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Sony considering external PS3 hard drive? News
PlayStation 3 News by Robert Purchese
SCEE boss David Reeves has admitted he is unsure if Sony will stick to offering only the 40GB PS3 unit.
Speaking to Eurogamer, he hinted towards the possibility of introducing official external hard drives as he delivered his vision of consumer storage choice.
"We launched with 60GB and to reduce the price we went to 40GB. We're not sure we want to stay with that configuration of hard drive, and I think what you're going to see in the future is maybe consumers can choose," Reeves told Eurogamer.
"The PlayStation will stay the same, but consumers can choose whichever size of hard drive they want. They can now, or course, because it's not a proprietary hard drive."
"It might be that we will offer the possibility for people to have a bigger hard drive, but they have that option now. But it does not mean that we have anything in the works to introduce a different model or bigger hard drive built in," added Reeves.
You can plug external hard drives into the PS3 using a USB cable attachment, as Reeves pointed out, as well as buy 2.5 inch SATA (laptop) hard drives and swap them with the one inside your console.
The key in all of this for Sony is simplicity, because it knows that works. It also has a very low system failure rate and is in no rush to upset it.
"We've played the games with the hardware, with different hard drives and things like that, and we want to keep it very, very simple. We know that works," said Reeves.
"We've got a very, very low return rate on the machines that are out; we've got a great supplier, so we'll keep that simple. We're just going to play the tunes with the games, both at retail and online."
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Inquisitor
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07/05/08 @ 14:02
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He's tying himself in knots trying to explain that one :P
Good effort but he's sort of given the game away, why even mention something so convoluted if you're not going to do it.
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most recently on 07/05/08 @ 15:02
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RazorObsession
07/05/08 @ 14:23
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i suppose with all the game installations over the course of a lifetime, the ps3 will need a bigger hard drive eventually. i guess thats future proofing PR hes spinning there.
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320GB internal for 70 quid...
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/productin...
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most recently on 07/05/08 @ 15:49
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I might be being picky here, but where in that story does he even mention that Sony is 'considering an external hard drive'. He says you can update your own internal drive or plug in a USB drive and that at present they're not changing the internal model's size. Did you miss the quote or something?
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SeesThroughAll
07/05/08 @ 14:59
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Zander, they forgot to include the HDMI cable though...
Or, they might just want give the consumer the choice... You mean, just like MS forgot to include the HDMI output at launch? Now, it's OK though. Seeing as you bought the 360 three times already, you're bound to have gotten at least one with that option. A hundred pounds for a 120GB is a great option though, for all those loyal clients who bought the cheapest alternative. Rocks and glass rooftops, you know... |
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My guess is a slim will appear before the year is out. I wonder if they're sticking with a 40Gb to give more incentive for people to buy a premium slim if / when it appears.
BTW its incredibly easy to expand the PS3's storage. Any USB storage device will do, or a 2.5" SATA drive if you're confident enough to whip out the old drive.
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most recently on 07/05/08 @ 16:00
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SeesThroughAll, err..., I never understood the hdmi thing though..., my Elite output is as nice as my "day one" Premium. About the HD-size, and as I live in Portugal where there's no movie service nor the games need instalation, I never went above 8-10 gb. As a matter of fact I just bought the Elite "because", I didn't really need it... (the other one was a gift from gf who was in US, it doesn't run PAL games though, but it's kinda nice for "historical reasons").
And I'm not "loyal" to any company (just to friends, family, and SCP), as I would never (not) buy anything because of such "funny fellings". I was just saying that I found it very strange after all that talk about "true HD" and then it didn't even include a cheap cable, I mean... would they bankrupt if they included a damn cable with the box ? |
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SeesThroughAll
07/05/08 @ 15:15
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And I'm not "loyal" to any company (just to friends, family, and SCP), as I would never (not) buy anything because of such "funny fellings". I was just saying that I found it very strange after all that talk about "true HD" and then it didn't even include a cheap cable, I mean... would they bankrupt if they included a damn cable with the box ?
You are aware that they've been losing more money out of hardware costs than all of their competition from day one, though. The scham is indeed obvious to most people, and hasn't helped them that much. It's not like they would get bankrupt, but then they get more profit from the overpriced cable. ;) Come on, at least there's plenty of cheaper third-party cables to go round, and they will work fine (and in some cases, better) than the ones from Sony. SCP? Tambem eu! :D |
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I might be being picky here, but where in that story does he even mention that Sony is 'considering an external hard drive'. He says you can update your own internal drive or plug in a USB drive and that at present they're not changing the internal model's size. Did you miss the quote or something?
Er, this is what I thought. The headline seems pretty different to what's actually inside the article :/ |
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@oreillymj
I just meant why bother - get an actual PC for that stuff! @ miiiguel Im not trying to get into some fanboy argument (not that i am suggesting you are) but a) ms didn't even make hard drives a standard (which causes developers issues) and b) the xbox isn't even wifi right outta the box! I mean having a moan about sony labeling ps3 "true HD" when ms talk about xbox being "next gen" and not being wireless *out of the box* (even the wii has it!) is a bit odd. Oh and with the non forum comment - at least sony gave you the CHOICE to install a standard hard drive.
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most recently on 07/05/08 @ 16:26
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tonynibbles
07/05/08 @ 15:24
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It's true - HDD doesn't matter as you can pick up any drive you like easily enough from where you like. No biggie.
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@ lambtron & JaysonG:
Couldn't agree more, guys. Between you, you've just mentioned my 3 criteria for getting a PS3. If Sony doesn't do it, then they can STUFF themselves for this generation - I'll wait until the next. I've got PLENTY of perfectly good PS2 and PSP games that I want to finish, so they will keep me busy for a long time. I'm not what you might call a hardcore gamer that finishes games quicker than the developers might say it will take, but I have been loyal to the PlayStation brand. Until the debacle that was the UK launch of the PS3. It was late, too expensive, lacked in specification (in contrast with the Japanese/US models), had limited BC (now none!) and no DualShock3 either! Shambles, pathetic and daylight robbery is all I can say about that. |
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SlackMaster
07/05/08 @ 15:28
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Hmm, didn't Sony criticize Microsoft for offering choice a little while back, saying that it'd be too confusing for the general public.
So what he's saying is that's all ok now… and on top of that we're thinking of reducing the size of HDD in future bundles and charging you an arm and a leg for an external drive. Why do this if you can already plug whatever drive you want into it? Why not add an update to allow the use of large external USB drives for storage, caching etc? Hmm, I'm just waiting until they introduce the lube and ask us to bend over. |
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"So what he's saying is that's all ok now… and on top of that we're thinking of reducing the size of HDD in future bundles and charging you an arm and a leg for an external drive."
That's actually not what he's saying at all. I have no idea where Eurogamer got the title of this piece from. It certainly wasn't anything Reeves said there. |
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Zander, I was comenting a PS3 article, was not comparing boxes.
I can whine about MS not including a rechargeable batteries, if this was a 360 article, because I thing MS should have done it. I think some (? most ?) users, due to "funny feelings" lost their critical spirit. Regarding PS3, it's realy noticeable, maybe due to PS2's background... I have lots of Live mates who have no problems to point 360 faults, but my PS3 buddies have this need to say everything's perfect (one though, once, made an honest comment and said "you gota give us a break, we're used to PlayStations, since we were kids..."). I just can't have that kinda relationship with a brand/company, I couldn't even dream of not having a 360 this gen, or a PS2 the gen before. Life's too short for that "thing".
Edited 2 times,
most recently on 07/05/08 @ 16:34
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iancognito
07/05/08 @ 15:36
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I was comenting a PS3 article, was not comparing boxes.
Sounds more like you were commenting that the PS3 isn't as good as the Xbox, and having a bit of a moan about it not coming with an HDMI cable by default. I thought this was an article about an external hard drive. |
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@ iancognito, my original post:
"Zander, they forgot to include the HDMI cable though... Or, they might just want give the consumer the choice... And, ppl often forget that non-forum users don't want to be bothered with intaling discs on a console. " Can you find the Xbox word in there? Anyway, I'm outa here, you guys are obsessed with Xboxes. lol.
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most recently on 07/05/08 @ 16:39
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fair enough miiguel, but you cannot really comment on the ps3 or xbox without comparing. They are after all direct competition. Your point would not even had been valid if xbox didn't also supply the HDMI cable. I remember when the inputs used to be AV but no one moaned about not getting a scart cable (because no company supplied both so there was now arguments).
Anyway yeah there is a lot of bitching it just seem to find MS fan boys worse than PS3 ones. |
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iancognito
07/05/08 @ 15:58
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That was your original post miiiguel, but you sent started on about the Xbox, saying about this, which didn't seem much related to a PS3 hard drive:
I never understood the hdmi thing though..., my Elite output is as nice as my "day one" Premium. About the HD-size, and as I live in Portugal where there's no movie service nor the games need instalation, I never went above 8-10 gb. As a matter of fact I just bought the Elite "because", I didn't really need it... (the other one was a gift from gf who was in US, it doesn't run PAL games though, but it's kinda nice for "historical reasons"). The original point from Zander was "Sony have definitely been more user friendly in this department compared to microsoft" which I think is a fair point, but you didn't seem to agree with that either. Perhaps if he'd said MS were great you'd have been happy ;-)
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most recently on 07/05/08 @ 16:59
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"All they need to do is support external HDDs for booting games"
This... I have a 60GB Launch and that is now Chocca Block with Games, Music, Vid's & Photos. I also have nice Freecom 500GB sitting next to it with the rest of my files but it cant hold the games... :-( If it could I would be larffin... |
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SeesThroughAll
07/05/08 @ 16:00
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@iancognito:
He was replying to me, I actually explicitly referred to the 360 first, and my point was that neither manufacturer did a great job on HDMI support. |
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think he's trying to make it clear to people that they can upgrade the harddrive or use a USB,as i'm guessing alot of jo public don't know this, whilst at the same time letting people know that there will be a Playstation branded USB hard drive (hopefully not a ripp off) and this will also make it clearer to people that your not stuck with just 40Gb
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An external HDD is a bit silly IMO when upgrading the internal HDDs is cheap and (fairly) easy. But I quess a external HDD is far easier for most users to install and nice enough to give consumers the choice. The 360 HDD upgrade solution is far slicker and user friendly - just a shame it's WAY to expensive.
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most recently on 07/05/08 @ 17:30
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I think by the end of the year, they should definitely have a bigger hard drive in Europe. 80GB is a good start. Games take up so much space. Also id like to see PlayStation 3 branded internal hard drives. I don't think a lot of the consumers realize the hard drive can be upgraded. They see the retailers stocking Xbox hard drives but no PS3.
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@whoelse : I agree. Sony should consider offering HDD upgrade kits also. PS3 branded HDD's ready for insertion in the bay with a easy-to-understand guide for doing this. For people who would normally be turned off by reseaching which HDD brand/model to buy but still able to do some simple hardware upgrading.
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YourMessageHere
07/05/08 @ 16:46
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I never knew you could use a generic external drive with the PS3. They kept that quiet. I just got a £70 500GB Seagate external disc for my PC, that should hold all the media you could ever want, and leave the internal disc for games, and with some creative cabling will presumably also allow you to save things from a PC to the HD and then play them through the PS3 without any unplugging. Obviously the ideal solution would be to allow game installs on the external drive too, but it's hardly a terrible limitation if you clear your drive of non-game stuff, surely?
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You can't actually install PS3 game data on an external HDD, can you? At least I don't seem to recall that option popping up when I've had my USB disk plugged in (although it has admittedly been a while since I stream media directly from my PC).
Optional - or even mandatory - game installations can certainly be a good idea if they speed up game load times and performance, but that tiny 40 GB internal disk is really not cutting it with all the PS3 games released with mandatory 2-4+ GB installs. To make room for new games, I've several times had to go back and delete data files for games I hadn't played in a few weeks, but wasn't necessarily entirely done with. But of course replacing that internal disk with a 120 or 250 GB model is pretty damn cheap (probably a lot cheaper than the extra cost would prove to be if Sony decided to make a eg. a 250 GB PS3 model), so I guess it's probably just a matter of time before I do the upgrade. What's been holding me back so far is really mostly the fear of something going wrong during the disk replacement (whether screwing something up in the disk bay - I've been known to get a bit aggressive with a screwdriver if something appears to be stuck :), or risking corrupted backups of save games, user profiles etc.). |
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@jaywalker3010 "Maplins selling a 500GB HD for 69.99.. How effing cheap is that "
Mind this if you are getting it for your PS3 its NTFS and if i remember correctly you will need to format it to FAT32... I am going to go for one of these... 320GB internal And one of these to keep my stock 60gb in... Caddy |
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