System Overview
The PlayStation 3 is Sony's seventh generation era video game console in the PlayStation series. It is the successor to the PlayStation 2 and will mainly compete against Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Nintendo's Wii. The PS3 will be released on November 11, 2006 in Japan, November 17, 2006 in the US and March 2007 in Europe and PAL territories, and will ship in two initial configurations.
The PS3 was officially unveiled on May 16, 2005 by Sony during an E3 conference, where the console was first shown to the public. A functional version of the console was not at E3 2005 or the Tokyo Game Show in September 2005, although at both events, demonstrations were held on devkits (for example Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots) and comparable PC hardware, and video footage based on the predicted PS3 specifications was produced (for example for Mobile Suit Gundam).
PS3 Configuration & Pricing
Sony's current retail strategy for the PlayStation 3 will involve two different configurations that are detailed in a Sony Press release. The "premium" version of the PlayStation 3 will come with an internal 60 GB hard drive, Wi-Fi connectivity, HDMI output, and multiple flash memory card readers out of the box.
The second and alternate configuration of the console will have a 20 GB internal hard drive but will not feature Wi-Fi, HDMI, or a memory card reader. The hard drive is upgradeable, and memory card and Wi-Fi support can be added through adaptors, but the HDMI support is not upgradeable.
In Japan, Sony has opted to go with an open pricing scheme for the 60 GB model, allowing retailers to set a pricepoint themselves. Rakuten, one of the biggest Japanese online retailers, has set their pricepoint at ¥71,800, or ¥75,390 with taxes added (about US$675).
The PS3 has received mixed reactions for its price, which is higher than its same-generation competition in all world markets. Sony has publicly defended its pricing model, citing the PS3's higher performance and inclusion of a Blu-ray drive, of which stand-alone players will cost an estimated US$1000.
Backwards Compatibility
Sony has stated that the PlayStation 3 will have backward compatibility with the PlayStation and PlayStation 2, and that every PS1 and PS2 game that observes its respective system's TRC (Technical Requirements Checklist) will be playable on PS3 at launch.
At the 2006 PlayStation Business Briefing, SCE president Ken Kutaragi asked developers to adhere to the TRC to facilitate compatibility with future PlayStations, stating that the company was having some difficulty getting backward compatibility with games that had not followed the TRCs. "Either it's accidental or on purpose; there's actually a lot of games that don't follow the TRC."
The PlayStation 3 does not include interfaces for legacy PlayStation devices such as the DualShock controller. It is not known at this time whether USB devices for PlayStation 2 will be compatible with PlayStation 3.
Interface & Operating System
The PS3 will use the Cross Media Bar (XMB) already used in the PlayStation Portable and PSX devices. The version demonstrated at E3 2006 included options for different user profiles, the ability to explore photos, play music and movie trailers from the hard drive, compatibility for a USB Keyboard and Mouse, a full Internet browser and a Friends menu. In a separate demo Sony also presented the "Marketplace" where players can buy and download music, have a profile, and act in karaoke's in a service called "SingStar".
It has been confirmed that Linux will be pre-installed on the PS3 hard drive. Sony hopes that with its wide variety of features, PS3 will supplant the PC in the home. In addition, Sony hopes that the presence of Linux in every PS3 will encourage independent content creation such as homebrew games.
Currently it is unknown if Linux will be the operating system used to run everything, including the Cross Media Bar, or if the system will operate as a dual boot environment, where Linux would be loaded from the Cross Media Bar menu. Also, Sony has not stated what Linux distribution they will use, or if they will create their own. Kutaragi stated that the playstation 3 will be able to run popular versions of Linux, and that there might be a "CellOS".
Online (Playstation Network Platform)
In response to Microsoft's successful Xbox Live network, Sony announced a unified online service for the PlayStation 3 console at the 2006 PlayStation Business Briefing meeting in Tokyo. The name of the service has been given the working title of "PlayStation Network Platform" and Sony has confirmed that the service will be free and include multiplayer support. However developers are permitted to charge a subscription fee, as is common with MMO games. It is being jointly developed by Sony Computer Entertainment and Sony Online Entertainment.
Hardware Specifications
20 GB Model
CPU: Cell Processor
GPU: RSX
Sound: Dolby 5.1ch, DTS, LPCM
(Cell-based Processing)
Memory:
256MB XDR Main RAM
256MB GDDR3 VRAM
HDD: 2.5" Serial ATA (20GB)
i/O: USB 2.0 (x4)
Communication:
Ethernet (x1 / 10BASE-T, 100BASE-TX, 1000BASE-T)
Bluetooth 2.0 (EDR)
Wireless Controller (Bluetooth)
AV Output:
Screen size 480i, 480p, 720p, 1080i, 1080p
AV Multi Out (x1)
Digital Out (Optical) (x1)
BD/DVD/CD Drive (Read Only):
Maximum Read Speed BD 2x (BD-ROM)
DVD 8x (DVD-ROM)
CD 24x (CD-ROM)
SACD 2x
Dimensions (Apprx):
325mm (W) x 98mm (H) x 247mm (D)
Weight (Apprx):
5 Kg |
60 GB Model
CPU: Cell Processor
GPU: RSX
Sound: Dolby 5.1ch, DTS, LPCM
(Cell-based Processing)
Memory:
256MB XDR Main RAM
256MB GDDR3 VRAM
HDD: 2.5" Serial ATA (60GB)
i/O: USB 2.0 (x4), Memory Stick, CF
Communication:
Ethernet (x1 / 10BASE-T, 100BASE-TX, 1000BASE-T)
IEE 802.11 b/g (Wi-Fi)
Bluetooth 2.0 (EDR)
Wireless Controller (Bluetooth)
AV Output:
Screen size 480i, 480p, 720p, 1080i, 1080p
HDMI OUT - (x1 / HDMI NextGen)
AV Multi Out (x1)
Digital Out (Optical) (x1)
BD/DVD/CD Drive (Read Only):
Maximum Read Speed BD 2x (BD-ROM)
DVD 8x (DVD-ROM)
CD 24x (CD-ROM)
SACD 2x
Dimensions (Apprx):
325mm (W) x 98mm (H) x 247mm (D)
Weight (Apprx):
5 Kg |
Central processing unit (CPU)
3.2 GHz Cell processor: 1 PowerPC-based "Power Processing Element" and 7, 3.2 GHz Synergistic Processing Elements (SPEs). The PPE has a 512 KB L2 cache and one VMX (AltiVec) vector unit. Each of the eight SPEs is a RISC processor with 128-bit 128 SIMD GPRs and superscalar functions. Each SPE has 256 KB of L1 cache/software-addressable 4.8 GHz SRAM, called the "Local Store".
Only seven SPEs are active; the eighth is redundant, to improve yield. If one of the eight has a manufacturing defect, it is disabled without rendering the entire unit defective. Additionally, one of the seven active SPEs is reserved for use by the system's OS, leaving six SPEs directly available to applications.
Graphics processing unit (GPU)
Custom RSX or "Reality Synthesizer" design co-developed[citation needed] by NVIDIA and Sony:
• Based on NVIDIA G71 architecture, otherwise known as NV47
• Clocked at 550 MHz
• 128-bit DDR memory interface
• 211.2 GFLOPS programmable (384 FLOPS per clock)
• 1.8 TFLOPS
• Multi-way programmable parallel floating point shader pipelines
• 136 shader operations per clock
• 74.8 billion shader operations per second (100 billion with CPU)
• 24 2D texture lookups per clock
• 1.1 billion vertices per second
• 128-bit pixel precision offers rendering of scenes with high dynamic range imaging
• Full high definition output (up to and including 1080p)
Memory
Total 512 MB, split into:
• 256 MB Rambus XDR DRAM clocked at CPU die speed (3.2 GHz)
• 256 MB GDDR3 VRAM clocked at 700 MHz
Theoretical system bandwidth
• 204.8 GB/s Cell Element Interconnect Bus (Theoretical peak performance)[23]
• Cell FlexIO Bus: 35 GB/s outbound, 25 GB/s inbound (7 outbound and 5 inbound 1Byte wide channels operating at 5 GHz) (effective bandwidth typically 50-80% of total)[24]
• 25.6 GB/s to Main Ram XDR DRAM: 64 bits × 3.2 GHz / 8 bits to a byte
• 22.4 GB/s to GDDR3 VRAM: 128 bits × 700 MHz × 2 accesses per clock cycle (one per edge) / 8 bits to a byte
• RSX 20 GB/s (write), 15 GB/s (read)
• SB 2.5 GB/s write and 2.5 GB/s read
Audio/video output
Video
• Supported screen resolutions: 480i, 480p, 720p, 1080i, 1080p
• Multiple AV outputs
Composite
S-Video
Component video (output up to and including 1080p)
HDMI port (Digital video output; 60 GB model only)
Sound
• S/PDIF optical output for digital audio
• Dolby TrueHD 5.1 minimum (Blu-Ray movies only; compatible sound equipment required)
• DTS-HD
• LPCM (DSP functionality handled by the Cell processor)
Storage
• Blu-ray Disc: PlayStation 3 BD-ROM, BD-Video, BD-R, BD-RE. 2x (9.0MB/sec)
• DVD: PlayStation 2 DVD-ROM, DVD-Video, DVD-ROM, DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD+R, DVD+RW. 8x (11.0MB/sec max)
• CD: PlayStation CD-ROM, PlayStation 2 CD-ROM, CD-DA, CD-DA (ROM), CD-R, CD-RW. 24x (3.5MB/sec max)
• SACD: SACD Hybrid (CD layer) SACD HD. 2x
• Hard Drive: Pre-Installed 20 GB / 60 GB (depending on package), 2.5", detachable/upgradeable, with Linux pre-installed.[25][26]
• Flash memory interfaces (60 GB model only):
Memory Stick
CompactFlash
SD/MMC
Communications
• One Gigabit Ethernet Port
• USB 2.0 (x4)
• Bluetooth 2.0
• Wi-Fi (60 GB model only)
IEEE 802.11b/g
Power
Sony has stated that the power supply will be built into the console. A standard 3-pin IEC connector is present at the base of the console.
Overall Floating Point Capacity
In a slide show at their E3 conference, Sony presented the "CPU floating point capability" of the PlayStation 3's Cell CPU, and compared it to other CPUs. In their official press release, the same statistic regarding the PS3 as a whole was reported to be 2 TFLOPS.
The figures are rounded estimates for single-precision operations based on addition of the theoretical maximum floating point performances of the processing units in the Cell CPU and those of the RSX GPU. Inevitably, real-world performance for both systems will be lower. PlayStation 3's Cell CPU achieves 256 GFLOPS single precision and is reported at around 26 GFLOPS double precision. Additionally, programmers may find it difficult, initially, to optimize their game engines to make the best use of the highly parallel architectures of both systems, further reducing real-world performance.
Region Encoding
During a Q&A session at the 2006 Game Developers Conference, Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide Studios President Phil Harrison confirmed that the PlayStation 3 will feature region-free gaming.
Blu-ray movies will still use a region code, the Blu-ray region code will be different from the DVD region code.
Playstation 3 Controller
At Sony's 2006 E3 press conference, a new PlayStation 3 controller design was revealed. The design was superficially very similar to a wireless version of the DualShock 2 controller, as opposed to the wireless "boomerang" prototype design showcased a year earlier.
The PlayStation 3 controller features a USB mini-B connector terminal at the top of the controller for charging the internal battery through USB, and also for wired play. There are four numbered LED indicators, to identify and distinguish multiple connected wireless controllers.
The announcement of having a motion and tilt sensitive controller followed Nintendo's announcement of similar functionality in their Wii Remote controller at the Tokyo Game Show 2005. Sony executives have spoken on the matter, saying they are happy to admit they have not started the wave, but have jumped onto the wave, because they believe it will be one of the defining characteristics of next-generation gaming. This conflicts with other reports from Sony, stating that they have been working on a motion sensing controller since long before Nintendo's announcement. Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto has called the similarity flattering, but unconcerning.
The rumble capability of the previous controllers was omitted, according to Sony, to prevent interference with motion sensing. This has resulted in a lighter controller. Immersion Corporation, who previously won a lawsuit on the DualShock 2's rumble functionality, has stated that they are certain that rumble features could be integrated with motion-sensing in the PS3 controller. They have offered to work on the technology pending an end to litigation. Some developers were not notified about the lack of rumble in the controller until late in development.
Some minor refinements have also been made to the controller. In place of the "Analog" button and light found on previous PlayStation controllers, a button with the PlayStation logo has been added to the center of the controller face, similar to the Guide button of the Xbox 360 controller. Some of the buttons have been raised from their previous versions, to enhance their pressure-sensitive analog functionality. In particular, the L2 and R2 shoulder buttons have been redesigned to allow for a much deeper depression range, making them more trigger like. The analog sticks also have a wider range of motion and finer analog sensitivity—at 10-bit accuracy, an improvement upon the 8-bit accuracy of the previous models.
Playstation 3 Games
As of March 2006, there are already over 230 PS3 games announced by multiple developers and publishers, like SCEI, Electronic Arts, Konami, Namco, Ubisoft, Capcom, Square Enix, Sega and many others. As well as announced titles there are likely to be many 'secret projects' already under development.
A number of developers have already announced games for the PS3. Some anticipated ones include: Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots , Assassin's Creed, Final Fantasy XIII, Killzone PS3, Resident Evil 5, Devil May Cry 4, Silent Hill 5, Shin Megami Tensei, Armored Core 4 , NBA Live 07, Unreal Tournament 2007, Resistance: Fall of Man, Grand Theft Auto IV, Tekken 6, Heavenly Sword, Sonic the Hedgehog (tentative title) Warhawk, Rainbow Six Vegas and Mercenaries 2: World in Flames
At the E3 2005 Press booths, Sony showed some pre-rendered and some real-time videos of games in development with the codenames Eyedentify, Vision Gran Turismo and MotorStorm. Also shown at E3 was a Final Fantasy VII technical demo of the opening sequence remade for the PlayStation 3 system, Tetsuya Nomura, director of final fantasy VII Advent Children says he intends to make the tech demo into a full remake as soon as possible.
Sony Computer Entertainment CEO Kaz Hirai said that as many as 15 PS3 titles could be available for launch.
Game pricing
There have also been statements by Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE) President and CEO Kaz Hirai suggesting games may cost somewhere between US$60 and US$100[25], more than the US$60 standard for higher-priced games. Future Shop, a Canadian subsidiary of Best Buy, has priced each game at C$69.99 (approx. US$62, c. 2006). Gamestop and EB Games have listed the games as US$60.00 each. Activision recently revealed that they will price their games at $60 each.
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas
Heavenly Sword
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