So far, this is the info I've gathered on all 3 of the new systems:
PS3:
NO MORE KOJIMA!
It is now confirmed that MGS is coming out for PS3 and Hideo Kojima is going to step down to "Creative Director". Instead, Motoyuki Yoshioka, The Co-Creator of MGS 3 is going to be head creator of MGS 4. Hopefully It will be as good as when Hideo Kojima was head.
New PS3 Cell Information
"Sony, IBM, and Toshiba co-developed and unveiled the specs on the Cell chip in early February. The 4 GHz architecture is comprised of a 64-bit Power processor core, which is surrounded by eight Synergistic Processor Units (which themselves house four Floating Point Units), for a chip capable of delivering 256 gigaflops at 4 GHz.
According to Dominic Mallinson, Director, Sony Computer Entertainment America R&D, “We can run multiple operating systems on the chip at the same time.” He later added, “Each operating system can protect the others from crashes or security problems.”
Mallinson and DeLoura also detailed that unlike the PS2, PS3’s Cell technology will allow designers to program for it in more complex languages, such as C/C++.
Additionally, the Cell will support Collada XML for PS3’s art assets interchange, and the OpenGL ES applications programming interface for 3-D graphics. A partnership with NVIDIA will see the graphics card maker begin producing PS3 GPU by the end of 2005. "
Gran Turismo 5
"Gran Turismo 4 producer Kazunori Yamauchi has gone on record to dicuss his thoughts on Gran Turismo 5 - which is headed for the PS3.
Very little has been revealed about GT5 before - not least the fact that it's heading straight to PS3, rather than being the new online version of GT4 for PS2 that we were expecting sometime this year."
PS3 at E3
"At a press conference in Tokyo, Sony announced that they will show the PS3 before this year is out - and furthermore, there will be a playable version ay next years E3!
Company president Ken Kutaragi outlined a schedule for the system in a speech given during the conference. SCE would like to unveil the system, referred to in slides as "Next System," at a premier party to take place some time in fiscal year 2004 (prior to April 2005). This will be followed by showings at next year's E3 and Tokyo Game Show events where Kutaragi hopes to have many titles playable.
Details on actual development for the system were also unveiled. Kutaragi stated that he'd like to have "Version 1" of development materials out in the early part of fiscal 2005, with "Version 2" to follow in the latter half."
Possible games for PS3
"Over at iGN they have put together a list of games that will most likely be coming out for the PS3. Although they are not official, they will most likely make up some of the "Bread and Butter" of the Playstation 3 line up.
- Dark Sector
- Half-Life 2
- Medal of Honor
- Need for Speed
- Spider-Man 3"
PS3's memory expands
"Spong has posted an article outlining reports that the PS3 will likely ship with 256MB XDR DRAM as opposed to 512MB. While this will give increased bandwidth, is an ulterior motive also to save on cots?
If the PS3 does make an appearance at E3 2005, as promised by Kuturagi, it is likely to be with reduced memory, according to news filtering through from the Rambus Developer Conference in Japan. Reports from PC Watch have suggested that Sony is replacing the 512 MB XDR DRAM chip originally planned for inclusion with a smaller 256 MB XDR DRAM chip. There could be several feasible explanations for this move, but Sony has declined to offer a full response as yet.
Optimistic onlookers could - and have - suggested that the reduced capacity of the DRAM chip is because the PS3’s memory bandwidth will be increased from 25.6 GB/Sec to 51.2 GB/Sec. This would mean that the Cell chip takes on more of the work, permitting this budget-friendly memory reduction. "
Move Your Body
"Recently, Phil Harrison, vice president for SCEE spoke with the Australian Financial Review. He told them that Sony is currently investigating motion sensing technology, hoping to implement it into the new PS3 console. The EyeToy, a motion-sensing digital camera, has been used as an early test for this technology.
Harrison stated, “EyeToy was a signpost for things in the future. If you can attach very high-resolution, low-cost video cameras you can deduce some quite interesting things about their users. We'll be able to extrapolate eye movement and gestural recognition, more complicated finger movement, and the logical next step of that is to deduce from a person's facial expression and demeanor what their emotion state is.”
He later discussed more possibilities for the motion sensing, such as menus that could be controlled by moving your hand. He compared it to the computers in Minority Report. Because the technology is only in the beginning spaces, it may not be seen in the PS3. There may not be enough time for Sony to have motion-sensing part of the PS3, but Harrison wants it.
Personally, I think this is the best idea so far. It would be so amazing to be able to play games without any controllers. Maybe gamers could actually move their legs to walk, and fight each other by moving. I can’t wait until I hear more information on this technology. "
BLIMEY!
"Today, the Climax Group announced its next generation gamming development engine. They identified it as “Blimey 2” which is advancement on Blimey. Blimey 2 is a cross-platform newer version of an engine which will be used to develop many games. Blimey was used to create games for PS2, Xbox, GameCube and PC.
According to the team, the Blimey 2 has a huge number of improvements which will help the developers create new game targeted at the PS3 and PSP consoles.
The new Blimey 2 engine will include features such as:
Four-pass renderer - 12 million polys/sec
Sprite renderer - 6 million sprites/sec (12 million polys/sec), fully textured
Terrain renderer - 10 million polys/sec
Textures - 12MB per frame, fully managed
Xbox - Full usage of both pixel and vertex shaders
Hundreds of interactive objects in one scene
32 players online"
PS3 Concepts
PS3 Cell Architecture
"SOURCES SAID that the architecture of the Sony Playstation3 is patently clear when you've found the US patent that it filed September 26th last year.
A reliable source close to Sony's plans explained the way the Playstation3 works to the INQUIRER.
He said that the computers are made of cells, each one containing a CPU, which will probably be a PowerPC, and eight APUs (vectorial processors) each with 128K of memory.
It will run at 4GHz, producing a not inconsiderable 256Gflops, with the cells connected to the central 64MB memory through a switched 1024 bit bus.
It's still not clear how many of these "cells" will be used in the Playstation3, but Sony reckoned some time ago it could be as many as one teraflop, probably making it a four cell architecture.
Optical links – perhaps even FireWire optical links – could be used to share computing power.
The Playstation3 architecture is similar to the Playstation 2 but with some improvements, such as a larger number of VPUs, each with more memory. The operating system, too, is much improved.
But Playstations will still be very complex to program well, although it's just as well that Sony doesn't want to take the Microsoft DirectX route.
This is a diagram of the system which is filed in the US Patents and Trademarks Office, and snapped from there, with acknowledgements":
Xbox Next (Codename=Xenon)
Everything you need to know about Xenon (X-box Next)
CPU: Xenon's CPU has three 3.0 GHz PowerPC cores. Each core is capable of two instructions per cycle and has an L1 cache with 32 KB for data and 32 KB for instructions. The three cores share 1 MB of L2 cache. Alpha 2 developer kits currently have two cores instead of three.
GPU: Xenon's GPU is a generation beyond the ATI X800. Its clock speed is 500 MHz and it supports Shader 3.0. Developers are currently working with an alpha 2 GPU. Beta GPU units are expected by May and the final GPU is slated for a summer release. The final GPU will be more powerful than anything on the market today; in game terms, it would handle a game like Half-Life 2 with ease.
System Memory: Xenon will have 256 MB of system RAM. Keep in mind that this number should not be equated to typical PC RAM. The Xbox has 64 MB of system RAM and is a very capable machine.
Optical Drive: As many have speculated, Xenon will not use Blu-Ray or HD-DVD. Games will come on dual-layer DVD-9 discs. While the media is the same as that of the current Xbox, the usable space on each disc is up to 7 GB. The drive is slated to run at 12X.
Memory Units: Xenon will use 64 MB to 1,024 MB memory cards. 8 MB is reserved for system use, leaving a 56 MB to 1,016 MB for user data.
Hard Drive: As many have speculated, Xenon's hard drive is optional. 2 GB of the drive will be used as game cache. The final drive size is still being determined.
Camera: Xenon will have a USB 2.0 camera. It's capable of 1.2 megapixel still shots and VGA video. Photos can be used in-game and for gamer profiles. The camera can also be used for video chat. It's unknown if the Xenon camera will allow for EyeToy-like gameplay. Developers are currently using a simulated camera driver.
Sound Chip: Xenon does not have an audio chip in the traditional sense. Decompression is handled by hardware, while the rest of the chores are handled by software. DirectSound3D has been dropped in favor of X3DAudio. The former was deemed too inflexible.
Software: Microsoft is requiring developers to make all Xenon titles Live enabled. One of the key reasons for this will be revealed in the second part of this story.
Developers are being instructed to plan their games for high-definition. The baseline is 720p at 1280x720 for gameplay and video clips, 16:9 aspect ratio, 5.1 Surround Sound, and anti-aliasing. These features are the current minimum requirement.
All Xenon games can be played using custom soundtracks. Owners can also play their own music directly. Supported formats are MP3 and WMA. Files can be encoded up to 320Kbps CBR or VBR stereo. The system is branded a Music Player Service.
For gameplay movies, Xenon uses Xenon Motion Video (XMV). XMV is based on Windows Media 9 and uses the mandatory codec for HD-DVD. The goal for video is 720p running at 30 frames per second with 5.1 Surround Sound.
Online Capabilities: All Xenon titles will be Live enabled. The console itself will have system-enabled Live features including:
Friends management
Access to recent players
Message center
Game invite management
User notifications
Gamer profile
One-on-one voice chat
Downloads
Feedback
Sign-in
It will be easier than ever for players to communicate with others on Xenon. Players no longer need to create custom message centers for each game. The message center manages player-to-player messages, friend invites, game invites, open P2P messaging, service-to-player messages, and title-to-player messages. Players can also communicate via voice and video chat.
All online multiplayer games are required to have social and ranked matches. Social matches rely on affiliate list tracking. Each player can be in contact with 1500 others, including friends, recent players, and preferred players.
Downloads will be managed from a central system user interface. They will appear as offers to the player in a download marketplace. Free and premium downloads will be supported. Developers will be able to send players to the marketplace and notify them when new content is available.
Other players can see your various profile stats quickly. One of the most pertinent stats to Live is player reputation. Players will be able to grade, compliment, and complain about other players. Reviews are tied to a player's own experience as well.
Gamer Card: Gamer Cards provide gamers with a quick look at key Xbox Live information. They let players instantly connect with people who have similar skills, interests and lifestyles.
Marketplace: Browseable by game, by genre, and in a number of other ways, the Marketplace will provide a one-stop shop for consumers to acquire episodic content, new game levels, maps, weapons, vehicles, skins and new community-created content.
Micro-Transactions: Breaking down barriers of small-ticket online commerce, micro-transactions will allow developers and the gaming community to charge as little as they like for content they create and publish on Marketplace. Imagine players slapping down $.99 to buy a one-of-a-kind, fully tricked-out racing car to be the envy of their buddies.
Custom Playlists: This feature eliminates the need for developers to support custom music in games. The guide instantly connects players to their music so they can listen to their own tracks while playing all their favorite next-generation Xbox games.
3 versions of Xbox Next?
A Slide from a non disclosure agreement (NDA) presentation seen by the INQ points towards Microsoft launching three versions of the Xbox 2, one of which is a fully functioning PC.
The presentation, understood to have been given to analysts and market researchers in the UK earlier this year, plots a timeline for the introduction of the systems. Xbox Next and Xbox Next HD are planned for Autumn 2005, whereas the Xbox Next PC is pencilled in for Autumn 2006.
The standard Xbox Next will not include a hard drive, which will allow Microsoft to cut costs on this basic unit. Xbox Next HD, as you might imagine, does include a hard drive and will offer increased functionality based on this. Xbox Next PC is, according to the presentation, an entry-level PC that runs Windows and all standard PC software. It also includes CD Burner, Wireless keyboard, mouse and controller and will work best connected to a high-definition TV or PC monitor. Media Center functionality - like movies, music and photos - is also included. The device will also play most available PC games.
System outline specifications note that internet browsing and instant messaging would be key applications, and that the entire unit will be smaller than the current Xbox, although it will not be possible to upgrade the shipping memory or processor.
The year-long gap between the mooted introductions of the two standard Xboxes before the Xbox Next PC is an interesting decision, which suggests that Microsoft realises the time that the market needs to acclimatise to TV media functionality. Since the Vole expects to ship Xbox Next before the Sony PlayStation 3, two versions of the console allow it to get the first wave out before PS3, but to also spoil the launch of Sony's flagship by concurrently announcing the PC version.
No More Modding?
Reports on a forum said that Microsoft is taking further steps to prevent people who have modified their Xboxes from going to Xbox Live.
Microsoft had previously banned people with modded chips inside their Xboxes from accessing the service.
But now, according to a popular forum, Microsoft has extended the ban to people who, rather than using the modded chips, have changed their hard drives.
According to this, forum, Microsoft can detect machines with changed hard drive and prevent them from accessing Xbox Live.
According to the forum, people's individual Xbox Live accounts are just fine - it's a modified machine that's bansheeshed.
There's a little confusion about what is exactly happening. Some people are concerned that Microsoft is scanning their hard drives. But the chief moderator of the forum thinks that if modchips are turned off, you won't have a problem."
Wireless?
"The word is spreading, through the Inquirer, Engadget, Slashdot and GamesIndustry.biz, that the upcoming XBox console will ship with wireless game controllers. Not a major shift, but a feature gamers will probably appreciate. Further mentions suggest the console will forgoe BluRay, for the standard DVD compatibility."
Some random Titles
Quake 4
Tony Hawk’s Underground 3
Ultimate Spiderman
Call of Duty 2
Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon 3
Peter Jackson's King Kong
Splinter Cell 4
Killing Day (working title)
Halo 3
Gamecube Revolution:
All your questions answered!
Q: What are Revolution's technical specs?
A: Currently unknown.
Rumors abound indicated that Nintendo could separately be working on two systems and that ultimately one would be chosen for retail. System 1 allegedly featured a 2.7GHz PowerPC G5 processor, 512MBs of RAM, and a 600MHz graphics chip. System 2 allegedly featured dual 1.8GHz PowerPC G5 processors. 256MBS of DDR Main Memory RAM, 128MBS of GDDR3 Video RAM and a 500MHz graphics chip. Both systems allegedly featured a built in 15GB hard drive. As of this time, these rumors cannot be validated.
More recent hearsay from development studios working closely with Nintendo suggest that Revolution's power is on track to compete with Microsoft's forthcoming successor to Xbox. Some studios have suggested that Revolution could be slightly underpowered when stacked side by side with Microsoft's next system, but that the differences would be marginal. Other sources maintain that the recently reported Xenon hardware specs exactly mimicked internal hardware documentation for Revolution. Again, none of this information can yet be validated.
Q: How will Revolution be unique?
A: That is the big question. The console is codenamed Revolution for a reason: Nintendo expects it to be revolutionary. The system will, according to Nintendo, fundamentally change how games are played. Nintendo president Satoru Iwata has said in recent interviews that the dual-screened Nintendo DS offers a hint of what to expect from Revolution. DS players can use a stylus pen to input control data into the portable device. It's always possible that Revolution may feature similar functionality.
Nintendo believes that technology alone cannot advance videogames, which is why it plans to take Revolution into a dramatic new direction.
Iwata in June 2004 described Revolution as a videogame machine "of a different nature that does not follow the conventional path of new game systems that increase speed and visual quality for making elaborate games." He added: "The rule of satisfying customers by increasing specifications worked once, but no longer applies now."
Q: Will Revolution hook up to a television?
A: Yes. It will also be able to interface with a computer monitor. In June 2004 Nintendo engineer Genyo Takeda said: "You'll be able to play [Revolution] not just by linking up to a television but to a computer monitor as well."
Q: Will Revolution feature screens on the console or the controller?
A: No. At a June 2004 analyst briefing in Japan, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata said, "We have no intention of making a two-screen console akin to the [Nintendo] DS."
Q: Will Revolution go online?
A: Yes. The Revolution console will feature online play out of the box. Nintendo at the March 15, 2005 Game Developers Conference in San Francisco announced an aggressive new Wi-Fi strategy for both DS and Revolution. Wi-Fi enables wireless, high-speed connections to the Internet using such popular standards as 802.11b and 802.11g. Company executives made strong statements about Nintendo's belief that gamers should be able to wirelessly go online and play against each other.
"We intend to incorporate wireless technology in all we do," Iwata announced at the event. "Therefore, Nintendo Revolution will be Wi-Fi enabled, built into every system."
Few other details regarding Revolution's online functionality are known, but we can infer at least one important bit based on information announced about the nature of wireless play for DS. Nintendo announced that Wi-Fi gaming on DS would be free. In stark contrast to Microsoft's Xbox Live service, the Big N will not charge any fee for gamers to go online through its infrastructure. The same could be true for Revolution's wireless play.
Q: Will Revolution be backward compatible?
A: Yes. At the March 2005 Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata confirmed that Revolution would be backward compatible.
"Contrary to much speculation, I can announce today that Revolution will be backward compatible. The best of the Nintendo GameCube library will still be enjoyed by players years from now," Iwata revealed.
The announcement was a surprise because analysts and media, IGN included, figured that Revolution's radically different new input device would make backward compatibility a near impossibility. Evidently Nintendo has found a way around this hurdle.
That's all I can post before my hands explode.
Login
Register
FAQ
Search
I Feel Asleep!
