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CooInTheZoo

By CooInTheZoo
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CoolFunkMan Newbie

CoolFunkMan

Posted
Posted

Hmmm, fair points. There isn't really anything stopping production of the 360 titles. Come to think of it, devs will probably create the 360 versions first and then port whatever they need to the PS3.

 

Either way, I know a lot of people are gonna get impatient waiting for the PS3...

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Sooj Newbie

Sooj

Posted
Posted

More bad news:

 

PlayStation 3 Cell processor hard to produce, says IBM

 

Sony is pushing the envelope with their PlayStation 3, but sometimes the envelope can't take the pressure. IBM's VP of Semiconductor and Technology services, Tom Reeves, stated recently that only 10 to 20 percent of the Cell processors being manufactured for Sony are good enough to be used in the PlayStation 3. This may mean that it will take Sony longer to produce their new console, and they may have problems keeping up with demand.

 

Electronic News: What’s the defining factor that makes some chips better than others?

Reeves: Defects. It becomes a bigger problem the bigger the chip is. With chips that are one-by-one and silicon germanium, we can get yields of 95 percent. With a chip like the Cell processor, you’re lucky to get 10 or 20 percent. If you put logic redundancy on it, you can double that. It’s a great strategy, and I’m not sure anyone other than IBM is doing that with logic. Everybody does it with DRAM. There are always extra bits in there for memory. People have not yet moved to logic block redundancy, though.

 

Mr. Reeves states that Sony is having the processors tested thoroughly to ensure their reliability is high, but he makes it clear that the 7 reliable cores needed in Cell processors are not common. They manufacture each chip with 8 cores, and the number with 8 working cores is quite small. These very well constructed chips are being earmarked for use in other industries that need more reliability, such as medical imaging and aerospace.

 

Sony may not be able to keep with demand of the PS3 simply because of the inability to produce enough Cell processors. One has to wonder how much of the cost of the Cell processor is due to the fact that IBM must produce five to ten times as many processors as Sony is requesting.

http://www.realmmedia.com/next_gen_news/2006/07/playstation_3_cell_processor_hard_to_produce_says_ibm.html

pedrocasilva Newbie

pedrocasilva

Posted
Posted

Revolutionary Warhawk :laughing:

 

-> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ep8DRXJpA9Q&mode=related&search

 

Note that this controller was already a clone of microsoft's own sidewinder pro.

 

----------------------------------------

Sony hits stumbling blocks on road to recovery

Fri Sep 8, 2006 11:50 AM BST

 

By Nathan Layne

 

TOKYO (Reuters) - It seems to be one thing after another for Sony Corp. these days.

 

After a recall involving millions of Sony-made personal computer batteries and yet another delay for the PlayStation 3 game console, even one of Sony's top executives is questioning whether the company is on the right track.

 

"If you asked me if Sony's strength in hardware was in decline, right now I guess I would have to say that might be true," game unit head Ken Kutaragi said after Sony pushed back the PS3's European launch by four months to March.

 

The delay means Sony will miss the crucial Christmas shopping season in Europe, giving Microsoft Corp. and Nintendo Co. a head start in the race to win over next-generation gamers in key markets like Germany and Spain.

 

But for investors, the bigger worry is what the setback says about Sony's reputation as a top-class manufacturer with the ability to deliver quality products to the market on time.

 

The news came within weeks of two major recalls by PC giants Dell Inc. and Apple Computer of Sony lithium-ion batteries that can overheat and catch fire.

 

"All of this has raised concerns about whether there is something fundamentally wrong with Sony's manufacturing process," said Mitsushige Akino, chief fund manager at Ichiyoshi Investment Management. "And it could further damage the Sony brand."

 

The incidents will serve as a wake-up call for Ryoji Chubachi and Howard Stringer, who have experienced mostly success since becoming president and CEO of the world's second-largest consumer electronics maker in June 2005.

 

The duo inherited a bloated conglomerate that seemed to have lost the ability to churn out hit products. The Walkman had been replaced by Apple's iPod as king of portable audio, while Sharp Corp. <6753.T> had taken the lead in LCD TVs.

 

Sony now has a market value of $43 billion, less than half of rival Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.'s $112 billion, which was smaller than the Japanese firm before 2002.

 

Stringer and Chubachi moved swiftly to slash jobs, sell off non-core assets and focus resources on key areas such as chips and flat screens.

 

FALLING BEHIND

 

The reforms appeared to be paying off.

 

Helped by strong demand for a new line-up of LCD TVs and a recovery in its PC business, Sony booked a 68 percent jump in operating profit for the past year ended March. Profit is expected to fall this year, however, due to heavy start-up costs for the PS3.

 

Sony pushed back the PS3's European launch because production of a component for the laser in the optical disc drive had fallen behind schedule. It was the second delay this year for Europe. North America and Japan are still set for a November launch.

 

Shinko Securities analyst Hideki Watanabe sees both the PS3 delay and the battery recall as manifestations of deeper problems rooted in poor management decisions taken during the 90's when Nobuyuki Idei was at the helm.

 

He says Sony was slower than rival Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. to recognise the rapid shift to digital from analogue technologies and was quicker to adapt. Matsushita worked harder at shortening lead times and cutting costs.

 

"In the digital era speed is everything," Watanabe said. "This is Idei's legacy. The new management knows what it has to do but there is such a big gap. Matsushita is running at full speed and it won't be easy for Sony to catch up."

 

Watanabe does not expect Sony to lose Dell and Apple as customers because the batteries are highly customised and it would be very difficult for the PC makers to make a switch.

 

He sees the PS3 production problems as a far more dangerous development because the game division has been a cash cow for Sony, helping keep the group afloat as it posted heavy losses on core electronics products.

 

"I see a major risk that Sony's presence in the game market will weaken," he said. "Investors will have to start considering the possibility in the future that the game division will not produce any real profits at all."

 

Sony's stock has lost 5 percent since Dell announced its recall in mid-August, lagging a small gain in the broader Tokyo market. Sony is up some 20 percent, though, since it was announced in March 2005 that Stringer would take the top job.

 

Certainly things have improved markedly since Sony stunned investors in April 2003 with an unforeseen quarterly loss of about $1 billion in what came to be known as the Sony Shock.

 

"Sony has no doubt passed through the worst stage," said Ichiyoshi's Akino.

 

"But investors can't let their guard down."

Source: http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/articlenews.aspx?type=reutersEdge&storyID=2006-09-08T105025Z_01_ZWE839007_RTRUKOC_0_TECH-SONY.xml&pageNumber=0&imageid=∩=&sz=13&WTModLoc=NewsArt-C1-ArticlePage3

 

Burn baby... BURN!

Dante Newbie

Dante

Posted
Posted
Never knew spiderman 3 game was coming out, OH WAIT..

 

Nicely placed ign watermark

 

Yeah it sure looks like spiderman with the background,pose and front.

spiderman.jpguntoldlegendsps3boxfinalboxbdromconcept1157742666yd7.jpg

KKOB Newbie

KKOB

Posted
Posted
Man that box symbolizes everything that's wrong with todays culture:

-generic rage

-chicks with almost no clothes (not that I mind)

-violence

-Sony

 

one of which appeals to me-no wonder i play the 360.

pedrocasilva Newbie

pedrocasilva

Posted
Posted
Sony has made an issue of pointing out that 1080p, which the Xbox 360 is incapable of, is the Holy Grail of "full HD". As it stands now, the only game that is running in 1080p, said Fargher, is Gran Turismo HD - a tech demo crafted by Polyphony to showcase what the system is capable of.

 

This is in line with our earlier report, where a development source told Kikizo that, "even with [final hardware] in mind, reaching good frame rates at 1080p with next-gen graphics is almost impossible. Instead many developers, ourselves included, are reworking so they run at 720p. "

 

In other words, movies will play at 1080p. Games won't, and maybe never will. Not that this is really new, but it's always distressing to have the obvious reiterated officially.

Source: http://www.kotaku.com/gaming/sony/no-1080p-for-ps3-games-198852.php

 

This is not Sony's lucky week.

 

The best part is that... no one seen GT4 HD running at 1080p in the PS3, since last E3 it was running off from a computer.

Jamba Newbie

Jamba

Posted
Posted
President expresses concern at decline of hardware standards

 

Detractors may have accused Sony of arrogance with its marketing of the PlayStation 3, but Ken Kutaragi has recently responded rather humbly when discussing the hardware problems that have beset the electronics giant.

 

“If you asked me if Sony’s strength in hardware was in decline, right now I guess I would have to say that might be true,” commented Kutaragi, president of SCEI, after the announcement of a delay to the European launch of the PS3.

 

Not only has the firm struggled to meet the demand for blue laser diodes, a key component of the DVD functionality of the PlayStation 3, but it has recently been forced to recall faulty batteries supplied to laptops, causing them to overheat.

 

Sony has traditionally relied on the PlayStation consoles to help buoy the company while taking losses due to the development of other electronics products.

 

However, with the costs associated with launching the PlayStation 3 and a manufacturing process that is publicly stumbling, the Sony Group would surely benefit from Kutaragi's example of acting honestly to reassure investors and the loyal followers of the brand.

 

 

Interesting points. Sony have never had a good reputation as a reliable hardware producer though surely? I mean Vaios are a joke! But still, it's a bit worrying to see even Ken starting to worry a bit.

 

Heads gonna start rolling at Sony you think?

rokhed00 Newbie

rokhed00

Posted
Posted
Interesting points. Sony have never had a good reputation as a reliable hardware producer though surely? I mean Vaios are a joke! But still, it's a bit worrying to see even Ken starting to worry a bit.

 

Heads gonna start rolling at Sony you think?

 

I bet he said it all with his usual smug grin plastered all over his face though.

pedrocasilva Newbie

pedrocasilva

Posted
Posted

Just a rumor as of yet, but:

 

Sony will release free online play

but thats just for the person who bought the game new.

 

you first register yourself on Sony network

 

-you buy the game and play it online

 

-you get bored of the game and you try to sell it away

your friend buys it from you, puts it in his console and want to play it online

 

-Message arrives on screen:

dear customer this game is already registered on GAMERX profile. IF you want to play this game online plays pay X euro thank you

Source: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=118700

 

Even if this is true as of now it might change, maybe depending on console/software sales. Could also be left to the developer to decide.

 

Speaking to analysts late last week, the firm added some flesh to the bones of its recent announcements. The split between premium (60GB) and core (20GB) units at U.S. retail stores should be roughly 80/20. Sony believes it can ramp monthly PS3 production to 1.2 million units by January due to anticipated improvements in Blu-Ray laser supplies.

The firm says a further 1.2 million units will be available in Japan following the initial launch-day arrival of 100K units. Analysts believe Sony will have managed a run-rate of 14 million units for 2007.

Source: http://www.next-gen.biz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3785&Itemid=2

 

That's a best case scenario.

Dante Newbie

Dante

Posted
Posted

Sonys online used X-fire.

 

Microsoft's Xbox Live has existed since 2002. How will Sony, who has never had a dedicated and successful online program in the console space -- the PS2's online was a total free for all -- compete with Microsoft's nearly four-year lead in the online console gaming service sphere?

 

They'll use Xfire, that's how (the image to the right is a mock-up).

 

By incorporating an existing service into their own PlayStation Network Platform (PNP), Sony hopes to circumvent existing problems in the console space that Microsoft has had to sort out and in using Xfire -- a company with an established messaging, matchmaking and gaming client -- Sony hopes to narrow the four-year gap in online gaming services that Microsoft currently enjoys (Xfire has been around since 2002).

 

In a transcript of Viacom's Q2 earning's report conference call a deal between Sony and Xfire was revealed:

 

Importantly, Xfire just signed a deal with Sony to create a version of their platform for the new PS3, which will now enable Xfire to extend its reach further into the huge console gaming market.

 

Although Sony and Xfire offered no further comments or details about the PS3 and Xfire connection, neither company would deny it.

 

Testing of the Xfire client for PS3 appears to already be underway, with PS3-exclusive launch title Untold Legends: Dark Kingdom appearing in the supported software list on the PC Xfire client's .ini file.

 

Months ago, Sony's Computer Entertainment chief Ken Kutaragi indicated that PS3's online service would likely be free:

 

We don't charge for the basic functions of the network like matching services. Things like that are taken for granted on a PC, aren't they? There's the feeling of why a game console gets to charge for a service that's normal on a PC. So, we just made the basic services available, and based our business on the contents.

 

How will Xfire function on PS3? Details are sparse, but it's a safe bet that the features offered on Xfire's PC implementation will carry over to the PS3 version of the software.

 

Friend Tracker

Like Xbox Live allows users to manage their Friend's lists, Xfire also allows users to track friends, seeing what they are playing and what they have been playing (and for how long).

 

One-Click Join

Similar to how Xbox Live allows users to click on their name and 'Join' the game if it's available, Xfire lets users do the same thing. If a friend is playing a game you want to, there's no need to input your IP address or server information, Xfire takes care of it for you. Safe to assume that the PS3 implementation of Xfire will only be the touch of a button (an 'X' perhaps) away from joining users from your Friend Tracker.

 

Server Browser

This feature allows users to see the variety of servers available for different games. The most useful part here, is the ability to sort between favorite maps, or your friend's favorite maps and gametypes. Will we be able to sort out Resistance: Fall of Man gametypes based on which servers are hosting our favorite map?

 

Xfire In-Game (IM While You Play) with Voice Chat

Obviously, in-game IM would be a bit more utilitarian on a PC, where all users have a keyboard, but Xfire's PS3 implementation may see use of a keyboard (the open-ended online platform is ripe for MMO development). Without a keyboard, Xfire and PS3 will provide a way of their own to communicate with users (perhaps entering letters via the controller like on Xbox Live). In addition to text communication, Xfire supports voice chat -- expect a version of voice chat to be included in whatever PS3 plans for online.

 

File & Patch Downloads

When there's an update for a game on Xbox Live, Microsoft automatically detects it when the game is booted up and prompts users to snag the download. Optional downloads (like marketplace transactions) are shown on the marketplace, will Xfire's file/patch download systems be a gateway to whatever form of marketplace Sony conjures up?

 

Profiles with Automatic Stats

Xfire exports an .xml feed of your stats (what games you play, how long you play them for) -- just like Xbox Live. Via the official site: "They're (the stats) on your profile and Miniprofile, which can be embedded anywhere on the web."

 

In addition to partnering with a software client that could potentially offer much of the functionality of Xbox Live, Sony's Xfire-powered PNP also serves as a second coup -- it strikes at the unified front Microsoft hopes to create with its Live Anywhere initiative. That program, the synergizing of Xbox Live and PC gamers, is something Sony could replicate if the PS3's version of Xfire interacts with the PC version of the program. But, will the games play together? And if PS3 and PC gamers can play together and Xbox 360 and PC gamers can play together, does cross platform gaming become even more of a reality?

Guest Jordan

Guest Jordan

Posted
Posted

I'll have to stop using Xfire now...

*sigh*

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