Sony PlayStation 3 Playable by May, Says Report

[Sonic]

If Tekken 5 is a return to form for the series then I say good. The series went downhill with Tekken Tag and Tekken 4 was complete crap. Tekken Tag graphics were ok but they were awfully aliased.

ERP is 99% correct when stating that once the console manufacturer have launch plans in effect then they are not going to budge from them very much. The only exception to this would be Nintendo I think, but that is because of their consistent history with delaying new hardware releases.

If the PS3 is indeed playable at E3 hten I would like to get my hands on it. If tht means it is only open to industry insiders then I'll get my hands on it, but if it's open to the public I may never get a chance. I am also curious in the playable form it will be in, maybe an IBM CELL workstation with an Nvidia graphics card.




jvd, calling anyone with a little head on this forum is akin to trolling. Consider yourself officially warned.

In all seriousness it should be considered that the fans of particular console manufacturers are going to shout out. Nintendo fans, Sony fans, and Microsoft fans all speak out when their company is being questioned or discussed upon in any negative way. Logic would dictate that there would be more Sony fans who do this since going by numbers of consoles sold that Sony fans far outweigh MS and Nintendo fans combined. It's as simple as that. Now the problem is how we deal with those that lash out to defend their console but contribute absolutely nothing to the topic. Go ahead and send me a pm about this.

 

[cthellis42]

I like Sonic. He's huggably soft.

Tag was a good enough game, but not very technically thrilling. T4 was mainly uninspired. I don't see how it rates "complete crap" by folks; it just didn't strike me as worthwhile. But unless it had flaws the size of Texas in it, it doesn't really deserve the ire it seems to stir up.

 

[Sonic]

I will not judge the game based upon my experiences with the Virtua Fighter series, which I think has come a much farther way than Tekken has. I am coming from Tekken 3 to Tekken 4. Tekken 3 had smooth gameplay where you could press button combinations in a wya that was fluid, and the end result would be fluid animation and moves on the screen that were easy to do. Tekken 4's playing mechanics were very stiff to me and more akin to Mortal Kombat 4 than anything else. I don't mean that as an insult but I do think Tekken 4 was a major step back for the series. Tekken Tag was good, graphics were for the time, aliased as hell but it did bring up a lot of greatness from Tekken 3 and extended it. Tekken 4 did a compley 180 and feels like a completely different game. If Namco wanted to start over they should have made a new franchise, not go back to square one with an already established series that has fans the world over.

 

[jvd]

jvd, calling anyone with a little head on this forum is akin to trolling. Consider yourself officially warned.

haha the little head thing came out wrong but u know what i mean !!!

 

[cthellis42]

I don't recall T4 being THAT far off, though I only played it for a weekend's rental. I played an INTENSE amount of #2 and a fair amount of #3 in the arcade and on PS1 (which TT basically encapsulated), and though #4 was shruggable I don't remember it getting on my nerves to any extend. They may well have been dropping animation frames to--say--pump up the graphics somewhat, but unless the timing of it changed (which I don't remember it doing) it would just describe it as "feeling jerky" but with none of the actual gameplay really changing. Considering I could step right into some of my classing characters and snap off their long combos, I don't assume the timings altered too much. They just may have decided to make it seem more stylistic to Virtua Fighter (much more of an "explosion" style of fighter than having Tekken's recognizable fluidity) while putting the savings into other areas.

Of course since most of my 3D fighting buddies kited off to other states, I haven't been able to really play those games (barring Soul Calibur, which more people enjoy) against opponents, but rather do the single-player thing. So I could be off... but still, it just came off as uninspired and rather pointless, rather than as dramatic a change as people seem to be saying.

 

[one]

It's rather odd that I see the news of PS3 playable at E3 at nowhere other than Voodoo Extreme in IGN (and xbitlabs via VE). Where did they get the 'announcement'? Last I heard it that they will have some demos at E3, and playble games at TGS.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

Sony is in the drivers seat and has an excellent release strategy. ...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.

Won't these choices be unapparent in the early lives of these consoles, though? I mean, XB has faster processor and more RAM than PS2, but the difference between the machines isn't that great, and certainly when XB came out it didn't look leaps and bounds ahead of PS2.

If PS3 launches after XB2 with decisions to be more powerful, will the end users see that? Will it look better? I don't imagine so. Extra RAM etc. will only become apparent in later gen games where devs make more use of it for larger projects.

 

[kyetech]

graphics

If PS3 launches after XB2 with decisions to be more powerful, will the end users see that? Will it look better? I don't imagine so. Extra RAM etc. will only become apparent in later gen games where devs make more use of it for larger projects.

True,

Nobody at first is going to know how to do visuals beyond DX9..... for quite a while.... The technology needs to be practiced and understood.

Even worce in PS3s case is: how do we make graphics that go up to DX9 even (before looking beyond that), considering that imo they wont be familiar with the grphics API (some sort of new OGL derivative???

My guess is visuals may even be better on XBOX2 than PS3 in 1st generation even if, the PS3 is released after (and is more powerful), because everyone will be basing there understaning of implementation from what they previously have understood with PC....(XBOX being closer to API standard, and having XNA tool suite). Though I think PS3 will end up with better visuals further down the line.

These are just my thoughts, though I could be totally in the wrong ball park. *shrug*

 

[akira888]

kyetech:
A new interface isn't that big of a deal once you have an understanding of the fundamental mechanics of graphics programming, as long as the general model remains more or less the same.

 

[one]

It's rather odd that I see the news of PS3 playable at E3 at nowhere other than Voodoo Extreme in IGN (and xbitlabs via VE). Where did they get the 'announcement'? Last I heard it that they will have some demos at E3, and playble games at TGS.

To answer myself, Sony actually said they would have a preview in March and show playable prototype models at the E3 in their Q3 FY2004 earnings conference call (1:05-)

 

[London Geezer]

If Jak were ugly, or at least less beautiful, this particular mini-game might have been doable. But when you have a title that honestly looks better than 95% of Xbox and GameCube games on a system that just shouldn't be capable of doing what it's doing, there's going to be trouble. Take away the infinite draw distance, the amazingly complex polygonal structures, all the dynamic lighting, the thick, rich particle effects, and absurdly detailed exteriors that blend seamlessly into even more finely combed, massive interiors and maybe I'll be able to find your damn red egg.

Not to make this a PS2 thread, but only to prove that anything can be possible on "less powerful" machines.

Xbox2 games may very well end up looking better than many PS3 games, if development on PS3 isn't as straight forward as possible.

 

[Phil]

Sonic,

Tekken Tag was improved for NA / Europe markets and is up to date, one of the games sans Baulders Gate: Dark Alliance that has the LEAST aliasing. If you're refering to the Japanese version that was rushed, then yeah - but otherwise, you're really doing the game unjustice as the improvement on aliasing is sensational.

 

[London Geezer]

Yep, Tekken Tag had a very nice flicker filter applied to it for PAL release. Jaggies were still visible since it is a game that runs in interlaced mode with lots of horizontal movement, but that's a problem with any interlaced game which moves horizontally the vast majority of the time.

 

[Sonic]

LOL, yes I was talking about the Japanese version. I imported the system and the games. I never bothered with the NA or PAL versions since I doubt it would bring a different gameplay experiment.

 

[cthellis42]

Ah... That could be part of it. I have the Greatest Hits version. I don't really bother importing. Not worth it, IMHO.

 

[PC-Engine]

If Jak were ugly, or at least less beautiful, this particular mini-game might have been doable. But when you have a title that honestly looks better than 95% of Xbox and GameCube games on a system that just shouldn't be capable of doing what it's doing, there's going to be trouble. Take away the infinite draw distance, the amazingly complex polygonal structures, all the dynamic lighting, the thick, rich particle effects, and absurdly detailed exteriors that blend seamlessly into even more finely combed, massive interiors and maybe I'll be able to find your damn red egg.

Not to make this a PS2 thread, but only to prove that anything can be possible on "less powerful" machines.

Xbox2 games may very well end up looking better than many PS3 games, if development on PS3 isn't as straight forward as possible.

That's true but Jak isn't a very good example to demonstrate this belief, unless that IGN guy is some kind of GOD.

I'd like to think Xenon can at least get pass the Jak-like gouraud shading.

 

[London Geezer]

If Jak were ugly, or at least less beautiful, this particular mini-game might have been doable. But when you have a title that honestly looks better than 95% of Xbox and GameCube games on a system that just shouldn't be capable of doing what it's doing, there's going to be trouble. Take away the infinite draw distance, the amazingly complex polygonal structures, all the dynamic lighting, the thick, rich particle effects, and absurdly detailed exteriors that blend seamlessly into even more finely combed, massive interiors and maybe I'll be able to find your damn red egg.

Not to make this a PS2 thread, but only to prove that anything can be possible on "less powerful" machines.

Xbox2 games may very well end up looking better than many PS3 games, if development on PS3 isn't as straight forward as possible.

That's true but Jak isn't a very good example to demonstrate this belief, unless that IGN guy is some kind of GOD.

I'd like to think Xenon can at least get pass the Jak-like gouraud shading.

They're talking about Jak3.

 

[Kolgar]

Phat, I'm with you on the Tekken Tag thing.

A couple of months back, I'd picked it back up again for the first time in about two years. It blew me away. By the time I put the controller down, I was gushing to my friend about how well the game had stood the test of time from a graphics and gameplay standpoint.

Simply put, it looked fantastic, and frankly, I still find it the most fun beat-em-up in my library (which includes both every Soul Cally, Virtua Fighter, and MK, as well as DOA 3).

I'm not sure if Namco will ever best it - that'd be amazing indeed.

 

[GwymWeepa]

sony can launch with crappy games that are no where near ready for release . They did it with the ps2 .


Though i think no matter how u cut it the ps3 wont be on shelves in america till at least 2006

Most of the best games around during the PS2 launch were on the Dreamcast and they were made by Sega themselves. When the PS3 launches a number of developers will have already created, or be close to completing, next-gen titles (since MS pushed up game development by a year by releasing Xenon early)...so it will at least have a number of quality ports.

They may or may not have ports .

Then again if the ps3 launches with crappy original titles and then some good ports from the xenon . Why would u buy a ps3 over a xenon when the xenon not only has had all those ports but many other games by that point ?

Well fans of Sony (evidentliy 80 million people are) would be much more likely to buy the ps3 if it has a decent line-up, even if all of them are ports of Xenon titles, because there will be excellent exclusive titles later down the pike.

 

[jvd]

Well fans of Sony (evidentliy 80 million people are) would be much more likely to buy the ps3 if it has a decent line-up, even if all of them are ports of Xenon titles, because there will be excellent exclusive titles later down the pike.

First you need to prove that they are fans of sony and are not just picking up the popular console because at the point they bought it , it had the most amount of games .

Then you have to prove that the exclusive tittles later will be better than a xenon's exclusive tittles later .

Last generation we saw a big playstation franchise jump onto the gamecube , it can happen this generation