Technology

PS3 Initial Impressions Review

A little while ago, Sony unveiled the much-anticipated PlayStation 3 at E3. And boy, does it look nice.

Here are some images of this beautful Next-Gen machine (courtesy of IGN)

Backside

Underside

Top

Front

Comes in a variety of colours!

Top Diagonal

Controversial 'Boomerang' Controller

PS3 + Controller

Now then, now that you've had a chance to gaze upon this nice looking machine, let's get it on.

The tech specs seem impressive. Here they are.

Product name: PlayStation 3

Logo: PLAYSTATION(R)3

CPU Cell Processor PowerPC-base Core @3.2GHz 1 VMX vector unit per core 512KB L2 cache 7 x SPE @3.2GHz 7 x 128b 128 SIMD GPRs 7 x 256KB SRAM for SPE * 1 of 8 SPEs reserved for redundancy total floating point performance: 218 GFLOPS

GPU RSX @550MHz 1.8 TFLOPS floating point performance Full HD (up to 1080p) x 2 channels Multi-way programmable parallel floating point shader pipelines

Sound Dolby 5.1ch, DTS, LPCM, etc. (Cell- base processing)

Memory 256MB XDR Main RAM @3.2GHz 256MB GDDR3 VRAM @700MHz

System Bandwidth Main RAM 25.6GB/s VRAM 22.4GB/s RSX 20GB/s (write) + 15GB/s (read) SB< 2.5GB/s (write) + 2.5GB/s (read)

System Floating Point Performance 2 TFLOPS

Storage Detachable 2.5" HDD slot x 1

I/O USB Front x 4, Rear x 2 (USB2.0) Memory Stick standard/Duo, PRO x 1 SD standard/mini x 1 CompactFlash (Type I, II) x 1

Communication Ethernet (10BASE-T, 100BASE-TX, 1000BASE-T) x 3 (input x 1 + output x 2) Wi-Fi IEEE 802.11 b/g Bluetooth 2.0 (EDR)

Controller Bluetooth (up to 7) USB 2.0 (wired) Wi-Fi (PSP) Network (over IP)

AV Output Screen size: 480i, 480p, 720p, 1080i, 1080p HDMI: HDMI out x 2 Analog: AV MULTI OUT x 1 Digital audio: DIGITAL OUT (OPTICAL) x 1

Disc Media CD PlayStation CD-ROM, PlayStation 2 CD-ROM, CD-DA, CD-DA (ROM), CD-R, CD-RW, SACD, SACD Hybrid (CD layer), SACD HD, DualDisc, DualDisc (audio side), DualDisc (DVD side) DVD: PlayStation 2 DVD-ROM, PlayStation 3 DVD-ROM, DVD-Video, DVD-ROM, DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD+R, DVD+RW Blu-ray Disc: PlayStation 3 BD-ROM, BD-Video, BD-ROM, BD-R, BD-RE

Now that we've got that outta the way, let's actually talk about the system.

Now the PS3 looks good. Sleek, you know? I think it will be king of the consoles, in the lines of PS and PS2.

But lets move on. I've seen the videos for games on the PS3. Beautiful. Really, really beautiful. Killzone 2 in particular is beautiful. And it's all real-time gameplay, which was confirmed by Sony execs at E3. It's been said that PS3 is 35+ times more powerful than PS2. Whoa.

The PS3 is said to be utilising the Blu-Ray disc format, which can hold many times more information than your standard DVD ROM. So, there's a plus right there.

Also, PS3 is backwards compatible with all PS2 and PS games. Right there, you already have a library of over 1500 games. And Sony has a lot of publisher support, so count on a lot of kick ass games coming out.

The controller is aparently an issue of controversy, because it does away with the Dual Shock design, a very popular design. The PS3 does have some elemtns of the Dual Shock retained, as all the buttons are there, none have been removed, none have been added, so the controls should be easy to use. The PS3 controller, if you viewed the images above, look similiar to a boomerang, so a lot of PlayStation fans are pissed off. But I'll be honest. I think the design looks kind of cool, and as long as its comfortable and easy to use, it's good enough for me. The controller is also wireless. It can last for 24 hours, before having to recharge. Freakin' Sweet!

The PS3 also comes in three different colours, White, Black, and Silver. So you have options, you know?

Also, PS3 will be online, so that's good.

But here's a negative. Unofficial sources say that the PS3 will be pricey. Upwards of $450 US. Now, this is not officially confirmed, and is just a rumour, so I'd say don't take it too seriously.

The PS3 also features connectivity with the PSP, which is good.

Time to wrap it up. The PS3 is scheduled to ship Spring 2006.