Forums > News > PlayStation 3 delayed to November release
Spartan_234 (424) on 3/16/2006 4:45 PM · Permalink · Report
Rumors were spreading earlier on this week that Sony has delayed their long anticipated next-gen console, the PlayStation 3, to a November 2006 release due to copy-protection problems with their new Blu-Ray disc format. If these rumors were true, this meant that the PlayStation 3 would launch almost exactly a year after the Xbox 360, and (of course) that console gamers would be highly disappointed of the delay. On March 14 at the PlayStation Business Briefing in Tokyo, Japan, Sony president Ken Kutagari officially announced that the rumors are true: The PS3 has been delayed to a November 2006 release. An exact date has not been specified yet.
Sony is deciding to use their new Blu-Ray disc technology in the long-running, ever-famous movement to stop piracy. The PS2, Xbox, and Xbox 360 use DVD discs to play their games, but Sony decided that they should change from the DVD format since DVDs are too easy to pirate. The PS3's Blu-Ray discs, on the other hand, are designed in a special way that should prevent pirates from copying PS3 games.
Kutagari also officially announced that the PS3 will have an online gaming service similar to Xbox Live, something that the PS2 lacked. The PS3 will also include a hard drive like the Xbox and Xbox 360. The hard drive is essential to run PS3 games, as it comes loaded with the Linux operating system which will be used to play PS3 games, connect to the Internet, and store saved games. (Hmmm...does that mean that you can play PS3 games on a PC loaded with Linux?) However, it has been undecided whether the hard drive will actually come preinstalled on the PS3. If not, that means that when you buy the PS3, you cannot play games on it until you also buy the hard drive. Let's hope that the hard drive will come preinstalled with the PS3.
Overall, in my opinion, the PS3 has gone through lots of technological advancements since it was originally announced, so many that I finally may say that the PS3 will actually be superior to the Xbox 360. (I've always preferred the Xbox over the PS2 and the Xbox 360 over the PS3). Although that final decision won't be made until the PlayStation 3 comes out, it's looking like it'll be an ideal platform for gaming.
Luis Silva (13443) on 3/16/2006 11:09 PM · Permalink · Report
The BluRay against piracy kind of reminds me of the GDRom the ill-fated Dreamcast had, and while I doubt Sony will fall in the same mistakes, they will fall for others - the delay they are causing seems to be the first one. The rest seems interesting, but it wasn't the first time Kutargi promises a lot and delivers nothing. Among them, I doubt that EA (for instance) will have free netplay unless there would be a free, simple ip to ip mode and a paid mode with lobby and matchmaking in ea.com. I also expected a lot more of PS3-PSP interactivity, such as the PS3 being able to create PSOne images to boot on the announced PSP emulator.
But then again, give me a Dreamcast and I'm happy.
Servo (57070) on 3/17/2006 2:21 AM · Permalink · Report
The copy protection problems don't seem to have anything to do with PS3 games; this is just for movie playback. Standards regarding copy protection for both blu-ray and HD-DVD formats are just now being finalized, so Sony probably needs more time to finish implementing these standards if they want the PS3 to be able to playback movies in hi-def.
Copy protection isn't the only reason to use blu-ray technology in the PS3; DVD simply doesn't have enough storage space, especially for hi-def images with multi-channel sound. Hi-def full motion video with a reasonable amount of compression takes a lot of disc space! Whether or not having so much video/graphics/sound as to exceed the storage abilities of a dvd or two in a game is a wise move is a different debate, so in the end it may or may not matter. It should probably also be noted that the PS2 also uses CD's as a storage medium, but this isn't seen as often probably due to very limited space. I wouldn't be terribly surprised if the PS3 likewise had a few games that came on DVD.
Spartan_234 (424) on 3/17/2006 5:06 PM · Permalink · Report
The PSOne used CDs. The PS2 used DVDs. I'm almost positive that the PS2 uses DVDs like both of the Xboxes.
Shoddyan (15003) on 3/17/2006 11:36 PM · Permalink · Report
[Q --start Spartan_234 wrote--]The PSOne used CDs. The PS2 used DVDs. I'm almost positive that the PS2 uses DVDs like both of the Xboxes. [/Q --end Spartan_234 wrote--]
There are a few PS2 CD games, but most developers prefer the additional storage of the DVD, after all you can always fill up the disc with videos (including trailers) and demos for other games and the price of the media has really dropped since it was new.
The only PS2 cd game I own is Maximo: Ghosts to Glory. Every other title I have that's designed for PS2 uses a DVD. When my PS2 started having disc read problems a year or two ago, it was the DVD laser that was damaged and so Maximo and some PS1 titles I had were the only content it could play.
