Phil Harrison talks PS3

By Rob Fahey Published 12 May, 2006

E3: Sony exec speaks out.

In recent years, Phil Harrison has not only been promoted within Sony to the point where he runs the firm's worldwide network of development studios, he has also become the de facto face of the company at industry events around the globe.

Despite his new-found high profile, however, Harrison remains a software man - so when we sat down with him for a brief chat at E3 this week in the wake of the firm's announcements, the company's hardware and software strategies were definitely top of the agenda, but its hugely controversial pricing announcement was not.

We hope to bring you more coverage of Sony's plans - and the reaction to them - in the coming days - in the meanwhile, we hope you enjoy these insights from the man in charge of what may be the most crucial component of all in the firm's bid to retain its market leadership in the next generation; the software.

Eurogamer: All three companies laid their cards on the table earlier this week - from your perspective, what do you make of the three conferences and the reaction to them so far?

Phil Harrison: Sadly, I haven't actually had a chance to watch the other two conferences, but I've heard enough reports. I think that if we think the industry or the future of the business is defined by this week of press conferences... Then, we're very much mistaken. I think it's going to be defined by what the consumer thinks and what the industry thinks, and what the game developers think. It's not just about the press conferences.

I think the pieces of the PlayStation 3 puzzle are now fully revealed. Obviously we did the hardware last year, this year it's confirming or re-asserting certain elements of it - obviously, people know about Blu-Ray, but confirming that every machine has a hard disc drive in it, I think, was an important step. Confirming that we've got a new controller strategy was an important step, and showing lots of games was an important step. So, those were the main take-outs, and I think that as far as that was concerned, we achieved our objectives.

Eurogamer: Your strategy and Microsoft's strategy are very divergent, in that Microsoft is offering consumers a choice - whether to have HD-DVD or not, whether to have a hard drive or not - while you're putting everything into a very expensive box and saying that they take all or nothing. Why that direction? Why not have a system where people who don't want to pay that premium for Blu-Ray don't have to?

Phil Harrison: Leaving aside the movie debate about Blu-Ray and HD-DVD, purely from a game design point of view and a game production point of view, we have to have Blu-Ray. DVD is just not big enough; DVD9 is nowhere near big enough for the kind of games, the richness that we're going to be putting in the games, the variety, the detail, you name it.

So, we had to adopt Blu-Ray primarily as a game format. The second benefit of it is that it becomes a video format as well. Putting it all in one box, as you say, is also down to the fact that a hard disc drive is necessary to create a totally integrated network platform. We want every consumer to be able to download and install content on their hard disc drive. If you want to put all your music on your hard disc drive, you'll probably go for the 60GB version. If you're a complete music fan and video fan, and you want to have huge amounts of digital content, then you can upgrade to whatever size of drive you like. You can put any in that you like - it is a computer, after all.

Eurogamer: So that hard drive is a standard PC drive?

Phil Harrison: ATA, bog standard, yeah.

Eurogamer: You're not going to be selling Sony drive upgrades?

Phil Harrison: We've got no plan to. We may offer something, but we have no plan to at the moment.

Eurogamer: Talking about software - how many titles do you actually have on the show floor this week? I think we counted a dozen...

Phil Harrison: I think it's fifteen playable games. At the conference, we had three titles from Japan - GT HD, Eye of Judgement and Genji 2, we had three from Europe - Singstar, Heavenly Sword and F1, and two from the US - Warhawk and Resistance. That was pretty evenly split.

Eurogamer: The controller. You showed off the boomerang, then said it was a prototype, and now you've come back and done the Dual Shock but with a twist - no pun intended. How long have you known that this was the plan?

Phil Harrison: [The motion sensing controller] has been thought about since about 1994, but in reality, you can't make some of the ideas that we have because the technology is not available in sufficient quantity or at a low enough price, and you kind of have to wait for certain things to converge. We had the concept of PlayStation Portable for many years before we could actually deliver it at a price and at a standard that was acceptable.

The controller is obviously a surprise to the industry. We've been thinking about it for a while, but it's a relatively recent addition to the format. We didn't show it last year, because we weren't ready to. The boomerang, as you call it, was very clearly designed as a design concept, and was never intended to be the final controller, despite what everybody said about it.

I think we certainly saw the strength of feeling that existed about the boomerang - even though nobody in the world ever held it in their hand. I thought that was very interesting, that people were criticising it for what it looked like, not how it felt.

Eurogamer: When you made the decision to put the tilt functions into the pad, how heavily influenced was that by the great response Nintendo has had to the same kind of technology in the Wii controller?

Phil Harrison: I think that some of the research that we've done, clearly other companies have been doing as well - so there's nothing completely surprising about that. But I know that the strategy was to take what was already a winning formula - to have a controller as well regarded as it, and kind of the de facto industry standard that this PlayStation shape controller has become. If you include the ones that are packed in, the secondary ones and the knock-offs that are the same shape, there are probably around 400 million of these things that have been sold on PSone and PS2.

So, we kind of took an "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" strategy - but by adding motion sensitivity to the controller... Well, we didn't start the wave, but we've kind of jumped onto that wave. I'm quite happy to admit that, but that will be one of the defining characteristics of next-generation gaming, the complexity and sophistication of input that you can get from a very simple device.

What I'm really keen to communicate is the fact that by sticking with the PlayStation controller, you have this very comfortable, two-handed approach that gamers are very familiar with - and it allows you to have two channels of input. You've got your primary input that may be normal buttons, normal sticks, nothing particularly revolutionary - no pun intended - but we can also add secondary motion, and we can detect the secondary movement of the pad in addition to the primary buttons.

When you play games, everybody does the same thing - they always move the controller around. Well, we can now start to add that secondary motion into the game design, and the way that the game reacts to the user.

Eurogamer: Is this also an attempt on your part to give a bit of a kick in the teeth to cross-platform development? Now all three next-gen consoles will have different control systems, it's going to make it much harder to port the same games between them while taking advantage of those systems.

Phil Harrison: I think you're right, but I don't think that was actually the plan. I think that that is the outcome - you want to make the games and the experiences that you offer on your platform as unique and as defendable as you possibly can, and obviously that innovation is one of them.

That said, I think that with some exceptions, first party will probably be the majority of the exclusives on PlayStation 3. It's just the reality of the world that we live in - and it was very kind of Microsoft to announce one of those [multi-platform titles] for us.

Eurogamer: Looking again at the software line-up, are you happy with where you are with development on the system at the moment?

Phil Harrison: Happy, but not satisfied. We can always do better, we can always have more - but I think we've shown enough breadth and we've shown enough quality, and we've shown a direction of where we're going to end up at launch. We're six months away from launch, remember, and there are some very polished games on our stand, which I don't think you've ever seen from another platform launch. That includes our own - PSone and PS2 - this far out from launch.

Eurogamer: Aren't you concerned though that in November, your launch titles - which have traditionally been pretty rocky - are going to be going head to head with second and even third wave games on the Xbox 360?

Phil Harrison: Am I concerned... Well, I wouldn't say concerned, but I'm certainly conscious of that. I think that we will have games that are really compelling and are really going to deliver on the promise, but I don't think it'll be an issue.

Eurogamer: On PlayStation 2, we didn't start to see really impressive stuff until a couple of years into the life of the console, because it took that long for developers to get up to speed. The guys at Microsoft make a lot of allusions to how easy their console is to develop to compared to yours; how do you respond to that? Is it true of PlayStation 3, as it was of PS2? Is there going to be a one or two year cycle where developers are still just getting to grips with this platform?

Phil Harrison: I think the PlayStation 2 was a difficult machine to write for, especially to really maximise what it was capable of on the vector units, VU0 and VU1, the proprietary SIMD engines, because they used fairly low-level programming techniques to program for them. However, that didn't stop us selling a hundred and something million, and having a billion plus software units sold for the machine, and global average of 77 per cent plus market share.

On PlayStation 3, however, the Cell SPUs are programmed with high-level programming languages, and that allows us to get great performance with general-purpose programming techniques. So, the short answer is, it's much, much easier to program for. Witness the fact that we've got so much software up and running, and playable, this far out from launch.

Picture of Rob.

About Rob Fahey

Read more articles from Rob by visiting the Rob Fahey archive page.

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Comments (110) Latest comment 6 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Hench #1 6 years ago

    Standard PC Drive? I thought it was removable?

  • king_skins #2 6 years ago

    he didn't say it wasn't. and left room for a possibility of a HDD upgrade. Said they didn't have plans currently but he didn't rule it out.

  • morriss #3 6 years ago

    Nothing there really. Shame.

  • Teeth #4 6 years ago

    Yeah, you remove it, put another one in :)

  • #5 6 years ago

    "I think that if we think the industry ... is defined by this week of press conferences... Then, we're very much mistaken. I think it's going to be defined by ... what the industry thinks"
    I'm sorry, but what?
    Very dissapointed in Sony in general recenlty.
    The PS3 seems to be a hashed-together reactionary piece of hardware.
    Games too big for DVD9 - Bah - Rubbish!

  • Teeth #6 6 years ago

    I like the way he admits that they "jumped on the wave" of motion sensitive controllers :)

  • SeesThroughAll #7 6 years ago

    How about an interview to someone who doesn't suffer from compulsive BS sindrome?

    @Teeth: I'm actually glad he finally admits something instead of the load of crap he said at the press conference.
    Edited by 1 at 12/05/06 @ 10:27

  • lennon #8 6 years ago

    Very disapointing interview after the Peter Moore one.

  • SeesThroughAll #9 6 years ago

    ...they mostly asked him about his reaction to the PS3 and WII and in this they asked about the PS3.

    The X360 is not new anymore, so that's natural. They did press Phil into admitting that the tilt sensor is a mock-up of the Wiimote.

  • Nikanoru #10 6 years ago

    Ugh.

    So now it's not a gimmick anymore, huh?

    We kind of took an 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it' strategy.

    Except that the Dual Shock has been broke since its birth by shoehorning two analogue sticks into a controller they didn't belong in after seeing the competition do it. It sucks, you do need to fix it.

  • drumbaby #11 6 years ago

    Very different from the Peter Moore interview, in the Moore interview they mostly asked him about his reaction to the PS3 and WII and in this they asked about the PS3.

    Odd.

    Not really...

    Phil Harrison: Sadly, I haven't actually had a chance to watch the other two conferences, but I've heard enough reports. I think that if we think the industry or the future of the business is defined by this week of press conferences... Then, we're very much mistaken. I think it's going to be defined by what the consumer thinks and what the industry thinks, and what the game developers think. It's not just about the press conferences

    /\/\/\/\ That just about killed such a line of questioning, right there /\/\/\/\

  • HyZepher #12 6 years ago

    For me he was less convincing than Moore and in fact MS seem to have a better idea on the real direction of gaming. I like the idea of the PS3 and 360 in the market together as I think once the hype settles down the consumer will benefit greatly, with the Wii not far behind we are probably in for a great generation of gaming with more choice than ever.

    I do feel that Sony were forced into the next-gen race and that they are not quite ready for the fight - I am sure MS had this in mind when they decided to go next-gen early. Sony also have a few BIG gambles with the PS3, any of which could reduce the amount of units they sell - Price, Blu-ray, and MS 1 yr head start are the big three. To have 1 gamble at release is a risk to have at least 3 major gambles is Russian Roullette.

    The success of their "live" offering will be key to the console. And making the leap to the new technology that is live is another gamble for a new console - although MS did succeed with the xbox. I think the decision to push the online environment back to the devlopment companies is a mistake. MS control the Live! environment for good reason - only one being an added revenue stream. For Live! developers have a standard environment to develop for and this gives MS opportunities to introduce new Live! functionality that can be adopted by all games developers. Sony will have the problem that functionality will be pretty much games based and not gamer based.

    MS's Live! is based around the gamer and this is a winning formula. Each Live! member feels they are part of a community - a community that have the 360 console in common. Not a community that have a game in common - something that a fear the Sony online offering may result in

    Hyzepher

  • dk_rare #13 6 years ago

    Wasn't there a game put into a 100kb file a few years ago?

  • OnlyMe #14 6 years ago

    Hmmm, is there a confirmation that the L2/R2 on the DS3 are triggers, or just shoulder buttons like we already have? They look more like triggers, but I can't see it being mentioned anywhere.

    And I think he said you can change your harddrive yourself as they're bog standard ones.

  • rauper Verified Managing Director, Eurogamer Network #15 6 years ago

    i've used one - they are triggers

    also the controller is REALLY light - because the dual shock is missing the "shock"!

  • Talha #16 6 years ago

    MS: "Sony is a great company, and [PS3's] a great product"

    Sony: "We are not satisfied with what we showed at E3"
    "We jumped onto the motion sensing bandwagon"
    "Ps2 was difficult to program for"

    ...The sky is falling!

  • Eighthours #17 6 years ago

    Rob Fahey's interviews are great when he asks the tough questions, which made the Moore interview a compelling read. Now, while this Harrison interview has all the opening salvos you could want, he doesn't follow up on them as much as he seems to do when Moore's in the chair. I'm wondering whether this has anything to do with the scope of what EG are allowed to ask Sony execs? The Microsoft interviews always seem to have more "meat" to them for some reason.

    Let's face it, following their conference, Sony had a lot that could and should have been put to them... Why isn't Killzone at E3? Have you been "found out" about last year's CG? How do you justify the high price of the console, etc etc. My personal opinion is that Harrison wasn't challenged as much as Moore was, and that's a disappointment to me. Ah well.

    (The 2 pictures on the front page are funny. Harrison looks kinda cool, whereas Moore looks like he's about to either cry or have an "attack" of some kind!)

  • weaselrat #18 6 years ago

    I have just dug out the old interviews for the PS1 & 2. Both of them promise the world and massive games and we all know that both machines churned out 80% rushed crap and 20 % decent. I own both previous machines but I am always dissapointed with the promises made when they don't deliver. From what they're suggesting, the games would have about 200 hours of gameplay if they were to use the potential of blu ray and we know that won't happen. Yes some of their first party games rock but no one can tell me that third parties will make huge exclusive versions for this machine, it would be too costly.
    I am still no more impressed with the games I have seen then what I have seen on the 360 and it's obvious that most of the games are CGI footage. even GT HD did'nt look that gobsmacking. If things don't improve I might just have to join microsoft as they seem to be offering a much more complete all round package.

    Lets be honest about the controller, the only company who will make very good use of motion sensors are Nintendo as they have the balls to put there necks on the line. WOW (sarcasm) i'm so excited at tilting my controller to turn a corner in GT HD or dive my aircraft in warhawk. This will end in disasters for games if they don't do enough trouble shooting with them.
    Edited by 1 at 12/05/06 @ 10:47

  • OnlyMe #19 6 years ago

    It's a conspiracy, I tell you! We're being used! Before you know it, Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo is announcing the next-next generation console together, and it will take over the world! And then there will be terminators! And predators! And aliens! And smurfs!

  • drumbaby #20 6 years ago

    MS: "Sony is a great company, and [PS3's] a great product"

    (you can buy Wii + 360 for same price ha ha, where was Killzone, snipe snipe)

    Sony: "We are not satisfied with what we showed at E3"

    (You can always do better, best not be smug)

    "We jumped onto the motion sensing bandwagon"

    (Everyone does it, but we're not afraid to admit it)

    "Ps2 was difficult to program for"

    (Everyone knew this, but hey...PS2 was/ still is still hot property)

    ...The sky is falling!

    (Luckily we're not all standing where you are)

  • tobi #21 6 years ago

    why has no one asked sony how much the PS3 will cost in £££???

  • gizmo #22 6 years ago

    sounds like a worried man.

  • drumbaby #23 6 years ago

    Premium for £425 I saw somewhere, as an online preorder...can't remember where...

  • Talha #24 6 years ago

    @drumbaby : LOL - I get your point. All I am saying is this is STILL much better than what we have been hearing previously.

    @LeDil: I don't get it about you guys - if MS is the greatest company ever, and X360 is the greatest thing ever, why are people so INSECURE about the mildness of questions posed by a British gaming site to a Japanese executive, in LA, six month before the console in question is slated for launch?

    That said, the Moore interview certainly made better reading. It seems Sony execs are just as confused about PS3 as MS are about Vista!!
    Edited by 1 at 12/05/06 @ 11:00

  • Eighthours #25 6 years ago

    @LeDil: I don't get it about you guys - if MS is the greatest company ever, and X360 is the greatest thing ever, why are people so INSECURE about the mildness of questions posed by a British gaming site to a Japanese executive, in LA, six month before the console in question is slated for launch?

    Standing up for LeDil here (OMG!): Why's it a sign of insecurity to note the clear difference in questioning styles between the 2 interviews? Surely it's just "analysis".

  • Danj #26 6 years ago

    It's a pity no questions were asked about the lack of HDMI in the PS3 tard pack, there seems to be a lot of confusion on this issue. It's good to hear that the hard drive should be user upgradable though, even 60Gb seems kinda puny by today's standards, and 250Gb hard drives are pretty cheap now so it'd be cool to be able to stick one of those in.

  • Talha #27 6 years ago

    @Eighthours : Well no one is denying the questions were different and the Moore interview was better. All I am saying is it doesn't matter that much, does it?

    And standing up for LeDil is no big deal - I did it yesterday!!! (Good luck finding it in about 9000 posts floating around here...)

    @LeDil: Mate, I am not missing the point, in the end I agree with you - you will see if you read the whole post. And that first sentence is kind of nice ain't it?? ;-)
    Edited by 1 at 12/05/06 @ 11:06

  • stuarty_2003 #28 6 years ago

    @ Talha: I'm more confused as to the quality of the interviews, certainly not insecure. Frankly, the PH interview was a lot softer that the PM interview. Just as an example, there was no question posed to PH about the turnaround Sony has done in the last year over the dual SKU policy. A year ago they were saying it would confuse us simple consumers...and now they are doing it to. WHAT AN ODD COMPANY!!!lol

  • CrumpledPaper #29 6 years ago

    Cool that you can upgrade the HDD with an off-the-shelf one. How very un-Sony.

  • Talha #30 6 years ago

    @stuarty_2003 : (Sigh...) No one's denying it!! That's why I said Moore made better reading - because his was a BETTER interview, much more focused.

  • lennon #31 6 years ago

    I think I would have liked to hear his opinion on the GTA issue. It seems a big deal to MS and when you think how many ps2's were likely to have sold for that game alone it would have been interesting. He even illuded to it himself yet it was either ignored or not picked up on.

    For me its not a case of whether it matters but more one of consistency.

  • space_ace #32 6 years ago

    power, corruption and lies

  • Eighthours #33 6 years ago

    Cool that you can upgrade the HDD with an off-the-shelf one. How very un-Sony.

    Indeed, that's great. Part of me wondered whether "crippling" the Tard pack so that it lacks the functionality of the expensive version had something to with this, in that otherwise you could buy the Tard pack and way more than a 60Gig drive for less than the £420 of the expensive version...but then I figured it would be way easier for Sony to just take the Microsoft route and only allow their own Hard Drives to be compatible if they wanted to prevent that. So I obliterated my own conspiracy theory.

  • AusFreelancer #34 6 years ago

    @ Danj - Most likely the drive would have to be a 2 1/2 inch or laptop size (much more expensive)........ still you could probably buy 5 120g drives for the price of a PS3......

  • MrAtheist #35 6 years ago

    why has no one asked sony how much the PS3 will cost in £££???

    Seconded, somebody just ask him the damn question already.

  • DaveTheHutt #36 6 years ago

    I love that comment Phil made to some journo after the Sony pre-show conf, asking about why motion sensors but no rumble, and he spouted some bullshit about rumble was last gen, motion sensing is next gen... what a smug, pompous cock.

    Why not just admit the truth... they bodged in some cheap tilt sensors so they could be seen to be innovating like Nintendo, and had to make room by chopping out the rumble.

    This whole joystick business seems symbolic to me of Sony's whole approach with the PS3 - it's a Frankenstein's monster of elements that have been bolted together to guarantee one-upmanship in the spec sheet comparisons, but there's been little actual thought about *why* those elements are in there, i.e. does the consumer really need them to have a top gaming experience.

    Hutt out

  • Psi #37 6 years ago

    hangon hangon hangon hangon...

    NOT enough space on a DVD9?
    BUT
    20gb IS enough space on a console of that price?

    Are you smoking the reefer? PC games still come on 2 or 3 CD's or a DVD, are you claiming that all your next gen games are going to require more space than say... oblivion? I mean that's not a small game! As for trends in space required by games, sure it's getting bigger and fast, but I can honestly say THIS gen, doesn't require anything more than a DVD's capacity.

    So the harddrive in the unit is smaller in capacity than your chosen format?!?!

    shit man that like buying a car too big for your garage.

  • DaveTheHutt #38 6 years ago

    Gotta love this statement too... "[PS3 is] much, much easier to program for. Witness the fact that we've got so much software up and running, and playable, this far out from launch."

    The PS3 launches in 6 months. If they didn't have software playable in some form at this point, they'd have a disaster on their hands. Once again, Phil Harrison's patented 'Sony Spin-O-Matic' goes into overdrive, turning what is actually a pretty disappointing display - only 15 games playable - into some sort of triumph.

    Hutt out

  • Eighthours #39 6 years ago

    Once again, Phil Harrison's patented 'Sony Spin-O-Matic' goes into overdrive, turning what is actually a pretty disappointing display - only 15 games playable - into some sort of triumph.

    That's quite impressive compared to Microsoft's display last year, mind.
    Edited by 1 at 12/05/06 @ 11:52

  • Carrybagma #40 6 years ago

    I thought it was good. Microsoft are doing well, so not suprisingly the responses were bullish and positive. This show has been a low for Sony - the muted responses from PH reflect that. He's got little to offer this time around, although I'm surprised he wasn't more defensive about the tilt functions.

    Who'd have thought? Sony & Microsoft execes interviewed at E3- and buggerall bullshit. A first, surely.

  • slasp #41 6 years ago

    What's up with people and the price? It's not expensive from a purely hardware view. Everybody seems to agree that the XBox 360 Core is the bastard child nobody wants - let's take the notion that it's true, then this is what you get:

    XBox 360 - 399$:
    20 GB HD
    Component Video
    Max res. 1080i
    Live service - no online play
    DVD9
    Standard controller
    Up to 4 players on one console

    PS3 - 499$
    20 GB HD
    Component Video
    Theoretically 1080p but probably 1080i res.
    Live service with online play
    Blu-Ray drive
    Motionsensing controller
    Up to 7 players on one console (even though the controller looks like only having 4 leds on the top)


    To me it seems like 100$ for the Blu-Ray and a motionsensing controller is pretty cheap and my guess is, MS won't sell the HD-DVD drive for less than 150$.


    Now lets configure a XBox 360 to match the more expensive PS3:

    XBox 360 - 399$
    External WiFi - 99.99$
    20 GB HD
    External HD-DVD - Let's be kind and say 100$
    Component video
    Max res. 1080i
    Standard controller
    Headset
    Up to 4 players on one console
    Live Gold 1 yr with online play - 69.99$
    ---
    total of 670$
    ===

    PS3 - 599$
    WiFi
    60 GB HD
    Blu-Ray
    HDMI video
    Max res. 1080p
    Motionsensing controller
    Probably no headset
    Up to 7 players on one console
    Live service with online play
    ---
    total of 599$
    ===

    For roughly 70$ LESS you get a motionsensing controller, a BIGGER harddrive and full HD support (for the future, if not for today), which maybe not many care about today, but in 2-3 years time most probably will appreciate. The one thing the XBox 360 got is the headset, but people interested in that will probably have one lying around from beforehand.

    (by the way, HDMI is digital, while component is analogue - much the same as DVI vs VGA-cabling, HDMI gives the better picture. 1080i looks optically to the human eye approx. as 760p (not 720p) according to one of the technical responsible at the EBU (European Broadcasting Union))


    To me, it seems like the PS3 is the better buy, no matter how one turns it. I for one definitely want hd movie playback and most everybody else wants the same in a couple of years time.

    Now, the casual gamer, the student, and the kids on the block may think it's a lot of money, but still - most people won't buy the XBox 360 Core...

  • WicKeD #42 6 years ago

    I think for most people, Blu-Ray or HD DVD isn't all that a significant feature, to the everyman DVD's are just fine for now.

    So having the choice to ditch the overpriced, glorified DVD player is a bloody godsend!

  • drumbaby #43 6 years ago

    the motion-sensing controller doesn't make the deal any sweeter at all, it came at a price.

    But it also came as another way of playing games that will be Sony exclusives....
    Edited by 2 at 12/05/06 @ 12:12

  • HyZepher #44 6 years ago

    On epoint to make is that their Live service maybe free to join but no one knows how much it will be to play games online. In fact MS €60 per year might be a steal compared to Sony's potential €10 per year per game - payable to the game developer.

  • Garulon #45 6 years ago

    "It's just the reality of the world that we live in - and it was very kind of Microsoft to announce one of those [multi-platform titles] for us."

    Yes, that you can play on a technically-equivalent console that's literally HALF THE PRICE of your bloated trainwreck, Phillip.

    And to people adding up all the bits you can buy on the 360 and going "it's not that bad a price on the PS3" - yes, that's true IF you're the bloke that needs HDMI AND WiFi AND a HD drive AND a 60GB HDD - if you just want to play games though, you're getting a whole mudball of crap you don't need force-fed to you simply because Sony want some numbers against BluRay "customers" this time next year.

    Oh and Live's free to join - the only thing you have to pay for is multiplayer, which Sony haven't announced as free yet. Multiplayer Live can cost you as little as a fiver.
    Edited by 1 at 12/05/06 @ 12:15

  • Santino #46 6 years ago

    Surely Sonys reliance on brand name alone cannot maintain such a dominant market share this time round...i truly think they have screwed themselves this time. Would serve the arrogant bastards right i reckon, when u start taking the piss out of your fans you deserve to fail. On another note i have to agree with many others, this interview lacked the 'balls' of the Moore interview and that isn't good enough considering the obvious questions that could have been asked. People are interested in what they have to say to such questions, if only for the comedy bullsh*t repsonse

  • slasp #47 6 years ago

    ok... I hardly ever notice the rumble thing anymore, both because I've gotten so used to it, and because I'm not holding the controller in a firm grip.

    But let's skip that... And let's skip the HD-DVD thing (even though I'd want it, if I had a 360). And the free online play, because we are still not sure how much that is gonna cost.

    Can everybody agree that WiFi is a good thing? I want to connect my console without cabling from my broadband to my livingroom.

    And can we agree that the 13GB left on 360 harddrive is a bit small? Certainly my mates who has one says they are looking to expand it, but they can't because there is no official way to do it yet.


    XBox 360 - 399$
    WiFi - 99$
    Bigger HD - 60GB maybe another 99$
    ---
    total of 599$
    ===

    PS3 - 599$
    WiFi
    60GB HD
    ---
    total of 599$
    ===

    So if you disregard my other points, they come out roughly equal... but you still get a lot more from the PS3 like a versatile memory card reader - I just don't mention it here, because a few might not be interested in that stuff...

    It's still not expensive...

  • MrAtheist #48 6 years ago

    Don't bet on it. The whole industry is behind SONY it's their bread and butter. Now.... when those commercials start rolling, people wont care.

    Giants have stumbled before (ask Nintendo) or completely imploded (ask Atari). You never know what could happen.

    MS are very bullish and aiming for 10 million sales before the PS3 even launches. This Xmas, with a price cut / killer bundle or combination of both (360 +Gears of War?), MS could easily match or even surpass what Sony can shift.

  • Santino #49 6 years ago

    @ Wonga "Don't bet on it. The whole industry is behind SONY it's their bread and butter. Now.... when those commercials start rolling, people wont care."

    You are probably right, but I hope people do stand up and care. the consumer can probably buy 2 consoles for the price of this PS3, which now that we are finally seeing in game performance has no advantage over the 360. Sony has been so successful because of 3rd parties, these days exclusives are running thinner on sonys hardware,. consumers are going to be left with the choice of buying more expensive hardware for what is likely to be the majority of similar games, and dont forget MS has exclusive rockstar content. A summary of what i guess i am trying to say is that if sony can get away with selling it at this price at launch, especially with the lack of killer app and the sever competition from Nintendo and MS, then there is no hope
    Edited by 1 at 12/05/06 @ 12:41

  • slasp #50 6 years ago

    The range of WiFi is something you set on your router, and on most proper ones it is easy to do (it is on mine).

    Although 802.11a is fine for most broadband connections, it's not good for streaming content from your home PC. And on that subject, who on earth wants to go to their office and turn on their computer (which could be in the other end of their house) every time they wan't to listen to some music - that's just plain silly, and that's why it's never gonna be mainstream. But ofcourse, one would have to because the 360 HD is so small - I've got more music on my iPod than what there is room for on that. The only scenario I could see for connecting to my PC, would be for watching photos and copying all my music (for which 802.11a would seem a bit slow).

    People connecting their console to ethernet probably lives in a studio flat or in a completely networked home. But most people don't. WiFi is a must-have for everybody I know.

    The headset... you're right... to be fair that should be included... I didn't know the price, because I've never used one, and I'm not interested in using it anytime soon. If we add that, then we should add everything, including proper cabling, and then the PS3 is gonna be even better a deal.

    Now, this is all from a hardware point of view, and not what people actually need. The only thing I can say is, my friends who have bought a 360, all went and got WiFi before they bought an extra controller and complained of the small harddisk.

  • Eighthours #51 6 years ago

    The guys doing the number-crunching in this thread aren't taking account of the likely 360 price cut before PS3 launch, or the fact that online multiplay almost certainly won't be free.

  • slasp #52 6 years ago

    Eighthours: OK... they might make a pricecut... We don't know yet... But then you must admit, that HD-DVD will probably cost more than 100$. If they do make a pricecut AND online play will cost on the PS3, if you look at it from a purely hardware for your buck point of view, the PS3 will atleast still be at an equal cost of the XBox 360. Unless ofcourse, MS start to sell the XBox 360 for 150$ or less... which they probably won't.

  • morriss #53 6 years ago

    Who cares about HD-DVD though? Not me. Maybe when they're over 200 titles and it's getting as popular as DVD. By that time the price will be minimal.

  • lennon #54 6 years ago

    @Slasp I think MS have Vista in mind when it comes to media functionality and from what I can see from the media version I toyed about with you would rarely ever switch it off so connection isnt an issue unless of course your playing ridge racer 6 online!

    And the point with HD-DVD is that if you dont want it you dont have to pay for it. Sony is claiming that the you need blu-ray for games in the next generation. This simply isnt true and what they are really saying is that they have bet big on blu-ray and they need to get it into as many homes as possible otherwise they are in huge trouble.

  • susesesus #55 6 years ago

    i hate M$ and that's good enough a reason to buy PS3 over xflop

    2) yes, i believe the next gen is all about new kind of "interaction" - sony jumped on the bandwagon and i like them for doing so. Driving games, flying games will me that much more fun than playing on xflop

    3) xflop360 and xflop - what's the difference in gameplay? NOTHING - apart from a bit more polygons. I don't see myself having more fun playing one

    4) playing multi-player online with PS3 will be free (they said so - apart from the MMO)
    in 5 years time (normal period for a console lifecycle - ) to play xflop online - i'd have to pay 400$ + 250$ - with no wifi, no motion sensor, no final fantasy, no solid snake, 20GB HDD and the price of knowing i'm making microsoft one step closer to monopolise console space as well? NO THANK YOU~!!

    I believe in competition and innovation - sony added what i wanted them to add - online, motion sensor, HD camera etc... that's good enough for me - i know i'll have fun this xmas.

    as for the price - although i'm only a uni student now but i can see myself easily pay for it. I'm starting to think the most vocal ppl about the price are the ppl of the slump or kids in those neighbourhood. Because i know i can easily afford one with a short term part time job.

    not to mention the variety of games on xflop are mostly PC ports and FPS.

    I mean, gears of war looks nice but ask any REAL gamer, do they play FPS on console with a GAMEPAD? ... losers

  • lennon #56 6 years ago

    If you believe the next gen is all about interaction wouldnt you be better buying a Wii?

  • asphaltcowboy #57 6 years ago

    susesesus: you m0ng, exactly how is Gears of War an FPS?

    My favourite line from your rhetoric: "they said so" - lol!

  • susesesus #58 6 years ago

    and you're right

    i forgot to mention i'll buy a wii too - it's not a problem since it's going to be cheap anyway

    PS3 + Wii + my sexy PC will cover all the gaming I need

    to be frank, at the moment I see more fun coming out from Wii but PS3 has a lot of unique stuff that i want as well :D

    good thing is they complement each other more than conflicting so my money aren't really wasted if i buy both

    to the above poster
    if you don't believe in what they report then i suppose i can believe non of the stuff M$ and nintendo promise as well?...

    ok..gears of war aren't an FPS - change the $name to Halo 3 - it was there to make a point -
    and gears of war is interesting because?...... another futuristic war where u control a dude with a "gamepad" run to a wall.hide..shoot.. hide ..shoot run to the next objective - sounds fairly generic - i haven't been able to finish any of those games for a while now and i don't think this game can keep my interest until the end.
    Edited by 1 at 12/05/06 @ 14:02

  • #59 6 years ago

    @ slasp

    So what price are you putting on an entire years' worth of gaming fun that I'll have with the 360 before the PS3 is even out?

    And I think the price point is trivial anyway. If it has the games, it's worth it.

    What is glaringly obvious is how badly handled this console's details exposure has been.

    And why is HD-DVD/BlueRay so important to you slasp? There isn't even like there's content available. And as I said on my previous post - a game that wont fit on a DVD9 disc - Bah - rubbish!
    Edited by 1 at 12/05/06 @ 14:01

  • Eighthours #60 6 years ago

    i'm only a uni student now

    God, those entry requirements are going down even faster than I thought.

  • NoCodeNed2 #61 6 years ago

    @Xiphos - why are you so angry? It's a beautiful sunny day - go play.

    I imagine Harrison got promoted because SCEE brought out stuff like Eye-Toy and Singstar under him.

    Personally, I thought both interviews were pretty refreshing. And removable ATA drive is a good thing. Slightly unfair photo of PM, mind. (God knows what they'd make Reggie look like - he's scary enough as it is!).

    As for the Ps3 controller, I've read a few sites that have played with it and say the motion sensing is really intuitive - kinda hoping EG tell us their thoughts pretty soon.

  • #62 6 years ago

    @ susesesus
    "I believe in competition and innovation - sony added what i wanted them to add - online, motion sensor, HD camera etc... that's good enough for me - i know i'll have fun this xmas. "
    I think you'd have more fun with the Wii in that case.
    And the immersion you get with HD etc does have a markable effect to the gaming experience, even if the gameplay per-se is not that different.
    I do agree with you that innovation is the key, but I think loyalty in Sony to deliver that innovation is misplaced. Simply look to companies' recent handheld offerings - the PSP is a port-heavy bog standard platform, whereas the DS is a truly innovative, different and very fun platform. And yes, I own both, I got the PSP first (waited for a DS lite).

    EDIT - Just read more recent post. So I guess you knew all this already!
    Edited by 2 at 12/05/06 @ 14:09

  • susesesus #63 6 years ago

    And why is HD-DVD/BlueRay so important to you slasp? There isn't even like there's content available. And as I said on my previous post - a game that wont fit on a DVD9 disc - Bah - rubbish!

    there are already games with 2 DVD worth of content.

    uncompressed data will lead to faster loading time and allow the machine to dedicate more resources to processing the data instead of decompressing stuff

    one of the main reason why the original playstation beat N64 was because CD-ROM medium allowed more to be packed into the game...

    i'd image you said the same thing about "a game that can't be fit into 1 CD-ROM?"
    wasn't FF8 5 CD's?...

  • #64 6 years ago

    Ok, and how many console games (in recent history) have been multiple DVDs?

    If oblivion can fit in one - bah, foggeddaboutit!

  • lennon #65 6 years ago

    Question is would it be a bad thing to have a game come on 2 dvd's? Multiple cd's didnt ruin my enjoyment of FF7 or of Resident Evil 4. So why force blu-ray or hd-dvd upon us?
    Edited by 1 at 12/05/06 @ 14:14

  • asphaltcowboy #66 6 years ago

    "to the above poster
    if you don't believe in what they report then i suppose i can believe non of the stuff M$ and nintendo promise as well?..."

    Let's just say it's a little easier to believe MS and Nintendo: at least some of it is true ;)

  • Xerx3s #67 6 years ago

    Let me repeat this for some more impact:

    "i hate M$ and that's good enough a reason to buy PS3 over xflop

    2) yes, i believe the next gen is all about new kind of "interaction" - sony jumped on the bandwagon and i like them for doing so. Driving games, flying games will me that much more fun than playing on xflop

    3) xflop360 and xflop - what's the difference in gameplay? NOTHING - apart from a bit more polygons. I don't see myself having more fun playing one

    4) playing multi-player online with PS3 will be free (they said so - apart from the MMO)
    in 5 years time (normal period for a console lifecycle - ) to play xflop online - i'd have to pay 400$ + 250$ - with no wifi, no motion sensor, no final fantasy, no solid snake, 20GB HDD and the price of knowing i'm making microsoft one step closer to monopolise console space as well? NO THANK YOU~!!

    I believe in competition and innovation - sony added what i wanted them to add - online, motion sensor, HD camera etc... that's good enough for me - i know i'll have fun this xmas.

    as for the price - although i'm only a uni student now but i can see myself easily pay for it. I'm starting to think the most vocal ppl about the price are the ppl of the slump or kids in those neighbourhood. Because i know i can easily afford one with a short term part time job.

    not to mention the variety of games on xflop are mostly PC ports and FPS.

    I mean, gears of war looks nice but ask any REAL gamer, do they play FPS on console with a GAMEPAD? ... losers "

    Sir, i would like to nominate you for the biggest nobrainer of the year. Have you ever considerd signing your body up for prehistoric animal research? Im sure the peeps at the BMoNH would be happy with a live specimen.

    /puts him on ignore

    PS: For your information, we start counting at 1. But you would actually need braincells to know that, so it isnt your fault.
    Edited by 1 at 12/05/06 @ 14:35

  • reality_cheque #68 6 years ago

    Where has he said you can upgrade the HDD yourself? All he says is that the drives are standard PC drives, nothing at all about having a slot or whatever.

    I wouldn't want to take apart my expensive bit of kit just to upgrade the HDD.

  • morriss #69 6 years ago

    He's a plant.

  • #70 6 years ago

    It's a conspiracyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!
    God I wanna get out of work and off to the pub right now. If he truly is a student then live up to it - get out to the beer garden geek!

  • reality_cheque #71 6 years ago

    @morriss: Is plant is some new phrase for twat? :D

  • bloodflowers #72 6 years ago

    As for the free/paid network gaming aspect.

    As a long term user of both the PS2 and the Xbox/360 online services, I can tell you that you get what you pay for. Sonys PS2 efforts were absolutely shocking in comparison. If they outsource this to someone like Gamespy again, it'll be the exact same trainwreck on the PS3.

    Live on the other hand? It's broken maybe twice in the past few years. This is many times fewer than every week, sometimes multiple times a day, and sometimes for days at a time. If network gaming is very important to you in a purchasing decision, Microsoft are the clear winners. If it's diversity or number of titles, I'd suspect the PS3 will have the edge when established.

    Side note: wifi sucks for network gaming - just say no, kids! Seriously, nearly everyone I know who was using wifi, have switched back to cable to get rid of lag. Why? Encryption adds time, wifi is a contended resource unlike an ethernet switch, most wifi routers offer nothing like the claimed speed, and even when you don't hammer them theres a good 10-20 milliseconds extra added to the latency.
    Edited by 1 at 12/05/06 @ 15:04

  • Beano #73 6 years ago

    "Except that the Dual Shock has been broke since its birth by shoehorning two analogue sticks into a controller they didn't belong in after seeing the competition do it. It sucks, you do need to fix it. "

    LOL... riiight :)

  • Biggles #74 6 years ago

    Sony have said a few times that they want this generation to last 10-15 years. That would explain their obsession with blu ray. Whatever games may or may not need now, I'm sure developers will eventually be able to fill one of those disks. Just thinking big, you'd still need about 20 BD's to hold google earth, for example. Of course, no one would do that now, but 10 years from now?

    The problem is, the immediate advantages of the PS3 are pretty minimal. In a few more years, yeah, I might want to play BD movies or the few games that the X360 isn't up to running, but those are gonna take a long time to appear, and in the meantime, X360 seems to offer much more.

    Also, susesesus, I'm glad you have the free time to take on an extra job just to afford a new games console. Not everyone is so fortunate, so please don't rub it in, ok?

  • stuarty_2003 #75 6 years ago

    @susesesus: Firstly, I hope you are not studying English at University. Secondly, with English of such poor quality I can only assume that you steamrollered your way into University through UCAS clearing. And finally, with regards to your 'Xflop', PS3 and MS comments:-

    1. Online play on the PS3 will cost...it's just up to the publisher how much it will cost;
    2. Despite the fact you "hate M$", I'm willing to bet that you are using their operating system;
    3. No Final Fantasy on "xflop 360" is a lie...FFXI has just been released. Granted it is three years old but I'm sure there will be more;
    4. "The variety of games on 'xflop' are PC ports or FPS" - ALL the arcade games, PGR3, Kameo, NFS, Rumble Roses, FIFA(s), Condemned, DOA4, King Kong, etc...put that to rest;
    5. And finally, I agree with Xerx3s and will nominate you aswell.

  • jozz #76 6 years ago

    "so when we sat down with him for a brief chat at E3 this week in the wake of the firm's announcements, the company's hardware and software strategies were definitely top of the agenda, but its hugely controversial pricing announcement was not."

    Personally I would of made it MY agenda to ask him about it o_O

    What will the UK price be?

    Where is Killzone/how is it coming along?

    What are the clear cut differences between the two versions?

    What do you think about the competitions' plans/consoles?

    Could you clarify exactly how 'free' Sony's online service will be; factoring the cost of building data centres, building user interfaces, network stacks, running bandwidth costs, compatibility with every provider around the world etc.?

    All those questions are missing and I would of liked some answers :(

  • brazzauk #77 6 years ago

    If you don't like the price don't buy it, I was unaware of the Sony gun being held to my head. As consumers you have the choice, thats the whole point of having more than one console. People will buy it because its a playstation, that much is fact but people will also buy them as they may have a back catalog of games to play on it.

    If you don't want to spend that money then buy a 360 or a Wii. Blu-ray is not being forced on anyone, you don't have to buy it.

    People are also moaning about HDMI not be on the 'core' model. Well I don't see that on the Wii or the 360 either. The solution to all of this is select the console that suits you and buy it.

    I have a 360 I am happy with, I am interested in the Wii because I love that Nintendo love to concetrate on the games and am looking forward to replacing my gamecube with it. In terms of the PS3 I am tempted by the Blu-ray option as I have a 1080p capable panel.

    Horses for courses......

  • #78 6 years ago

    You're right, the true difference was confidence.

    I guess it's easy to be smug when you're already shipping hardware and software, have a unit that is now a proven item and have an on-line and distribution service that kicks ass. Add in great content etc.

    Two bad E3s in a row for Sony IMO. Last year's having been made worse by the fact that this years' has exposed just how much lieing went on on 2005.

    Sony have some serious problems right now - for example - how do they intend to build SO many units so quickly and maintain QA?

    A lot of questions wern't asked, answered or were deflected. I guess the interviewer didn't feel like picking on the defenceless whereas in the Moore interview they knew that guy could take a beating and still be standing at the end - probably holding a pint!

    EDIT: There's no evidence that a HDMI lead for the 360 couldn't exist, is there? I could see it very conceivably turning up around Nov '06.... It is tru that most HD TVs will happily take Component whereas only really new ones take HDMI. Also, only the uber-expensive have 1080p resolution - good one Sony, way to make me feel inadequate for shelling out £600 for a TV that won't give mee the best performance should I buy a PS3.
    I wouldn't be surprised to see a Sony TV/PS3/Surround bundle in the shops. How many Sony HD TVs support 1080p, anyone?
    Edited by 1 at 12/05/06 @ 15:52

  • MrGrumpy.au #79 6 years ago

    as for the price - although i'm only a uni student now but i can see myself easily pay for it. I'm starting to think the most vocal ppl about the price are the ppl of the slump or kids in those neighbourhood. Because i know i can easily afford one with a short term part time job.

    @susesesus, Wow that has to be the craziest thing I've ever seen written here, you need to get out of your uni student luxury (just wait until you start a full time job). You'll end up with house/car/health?? insurance, electricity/gas/water/phone/internet bills, council/shire taxes on your land, mortguages. car maintenace, wife, kids etc.

    This all adds up some luxuries have to be posponed to a later dates. So I suggest you get out into the real world first before coming up with rubbish like that.

    Sorry about being harsh but that should never have come into this thread.

    Cheers

  • captainrentboy #80 6 years ago

    susesesus:''xflop360''
    Haha ha..ohhhhhh*Wipes tear from eye*genius,to be honest I stopped reading what he wrote down after that :/

  • #81 6 years ago

    @ MrGrumpy.au
    God, until you quoted that I just thought susesesus was misinformed!
    Now I see he's quite bonkers!

    I'm starting to think the most vocal ppl about the price are the ppl of the slump or kids in those neighbourhood.

    What does that even mean?
    I was a uni student until recently too, and £400+ is not peanuts! I certainly wouldn't have got a job just to buy a console! I hardly did any gaming at uni - too much drinking/partying/screwing around/playing rugby *cough* STUDYING I mean. And boy, does that burn money too!
    Agree with Mr Grumpy - dude what planet are you on?

  • captainrentboy #82 6 years ago

    Eurogamer: Aren't you concerned though that in November, your launch titles - which have traditionally been pretty rocky - are going to be going head to head with second and even third wave games on the Xbox 360?

    Phil Harrison: Am I concerned... Well, I wouldn't say concerned, but I'm certainly conscious of that. I think that we will have games that are really compelling and are really going to deliver on the promise, but I don't think it'll be an issue.

    Translation:Am I concerned that the vast majority of our launch games will pale in comparison to a lot of the third wave far sexier titles on the far cheaper 360?Of course I'm not,it's not an issue,as the majority of our sheep like consumers will buy anything with playstation on it,stupidly overpriced or not, and will then procede to tell themelves that it was the better purchase,even though deep down they kind of know we ripped them off too.

  • kangarootoo #83 6 years ago

    @Teeth

    "I like the way he admits that they "jumped on the wave" of motion sensitive controllers :)"

    Yeah, that raised a smile with me too. But I'm trying to limit my posting on this sort of thread :)

  • 2099net #84 6 years ago

    The reason some games have 2 DVDs, or are likely to need 2 DVDs in the future is because they use pre-rendered cut scenes. Nothing gobbles up disc space than useless movies, especially if said useless movies have to be in Hi-Def.

    Now, call me Mr Picky, but if Sony are promising unforgettable graphics from their console, and immersive worlds, realistic physics etc. Then why should any PS3 game need pre-rendered movie clips? Use the game's own graphics engine. Ultimately, going such a route will be more immersive anyhow.

    There's no justification at all for saying a game will be so big that 9 gig (plus compression on top) won't be big enough.

    Christ, have any of you got any idea how many actually assets that would be? Are Sony proposing development teams of 500+ people? hundreds upon hundreds of them working non-stop creating textures? If people complain about the cost of 360 games now, I cannot imagine what a true BD title on the PS3 will cost? £150?

    There's games now on 1 DVD with expansive worlds and/pr tens of thousands of lines of dialogue.

    And fantasies about region-free discs, holding each and every localisation of a title are just that... fantasies. Is any major development studio going to code a perfect game in their own language (Japanese or English) and then sit on it for month after month waiting to get all the translations completed? All the dialogue re-recorded in five to 10 more languages? It's just nonsense.

    (Besides, as the PSP has shown with it's region-free discs, Sony would sue the pants of any business importing cheaper PS3 games from overseas, because then Sony misses out on its regional mark-up.)

    Another aspect to consider is how long do you think it will be before we see a game on BD? Remember the first games on the PS2 were on ordinary CDs. I would be surprised if a BD game came out anytime before 2.5 years after the console launches (unless its a Final Fantasy game, crammed with pre-rendered movies /rolleyes/ )

    A Blu-Ray drive for gaming is totally and utterly unneeded. All Sony want to do is put BD players in people's home, win the upcoming DVD battle, and then sit back collecting millions upon millions of licencing fees. And for that, they are charging YOU additional money.

  • kangarootoo #85 6 years ago

    "Cool that you can upgrade the HDD with an off-the-shelf one. How very un-Sony"

    I think its quite important that I point out that isn't what he said. Now I honestly don't know whether you will be able to upgrade it or not, so I'm not saying people's assumptions are incorrect. But be wary of assuming too much and then later shouting "LIES!!".

    All he said was that it used a standard ATA drive. The XBox uses a standard ATA drive, buts its firmware is locked so you can't upgrade it yourself. That may be the case, and I don't think Phil's statement was misleading in that context.

    Food for thought.

  • lennon #86 6 years ago

    "If you're a complete music fan and video fan, and you want to have huge amounts of digital content, then you can upgrade to whatever size of drive you like. You can put any in that you like - it is a computer, after all."

    Cant see how he could be any clearer myself.

  • NthSimulachum #87 6 years ago

    Regarding DVD space, one should also remember that this generation we have the processing power to have proceduraly generated content, which takes up far less space than the stroage of millions of art assets. When textures and geometry can be created using algorithms, and hence be as complex as needed, there is no need for anything more than 9 gigs of space(for elements which can not be proceduraly generated such as sound files).

    Take a look at .kkrieger for an example.

    However, this is a very different method of constructing games than the current traditional stored content model, so it's unlikely that we'll see games using this until well in to this geenration.
    Edited by 1 at 12/05/06 @ 16:49

  • kangarootoo #88 6 years ago

    @lennon

    Ah, didn't notice that bit, nice one. Like I said, I wasn't saying it wasn't the case, I was just wary of people jumping to conclusions (but my wariness was based on me missing that specific point).

  • lennon #89 6 years ago

    :) No worries. I would still be wary though!!!! It is PH speaking after all ;)

  • NoCodeNed2 #90 6 years ago

    I absolutely adore the way people confidently predict how no-one would ever need more than 9Gb to make a game ever.

    That's why I watch telly in black and white and my mobile phone is made of wood.

  • 2099net #91 6 years ago

    @NoCodeNed2

    I think I can confidently predict nobody will need more than 9Gb for the next twenty-four months at least (and I suspect way beyond that time-frame) - Final Fantasy like cut scenes excepted, which really don't add anything to a game's length or innovation.

    That being the case, why not offer a BD-ROM as an upgrade when such a point is (eventually) reached, and the unit price is cheaper?
    Edited by 1 at 12/05/06 @ 17:07

  • Arwin #92 6 years ago

    Not sure if anyone actually remembers this, but you could actually put a harddrive in the PS2, and you could use about 250 different types from different brands in there, it's only limitation being that it couldn't address more than 400gb, so putting in more was useless.

    Moreover, that harddrive was a regular size harddrive. So we'll have to see whether time it will be 2.5", but if it is, that's ok - laptops are so popular these days that they aren't all that more expensive, and they usually have lower power consumption and noise levels too.

    What I am personally interested in is power usage. From what I've read, the Cell seems to be quite energy efficient compared to the Xenon.

    And yes, it is a missed opportunity to ask about the capabilities of component output. In the end though, Phil is a software developer guy, and I think there could and should have been a lot more questions from that respect. Even simple things such as did all developers now get the new controller and the final devkit with support for it, and how sensitive is the controller exactly, spec-wise. What technology does it use? Can we use it to point accurately at the screen, will it be precise enough to use it as a mouse, etc.

    Maybe Eurogamer could set up a little feature called: "The next time we interview bigshot number x, what should we ask?" if they really have problems coming up with these things on their own, though I suspect that they just ran into him and got an unexpected chance to talk to Phil without preparation.

    Assassin's Creed, by the way, seems to be an interesting PS3 exclusive (someone in the thread asked). Well at least, it will be exclusive for a while.

    I also think it is safe to say, after hearing the reactions from publishers at E3, that all games for the PS3 will probably support the new controller fully. So that will be interesting.

    Another thing is the 6 degrees of freedom - the Wii and the PS3 both have this. Even though it is implemented in different ways in terms of hardware, in terms of software development and research I think there is sufficient overlap for at the very least synergetic development - programming for the one controller will at the very least give you some ideas and functions and techniques that you can use for the other controller. Both controllers can register movement in those six different ways, after all, and so you can use a lot of that.

    So far, E3 has left me with a feeling that not too much has changed with the three big names. I do expect that Nintendo will do a lot better this generation though. But it won't go at the cost of the other two. I expect the market will expand yet again, and console gaming will become even more pervasive than it ever was. In terms of money flow, I suspect the 360 vs PS3 race won't be too different. The beginning gives the 360 a headstart, but once the PS3 is launched things could turn around quickly. I think some of that will depend on the success of motion sensing and downloadable stuff. I'm not too worried on Sony getting that right though, as from the looks of it they outsourced the basics to companies like GameSpy and most developers seem really happy that they can use their own servers for game-hosting.

    There's a lot of issues in this business, and as I feel I'm now (after 20 years) starting to get a good feel of what kind of paramaters are at play here, I'm thrilled at the prospect of watching them all play out, and see how good (or bad) I will prove to be at the 'guess-what-will-happen-next' game.

  • 2099net #93 6 years ago

    +++ Assassin's Creed, by the way, seems to be an interesting PS3 exclusive (someone in the thread asked). Well at least, it will be exclusive for a while. +++

    Play have a listing for a 360 Assasin's Creed release in October. It could be a mistake or...

  • kangarootoo #94 6 years ago

    @Arwin

    I forget what thread I flipped out at you in (called you patronising I believe ;) ), but your last post made for an interesting read. More of those and less of the other type and there's sure to be less unsolicited thread-police type posting from me (the EG reading public, that hasn't already ignored me, sighs relief in unison) :)

  • Ihya #95 6 years ago

    The PS3 suits me down to the ground. Not having a HD in the 360 core seemed like such a backwards step and as I only really want 1 console it'll be the one with more bells and whistles for me.

  • projectmayhem #96 6 years ago

    all arguments aside, ps3 will, in 5 or 6 years time, be a quantum leap in technology for this great industry. whatever about blu-ray's success or failure with movies, no doubt it's sheer capacity and potential will help games designers create MUCH bigger tables of data for their games. which is great for us.

    games the size of WoW: Bigger then Middle-Earth or GTA: North America being playable off 1 disc? unheard of until now. not forgetting the "extra" content that can be added, like making-of documentary stuff, soundtracks, etc.

    then you add in a fat HDD and the possibility of downloading new Lazlow shows for GTA 2 years after the game shipped and so on.

    while xbox360 ushered in the new generation and brought us into a new era with more power and grunt that we've ever known, ps3 solidifies it.

    i'm just worried nintendo will get left behind with a potentially great "gimmick".

  • slasp #97 6 years ago

    lennon: AFAIK the media version of Vista is meant to be running connected to TV - so why have it streaming to the XBox 360 right next to it?

  • slasp #98 6 years ago

    lennon: And MS might give you the choice of HD-DVD, but if you choose it, you'll have yet another box next to your TV. I know Sony is touting Blu-Ray for gamestorage as well - and I understand why: Some PS2 games was on as many as three discs, and that was in SD. It is probably perfectly possible to put most games on one DVD9, but why limit it. And I further believe that Blu-Ray with its big industry support (which HD-DVD only has to some degree) will win, partly because of PS3, and will become the HD disc format of choice.

  • slasp #99 6 years ago

    jamesphilb: I've already got a HDTV (and one of the few, that doesn't downsample the image before upscaling it again), and I'm anoyed with the quality of my DVD's (and I've got a lot!). I've seen HD content played on HDTV's several times and it really solves my complaints. Besides, even if my TV didn't show HD signal, I would hate to still be buying DVD's, when I'm confident I'll change to a HD format in a few years time. Just as I stopped buying VHS when I realised I would buy a DVD-player.

    And your years worth of XBox 360 fun... I've played plenty at my mates place, but I really lack my favourite games, and the year went by faaast. I know most of my favourite games will come to XBox 360, but they'll be out on PS3 at the same time. And yes, I know Halo won't be on PS3, and I regret that. I still firmly believe PS3 is a better fit for me.

    But that is not the point... That is about personal taste and something every person must decide for themselves. My point was, looking at just the hardware, the PS3 is actually a pretty good deal compared to XBox 360.

  • wired009 #100 6 years ago

    I can understand why some people want 1080P HDMI, WiFi, Blu-Ray, and a 60gb hd, but these features have nothing to do w/ the quality of games for the system. It has nothing to do with the enjoyment that can be had from the system. In that sense, I don't see how anyone can conclude that the PS3 is a better deal price-wise than an Xbox360 at this point because you are paying for the all the features of the PS3. As for Sony...I want to know why they think motion sensing is better than rumble in the gamepad when hardly any of their games utilize motion, why they don't have more complete and compelling games available to play given they have had as much time as everyone else to develop, and why PS3 supports seven controllers (this is just a strange number).

  • Dire #101 6 years ago

    I think as someone else mentioned, the people who seem to want to buy a ps3 only seem to go on about blue ray, hd etc.. and fail to talk about the games.

    tickles me heart i tell thee.

  • ToeWars #102 6 years ago

    Most of you are missing the point and getting bogged down in semantics.

    The simple fact is this: Microsoft is cancer. They have a monopoly of the PC OS market due to various reasons, some dubious and others downright nefarious. A world where there is only Xbox in the West - because frankly I doubt Japan will ever forgive a company that named it's prototype games console "project Midway"- Well, it's going to be a sorry place for gamers of all persuasions.

    What can we expect? Big men with guns, women in bikinis (fantasy, sci-fi, fighting) and the occasional sorry attempt at something "kooky" or "kiddie" just to cover all the demographic bases. The software will be tawdry, unimaginative, generic and overwhelmingly unremarkable and the hardware requient on a 3-5 year upgrade mandate. Basically, gaming hell. Do you want that? Do you, Xbox fanboys, want that kind of gaming ennui?

    Stop slagging Sony and stop your insane evangelising of Microsoft. You are fools to think that a victory in sales and franchise purchasing will make your gaming life any better.

    I suppose that it is inevitable that Microsoft wil win. I mean, they have more money than God and sooner or later their immense cash surplus will prevail. They are, after all, the only company that can shrug off billions of dollars worth of losses as they did with Xbox 1.

    I agree that PS3 is an expensive alternative and on this E3's showing a disappointing "me too" effort. But for the love of games, will you all please stop supporting Microsoft's attempts to turn the gaming world into the same sterile, second rate, unreliable and stealth-expense minefield that today's PC market has become.

    Finally for those who still harbour doubts. How expensive do you think the next Xbox will be should Microsoft win this round of hardware wars? Do you think that they'll accept the same massive losses once they are the last dollar bill standing?

    *Sorry for edits, spelling and all that.
    Edited by 3 at 13/05/06 @ 01:47

  • MrGrumpy.au #103 6 years ago

    @ToeWars, thats just crazy Sony/Microsoft/Nintendo are all in it to dominate the market (just like Atari/Mattel/Coleco/Sega/Hanimex/NEC etc were). And I think you'll find Sony "as a whole" is a lot larger company than Microsoft.

    What can we expect? Big men with guns, women in bikinis (fantasy, sci-fi, fighting) and the occasional sorry attempt at something "kooky" or "kiddie" just to cover all the demographic bases.

    You realise you just described a lot of the PS2 games as well there eg. Killzone (big men with guns), Rumble Roses (women in bikinis) and I'm not going to touch the "kooky or kiddie" comment.

    Do you, Xbox fanboys, want that kind of gaming ennui?

    Well then do you as a PS fanboy(god I hate that word) want the same cause they both are very similar in gaming genres.


    I wouldn't worry we'll always have at least 2 - 3 companies battling it out, maybe if one falls Sega or someone else may jump back in to the console game.

  • Dizzy #104 6 years ago

    "whatever about blu-ray's success or failure with movies, no doubt it's sheer capacity and potential will help games designers create MUCH bigger tables of data for their games. which is great for us. "

    Sadly you are talking out of your ass. As a developer, bigger storage is NOT in any way linked to bigger games. They only things you can use to fill up your next gen drive is sounds, prerendered movies or other easily generated assets. NOT geometry or complex big worlds. That will be done with procedural algoritms (yes also for textures). It is just not possible to let human artists make all those. So the whole next gen drive will provide bigger (better?) games is totally bullocks and a classic FUD campaign from Sony. The only way they could fill it up is actually have a very inelligent computer program generate a very complex world for you (a lot more complex than Oblivion). People are working on that... so yes it will happen... just not in the next couple of years.

    >The simple fact is this: Microsoft is cancer.

    One word: Rootkit... nuff said. enjoy your Sony monopoly.
    Edited by 2 at 14/05/06 @ 16:26

  • SeesThroughAll #105 6 years ago

    One word: Rootkit... nuff said. enjoy your Sony monopoly.

    Rootkit? Last I recall they got sued to death for this. They paid for it, mate. Can you say the same about MS?

    This is just hilarious!! What monopoly?

    Here: just a question, how many companies have a 50 billion dollar passive? And for those companies, how can you explain such huge profits?

  • Razz #106 6 years ago

    PS3 pwns all!

  • Kafeen #107 6 years ago

    That being the case, why not offer a BD-ROM as an upgrade when such a point is (eventually) reached, and the unit price is cheaper?
    Because then not only do you complecate consoles by having a Core and Premium package, you also need to make sure you have all the right upgrades for it. One if the advantages of consoles over PC's is that its users don't need to be very tech savvy, they can just stick in a game and play without needing to worry about the specs of the system.

  • miiiguel #108 6 years ago

    ehehehe! This is hilarious, how many of you have MS or Sony shares ? Don't you guys have a football team to support or something ?
    Go play with with your PS2, and dream about the fantastic machine PS3 might be, everyone's entitled to choose the gaming system they want.
    I use an 360, because it's the best machine arround by far, I couldn't stand play another month in those decrepit machines that PS2 and XB are. And if PS3 shows to be oh so much better than the 360, I'll get one.

    edit: The BD size: I don't want a game the size of Oblivion for the next 6 months, I "spent" 140 hours playing it and I still lack going through half the map, and it occupies 50% of a DVD9, the ones who think that developers are going to make games with 50gb of size might be wrong, it would take ages, and huges piles of money to develop.

    toe_wars: you should get that cancer out of your desk, right now!

    off-topic: Can't get anymore "decent" movies in UMD format, is it dead ?
    Edited by 5 at 15/05/06 @ 13:11

  • 2099net #109 6 years ago

    +++ Because then not only do you complecate consoles by having a Core and Premium package, you also need to make sure you have all the right upgrades for it. One if the advantages of consoles over PC's is that its users don't need to be very tech savvy, they can just stick in a game and play without needing to worry about the specs of the system. +++

    But the Blu-Ray drive will only be used for a handful of games. Even games full of FMV clips could be presented on multiple discs - Swapping discs on the Final Fantasy games never harmed their reputation or sales. (And of course, with it's graphical power, the PS3 shouldn't need any FMV clips at all, being perfectly capable of rendering everything in real-time).

    As many people have explained, its highly doubtful any software company will have the time to create the assets needed to fill more then 9Gb (physical, there can still be compression on top of this).

    Even if they could, would this fit into Sony's plans? They don't want a consumer buying a single game and being enthralled by its scope and gameplay for several months... Sony want to sell as many games as possible so that they can gain as much revenue as possible through their licence fee and manufacturing charges.

    Sony haven't put a BD-ROM in the PS3 to benefit gamers, they've done it to benefit themselves and their format war. And for that, they are charging each and every customer a premium.
    Edited by 2 at 16/05/06 @ 10:03

  • fizzer25 #110 6 years ago

    I believe the key word here is choice like the dude says no one has to buy these consoles no one is forcing you!
    If having the best spec system on paper is whats important go and buy a pc and upgrade the thing every 3 months
    If you want cutting edge gameplay with more choice at a reasonable price get a 360 if you just wanna have a ps3 just cos theyre the best hardware get one like my retarded mate who knows sweet fa about games but says he is getting one, without even knowing what a blueray drive is!!

    its mindless morons like him who ensure sony won't fail with this gen but i foresee the playing field becomning much more level for all 3 parties!!!! which can only be good for the gamer!

    I recently got back into gaming after an absence of 5 years i read up on both 360 and ps3 and have to say that sony is clearly overcharging and ripping their customers off but i believe the brand name playstation is 2 successful to totally fail this time round, even if theyre paying morons like harrison x amopunt of pounds when its clear that he knows sweet fa!!

    i have had a ps one and ps 2 then an xbox now a 360 and its safe to say i wont ever be ripped off by sony again cos ps1 and 2 were both unreliable and a pile of crud especially 2!!!

    Edited by 1 at 03/07/06 @ 16:21