 - Monday, May 16, 2005 - link
I can't help but laugh at all the titles announced though: "title" 4, "title" 4, "title" 6...5,4,4, etc. Come on, let's get some new franchises!I like the comparison to a George Foreman grill. The hardware sounds awfully impressive though, and the screens are really good looking. I want to see this and a 360 side by side, for size comparisons, just for kicks.
The X360 controller looks a LOT nicer. I'll almost certainly go X360, though. I like the games, I like the controller, it comes out sooner. The big thing for me though is the games, the sequels of sequels of sequels bothers me, though microsoft might be headed in that dangerous direction. Then I might have to get a Nintendo. I kind of don't like sony. Don't know why, entirely. I think the PS2 bothered me for getting perhaps more than it deserved. And I hate those contollers...
knitecrow - Monday, May 16, 2005 - link
About the GPU, nvidia have provided fluff... plain and simple.I can't say the ATI and microsoft have done a better job with the R500
but I still don't see how a 300 million transistor card can do 1.8Tflops of processing
Your 6800 ULTRA is about 222 million transsistors and does ... well i have no idea how much GFlops of processing it does.
Flops is used by marketing folks to fool the general public.
erwos - Monday, May 16, 2005 - link
If they remade FFVII for PS3, I'd pre-order the damn console and game right now. Seriously.-Erwos
coldpower27 - Monday, May 16, 2005 - link
Wow, that is amazing can't wait till the Geforce 7 is released now or as it's code name G70:)Cygni - Monday, May 16, 2005 - link
Deffinitly looks pretty impressive today... but by the time it actually ships, its going to hit TOUGH competition on the PC front. The transistor count thing is pretty funny as well... wonder what an Athlon X2 (200mil) + a pair of 6800 Ultras total as far as transistor count! haha.Looks good, but the Cell is still iffy... the issue with 1 disabled unit shows that the yields are probably fairly low, like many assumed. Hard to say which one (PS3 vs 360) which one will get more market share, but the PS3 does seem to pack a little more power, if the Cell can come through.
GhandiInstinct - Monday, May 16, 2005 - link
THIS IS THE FUTURE OMFG, ITS A STAR SHIP, XBOX GATES WHO? OMFG THIS IS IT THIS IS IT DID YOU SEE THOSE SCREEN SHOTS? I DONT EVEN NEED TO PLAY THE GAMES THOSE SS SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES. MOST AMAZING EVER EXCEPT FOR GPU, BUT 2 TERAFLOPS COMPARED TO ONE? PS3 = SUPER COMPUTER CONSOLE MEGA GENESIS OMFG AMAZING.Sorry for caps. Hope it doesnt hurt your ears...
finbarqs - Monday, May 16, 2005 - link
still looks ugly... uglier than the x360, and that's not all that pretty either...Son of a N00b - Monday, May 16, 2005 - link
looks more impressive than the Xbox IMO, especially in the SS's ive seen with both...darn cannot wait for nvidia's g70 next gen cards...wish i could be a beta tester for SLI for em to be the first on the block...
knitecrow - Monday, May 16, 2005 - link
"Design and specifications are subject to change without notice."anyone any still remember how they cut PS2 final specs from the one they unveiled?
segagenesis - Monday, May 16, 2005 - link
Impressive screens, unimpressive controllers. Are they supposed to double as boomerangs?