Thursday, March 16, 2006
All of the Brew Ha Ha from the PSP (PlayStation Press Conference)
Without having to get to deep into the matter, Next Generation has provided the best simple summary of the announcemens from the March 15th "State of the Playstation" conference.
1. Kutaragi stated that Sony expects to sell to manufacture 6 million PlayStation 3 units by the end of fiscal 2006, ending March 31, 2007. That's less than 6 months after launch.
2. As reported, the PSP will soon support an emulator to play original PlayStation games. The games will be stored on memory sticks via e-distribution.
3. The PS3's online service, dubbed "PlayStation Network Platform", will sport voice chat, matchmaking lobbies and Marketplace-type features that allow users to download content, including software, implying some sort of digital distribution for games. The online service will be available at launch. As reported, the service will be free.
4. PS3 will allegedly be backwards compatible to all PS1 and PS2 games. The new console will also support high-definition resolutions for previous generations.
5. Finalized PS3 dev kits will be shipping to developers in June.
6. The PS2 will remain at its $149 price tag for the foreseeable future.
7. Kutaragi said that that the PS3 will require a hard drive, which will have a 60 GB capacity and support Linux OS. No word on if the HDD will be included. Update: In other words, if not included, you will be paying extra for something that is integral to PS3 functionality.
8. A hard drive-equipped PS3 is intended to be a sort of a central server for the home, allowing users to upload media from one peripheral and view it on another.
9. Sony will release a new firmware upgrade for PSP which will support Flash in its Web browser.
10. PS3 games will be featured exclusively on Blu-ray discs to protect against piracy.
1. Kutaragi stated that Sony expects to sell to manufacture 6 million PlayStation 3 units by the end of fiscal 2006, ending March 31, 2007. That's less than 6 months after launch.
2. As reported, the PSP will soon support an emulator to play original PlayStation games. The games will be stored on memory sticks via e-distribution.
3. The PS3's online service, dubbed "PlayStation Network Platform", will sport voice chat, matchmaking lobbies and Marketplace-type features that allow users to download content, including software, implying some sort of digital distribution for games. The online service will be available at launch. As reported, the service will be free.
4. PS3 will allegedly be backwards compatible to all PS1 and PS2 games. The new console will also support high-definition resolutions for previous generations.
5. Finalized PS3 dev kits will be shipping to developers in June.
6. The PS2 will remain at its $149 price tag for the foreseeable future.
7. Kutaragi said that that the PS3 will require a hard drive, which will have a 60 GB capacity and support Linux OS. No word on if the HDD will be included. Update: In other words, if not included, you will be paying extra for something that is integral to PS3 functionality.
8. A hard drive-equipped PS3 is intended to be a sort of a central server for the home, allowing users to upload media from one peripheral and view it on another.
9. Sony will release a new firmware upgrade for PSP which will support Flash in its Web browser.
10. PS3 games will be featured exclusively on Blu-ray discs to protect against piracy.
# posted by Chad Stoller @ 9:32 AM 
