Playstation 3?

[EricRyan34]

Has anyone heard of any release date about this? Or maybe some pictures of it? (if there are any)

[PC-Famicom64]

Has anyone heard of any release date about this? Or maybe some pictures of it? (if there are any)The PS3 will be out in 2006.

[SMB]

I think that the Nintendo "Revolution" is coming out when PS3 comes out :)

[Graham Mitchell]

I beg the question: do we really need a PS3?

Does it have anything other than a minimal graphics upgrade that makes it worth buying (playing MP3's will not make it worth buying, if that's what people are going to say.)

[EricRyan34]

Oh, I thought Nintendo wasnt going to be making another system?? Thats what I read somewhere a long time ago :embarrassed:

[PC-Famicom64]

I beg the question: do we really need a PS3?

Does it have anything other than a minimal graphics upgrade that makes it worth buying (playing MP3's will not make it worth buying, if that's what people are going to say.)Heck Yes!

[EricRyan34]

I beg the question: do we really need a PS3?)


Yes!! I will def. be buying it, just need more info about it!

[kai123]

I beg the question: do we really need a PS3?

Does it have anything other than a minimal graphics upgrade that makes it worth buying (playing MP3's will not make it worth buying, if that's what people are going to say.)


Yes we do need graphic upgrades. It is painfully obvious that games are starting to get about as much juice as we are going to get out of this generation. Did we need a SNES when we had the NES? Not really but it was the next step needed in the evolution of games.

[EricRyan34]

Yeah definitly. We always say, "how can the graphics get any better?" But we just keep getting surprised with better ones!

[omnedon]

We always say, "how can the graphics get any better?" But we just keep getting surprised with better ones!


This will soon end. Mark my words. The end of graphics driving console sales is nigh.

I can hardly wait. Then all that will be left to innovate with is AI and gameplay. 8-)

[EricRyan34]

Yeah, its going to be insane.

[ehall]

We always say, "how can the graphics get any better?" But we just keep getting surprised with better ones!


This will soon end. Mark my words. The end of graphics driving console sales is nigh.

I can hardly wait. Then all that will be left to innovate with is AI and gameplay. 8-)

Do you mean that you think graphics will no longer improve? That seems pretty pessimistic and improbable, to me anyway. I can't see graphics ever hitting a ceiling, at least, not until I'm playing my favorite Indiana Jones movie and controlling Harrison Ford.....

[EricRyan34]

not until I'm playing my favorite Indiana Jones movie and controlling Harrison Ford.....



Haha, yeah exactly

[kai123]

We always say, "how can the graphics get any better?" But we just keep getting surprised with better ones!


This will soon end. Mark my words. The end of graphics driving console sales is nigh.

I can hardly wait. Then all that will be left to innovate with is AI and gameplay. 8-)


You are really stepping out on a ledge with a prediction like that. ;) I think it will be longer than you seem to think. Of course you didn't post a time you thought this might happen. It won't ever stop improving there will always be something bigger and better that comes along. I don't think it will stop until we have a holodeck. :-P

[Lady Jaye]

Don't you know that the next big step is the virtual reality that was such a popular catchy word in the early 90s...

[Raedon]

as long as the medium of delivery is a HDTV systems based on graphics only should max out. I think you are going to see something like a "Matrix" type thing someday but that is so far into the future.

[EricRyan34]

I think you are going to see something like a "Matrix" type thing someday but that is so far into the future.


I agree, its gonna be crazy in about 40-50 years from now. I can't even imagine X_x

[JJNova]

Let's hope that AI and Gameplay are going to be concentrated on more often anyway, shall we?

[izret101]

The general public like flashy games with minimal game depth.

But i would love to see smoother graphics better gameplay, smart AI, etc,etc, I am very demanding.

[Ed Oscuro]

Do you mean that you think graphics will no longer improve? That seems pretty pessimistic and improbable, to me anyway. I can't see graphics ever hitting a ceiling, at least, not until I'm playing my favorite Indiana Jones movie and controlling Harrison Ford.....
By that time we'll be busy pointing out that there's only 5 photorealistic characters onscreen, and that we still miss the 2D games like Smash TV and Gunstar Heroes where you had tons of characters onscreen.

[Lord007]

I beg the question: do we really need a PS3?

Does it have anything other than a minimal graphics upgrade that makes it worth buying (playing MP3's will not make it worth buying, if that's what people are going to say.)

Yea, playing MP3's isn't anything exciting but being able to play Blu-Ray movies is definitely nice. Regular DVD players are much better watching movies on compared to PS2, but for a lot of people they didn't own a DVD player until getting a PS2. Of course that is only a plus...playing new games on a new system right after it's released is always exciting.

[Lord_Magus]

I don't think we really need a PS3, but the public is asking for it. :/

Its not going to bring anything new to games, thats for sure. I don't even know why mentioning that it might have mp3 playback or play movie DVDs is of any significance, since we're supposedly talking about a game console, not a 100-in-1 swiss army knife...

[JJNova]

Its not going to bring anything new to games, thats for sure. I don't even know why mentioning that it might have mp3 playback or play movie DVDs is of any significance, since we're supposedly talking about a game console, not a 100-in-1 swiss army knife...

Actually, Sony wants it's system to be a "Media Player" to replace all the items that are currently taking up space on your Entertainment Center. This was announced way back at PS2's release.

[Muscelli]

i just wish this next generation has those fmv games like on the sega cd... i mean, yeah they bombed on the scd, but they looked all fuzzy and stuff..

i think the fmv games need a comeback, with dvd video on ps2 and x!

[PC-Famicom64]

i just wish this next generation has those fmv games like on the sega cd... i mean, yeah they bombed on the scd, but they looked all fuzzy and stuff..

i think the fmv games need a comeback, with dvd video on ps2 and x!Wey can't HAL Laboratory Inc,TMS and Nintendo make a fmv game about Kirby?,And yes fmv games do need a come-back.

[slip81]

Actually, Sony wants it's system to be a "Media Player" to replace all the items that are currently taking up space on your Entertainment Center. This was announced way back at PS2's release.

I doubt they will do this, but I wish Sony would do something like release two seperate version of the PS3 at the same time. One that costs like $500 that plays DVD's games, mp3's, speaker jacks for 5.1, and tivo capabilities with an 80 hour recording time and backward compatibility. And another one for like $150 that just plays games.

Why? Because me, and most people like me already have a stand alone DVD player, 5.1 reciever, a VCR (for recording t.v shows) or tivo, and a computer with an mp3 player and/or ipod (or like device) hooked into their stereo, and won't sell their old systems when the newest thing comes out.

When the PS3 comes out in 06 I will definately not be buying it till it's $100 or less because I don't need all that extra crap. Besides the more things a piece of electronics does it usually does them worse.

The PSX had a simple laser that read only PSX games and audio CD's, and I never heard of a DRE. PS2 reads four different formats and the Xbox reads three, what do you get? Problems aplenty with the drives.

[Lord_Magus]

Its not going to bring anything new to games, thats for sure. I don't even know why mentioning that it might have mp3 playback or play movie DVDs is of any significance, since we're supposedly talking about a game console, not a 100-in-1 swiss army knife...

Actually, Sony wants it's system to be a "Media Player" to replace all the items that are currently taking up space on your Entertainment Center. This was announced way back at PS2's release.

If people want an all-in-one system, the best solution is to set up an entertainment focused PC - they can do anything these days! :P
http://img16.exs.cx/img16/6150/CoffeeMakingPC.jpg

[imanerd0011]

In the defense of Omnedon, I think he ment that graphics won't be upgraded near as much as they have been in the past. I mean, this will be the first system to come out, that the graphics aren't going to really shock people all that much. When SNES came out people were amazed by the graphics, just like with the N64, and with PS2.
I know someone said that people always say "how much better can graphics get" , which people do say all the time. But honestly , how much better can they really get now?

Even if the PS3 has the greatest graphics the world has ever seen, I won't care anyway, cause I will still be playing my NES 95% of the time ! \^_^/

[omnedon]

IMO, photo-realistic is the graphics *wall*. We are within striking distance of that now. Gran Turismo 3 comes damned close already, and that's an early release PS2 title.

Graphics stopped wowing me around the release of Unreal on the PC. Now things get less jagged. Textures get more detailed. Shadows get more dynamic.

Diminishing returns says I.

You know what wows me now? Attention to detail. Hand drawn Art, with real artistic merit. Cohesive visuals and music, thematically matched.

Some Neo Geo games wow me. Other classics wow me.

More polys bores me.

My 0.02. :)

[Anexanhume]

Absolutely, think of graphics as an exponential graph. Sure, the graphics improve, but the difference is so nominal that it becomes less and less noticeable. It's like the difference between 50 million and 60 million polygons to a character or 10,000 or 11,000 characters onscreen, you know? I'd say the generation after next will be where the wall is definitely hit upon, if it isn't already there by then.

[Raedon]

Things are far from a 3D wall.. Usually there is only one "light" in racing games and even if there are more they are all faked threw engine tricks. Even Doom III is programming tricks when it comes to lighting. And that is just lighting.

A system would need to be able to calculate 10 layers of the skin and structure of more then 20 organic beings with 10,000,000 hairs, layered clothes, 100 light sources and hold the AI if a 20 MPH wind hits them all while a 1 billion particle nuke explosion is about to happen in real time. This is at least a decade away.

Consoles have room to grow graphically for at least 4-6 more iterations.

Hell, even movie CG still looks fake.. So to say that consoles can't get better graphically or that it won't help I think you are just upset about the quality of the current games.




it won't help I think you are just upset about the quality of the current games.

Like I said, You guys are upset about gameplay not graphics.

[squirrelnut]

Things are far from a 3D wall.. Usually there is only one "light" in racing games and even if there are more they are all faked threw engine tricks. Even Doom III is programming tricks when it comes to lighting. And that is just lighting.

A system would need to be able to calculate 10 layers of the skin and structure of more then 20 organic beings with 10,000,000 hairs, layered clothes, 100 light sources and hold the AI if a 20 MPH wind hits them all while a 1 billion particle nuke explosion is about to happen in real time. This is at least a decade away.

Consoles have room to grow graphically for at least 4-6 more iterations.

Hell, even movie CG still looks fake.. So to say that consoles can't get better graphically or that it won't help I think you are just upset about the quality of the current games.


or instead of making a piece of hair move, how about making a game that can entertain us with gameplay? :roll:

[Hovoc]

or instead of making a piece of hair move, how about making a game that can entertain us with gameplay? :roll:

:duh:

[SkiDragon]

Actually, Sony wants it's system to be a "Media Player" to replace all the items that are currently taking up space on your Entertainment Center. This was announced way back at PS2's release.

So lets see, if I look at my "entertainment center", that means the PS3 will play DVDs, video tapes, will recieve satellite television (its bad when I almost spelled that as tellivision), and play... Sega Saturn games?

Anyway, yeah, graphics are like a line that always approaches a point but never gets there. Perhaps it will always be possible to make graphics look better, but unless you plan on making games somehow look better than the real world, there is a limit. Id say we are at least halfway to "reality" now. If each successive console gets halfway there, we will never reach that point, but we will be too close to care. Thats why I think future consoles have to rely on other innovations. Thats why I like the idea behind the DS, although Im not sure how well its been executed.

[max 330 mega]

*crawls out from under his rock*
whats a playstation???


truthfully tho, this isn't any news that has me excited in the least, i havn't really enjoyed a 3D game since N64, and there were very few for N64 i even liked.
who cares that the graphics are life like??? i videogame is a game not a movie you control! it seems like thats what everyone wants it to be, but that just takes all the fun out of it for me. i play games to get away from real life, not to reenact it in the game! 2D games are always gonna reign king in my book, i love the cartoonish graphics, the bright colors, and over all fun factor far more . 3D just cant do certain genres of games that 2D can as well. I really don't think a 3D metal slug or strikers 1945 could ever be as fun as a 2D one.

as little play as my PS2 gets, i doubt ill be buying a PS3.

[pixelsnpolygons]

Oh, I thought Nintendo wasnt going to be making another system?? Thats what I read somewhere a long time ago

No they're making one.


As for the graphics debate - I take a look at this generations games and I have to say, we have a LONG way to go before graphics hit a wall. Games like Halo 2 may look nice, but they clearly look like games. When we hit the photorealistic era, where in-game graphics at least match Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, I'll start saying the end of graphic enhancement is drawing to a close. That's at least 10 years from now.

[omnedon]

Raedon:

A system would need to be able to calculate 10 layers of the skin and structure of more then 20 organic beings with 10,000,000 hairs, layered clothes, 100 light sources and hold the AI if a 20 MPH wind hits them all while a 1 billion particle nuke explosion is about to happen in real time. This is at least a decade away.


Diminishing returns says I. Once we are talking about hair movement, we are no longer talking about anything that enhances game play.

"But Moooooom, the new console lets the game character's hair move! I neeeeed it!""

[Nature Boy]

Come on people - are graphics *all* you can think of when it comes to new hardware? You're as bad as the people you're criticising!

New hardware should mean better AI. And I find that pretty exciting.

Remember the days when games like Home Run or Combat were two player only? Didn't you want to play those on your own? I sure did - and newer hardware (in my case, the Atari 400) let me do that.

Maybe the next gen will allow programmers to make something *totally* open ended. Take a MMORPG for example - today you need to play with friends (ala Home Run). Maybe tomorrow you won't have to...

[EricRyan34]

I dont see why all these people have so much against the PS3, its gonna be really cool.

[max 330 mega]

I dont see why all these people have so much against the PS3, its gonna be really cool.
because im a 2D whore. :D screw the next gen!

[Anthony1]

I beg the question: do we really need a PS3?




I think the more logical question is do we really need a XBOX Next. The PS2 definitely has it's share of issues, from a pure horsepower standpoint, but the XBOX doesn't appear to have a very serious need to be replaced. When a game is made for all 3 consoles, 9 times out of 10 the XBOX version will have the superior graphics and sounds. And when games are made specificially for the XBOX, they push the graphics and sounds envelope even further.

But in regards to the PS2, there are a couple of major reasons why it needs to be improved.

1. Very few PS2 games have progressive scan capabilities. I know this might not seem like a big deal to people, but it actually is a pretty big deal for those of us with HDTV's and progressive scan TV's. Once you get used to progressive scan games, it get's very hard to go back and play non progressive scan games. Especially if you have a HDTV that will show it off really well.

2. No Dolby Digital 5.1 sound during actual gameplay. One absolutely huge advantage that the XBOX does have is the fact that it can decode Dolby Digital 5.1 on the fly during actual gameplay. If you have a kick ass Home Theater soundsystem, then hearing XBOX games in 5.1 sound is truly an amazing experience. Sound is so often forgotten about, but a good 5.1 soundtrack on a XBOX game can really make a huge difference in the overall mood of the game.


If the PS2 had every game being at least 480p, and every game being in Dolby Digital 5.1 sound during the actual gameplay, then I don't think the need for a PS3 would be that great. But let's face it, the PS3 doesn't exactly have the polygon pushing power of the Cube or XBOX either, so it could use help in that department as well. There is a certain look to PS2 games that makes you know that it's a PS2 game, and it just isn't quite as nice as a XBOX or Cube game from a visual standpoint. Whenever multi platform games are advertised the XBOX screenshots are the ones that are actually shown, there is a reason for this.


The other thing about a PS3 and XBOX 2 and Nintendo Revolution, is that now we are entering into the world of HDTV and Widescreen. They are getting more and more commonplace.The next generation of systems are definitely going to take more advantage of the resolution that HDTV's are capable of. As well as the widescreen aspect ratio.

Most of the Widescreen stuff that has been so far hasn't really been done in true anamorphic 16:9 widescreen mode. It's more a pseudo widescreen mode than a real one. I think with the next round of consoles, we will see the first really true Widescreen games in true HDTV resolutions as being a "standard" feature if you will.

On the XBOX, 480p is basically a given. On the next level of systems, 720p and 1080i will be givens.

I'm sure that most people on this forum think I'm talking out my ass when I talk about this, but I think you will be quite suprised at just how much an improvement a true 1080i 16:9 game will be over what we are experiencing right now. Take a game like Doom 3. When Doom 3 hits the XBOX, it will be a cool thing, but PC gamers will look at it and think that it's a watered down version, and unfortunately that actually will be the case. The main reason is going to be the resolution. People can play Doom 3 at 1600 x 1200 on their super tricked out PC's, but when Doom 3 hits the XBOX it will be 480p, which is basically the equivalent of 640 x 480, the lowest PC resolution used in games.

So the difference between a game on a totally tricked out PC and a console is pretty big from a visual standpoint, but when we get true HDTV games with these next round of consoles the advantage will be back to the console side.

[EnemyZero]

last i heard end of 2006 possibly 07...but does it matter...from the way this generation wen't, with the exception of a few good titles...do we really wanna spend another 300 on a system.....i may consider a nintendo revolution only because...nintendo hasn't changed much since the nes days....but then again thats a big if

[Graham Mitchell]

I don't think we really need a PS3, but the public is asking for it. :/

Its not going to bring anything new to games, thats for sure. I don't even know why mentioning that it might have mp3 playback or play movie DVDs is of any significance, since we're supposedly talking about a game console, not a 100-in-1 swiss army knife...

I'm glad somebody agrees with me!

[it290]

I think you have to consider the other side of the coin when you're talking about graphics - production/money. Yes, engines and hardware still have a ways to go in terms of realistic lighting, physics, geometry, and so forth. But even when photorealistic graphics are possible, immense resources will be needed to actually create them. There will always be those 'blockbuster' type games that actually have the budget for this, but many games from smaller companies will not, nor will people always want photorealism.

Think about it. To create a truly photorealistic game, you'll have to have real people's faces used for every character on the game, not to mention large motion capture libraries. On top of that, you'll need a huge team to create geometry and textures. Look around at your desk. Odds are the number of objects that are on or near it far exceed anything you've seen on a desk in a video game. Creating a realistic world is far more daunting than filming a scene with a motion picture camera. Unless someone invents a device that can do a 3d scan of a whole area at once, resources will be far too limited to create many truly photorealistic games.

[EricRyan34]

I am very happy with the ps2, but I am sure the ps3 will be a really huge success, i just hope that the price of games decrease :/

[Graham Mitchell]

I am very happy with the ps2, but I am sure the ps3 will be a really huge success, i just hope that the price of games decrease :/

Games are already way cheaper than they used to be when they were in cartridges. Remember how much Final Fantasy 2 cost? ($79.99 at launch).

[Raedon]

Good points on the PS2, another is load times on newer games.. levels between Burnout 3 are horrible. and even if you could play the PS2 on a HDTV it could never keep framerate over the 640x480 it's pushing. And no anti-aliasing at all?

Nintendo's GC needed a digital audio out.

[JJNova]

I am very happy with the ps2, but I am sure the ps3 will be a really huge success, i just hope that the price of games decrease :/

Games are already way cheaper than they used to be when they were in cartridges. Remember how much Final Fantasy 2 cost? ($79.99 at launch).


Mortal Kombat on Mortal Monday was also this price at Toys R Us. I waited for the truck to come in. :)



last i heard end of 2006 possibly 07...but does it matter...from the way this generation wen't, with the exception of a few good titles...do we really wanna spend another 300 on a system.....i may consider a nintendo revolution only because...nintendo hasn't changed much since the nes days....but then again thats a big if

I am in this same boat with you. The N5 (or that horrible code name you used) is at the top of my list for the next generation of consoles, but I can't say I will be traveling 300 miles just to pick one up on release day (I did for the GC).....matter of fct, I might even wait for Players Choice games before I buy an N5