Sony's Gamers' Day 2006 (PS3 launch details etc.)

[Titanio]

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,2034302,00.asp

I'll say it again, embedded 'media extender' functionality seems a little less necessary when you have open access to the network and the internet. To illustrate, have a look at all the ways you can stream music to your PSP from your PC, even though the PSP OS doesn't have "media extender" capability on its official checklist. The avenue of choice for this currently is using RSS feeds, and freely available server software on the PC side.

Open web access is a great enabler.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

I won't kill myself over this. Take a look at the "enchanching performance" for PS2 with PS1 games, not something to wow about.

The texture filtering was good, and I hope PS3 has PS1 improvements.

I can understand why there's no improvements though - it's not a straightforward thing to do. Adding AA or AF to a game engine written with low-level access to the hardware would need to be added on a per game basis. The best we could hope for is better framerates if a game was 'CPU bound' and Cell emulates EE faster than EE runs.

 

[Bad_Boy]

http://ps3.ign.com/articles/740/740601p5.html



WTF sony!? This was one of my most wanted features! Damn

added/updated to the article

"ED. NOTE - IGN previously reported that SCE had confirmed an omission of upscaling features. We have since checked our interview notes and have found that the comment that led to this report was more vague than we understood at the time -- SCEA President Kaz Hirai commented that backwards-compatible games will "run in their original form", which does not specify exactly whether display adjustments do not fit the "original form." We apologize for the confusion, and will ask SCE as soon as possible for clarification. Please stop posting on message boards that "SONY SUX" for the time being."

if not, I assume enhancements *could* be added later through firmware upgrades. But I guess we will wait and see about what firmware updates may come.

 

[pipo]

Composhite. That really sucks. They go on and and on about HD...

Yay! Motor Storm demo.

All in all a pretty good show in my opinion.

 

[rabidrabbit]

Personally, I couldn't care less about the default video cable included in the box, as I couldn't use it anyway unless it was at least 9 meters long.
Whatever cable comes with the EU PS3, will be tossed away and I'll just use my existing 10m HDMI cable from my upscaling DVD player (which I think I'll have little use then).'

If you buy a DVD player, or even A HD-DVD or Blu-ray player, they don't come with more than just the power lead, no video cables likely at all.
Consoles have traditionally included everything to get you going, but it's still just a cheap cable, not something that's fundamentally crippled, and even if someone with HD-TV was stupid enough not to know you need at least component for your TV, then he'll likely also be completely satisfied with the crappy pic his new fine High Definition TV displays with composhite, thinking "OMG My NEW High DEFFINIZION TV looks SO SCHWEET!"
Yea, I'm not overestimating the common consumer

 

[pipo]

Kaz made fun of he E3 presentation by yelling "Ridge Racer!" at the end of his speech.

Very good.

http://ps3.ign.com/articles/740/740455p1.html

 

[PiNkY]

edit:
anyways, heres a image of the PSS (Playstation Store) taken from gaf

for the most part, looks the same as the one @ e3.

Apple lawyers please be kind...

 

[Sankari]

IMO this was a nice showing from Sony, finally interesting show after E3 05. I hope they keep this up.

EDIT: On a side note, there should be plenty of demos to download by the time PS3 launches here in Europe and huge line-up of games (considering its a "launch"). I can't wait.

 

[hey69]

I agree I am only interested in the ps3 and xbox360 as media extenders. If I am going to go through the hassle of some sort of media server I will go all the way. Atleast 2 TB of storage to rip my collection of 250+ legit dvds to. I would also like to attach an my antenna and get my favorite show OTA and store them long term. Also the possibility of a direct tv pc card makes the whole deal for a media pc all the better. I don't think that will be possible with the ps3 or 360 they are just to limited.

why dont you buy a mediastreamer then? lots of companies sell them . you can easely stream evertying from your pc

 

[Titanio]

If generic USB storage is supported (has that been clarified?), PS3 under Linux would be a possibility for doing all that on its own over time perhaps, also.

edit - well, thinking about it, under Linux generic USB storage would of course be supported, so..

 

[deathkiller]

If you can see youtube in the PS3 (as was demoed) you can use a webbrowser based media center in the PS3.

Something like this http://psp.villainousmind.com/products/detail.aspx?id=17290624

 

[PeterT]

I agree I am only interested in the ps3 and xbox360 as media extenders. If I am going to go through the hassle of some sort of media server I will go all the way. Atleast 2 TB of storage to rip my collection of 250+ legit dvds to. I would also like to attach an my antenna and get my favorite show OTA and store them long term. Also the possibility of a direct tv pc card makes the whole deal for a media pc all the better. I don't think that will be possible with the ps3 or 360 they are just to limited.

Of course it will be possible on PS3. 3 step guide:
1) Install YDL, then the http://www.videolan.org/ port that will undoubtedly be out soon.
2) Use some Linux compatible USB TV tuner and MythTV (Though it may take some time until driver support matures on PS3)
3) Stream any audio/video format known to man (except - haha - DRM'ed wmv files) and use the best PVR functionality available.

(Personally I don't care about any of this, but it should be obvious that with the availability of a full Linux distribution PS3 will be more capable regarding such tasks than any other console - provided you're prepared to do a bit of set-up work)

 

[rabidrabbit]

Apple lawyers please be kind...

Why? That doesn't even remotely look like iTunes (except that it's an online shop, obviously)

 

[DieH@rd]

We were not able to try PS2 or PS1 backward-compatibility on PS3, but we have been told that the system will not upscale or enhance games -- it will run them straight.
IGN

WTF! No upscale? We need to wait for official quote on this issue.
lol, maybe even emulated Shadow of the Colossus will have framerate issues...

 

[rabidrabbit]

No silly, there will be upscale if you setup your PS3 to 720 or above.
In fact, you can't avoid upscaling the old PSOne and PS2 games if you have a PS3 and a HDTV, there will be no setting to show your old games not upscaled in their native resolution if you want to view them fullscreen (4:3 or 16:9) on your HDTV. (4:3 or 16:9).

Enhancement of old games beyond upscaling (and the inherent enhancements the upscaling is likely to introduce by itself) is another matter, and will probably not be there.

 

[PiNkY]

Why? That doesn't even remotely look like iTunes (except that it's an online shop, obviously)

Yeah they changed the color scheme...hats off. Their widgets look like direct rips off OSX. Down to the font used.

 

[DieH@rd]

rabidrabbit:
No silly, there will be upscale if you setup your PS3 to 720 or above.
In fact, you can't avoid upscaling the old PSOne and PS2 games if you have a PS3 and a HDTV, there will be no setting to show your old games not upscaled in their native resolution if you want to view them fullscreen (4:3 or 16:9) on your HDTV. (4:3 or 16:9).

Yeah? Really? Let's hear what Phill Harrison has to say in this 1UP interview:

According to Harrison, unlike how the PS2 would enhance PS1 games with texture smoothing and what not, the PS3 will offer no such visual enhancements (including resolution enhancements) for the previous generation titles. "They are as exactly as they were," said Harrison, who claims Sony preferred to rather deliver them in their original state.
http://www.gametab.com/news/715521/

Confirmed. They stick with the old resolution...

 

[rabidrabbit]

Well, of course they won't natively be rendered at higher resolution, but they will be upscaled.
Or, you could likely leave them not upscaled, but then you'd be playing them in a smallish area on your tv with a lot of unused screen area around.

 

[Rockster]

I'll say it again, embedded 'media extender' functionality seems a little less necessary when you have open access to the network and the internet. To illustrate, have a look at all the ways you can stream music to your PSP from your PC, even though the PSP OS doesn't have "media extender" capability on its official checklist. The avenue of choice for this currently is using RSS feeds, and freely available server software on the PC side.

Open web access is a great enabler.

But how can any of that allow you to access that music content while playing games? It can only be useful while your in some dedicated playback facility. I mean I never even go into the media center extender app on my 360 because it's much more convenient as part of the dashboard integration. I can queue up some music, then pop around to download demos, games, or trailers, send a few messages, play splinter cell and back again, all while having audio control.

The other problem with I see with browser based access is that for people with SDTV, much of that smaller text is going to be tough to read. It's not really an efficient GUI to operate from your couch.

 

[Titanio]

But how can any of that allow you to access that music content while playing games? It can only be useful while your in some dedicated playback facility. I mean I never even go into the media center extender app on my 360 because it's much more convenient as part of the dashboard integration. I can queue up some music, then pop around to download demos, games, or trailers, send a few messages, play splinter cell and back again, all while having audio control.

In-game soundtracks on PS3 are of the application domain here anyway. If you want music to be available to that, download it to your PS3 (via your in-browser interface to your PC).

The other problem with I see with browser based access is that for people with SDTV, much of that smaller text is going to be tough to read.

Smaller text? The beauty is you can roll your own solution here with your own interface with your own text sizes if you wish. The browser likely has in-built functionality to provide here anyway, in terms of text resizing, but regardless I don't think that's an issue.

Both Sony and MS are adopting their own agendas here. MS sees PCs at the centre, with 360 artificially limited to being a simple media renderer tied to the PC. Sony sees PS3 at the centre, which IMO is a much more powerful and flattering position for the machine. It can be a server or a media renderer (with specific support for Sony's own product in the OS i.e. PSP, the same way MS specifically supports its own product), but also, in contrast, it has the openess to allow for the user to extend that functionality beyond what Sony might 'officially' provide for (be it through the XMB web access, or if you want, via PS3/Linux as a home for your media with much more power and flexibility).