Want to read Slashdot from your mobile device? Point it at m.slashdot.org and keep reading!

 


Forgot your password?
Close
typodupeerror
×

PlayStation 3 Not So Much Delayed? 170

Posted by Zonk from the back-and-forth-up-and-down dept.
Chris Morris, on the CNN Game Over column, points out that even if Merrill Lynch's suggestion that the delayed initial launch of the PS3 is true, that's unlikely to affect the U.S. launch of the console. From the article: "Logic sometimes isn't enough, though. To get additional perspective on the situation, I spoke with several of Sony's partners (who are in regular contact with the company) and competitors (who keep a close eye on the PS3's launch window) about the report. No one was willing to talk on the record for fear of reprisal, but the consensus was nearly universal. The promised spring launch (which was expected in Japan, but not North America) will likely be pushed back, they said. The North American launch, which was always expected to occur later this year (November is the consensus), is not expected to change. Europe may well not see the PS3 until next year." The price tag reported, though, is still probably accurate. C|Net has a breakdown of the PlayStation 3's components.
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.

PlayStation 3 Not So Much Delayed? More

PlayStation 3 Not So Much Delayed?

Comments Filter:

  • Those Component Costs are off (Score:5, Informative)

    by JordanL ( 886154 ) <jordan,ledoux&gmail,com> on Friday February 24, 2006 @12:24PM (#14793687) Homepage
    C|Net claims $150-200 for the proc and $200-300 for the drive. That's way off the money.

    IBM has reported fab costs of the Cell below $50 and much of the cost on the BR drive is due to the unique processing and decoding hardware attatched to the drive, not the drive itself. This hardware is already present in the PS3 in the form on the Cell.
    • Does that mean that is what IBM is going to sell the proc to Sony for? IBM wants to make a profit too.
      • Nope, Sony is going to fab their own, (as they also own the IP and the patents). It will cost them about what it costs IBM, and no more.
        • I think Sony and Toshiba are runing the Fab together..
          But I would not say they are not buying some from IBM.
          I would actually think that they would buy the initial bunch of cell procs from
          IBM until they get their line up and running.
          • Sony actually payed for a part of IBM's fab in fishkill, NY... So it's not a relationship like IBM had with apple where apple basically just ordered processors.
            • Sony actually payed for a part of IBM's fab in fishkill, NY... So it's not a relationship like IBM had with apple where apple basically just ordered processors.

              So if Sony is basically the "manufacturer" of the Cell processor and the manufacturer of the BluRay drive, the cost to them is way off. They don't have to pay someone else's marketing, sales and profit on these products, only the core cost of actually building the parts.

              This is like a short term gasoline shortage we had about a decade ago. Almost a
    • From what I've read the Cell is composed of a number of chips, the main processor is similar to a PowerPC and it routes requests to the Cell chips that surround it (8 if I remember correctly). Sony is producing the Cell chips, IBM is producing the PowerPC-like component.

      Also, $200-300 for just the drive sounds about right, considering that a set-top box with the processing and decoding hardware is going to cost $1000+ retail.
      • The PowerPC core and eight* SPUs are all on the same core. It's just one chip.

        I'd say the $200-$300 for the drive is *way* off.

        When it comes down to it, the Blu-Ray drive is pretty much like a DVD drive except for a more expensive laser and presumably more accurate actuators for lens positioning. It'll be more expensive than a DVD player, but not *that much* more expensive.

        The expensive parts of a Blue-Ray player are likely to be the video decoding sections, not the drive unit itself.

        *seven usable - one is
        • more expensive laser and presumably more accurate actuators for lens positioning

          You do realize that those are the only parts in your DVD player that actually cost more than a trivial amount, right?
          • It's the labor of manufacturing the final product that costs the most. This is just another optical drive, like a DVD player or CD player. It will probably require only slightly more manufacturing time than your old CD player. So DVD players cost a lot more than CD players when they first came out... most of that was due to markup, since it was considered a "new technology" people were willing to pay more. In this case, since Sony is simply trying to get the Blu-Ray standard out into the world quickly, its
            • You're joking right? Just another DVD/CD player?!?

              We're talking about a fancy pants multiple focus combined blue/red laser with a numerical aperature of 0.85; the technology required to even manufacture this thing didn't even exist 2 years ago!

              To put those numbers into a bit of perspective, DVD lasers have an NA of 0.6, while HD-DVD's lasers have an NA of 0.65.

              In technological terms, the tolerances required to manufacture this thing are in the same league as manufacturing a piece of bleeding edge medical e
          • You do realize that those are the only parts in your DVD player that actually cost more than a trivial amount, right?

            Sure. That's why I mentioned them. I can't see them costing $200, though. In a standalone Blu-Ray player however, the cost of the decoder will be substantially larger than the one you'd get in a similar DVD player. That cost does not need to be added to the PS3 becuase the Cell chip will take care of it.
            • I can easily see them costing $200, given the technology/precision required to manufacture them. Do some research on that laser -- you'll be very surprised at how bleeding edge that thing is. The ideas used in blu-ray are over 10 years old, but the technology required to produce the parts outside of a lab didn't exist until very recently.
      • The Cell CPU has a number of cores, all of which are on one chip. Sony owns the rights to make the chip [extremetech.com]

        The cost of making a Blu-Ray player should fall dramatically once cheaper high-speed multimedia chips(a.k.a. Cell) are available.
      • No, cell is one chip with multiple processing cores on board, much like a Pentium with Hyperthreading is still one chip, or like a Pentium 1 had many more transistors than a 386. Where you may be getting confused is that some of the individual cores do resemble previous complete processors, AND that there will be more than one Cell chip used in a PS3, for even more power.
    • But, you have to spend a few hunderd million dollars to build that fab and thoes costs have to go into each chip.
    • Of course the claims are off. They were done by Merrill Lynch. I'm curious how a financial firm is qualified to estimate the cost of a piece of consumer electronic hardware? There is absolutely no way they can know how much it will cost Sony to purchase and build the components.
      • you should do two things: realize that these people at Merrill Lynch have some of the best connections into every market they care about and therefore, have a lot more inside information than you could dream of. These are also people who spend 14 hours a day learning how to estimate these numbers because millions of dollars are made and lost by being wrong here. Outside of those actually producing the materials, they are probably some of the most qualified people.

        also, While Merill's estimates are on the
        • you should do two things: realize that these people at Merrill Lynch have some of the best connections into every market they care about and therefore, have a lot more inside information than you could dream of.

          Oh, so you think Merrill Lynch used information not available to the general public to create a report that might affect the price of stocks that Merrill Lynch most probably is invested in? You realize that Merrill Lynch execs can get jail time for that?

          I guess we have narrowed the situation down to
          • well, you have no understanding of the industry but so be it. I Just happen to be in the industry which is why I can say that is all. you can use non-public information to generate these reports in the sense that, I will never get a phone interview with the CFO or the head engineer of Sony but a senior analyst at Merill can.

            further, there are several rules governing what you are talking about. research can come out with any report they want to. The rules state there can be no contact between your researc
            • I'm not saying illegal things don't go on, but you seem to have a misunderstanding of what the laws allow

              Do the laws allow Merril Lynch to publish blatantly flawed research prejudicial to a competitor of a company that it and its clients are heavily invested in?

              As far as your chinese wall goes, don't make me laugh. Does the wall also cut across the middle of restaurants and bars that employees from both sides frequent?
  • Is retailers have their biggest quarter in the fall. This works to Sony's advantage by maintaining the dominant negotiation position.

    I'd guess the retailers are getting the entire PS3 show in June/July. If there is an enterprising individual willing to incur the wrath of Sony and probably jeapordize a career, your opportunity at a "scoop" would be around that time.
    • Yep. They call if the "golden quarter."

      If they don't get it out by November, they'll miss the holiday season rush. I doubt Japan has anything so big in spring, so they won't lose much by pushing back that release. My bet is that they'll finagle the Japan/whatever release however they need to, to ensure that they get in on the holiday season here.

  • All press... (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Serapth ( 643581 ) on Friday February 24, 2006 @12:25PM (#14793692)
    Can you tell Sony subscribes to the belief "Any press is good press". Im already sick of these reports. Frankly, I hope its not delayed so these stories can finally die.
    Sadly then, we will have to read story after story about shortages, then manufacturing problems, etc... etc... Even though im a gadget whore and will probrably buy all 3 ( already bought the 360 ), all of this stuff has just burned me out on console gaming.

    • Speak with your wallet and dont buy a PS3. Stick to a console that isn't heavily influenced by TCA principles; If you bought the 360, why oh why would you complain about Sony's problems. Everyone knew the PS3 would late in coming just because of the elaborate amount of new tech they put in it. As the article said, there will likely be no delay in the NA market even though there will be a delay in Japan. This means Sony delays bringing the PS3 to international market completely intentionally, and it is
      • Stick to a console that isn't heavily influenced by TCA principles

        What do you mean by this? I assume TCA is Transaction Cost Analysis [sjsu.edu]?

      • Speak with your wallet and dont buy a PS3. ...If you bought the 360, why oh why would you complain about Sony's problems.

        You must have missed the part where he said...

        Even though im a gadget whore and will probrably buy all 3

        The point is that, console gaming is becoming so much hype on who has the most amazing system that games are getting over looked. Maybe it's just age, but I can tell you, I do not enjoy games as I once did. My Personnal opinion is that games have just gotten boring, sans a few d

        • Maybe it's just age, but I can tell you, I do not enjoy games as I once did. My Personnal opinion is that games have just gotten boring, sans a few diamonds in the rough (Resident Evil 4 GBC, Ridge Racer PSP).

          If you find that "games have just gotten boring" you may simply be outgrowing the hobby. There's as much good stuff as there's ever been. (And did you just cite Resident Evil 4 on Game Boy Color?!) If you were gaming around the time of the console crash of 1984, 99% of the titles were pure crap. Cha

          • come again? /The Xbox has done a decent job of not turning into a port system- there's a good amount of exclusive titles and quality content like ninja gaiden, Bioware's offerings, Panzer Dragoon orta.../

            the xbox has more ports than the other two. the xbox ports from the pc, and get most cross platform games. there are a few exceptions, but far, far less than for ps2 and gc.
      • Yeah, I'm with you on this, that is why I waiting to buy the Phantom Gaming Console.

        Sorry I just couldn't resist the urge. Help me, I'm sick!

  • PlayStation 3 Not So Much Delayed (Score:2, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    a.k.a. Delayed.
  • The PS3 isn't delayed, just intentionally very late!

    If it ships to North America and Europe over a full year after the XBox360, is it really in the same "generation"?

    • Re:Oh good (Score:3, Informative)

      by AnyoneEB ( 574727 )
      Well, is the DreamCast considered part of the GCN/PS2/XBox generation? Or is it considered between the PSX/N64 generation and that generation? I think of it as the former.

    • Re:Oh good (Score:2, Informative)

      by Scratched ( 912253 )
      I may be mistaken, but I think the PS2 came out almost a year before the gamecube and the Xbox. The PS2 was still considered part of that generation.

      What sort of amazes me is that even though their last console came out before everyone else's, their newest console is a year behind the latest generation. I realize that the PS3 uses a totally new processor technology, but they still have taken a long time...
      • What sort of amazes me is that even though their last console came out before everyone else's, their newest console is a year behind the latest generation.

        MS released the Xbox a year into the last generation, realized their horrible mistake, and then rushed in a year early to the current generation. That's a more accurate way to describe the current situation.

        The original Xbox had a miniscule shelf life compared to the historical average for a console.
        • So then what's your excuse for the Gamecube which came out 3 days after the xbox? Same generation and still a year after the PS2...

  • Accurate, my ass... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by ivan256 ( 17499 ) * on Friday February 24, 2006 @12:28PM (#14793744)
    The price tag reported, though, is still probably accurate.

    Oh, please. The article itself says why it's not accurate. It lists the memory price as the same for the 360, and the PS3, and then goes on to describe how the PS3 is the first to use the new, expensive XDR memory, while the 360 uses GDDR3 which was designed speciffically to be cheaper than DDR2.

    Not only that, but they have component prices listed as if they were being sold with a profit margin. You can bet Sony isn't going to markup chips it sells to itself, and for third party chips, you can bet they're paying a lot less. Even the launch quantities of these boxes far surpass what normally qualifies as economies of scale.

    I'd say they have the costs far too high for both machines in that article. Both machines will have sub-$100 manufacturing costs on the CPU very early on in the production life, for example. Also, the BD-ROM drive is probably going to end up being more like $70. The DVD drive in the 360 is even cheaper than the $20 quoted, etc...

    The PS3 will be expensive... More expensive to build than the 360, but neither machine is as expensive as this over-rated Merryl-Lynch report that's been being passed around.
    • If the PS3 is more expensive to produce than the 360, and Microsoft usually sells it's consoles at a loss, while Sony as a rule does not, then how much do you thing the PS3 will sell for. I could easily see them pricing it at $600 to $700, which is way too much for a console.
      • If the PS3 is more expensive to produce than the 360, and Microsoft usually sells it's consoles at a loss, while Sony as a rule does not, then how much do you thing the PS3 will sell for.

        I think the small army of Sony marketeers have a pretty good clue on how many units it'd sell at different price points. Even if they have miscalculated on what the final price would be, I doubt they'll follow up a bad decision with a horrible one. Taking a financial loss to get them out the door is painful but acceptable,
        • Taking a financial loss to get them out the door is painful but acceptable, losing the market to Microsoft is not.

          LOL.

          The 6 year old PS2 sold over 20 million times last year, Microsoft will be happy when they sell 6 or 7 million in the first year with their brand-new XBox360.

          Sony could wait until 2009 with the release of the PS3 - or even not release PS3 at all and still outsell XBox360.

      • while Sony as a rule does not

        Where is that rule from?

      • While, microsoft buys almost all parts of their console from different vendors (whom are all trying to make a profit from each piece). Sony by and large is fabbing their own chips and making their own ic. The only piece of hardware that sony has no plan to manufacture themselves is probably the nvidia chip but i wouldnt' be surprised if they ended up fabbing that themselves.

        IBM says they've been able to get the cost of fabbing the new cell chip down to about $50 bucks. Sony not only helped fund the fab i
    • Not only that, but they have component prices listed as if they were being sold with a profit margin. You can bet Sony isn't going to markup chips it sells to itself, and for third party chips, you can bet they're paying a lot less. Even the launch quantities of these boxes far surpass what normally qualifies as economies of scale.

      Unless BD-ROM starts getting picked up by a lot of PC and Consumer Electronics OEMs, and soon, the price is going to be high for a while. The format isn't even locked down, an

      • Unless BD-ROM starts getting picked up by a lot of PC and Consumer Electronics OEMs, and soon, the price is going to be high for a while.

        I think that's BS. A lot of what makes BluRay player expensive is already included in the infrastructure of an HD console.

        The format isn't even locked down,

        Neither is the DVD format (!). It's locked down enough.

        the "winner" of the HD-DVD/BD war *still* isn't clear cut!

        That doesn't matter. Besides, the hardware components for the two will be cross compatable. The differenc
        • don't know if you have some insider knowledge but almost everyone disagrees with you that the two formats are compatible. I have never read anything to hint that they are. From all the tech articles I've read on them, they are about as different as night and day.

          Some links

          http://hometheater.about.com/od/dvdbasics/a/bluhdd vdinfo.htm [about.com]

          http://hardware.gamespot.com/Story-ST-x-2077-x-x-x [gamespot.com]
          • First of all, the About.com article has some glaring inaccuracies, specifically on the BluRay side of things. I'm not sure how long ago it was written. It could be that it's just horribly out of date... BD-ROM has been altered from the original specs to be more friendly to duplication facilites that already support DVD. The caddy has been eliminated, and the format has been tweaked so there can be a DVD compatable layer and a BD-ROM layer on the same disc, much like what you can do with HD-DVD.

            Most of the d
            • well, I can't find too much to back up what you are saying, but I'll give you the benefit of the doubt. I am sure compatible players will be built, but I was under the impression that they would be incredibly expensive( because the two formats are not compatible).

              as I can't find info either way though, I wouldn't mind a link with more info just to get up to date on it.
              • You can just check the Wikipedia entries. They have fairly up-to-date specs, since the fanboys from both sides rabidly maintain the pages.

                The big deal was the laser and the caddy, but you'll see that they both use the blue laser now, and BluRay ditched the caddy so facilities that were set up to automatically process DVD sized discs wouldn't have to re-tool.

  • Want next gen? Try current gen. (Score:5, Interesting)

    by pubjames ( 468013 ) on Friday February 24, 2006 @12:31PM (#14793771)

    I hadn't used my PS2 for a few years until just recently. If you're in a similar position, my advice is if you want great "next generation" games, try some of the ones that have come out recently for your "old" console. The graphics and gameplay on Resident Evil 4, for instance, blew me away, and "Shadow of the Colossus" looks even more impressive. And we've got "Starcraft:Ghost" to look forward to later in the year.

    So I'm not bothered if the PS3 doesn't come out for a while, PS2 games are at their peak and are probably be better than first gen PS3/XBox360 games.
     
    • Yes, not to mention it plays PS games too, I'm wanting to get ahold of all (four?) Silent Hill games, and then the entire Resident Evil series.

    • Re:Want next gen? Try current gen. (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Serapth ( 643581 ) on Friday February 24, 2006 @12:45PM (#14793929)
      As the proud owner of a PS2, Xbox and XBox 360 I can say, atleast IMHO you games are better on the 360 already. I say that subjectively as I prefer certain types of games that you may not, especially racing games. As a result two games im playing to death right now are Project Gotham Racing 3 and Need for Speed Most Wanted.

      In every measurably regard, NFS:MW on the 360 is better then the XBox or PS2 versions.
      With PGR3, graphically and controlwise, it is a much superior game to PGR2. They made some design decisions some people dont like ( car acquisition ) but excluding that, it is a much better game.

      Lastly, CoD2 imho, is a better FPS then anything released for either platform, including Halo. Only beef here is online, which is rumoured to be fixed.

      So, early on, I can already give you 3 examples of games that are much improved over the current generation, atleast, in my opinion.
      Dont get me wrong, some arent going to compare as well ( Gun and 2k sport games come to mind ), but you will see that with every platform launch.
    • I was in a similar situation as you. my PS2 sat for several months after not wanting to play GTA much anymore. I started buying up Midway, intellivision & sega game compilations for a quick 5-10 minute play session or 3. Also bought True Crime: NYC and loved it. For 30 for true crime, and not more than 13 for the arcade compilations, I found great value & fun in them. Finding the games involved having to wade through what seemed like an infinite amount of snoozer PS2 titles, reminding me of all the
  • "...when we post another story about people wildly speculating about the release date of a next-gen console or game, and pick the winning dates from a hat!"
  • Why in the world would Sony launch a new console while thier PS2 is the current best selling console? They would only be competing with themselves, and that my friend is bad business.

    The 360 has barely put a dent in PS2 sales therfore Sony can sit back and wait. The longer they can drag out the launch of the PS3, the more they can allow the PS2 to act as a cash cow. And even better, the longer they wait, the more steam they can take out of the only other competitor on the horizon (the Revolution)
    • The longer they can drag out the launch of the PS3, the more they can allow the PS2 to act as a cash cow.

      I can see where it would be a decent idea to finish up the ps3 and spend extra time hand holding your third party developers through the creation of your launch lineup. To me the 360 had a horrible launch, sony would be doing themselves a big favor with an awesome launch lineup + full backwards compatability.

    • Why in the world would Sony launch a new console while thier PS2 is the current best selling console? They would only be competing with themselves, and that my friend is bad business.

      Even in the keynote where Stevie Jobs introduced the nano line, he specifically went over the continuing success of the Minis, which the nanos then promptly replaced.

      Apple competed with itself in the sense you're talking about, and it hasn't been bad business at all.

    • Why in the world would Sony launch a new console while thier PS2 is the current best selling console? They would only be competing with themselves, and that my friend is bad business.

      Same reason car manufacturers sell more than one car - different markets. The PS2 currently sells for about $125 I think, and plays a ton of older games, though probably not all the current titles by the time the PS3 comes out. The PS3 will have a limited supply of games, but *will* have some exclusives (I guarantee it), and

  • There is no real hype for ps3, there are not "well brand games" to be on ps3..

    They are 4 months till lauch, and still most people doesnt know what to expect of ps3, only a high introduction price...

    I think marketing of ps3 is really losing its grip...

    Many things are still missing...

    Maybe this change to 7cores cell wasn`t a good idea...

  • Europeans will have to wait again (Score:2, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward
    As most of the time, we Europeans are getting the sore end of the launch planning.

    You have to give it to Microsoft that they decided for a global launch, despite the shortage situation in the US. It makes you feel part of the show when you don't have to sit and watch the forums cheer for their new toys when your release date is months away.

    In the last months, some games were even released for the DS (BoF III) and PSP (Virtua Tennis) in Europe before the US got them. I thought we were catching up, but Sony s

  • Hmmm (Score:2)

    by DrXym ( 126579 )
    That CNet article supposes a blu ray drive will cost Sony $200-300. That sounds unimaginably unlikely.
  • Delayed a little, who cares... but twice as much as the competition? That stings... for the "next next" generation of consoles we should all open up IRA accounts right now.

    I know some of the packages for XBox 360's this holiday cost way up in that range or more on eBay... But seriously... who are these people willing to fork over a pretty good house payment for being the early adopter? For that kind of money... it better make me breakfast. [gorillamask.net]
  • I say "bring on the confusion"

    Seriously, this is not good for Sony. They obviously cannot control the rumor mill and there are multiple sources each with their own "inside contacts" who are making predictions that are all over the map. This can only cause confusion with potential buyers who may well just spend their money on something else rather than even consider saving up for a playstation....
  • A word of advice from your friendly internet gamer : Pre-order a few PS3's.

    Sell them for an inflated price when there's a mad rush to purchase them, and it will cover the cost for whatever time you've put in to it. If demand seems like it's going to be really good, i'd buy more than two if I had enough cash. It wont matter what the production costs are if there's some kind of a shortage, which there usually always is.

    I've sold consoles like that on ebay & by word of mouth to several people in th
  • Processor: The PS3 will be a showcase for the Cell processor from the SIT powers (Sony, IBM, Toshiba).

    Let's get HP involved.... then it will become the SITH powers (Sony, IBM, Toshiba, Hewlett-packard)

  • Though Sony hasn't disclosed the price of the PS3, analysts figure it will have to be in the ballpark of $299 to $399--the price for the two versions of the Xbox 360.

    Great, so it is the same as the Xbox 360. That it costs Sony more to make only means it is better for me, getting more for less. I can't understand how these articles make it sound like news that the new type of processor will cost more, or the drive will cost more. There seems to be a consensus that the price will have to be competitive,
  • By delaying the PS3 launch, Sony is giving Microsoft time to develop more and more software for the Xbox 360. It is the games that make the console. This is why Xbox only just recently caught up to the popularity of the PS2, because there are finally enough software titles out there to make it more than a very expensive dust-collecting paperweight. Sony seems to be turning into the next Nintendo. Nintendo was number one, got cocky and lazy, and plummeted in status when another company came along and off

  • Ummm (Score:5, Funny)

    by just_forget_it ( 947275 ) on Friday February 24, 2006 @01:29PM (#14794389)
    I question the validity of any chart where one of the rows is labeled "Other doodads."
  • Basically,

    Pay $150-200 for a Blu-Ray drive integrated into the console now. Or pay $75-100 for a HD-DVD dettached drive later. We know HDDVD content will come out this year sometime...

    If a good number of Blu-Ray content comes out before the PS3 hits the streets, that will render XBox and it's HDDVD useless--why? you know the PS3 hype will be evident next Nov. and the logically conclusion for early adopters is to buy the best stuff (HDDVD into the 360s will likely be a hack) cause you get what you pay fo

  • matters: The console will be in the stores, with games, before Thanksgiving of the year of release.

    Half of all revenues will be made between Thanksgiving and December 27th. So if you miss that window, you miss most of the money for the year.

    So, a spring release can easily be pushed to summer, and even to fall, but never much later than Halloween.
  • at Costco (blue state firm that pays medical benefits and profit shares with employees) in December of release year, most likely bundled with at least one game.

    If you wait until summer the next year, the same box will sell for $199 at most.
  • The market timing does not seem to be a show stopper if Sony can be ready to ship volume to the US in time for Christmas 2006. Seems that is still possible despite all the timing speculations. I think we will need to wait for E3 to hear more timing specifics directly from Sony.

    Would it be possible to have an entry level PS3 with only a DVD drive? If so, combined with a likely lower processor price, the PS3 could have a relatively acceptable entry model (using the lower estimate and substituting a DVD driv

  • On the subject of the processor:

    Yes, cell is bigger than the Xbox 360's chip, but one factor they are completely ignoring is the fact that one SPE will be disabled. It does not matter which SPE is disabled, and this redundancy (which the 360 doesn't have) will improve yields. You can't simply say chip A is bigger so it will cost more.

    In any event, the prices listed for both chips look closer to what the chips would cost if they were sold at retail, not the manufacturing cost.

    On the subject of the drive:

    Ye
    • I think there are 2 things you should realize.

      If the on chip SRAMs work, you should get something like 90% fallthrough from that point (i.e. if SRAMs yield 50%, you should have something like 45% overall product yield)

      On a related note, every major chip manufacturer has redundant resources embedded in the SRAMs so that they can repair chips that are not nominally good (trust me, the probability of making a nominally good part is VERY low on any fairly modern process)

  • From the article:
    "The PS3 will be a showcase for the Cell processor from the SIT powers (Sony, IBM, Toshiba)..."

    I would love to see Hitachi get involved here.
  • Who cares how long it is delayed, or how early it comes out. No one should be buying Sony crap anyways after the DRM scandals. Besides, the new generation of gaming consoles are just going to be reasons for software companies to milk every penny they can by making remakes of old games in higher resolution, maybe adding crappy online play. Bottom line, DON'T BUY SONY!!!
    • So wait, Sony had a scandal and now we shouldn't buy the PS3?

      Well that's okay then, I have options! I can buy a 360 or Revolution because Microsoft and Nintendo have never been the center of almight decade-long scandals! ...Turnip
  • on slashdot over the last few days. A major major delay to the launch is surely down to the un-finalised BR spec.
    I assume internally the film division of Sony is wanting the thing coming out with all DRM guns-blazing, and the PS3 division is slightly pissy with what they're being made to do.
    The 'big thing' with the PS3 is Sonys chance to get a shit-load of BR players into peoples homes at a reasonable cost - so the movie division can cash in selling films, the hardware division can get showered with lice

Slashdot Top Deals

Top Ten Things Overheard At The ANSI C Draft Committee Meetings: (5) All right, who's the wiseguy who stuck this trigraph stuff in here?

Close