PlayStation 3 to be unveiled before E3

[chrisrt2]

So, basically the PS2 was unveiled ~1 year before the Japanese release... I wonder if we can expect the same this time around?. Since they will be pumping out production versions of the Cell by years end and Nvidia will have the GPU/Rasterizer done by years end will the drive and Ram be ready for production?

Anyone know anything about the sound chip yet?

 

[one]

How is Sony over-shadowing the PS2 when the PS3 is right around the corner? The PS2 is almost six years old.Don't you think it's about time something new shared some of the light?

There's still a year of PS2 game sales out there. That represents millions of dollars. I don't really see why they'd do something that could possible cut them short. Maybe there isn't much effect when all is said and done.

Backward compatibility... perhaps with cute 8X AA+AF through nVIDIA GPU... nuff said.

 

[Sonic]

Inane, don't worry about PS2 going anywhere. This year may be its biggest year when Sony announces THE price drop to $99. Then the rush of sales for the machine will come all over again. PS2 is not going anywhere for a long time, it is just replacing PS1.

 

[eDoshin]

With 80 million PS2s out there, and only about 1.5 years remaining in its lifecycle, I cant see how news about PS3 can harm current sales. Sales can only slow down at this point, and PS3 is just the right ingredient to keep Sony in everybody's sight. People tend to forget you're there if you are just cruising with the status quo.

 

[LunchBox]

i am a little skeptic that they will formally announce PS3 before E3... i personally think that they will just formally showcase the PSP since its coming out on march 24.... anyways, just my 2-cents...

 

[speng]

Why before E3?

To get the attention and spotlight they need for the PS3.

At E3 there will be so many things being announced they could get overshadowed.

Do it 2 weeks before E3 all the media and news outlets will carry it and it will have a whole week or so of attention, solely for the PS3.

At E3 there will be other consoles being announced and games, which can steal some thunder.

Microsoft will be doing the same, an exclusive announcement prior to E3. In some Hotel, if they didn't plan it before they are rushing to do it now.

Speng.

 

[chrisrt2]

In some Hotel, if they didn't plan it before they are rushing to do it now.

!

Wasn’t the '02 price drop done via a Hotel?

 

[Titanio]

They've planned this for some time. They were saying last year that they'd premiere the PS3 before the end of their fiscal year (it ends in March, IIRC). I'm thinking they'll announce it in early-mid March. This is pretty much the same way PS2 was brought into the world ("EE" at ISSCC, actual PS2 specs and demos at the beginning of March, more demos at E3 in May).

 

[wco81]

Backward compatibility... perhaps with cute 8X AA+AF through nVIDIA GPU... nuff said.

That would be interesting. Remember the Bleem and other emulators? Some of them rendered PSX and N64 games at greater than original resolutions with enhanced filtering.

Would be nice if they can scale PS2 games to 720p with some filtering.

Would be nice for consumers that is. Not so nice for publishers since they would want people to buy new games.

Regarding whether PS3 unveiling would hurt PS2 game sales, I think PS2 HW and SW sales have already peaked this cycle. Wasn't 2003 bigger than 2004 in terms of sales?

Sure 2004 experienced some rejuvenation with price cuts and the new slim form factor but otherwise, it seems we're on the downward slope.

 

[Npl]

Anyone know anything about the sound chip yet?

Im betting on a extended EmotionEngine with tacked on hardware sound mixing. EE will have Southbridge Tasks ( IO ) , Sound (to put the Vectorcapabilities to good use) and a "PS2-Compatibility" Modus as Bonus.

Do I know anything? Hell No