Sony's cooking something for GDC?

Nice. I do not know how difficult the above will be able to be executed but it sounds reasonable. User navigates 3D world with avitars on PS3 home. Each room - if the user owns an eye-toy - can be peered into (with permission) allowing a rough 3d map of the actual room where the eye-toy has captured. You can see mine if I can see yours.

If one was a DJ, he would be DJ Metric Tensor.

 

PS3 is whatever Sony choose it to be. It's not designed to your specification. If in their design for their product, they choose to have 416 MBs for games to run concurrently with 96 MBs for other stuff like PVR and broadcasting movies over the wireless network to PSPs, that's their choice to make. The box itself is a Media Entertainment Hyperplex (TM ), and not 'a games console'. We know that from the way Sony have designed it, talked about it, enabled non-gaming features, are adding more non-gaming features, and so forth. If most people buy it jsut for the games, that's their choice, but that doesn't change the nature of the machine.

Or calling on an analogy, if 95% of people who buy a Honda Civic do so just to sit inside and listen to the CD player, does that make it a HiFi instead of a car? If 95% of people who buy an iPod use it for jamming doors open, does that make the iPod a doorstop instead of a music player?

The people who design the hardware don't choose what people do with it, but they do design it to perform a set function (or functions) which defines what the hardware is. PS3 is designed to do lots of multimedia activities. It is not designed to play games, on which some people shoe-horn in some extra functions.

I'm against 96 MBs being reserved because it's going to waste. If it was being used for entertainment functions, then that's appropriate. It's not just about the games (quite the opposite of Nintendo!). If you dont like that idea, don't buy a PS3.

 

What you've just said is preposterous! Good day sir!

<Nero ups the volume of his Civic. Exits the car and skates down the street on his Ipod>

 

We are the consumers of Sony's products. Because of this we have a right to stand up and demand what we want. Now, Sony has no duty to give it to us. You're right that the Playstation 3 is their product and they can do whatever they want. You're absolutely correct. But at the same time we have the right to complain, fuss, peacefully protest, and even make demands. They just don't have to give us anything.

In my opinion all of those extra functions are fine. However, I don't see a need to have them during a game. Those multimedia functions should be utilized when a game is not running. When a game is running it should have almost complete access to all the RAM.

In my opinion the PS3's OS using 96MB of RAM is over kill. It's not just a waste because it's not being used.

I say give the OS ALL the RAM when a game is not being played. When a game is being played give it a very limited amount of RAM.

But once again, can anyone confirm Barbarian's numbers?

 

I don't know if you have a 360, but the memory can be used for things like status updates, you know friends getting online and the like. It is also useful for stat checking and other admin funtions without having to leave the game. The game already knows the memory isn't available, so what is the harm. I for one am now quite excited about the idea of getting a PS3 (well beside getting Blu-Ray movies). To me those features are killer app type stuff. (Now I just have to talk the wife into letting me spend the 600 bucks )

 

Diamond,

I am only really interested in the PS3 for two reasons.

First, is top notch high quality games.

Secondly, is linux.

In my opinion, the GAMES are the killer app for the PS3.

I think the games need all the RAM they can get.

 

KILLZONE demo for MAY???

I dont believe it

 

Let us not lose too much track of this thread. Titanio reported on some interesting stuff and one added some more possibilities. Back to the 4th dimension.

 

Huh?? Does PS3 have a video input I don't know about?

 

It has USB and network ports though.

 

March sounds like a big month for the PS3

 

some of the features from the firmware update sound pretty plausible, but the other things...

 

I don't know a lot about all the technical details but do you think that 32MB VRAM (RSX) is going to make the difference between a good looking and a bad looking game?
I don't think it's that much of a sacrifice.
What you get in return (a more user friendly interface, better PS Network integration, the ability to do multiple things at the same time) may result in a better overall gaming experience.

 

The rumors about that Virtual world reminds me of project entropia btw

 

In my opinion it will make a difference. I believe that 32MB of memory is more than ALL the memory in the PS2! It's a significant amount of memory. That combined with 64MB of XDR RAM makes for a LOT of memory utilized by the OS.

I think it's a significant sacrifice. Quite frankly, I don't care to do anything at all when I'm playing a game. What will make a better gaming experience is better games. More RAM will help make that happen.

 

Don't buy a PS3 and your problem is solved. Then you don't have to worry about X amount of ram not being used for games.

 

No, I want a PS3 because it's the most powerful console out there.

But the truth of the matter is that this issue is significant and there is no reason it cannot be discussed and there is no reason why consumers should not let their voices be heard about this matter.

It seems like certain people think it is a sin to speak up to game companies and give their opinions and desires. The game companies don't have to do anything at all of course. But as consumers we have a right to speak up and even make demands. Of course the game companies don't have to answer.

I'm hoping that someone can confirm the 96MB number, because in my opinion if that's true it's the most interesting piece of information that has been leaked about the PS3 in a while.

 

wow, did I just wake up in May of 2005?

 

yea, PS3???? my wife has yet to agree either about spending that kind of money.

It's probably a good thing, because to tell you the truth I have no clue what the future holds for this system. It really is all over the place at the moment. i.e BC changing, the old Blue-ray uncertainty, game delays, mystery after mystery.

With the Success of Myspace though, albeit I have yet to make an account , IMO I don't really care about some virtual room that displays my game achievements or adding personal information, but I guess I am not going to knock it until I try it??? I can see "rankups" or "showing off" like some type of overachiever more than having fun playing games.

 

The 4D thing refers to a persitent and virtual world that continues to grow and evolve even when the user is not "jacked in." I thought we cleared this up years ago? Kutaragi was talking about creating a sort of alternate Matrix-like reality. Well, this is it. The idea is that even when you yourself are not logged into home, people might come over to your "place," listen to some of your music, etc etc... maybe you log in and you find them in your house, stealing your stuff, who knows what.

But for the purposes of Kutaragi, 4D = time = persistent world that changes in 'realtime.'