Mythos said:
Then again playable hardware could mean a number of things...
It's a possiblity that they will not have final hardware but a scenerio where there is a PS3 console behind a plastic case and the actual game is being processed by a workstation. Like what was done with the PSP.
Exactly. That is what I would expect--prototypes or emulations.
As for other people's comments on nVidia, the nVidia founder (I cannot spell his name so I wont insult him with an errant effort) in last months long audio interview noted they expected to have final PS3 silicone by the
end of 2005. There is a thread somewhere around here with all the details. If I find it I will link it.
Now I am not a chip expert. nVidia may be able to build a handful of PS3 prototype chips without taping out. I am not sure how that entire process works. But if they are planning on a custom version of their next generation GPU (NV50 / GF 7xxx series), which is not slated to be out until the end of 2005 at earliest, I really doubt we will be seeing a finalized PS3 at E3. All I would expect is some tech demos and maybe a teaser or two. Just enough to get buzz going.
And it is all moot. How many developers have PS3 development kits? Exactly. A 2005 release would be suicide. And no, at this point I am absolutely unexcited about ANY demos Sony will show, period. I remember the PS2 demos far too well. Heck, I wont be impressed with any Xenon tech demos. The real measuring stick will be playable software. Xenon should have some at E3 and this will be what I am measuring the Xenon's potential by (knowing that 2nd and 3rd gen titles always look better but usually far less impressive than tech demos); I would not expect more than a handful of demos of PS3 software at E3, if any. Same goes for the Revolution. Of course every fanboy arround the globe is going to do summersaults over the tech demos even though we will never see games half as good :|
Sony is in the drivers seat and has an excellent release strategy. The ball is really in MS court--are they going to go all out and lose a lot of money with a 2005 release by making the console more future proof or are they going to try to be reasonable and allow Sony to walk all over them. e.g. Will they go with 22GB of memory bandwidth or 50GB. 256MB or 512MB. By going with more/faster memory they are going to have an expensive release; but if they stick with less/slower memory Sony has an oppurtunity to move in a year later when costs are lower and get more performance. It is a very sticky situation for MS.
If history holds true, Sony is going to show off some killer demos at E3... I think the worse thing MS could do would be to show some less than impressive ports. Hopefuly some top notch developers, maybe even some
rare developers, have been putting in a year or two of effort preparing for this. If not E3 may be a MS disaster.
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