The PlayStation 3 is being packed full of bleeding-edge, next-gen technology. It promises 1080p gaming, HD movies, TiVo functionality, iTunes-like content distribution, and an Xbox Live-killing online service. BusinessWeek is running an article titled, “This PlayStation May Play Too Much,” covering the fear that, with a glut of admittedly expensive features, consumers may be intimidated by the PS3.

There is a fear that the system may prove more popular as a multimedia device, like the PSP, resulting in a lower attach rate for games, then lower licensing income. With the expected cost of the console, that could prove disastrous. “But since the PSP also plays music and movies, fewer people are buying games designed for it. In the PS2’s initial year on the market, players bought more than three games for each machine that was shipped. For the PSP, that ratio slipped to 2 to 1.”

Kikizo is claiming that they’ve gained access to “three PS3 developers in multiple territories,” which–of course–means that they can’t say anything about the games in development without jeopardizing the jobs of their confidential friends. They were willing to talk about the current working state of the PS3, however, so here are a few highlights of what they had to say:

• The hardware’s close to final, but still hasn’t squeezed into those empty PS3 cases yet. An alleged senior developer is quoted as saying: “I think to fit everything that Sony wants in there AND leave space for a 2.5 inch hard drive, the machine would have to grow. The models they’re showing off are way too small for what they want.”
• Upgraded controller or games media? Well, “developers are designing games with the familiar DualShock 2 controls in mind,” and they’re “programming the game as if it will be written for a 10-speed DVD drive” (so as not to “affect load time”). The situation may change in the future, but that’s the reality for these devs right now.
• Games oughtta be more immersive thanks to the PS3’s supposed ability to handle “more stuff simultaneously” as “a machine barely superior to Xbox 360.” For this small system gap to widen, “…Sony will have to make available to [devs] libraries and new routines… something they’ve been severely lacking at so far.”
• For reference, “current playable content” looks more like Fifth Phantom Saga than Killzone or Motorstorm, but MGS4-quality graphics are looking more and more possible (which is probably a good thing), while launch titles may resemble “nice Xbox 360 material” like Dead or Alive 4 and Gears of War.

There’s a lot here that Sony still hasn’t revealed–such as price point and release date–but we’re left to wonder what’s causing such a Revolution-like PR blackout. Even Major Nelson’s getting into the act, pointing out there was “no mention of a unified on-line service,” and asking, “Also, what happend [sic] to the 1080p?” Upscaling the majority of PS3 games from a rather 360-ish 720p or 1080i, while great for frame rates (and squeezing out “the best effects and performance”), would be quite a blow to the system’s supposed visual superiority.

One of the biggest talking points about the PlayStation 3 has been its Blu-ray drive and how that will allow for a great capacity (read: more gaming goodness) on one disc. No one can deny that a Blu-ray disc can hold substantially more information than standard DVD, but what about the read speed of a Blu-ray drive? SkekTek over at GameSpot has analyzed the reading speeds of each drive and has posted the results in very easy-to-read graphs and background information for the not so techno-savvy reader.

One key difference is the way each disc is read–Blu-ray disc drives read information at the same speed regardless of where on the disc the information is located (think: the Tortoise), while standard DVD disc drives vary the read speed based on how far the information is from the center of the disc (e.g. the Hare). The different methods put Blu-ray at a staggering advantage in the future, but currently 1x and 2x Blu-ray drives trudge along compared to a 12x DVD drive, which gathers information at a rate of 8.2 - 16.5 megabytes per second (depending on the amount of data stored).

4x Blu-ray drives overcome 12x DVD drives by running a constant 18 MBps; however, a 4x Blu-ray drive is far too expensive for Sony to use in the PlayStation 3, and more likely gamers will get a 1x or 2x drive. Maybe that rumored hard drive can be used to decrease loading times. Remember, though: slow and steady wins the race.

Comment here, and/or see the message board thread tracking PS3 here on mikull.com

Filed under: Geek