The State of the PS3
Sony is doing a smashing job of keeping almost everyone guessing as to the particular specs of the next-gen PS3. Their vague press releases and propensity for mysterious hintings are generating a lot of speculation (and therefore interest) in the PS3 capabilities, compatibility and design.
After seeing the inexcusably ugly (I see now why they went with the design they did, it’s the least ugly) XBox 360 mockups, I would be curious to have a peek at failed PS3 design ideas. No doubt there are some absolute stinkers in there as well. What we have right now is a hot little silver number with a controller that looks like some kind of alien spaceship.
Pricing for the new console has been bouncing up and down for weeks, with fatalists estimating the dollar damage to hit the $600, while others place the tag at a more manageable $400 in Japan, and less than that in North America. Looks like Sony is going against the grain in not region-locking their new console, as they feel that there will eventually be a single region for the entire world with the advent of HDTV technologies.
They’ve also taken an interesting step in addressing concerns about the effect of violent, disturbing games on children by introducing ‘parental locks’ onto the PS3. What these locks will do is allow game makers like the oft maligned Rockstar Games to make the most brutal, nasty (pointless) games that they can possibly think up, thus allowing adult gamers to play to their heart’s content, while giving parents the option of restricting access for younger more impressionable gamers.
The backwards compatibility issue, namely if we’ve all wasted hundreds of dollars on games we can no longer play on the new system, has been hotly debated. Sony must be giggling in their boardroom as every hint and off-hand comment generates a ridiculous amount of media attention. I’d be willing to bet they just love playing around with all of us. Play-Girlz.com readers will remember the Sony goof that saw a not fully compatible silver PS2 released to the Japanese market. Turns out the chance of similar problems with the PS3 may not be rumour alone. SCEI has said that they are trying to make it as backwards compatible ‘as possible‘, but that they were not sure that the PS3 would be fully compatible. It’s thought that a total of 47 games (9 PS2 and 38 PS) might not be compatible with the PS3. The main problems seem to be glitches in particular spots in the games, such as screen hang-ups, but also include annoyances such as slow saving times to the memory cards.
The Sony gossip lines have been fairly quiet of late and with the impending 360 launch, they may be waiting to see how things fly there before committing to any promises. In that sense, I think that the PS3 has a bit of an advantage, as it can use the 360 launch, marketing, and gamer response as a sort of free guinea pig to gauge what people are interested in, and what just isn’t going to work.
2 opinions for The State of the PS3
Karine
Nov 9, 2005 at 3:09 am
‘I think that the PS3 has a bit of an advantage, as it can use the 360 launch, marketing, and gamer response as a sort of free guinea pig to gauge what people are interested in, and what just isn’t going to work.’
Yeah, but the question is, do they have enough time to implement changes before the PS3 launch ? What of game development? Certainly developers have been given specs to work with?
No region-locking is great news, though. And 9 games not working on the PS3 sounds like an incredibly small number when compared to the huge catalogue of existing titles. Which reminds me, what of xbox 360 compatibility? I don’t remember that issue being really answered before it disappeared from the news?
PS3Blog.net : PS3 News and Opinion » Archive » PS3 Pretty Compatible After All?
Nov 9, 2005 at 9:38 am
[...] playgirlz - The State of the PS3 [...]
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