Let's have a close look at these claims of yours...
What has been lost on the PS3: - Emotion Engine (hardware) First gen PS3 was very expensive, people bitched about the price and Sony responded by removing the PS2 compatibility. Sony still sells the PS2 console so there was no need to punish people who wanted a PS3 by forcing them to subsidize the PS2 owners. Less hardware = cheaper console.
Problem there chief, but it's very likely many PS2 games could be done in software. Neverminding the fact that the PS2 hardware needed is likely DIRT CHEAP for Sony (PS2 is $100 retail, and I suspect they're raking in profits off of those systems at this stage of the game).
- SACD playback (software) Did anyone actually want this? While it's likely that a PS3 owner would have an HDTV, it's unlikely they would own a high end audio setup to take advantage of SACD. Anyone serious about this functionality would own a proper standalone SACD player. Less hardware = cheaper console.
It's software, not hardware. They flipped a bit and turned it off for the Slim units, there's nothing hardware related with SACD playback...
- USB 2.0 ports (hardware) Not sure if reducing the number of ports counts as a "lost feature". Two ports is likely plenty for most people, and it's easy to add your own hub to increase the number of ports. Less hardware = cheaper console.
Oversimplified. USB ports (the hardware) cost PENNIES. Trust me, knocking off two USB ports didn't save Sony (or the consumer, for that matter) anything. About the only complaint I have about the 4 USB ports I have is that all four are on the front. I'd have preferred one or two on the back for external storage (so it looks nicer in my rack setup).
- Full PS2 backwards compatibility (software) PS3 never had full PS2 compatibility in software, purely a myth perpetuated by the un-informed. First generation PS3 had full hardware PS2 support; second generation had a mix of hardware and software emulation. Made the PS3 expensive and added redundant capabilities as the PS2 was (and is) still being sold. Less hardware = cheaper console.
Okay, you're obviously "informed". Educate me how the PS3 isn't powerful enough to run PS2 software?
- Other OS Linux (software): retroactively disabled on older hardware as well now with the new update Debatable whether this was a usable feature or not. Linux on the PS3 was horrible and Sony's removal of the option on the slim models was met with little but a yawn and "so what?" It wasn't until Geohot paraded around his so called PS3 hack and thousands of pirates perked up with the hope of finally getting their hands on some free PS3 games did anyone care about the OtherOS option. Sony acted to protect their platform and the pirates raised a ruckus. Anyone who used the old model PS3 for Cell programming couldn't care less, they didn't use the PS3 for games or playing blu-ray.
If you're one of those people still pissed off over having to choose between OtherOS or games/PSN, direct your anger to Geohot for pissing in your pool.
Why would I direct my rage at geohot when it's Sony who disabled it? Am I pro-piracy? No. But I am definitely all about consumer rights, and consumers bought a COMPUTER when they bought a PS3. Sony decided, on their own, unilaterally, to force people to choose between losing their computer or losing other portions of the device THEY PAID FOR. As I've said in dozens of other places, I'll be shocked if a class action lawsuit isn't started over this. If there was ever a "line in the sand" moment for people to stand up, this was it.
- SD and CF slots (hardware Redundant hardware, PS3 already had USB ports and there was no need to provide multiple ports for the same function. Less hardware = cheaper console.
Again, dirt cheap hardware. Slightly more expensive than the two USB ports, but still nothing to write home about (likely less than USD $1.00 for the whole kit).
All I know is that I paid $600 for this system and it promised me the ability to install other operating systems on it. That promise has been broken, and not by accident, but purposefully, with intent and malice. That strikes me as actionable in the courts here (and obviously it's already heading that way in more progressive regions of the world; the person who got a partial refund in Europe being a leading example).
One of the primary issues this bug causes is that it resets the clock to 12/31/1999. Most content (in fact, all content that I'm aware of) has a "licensed starting" date/time, and none of the titles I have will work at all. This tells me that they must have a secondary clock (a "real clock") that they use to tell when licensed content is valid/invalid (so people can't just change the date/time back two days to play a demo that has expired, or a rental that has expired, etc).
And since the clock is obviously integral to their protection mechanism, it is a flaw in said mechanism.
Note: No, I have no inside information, but this seems to be a reasonable deduction given the evidence at hand.
What does it have to do with DRM? Calendar bugs have been a very common part of the computing landscape for many years.
Because even offline games are unplayable, so it's clear some flaw exists relating to their protection mechanism.
Yeah, I think it's called "Divx HD", and there's already hardware coming with that certification. I do agree that Sony seems to be missing the boat when it comes to functionality beyond games, and I was personally hoping from something more from a major firmware revision.
Hell, it'd be nice to see them add exFAT support so I can watch movies larger than 4 GB on attached storage (currently only FAT32 is supported on USB mass storage class devices; this means full length HD content usually needs to either a) be copied from a DLNA network share or b) split in to separate files for storage on the FAT32 formatted device).
Whenever they update their Divx support the MKV support should be included (since the new Divx uses MKV files).
As for the rest, agreed. The web browser should just use some custom build of Firefox, and the PS2 backwards compatibility would help bring in the people who want to keep playing their existing PS2 games.
I dunno who Ian is trying to fool, but recent weeks have been up, not down. Last week was because, quite honestly, there was nothing worth buying on Blu-ray Disc. However, the previous week set a record for Blu-ray vs. DVD (the week Transformers was finally put out on BD). Taking a down week and saying "oh look, it's failing" is just the ultimate in silliness.
A look at my recent postings shows that I have somebody trolling my posts. I feel pretty special that somebody would blow all their mod points modding every post of mine they could as Redundant.
Note to troll: Karma is still excellent, but keep trying.
Whoo, I really hate this fucking country. Let's see, recession that lasts longer than most and with an administration that's not nearly as caring as most (extend unemployment benefits, pshaw right, why do that, let's let people go into debt!). Now that the recession is supposedly over and the economy is making a rebound, let's continue to allow corporations to off-shore high technology jobs overseas to India and elsewhere. What a great plan, this way now that the economy has started to try
Well, after over a year of looking for a job, I'm convinced this economy is in the toilet. I've since moved back to my hometown which is significantly cheaper to live in than Seattle was (rent is half of what it was in Seattle, with some utilities even being paid for that Seattle wasn't covering (which basically means everything), and cost of living is generally lower (read: everything at the grocery store is 15-30% cheaper than identical stores in Seattle)). I'll give tech jobs a chance wh
"Here's something to think about: How come you never see a headline like `Psychic Wins Lottery.'" -- Comedian Jay Leno