Reasons To Wait For PlayStation 3
After E3 in May last year, you would be forgiven for not remembering the slew of information Sony threw at us about the PlayStation 3. But what really stood out? Between all those figures, specifications and PowerPoint slides, what do we have to look forward to?
What will make the PlayStation 3 the killer console of the next-generation?
Unrivalled Industry Support And Kickass Games
Sony’s developer support has grown with the PlayStation 2’s userbase. There are now thousands of brilliant and varied games, both first party and third party. The Grand Theft Auto series especially stood out with the PS2, and San Andreas is arguably one of the best games to hit the system.
Without doubt, GTA will be back for PS3, better than ever. But the PS3’s launch titles prospect is looking good too. Games such as Warhawk, Tekken, Gran Turismo and Killzone were shown off at E3 - all looking astonishing. At CES, it was announced that 4000 dev kits had been shipped to developers. This is promising news, as the developers should have had enough time with the kits to refine their games for launch.
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots is a game that has caused considerable hype after Hideo Kojima showed off a mouth-watering trailer at the Tokyo Game Show. Knowing Kojima, it will be a fantastic game, but consequently is unlikely to be a launch title if Sony hopes to meet its Spring 2006 launch date.
Connectivity & Expansion
From the specification sheet, and from Sony themselves, it is clear that the PS3 is designed to be a gaming and media device. The PSP is an amazing media device, capable of playing games, music and movies. And this is for a handheld device. The PS3 will ship with six USB ports, card readers for Memory Stick, Compact Flash and Secure Digital (SD). A removable hard disk drive will also be available. All of this could make it the ultimate media device.
In addition, the PlayStation 3 will be free of the restrictions put on the Xbox 360. Sony’s support of Linux suggests a much more open and free interface. Hopefully this will allow the support of more formats, and connectivity with more operating systems. Unfortunately, some of the best features on the Xbox 360 can only be exploited with a Windows Media Centre PC. The PlayStation 3 could appeal to a whole separate, Linux-orientated market.
Wireless Controllers & Bluetooth
The PlayStation 3 will be capable of handling seven wireless, bluetooth controllers. Whilst the Xbox camp believes seven controllers is an overkill, it certainly is not. Football (soccer) games in particular can currently support up to eight players with the use of two multitaps. The WWE SmackDown series by THQ can support up to six players.
Bluetooth technology is a bonus. This way, there will definitely be no interferance with other devices in the home. Just to point out, the “seven” controllers is a technical limitation.
Backwards Compatibility
The PlayStation 3 will be able to support thousands of PlayStation and PlayStation 2 games. Those games you bought over ten years ago will still be playable on the PlayStation 3.
The PlayStation 3 will also enhance older games, in the same way that PS2 did to PlayStation games. We could see quicker loading times, anti-aliasing and much more.
1080p
Many people think 1080p output is useless because no one has 1080p-compatible TVs. 1080p TVs are becoming more and more common, and with Toshiba shipping Cell-equipped TVs this year, the PS3 will output superior quality high definition in the best resolution, and in progressive scan to some of the most technically advanced TVs. Blu-Ray will be able to hold full movies and interactive menus at 1080p as well.
Sony have definitely looked well into the future with this feature, and it’s a very good move. With the first Blu-Ray players going on sale for $1800, the PS3 will have consumers sorted for the coming years at an incredible price (the PS3 will sell for much less than $1800!).
Blu-Ray
This is the killer feature of the PlayStation 3. Blu-Ray has industry-wide support, and by shipping it with the PS3, it will be in millions of homes very, very quickly. This will give it a significant advantage over its rival, HD-DVD.
Blu-Ray is capable of holding 25GB on a single layer, and 50GB on dual-layer. Developers will never have to worry about space whilst making games, and movies studios will be able to store a whole movie at 1080p and standard definition on a single side.
So there you have it - The PlayStation 3’s killer features could quite possibly make it the killer console of all time.
Via ps3land.com