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PS3 - Lateness With Linux? 364

Posted by Zonk from the world-turns-upside-down dept.
ZombieRoboNinja writes "The New York Times is reporting that Sony's press conference has confirmed the delay of the PS3, which is now slated to come out in November. More interestingly, the article claims that PS3 will ship with a 60-gig hard drive, built-in network card, and Linux!" Serious stuff here, with Sony's shares falling on the delay confirmation. There was a lot more news handed out at the conference than just the delay. Next Generation has details from Ken Kutaragi's 10 Point Breakdown. From the NYT article: "'We were discussing selling it in September, and some even said put it out in July,' Mr. Kutaragi said. Some analysts were immediately skeptical of this explanation, saying Sony needed to get the console out as soon as possible to combat Microsoft's head start, and the expected release this year of Nintendo's next game console, Revolution. They said Sony may be trying to buy time to bring down the production cost of key components, particularly untested technologies like Blu-ray and Cell. While Mr. Kutaragi did not reveal a price on Wednesday, analysts say Sony will likely try to sell PlayStation 3 for about $500." Please see related links and commentary below for more coverage.
My two quick cents -

  1. If they're not releasing in Japan until November, I find it highly unlikely they'll be releasing in the states until 2007. Previous PlayStation launches have always been staggered Japan first, U.S. second. I don't care if they say they're launching worldwide; At this point I think they're spinning to keep people happy.
  2. If they're not out in the U.S. until 2007, they'll probably be the last next-gen console to do so. So far Nintendo says it's on track to launch this year. Sony isn't getting finalized dev kits out until June. Even just with that metric on the table, Nintendo looks to be in a better position than Sony at the moment.
  3. At $500, there are going to be a lot of indifferent customers come March of '07. This will be especially true if, over a year after launch, Microsoft cuts the price of the 360 to coincide with the PS3 launch. If you have to choose between a solid platform that costs $300 (and already has a stable of games available) and a brand-new system that is two hundred bucks more with far fewer games, which one do you think most people will buy?
Regardless of what happens a year from now this is a major blow for Sony, a coup for Microsoft, and breathing room for Nintendo. What do you think the console market will look like this time next year?
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.

PS3 - Lateness With Linux? More

PS3 - Lateness With Linux?

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  • Article Access (Score:5, Interesting)

    by eldavojohn ( 898314 ) * <eldavojohn@noSpAM.gmail.com> on Wednesday March 15, 2006 @12:16PM (#14924714) Journal
    A functioning link [nytimes.com] to the NYTimes article.

    Also interesting is the component pricing [com.com] total that reveals why Sony will most likely have to take a loss of hundreds of dollars per console to remain competitive.
    • Does that mean that the hardware drivers that interface the Sony PlayStation 3 will be released as Free and Open Source Software [gnu.org] under the GNU General Public License [gnu.org]?

      If so, where can I download the modified Linux kernel?

      • If the drivers are all modules, I don't believe the source code has to be released. Obviously, Nvidia and ATI have never released the code to their modules. Another example off the top of my head is Broadcom and the b44 ethernet card module (that's the open source one, but they have a module that is closed source whose name I can't remember). Another tactic they might follow is Intel's, who releases the wireless drivers for their IPW series as open source, but keeps the firmware for the cards closed. This allows them to look good and at the same time protect their IP. I doubt you'll see much source code from Sony in light of the PSP debacle. Personally, I don't care what they do as long as I can run linux. The PS2 dev kits all ran linux on them. My friend set up Afterstep on his in an effort to pretend he was John Carmack running a NeXT box. I'll settle for E17, since by the time the PS3 is released, E17 will probably be stable and able to run Duke Nukem Forever with OpenGL acceleration.

        And don't flame me for E17, I'm running it on my laptop.

    • Re:Article Access (Score:3, Insightful)

      by zerocool^ ( 112121 )

      I wish this crap would die.

      Those prices are so out of whack. For starters, blue ray will NOT cost $300/drive. That's insane. Sony owns the license agreements for it, and will be fabbing it themselves. No royalties and no middle man = the blue ray drive will cost next to nothing. Same with the cell processor: It may cost $230 to buy one of them, or even a thousand. What about when you buy 500,000? Or 2,000,000? Or, you agree to fabricate them yourselves, and then you're only paying for the blueprints

      • Re:Article Access (Score:3, Interesting)

        by adisakp ( 705706 )
        I agree with you there. Even if the price is high to begin with, Sony has a win/win with PS3 mass production driving down the overall cost of BluRay in a much shorter time.

        But then again this is Slashdot so who cares about facts. I'm an actual PS3 and XBOX360 developer and I made a comment on the last PS3 article to refute someone who didn't know what they were talking about (using only publically available knowledge but stuff I still know to be true as a registered developer who has both systems on his

      • Re:Article Access (Score:4, Insightful)

        by mozumder ( 178398 ) on Wednesday March 15, 2006 @06:18PM (#14928198)
        Just because a company manufactures something itself, doesn't mean it's free. The prices aren't actually out of line, and a blu-ray drive can indeed cost $300 and the GPU can cost $150 and CPU another $150 and so on. These include the actual raw costs of the materials themselves. A blue laser diode isn't cheap to make, nor is a GPU. They all have costs, such as wafers, materials, capital cost depreciation (one silicon stepper can cost $15 million) and so on.

        Again, these ARE the actual costs for the parts themselves. To give you an example, a wafer might cost $10000 - it is a single piece of silicon crystal developed from molten silicon. Lets say you print about 400 chips on it. That means it costs you $25 just for the wafer alone. Meanwhile, only half the parts work, because a defects (dust, crystalline defects, and so on). Suddenly, that number goes to $50/part, just for the wafer cost alone. Add up everything else (chemicals, power, labor, etc) and it does mean your chips are going to cost $150.

  • Will there be an emotion chip too? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by hal2814 ( 725639 ) on Wednesday March 15, 2006 @12:18PM (#14924735)
    Sounds to me like Sony shot themselves in the foot by muffing a Christmas release of the PS3 so they're gearing up the speculation by promising the kitchen sink like they did with the PS2 to try and keep anybody from buying something else in the meantime.

    • Re:Will there be an emotion chip too? (Score:5, Funny)

      by gEvil (beta) ( 945888 ) on Wednesday March 15, 2006 @12:20PM (#14924759)
      I hear that it'll be able to render graphics like those used in Toy Story in realtime!

      • Re:Will there be an emotion chip too? (Score:2, Funny)

        by Anonymous Coward
        You mean render South Park in real time, right?
        • I'm not sure if you're joking or not, but south park really is rendered with 3D tools, and it does take months to get done :P

          link [southparkstudios.com]

          • Re:Will there be an emotion chip too? (Score:5, Informative)

            by jackbird ( 721605 ) on Wednesday March 15, 2006 @01:34PM (#14925475)
            That was talking about how the movie would have taken months to render if they hadn't redesigned their rendering pipeline. Also, it's horseshit, since the complicated shots (e.g. Hell) were done by established VFX houses. And even more horseshit since they could have bought more render nodes or used an outside service as well. In other places, Trey and Matt have compared rendering South Park with Maya to using a bulldozer to build a sandcastle. They turn out the shots for an episode in days, which is why they're able to have extremely topical stuff in new episodes (e.g. Saddam in his spider hole airing just 3 days after he was captured).

            Not that animation in general isn't hard or time-consuming, or that the animators who work on South Park aren't talented, but South Park is fast and cheap to produce.

      • Microsoft's Xbox 'Toy Story' Claim (Score:5, Informative)

        by GameEngineer ( 961102 ) on Wednesday March 15, 2006 @12:48PM (#14925041)
        http://news.com.com/2100-1040-250632.html [com.com]

        "One of the basic premises of the Xbox is to put the power in the hands of the artist," Blackley said, which is why Xbox developers "are achieving a level of visual detail you really get in 'Toy Story.'"

        I can't believe there are still people trying to attribute Microsoft's stupid Toy Story graphics claim about the Xbox to Sony in 2006...

      • no no it will be "matrix stuff" today!
    • I'm pissed at them for a weird reason, too. I don't want Microsoft and its crappy console to gain any foothold. The only reason the XBox exists is to push the Windows platform into the living room--originally Microsoft offered their platform libraries to Sony and Nintendo and only made the X-Box when both companies refused to ship Windows on their consoles. Microsoft cares nothing at all about games or quality of games, which is why we get commercials espousing the wonders of sweat on a basketball player
      • So Microsoft doesn't care about the quality of the games...but Sony does?

        The Xbox library is not all 8.5's and above...no doubt there were some real lemons. But buying Playstation games is a real crap-shoot. Once you get away from the obvious AAA titles, you have about a 1 in 3 chance of getting a game that is worth even opening up the wrapper.

        Sony is the king of console shovel-ware.

      • Re:Will there be an emotion chip too? (Score:4, Insightful)

        by ThinkFr33ly ( 902481 ) on Wednesday March 15, 2006 @01:06PM (#14925237)
        I don't want Microsoft and its crappy console to gain any foothold. Have you used the "crappy console"? It's actually a helluva lot of fun. The launch titles were only so-so. No bad ones, but no truly great ones. That aside, Xbox Live makes up for it all. It's an incredible experience and it alone makes buying an X360 worth it. The only reason the XBox exists is to push the Windows platform into the living room--originally Microsoft offered their platform libraries to Sony and Nintendo and only made the X-Box when both companies refused to ship Windows on their consoles. This is completely false. Microsoft created the trimmed down version of Win2k for the Xbox exclusively. They never made any such offer to Nintendo or Sony. They intended to enter the market and compete with these companies from the get-go. In addition, saying that the Xbox runs Windows is misleading. The Xbox runs a very, very customized version of the Windows 2000 kernel, but that's about where things end. There is certainly a strategy to make the Xbox/X360 work well with PCs running Windows (media center in particular), but that's just one part of the overall strategy to win the gaming market. Microsoft cares nothing at all about games or quality of games, which is why we get commercials espousing the wonders of sweat on a basketball player mesh. Microsoft case about the quality of its games the same way Nintendo and Sony do - only insofar as that quality makes them money. You honestly think that Sony is some pure of heart company that loves its gamers? Get a grip. his gives more time for the XBox 360 to actually gain a foothold, even despite their pathetically slow start (Nintendo sold more Gamecubes last Christmas than Microsoft sold XBox 360s). Are we in the No-Spin-Zone all of a sudden? Microsoft's "slow start" was completely due to the LACK OF AVAILABE CONSOLES TO BUY. EVERYBODY wanted one, but they were all sold out. Everywhere. Why do you think they were going for 5x face value on eBay? Meanwhile, Gamecubes are a dime a dozen. Microsoft will undoubtedly solidfy a strong lead over the next few months thanks to finally being able to go into almost any store and buy an Xbox 360.
      • Hater alert! Ghost Recon on the 360 is an awesome game. Not caring about the quality of games? This game is truly the first next gen game out there. Around a year before the PS3 will even be out in the US.

        And complaining about the wonders of sweat on basketball players: isn't that what the Emotion chip is supposed to be all about? To enable the PS3 to show all the detail of the characters expressions, like sweat for example? And yeah, it does make a difference, take a look at Fight Night 3 on the 360. No mo

      • Re:Will there be an emotion chip too? (Score:5, Insightful)

        by RexRhino ( 769423 ) on Wednesday March 15, 2006 @01:12PM (#14925276)
        I don't know why you would take either side in the Xbox 360 vs. Playstation 3 debate. Even if you don't like Microsoft's buisness practices, Sony has dome some extremly unethical things to customers (Music CDs that install rootkits on your computer, anyone?). And from a Geek perspective, Sony is super annoying (Microsoft actually publishes system specs on it's hardware... where as Sony gives vauge statements about "emotion engines").

        The fact is, having more than one game machine and one company dominating the whole industry is a good thing. Having Playstation the MAIN console with everyone else distant competitors (like it has been so long) is a bad thing, having several powerful competitors is a good thing. Don't worry, Sony isn't out of the video game industry yet despite their screw ups, there are too many die hard Sony fanboys for the Playstation 3 to flop. But the good news is that the market will probably be split evenly between the large companies, instead of the Sony quasi-monopoly on consoles.

        So, from a consumer perspective, what is there to worry about? If you have extra money to burn, or are impatient, or you could care less which one will be the "winner", buy a Xbox 360 now... or simply wait a few months until the Sony machine comes out, and decide then what is the best console. Why have loyalty to any company (they certainly aren't loyal to us)?
      • There's a saying for this:

        Microsoft doesn't have to compete. It just waits for its competitors to shoot themselves in the foot and Microsoft wins by default.

      • Re:Will there be an emotion chip too? (Score:5, Informative)

        by RyoShin ( 610051 ) <<tukaro> <at> <gmail.com>> on Wednesday March 15, 2006 @01:47PM (#14925591) Homepage Journal
        Nintendo sold more Gamecubes last Christmas than Microsoft sold XBox 360s

        When teaching things like economics as it applies to electronics, this should be a subject of focus.

        Yes, the Gamecube sold more than the XBox360. But why?

        We all know that the XBox 360 was a popular item. No one could keep it in stock. Microsoft somewhat shot themselves in the foot with lower production and guarenteed that this would happen.

        But what if they had been able to meet demand? The only measure of demand we can measure is sales, and, as said, the "sold out" tag is misleading, as quantities are low, and certainly didn't meet expected social demand. If the 360 had the production numbers, would it have outsold the Gamecube?

        Or would the Gamecube's price and library of games have outsold the 360, anyway? There are a couple different bundles you can pick up from any number of places; official bundles include the system, hook ups, controller, and one of the better games (Metroid Prime, Super Smash Bros, etc.) all for between $130 and $150. To even get just a 360 system, you have to shell out $300. If you want all the good stuff and a game, you have to lay down $450.

        Or did production approx. meet demand, and the rest was just overhype?

  • What a coincidence... (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Spy der Mann ( 805235 ) <`moc.liamg' `ta' `todhsals.nnamredyps'> on Wednesday March 15, 2006 @12:18PM (#14924742) Homepage Journal
    Sony seems to use Linux for the PS3 - and at the same time, Linus says he won't use GPL3 for Linux due to the DRM clauses.

    Interesting coincidence, don't you think?
    • Nope, it's well known that Linus would rather have the protection of the GPL combined with the "openness" of the BSD Licence.
      But in this world it seems that we must make a choice with that.
      If Linus had started with a double licence early on he wouldn't had the troubles convincing all developers, which are many, to go commercial.
      But then he would have a lower developer interest at the start of the linux project just like the BSD's have.
      I think if it werent for the protection for himself and the Linux project

  • Global Launch (Score:5, Informative)

    by Sans Virtue ( 830324 ) on Wednesday March 15, 2006 @12:19PM (#14924747)
    His two cents are odd considering that everything I've seen indicates a worldwide launch in November: http://ps3.ign.com/articles/696/696054p1.html [ign.com]
    • Mmm. Global launch. Don't forget that 600K units in Japan, 399K units in US and 1000 units in London would still constitute a worldwide launch.

  • yay! another ps3 article! (Score:5, Funny)

    by sstation ( 865252 ) on Wednesday March 15, 2006 @12:20PM (#14924753)
    and here i thought we were actually gonna make it to lunch time (eastern time) without seeing something about the ps3

  • Well well well... (Score:5, Funny)

    by patrickclay ( 898576 ) on Wednesday March 15, 2006 @12:23PM (#14924780) Homepage
    Sony, your desperate attempt to win back the Slashdot crowd is admirable, but I'm afraid it's too late...

    Sincerely,

    Slashdot

    • Re:Well well well... (Score:3, Interesting)

      by Ayaress ( 662020 )
      Not just too late, but probably counterproductive. With the level of DRM Sony has hinted at in the past for the PS3, I think a lot of Slashdotters will consider the fact that Linux is facilitating it to be more of an insult than anything.
    • Honestly, would the addition of Linux bring in more than maybe 5,000 new customers?

      Which apps will it run? Will it be anything that will ADD to the experience?

    • Re:Well well well... (Score:4, Insightful)

      by Lave ( 958216 ) on Wednesday March 15, 2006 @01:00PM (#14925176)

      They've done exactly the same as they did for the launch of the PS2 against the dreamcast. Lied about it's abilities: Check. Produced "real time footage" (Final fantasy cut scenes for the PS2 and we all know the PS3 debacle): Check. Lied about the release date: Check. I truly believe they knew all along it wasn't going to be released in "spring."

      I remember confidently telling my girlfriend she was a fool for getting a dreamcast as the PS2 "will be so much better" and "they're releasing it real soon." The blood of the Dreamcast is on my stupid hands.

      Fool me once Sony shame on you, fool me twice ....

      They've been doing anything to put you off thinking about a dreamcast/xbox360. And with the root kit fiasco they are pretty muuch dead to me. They need to stop treating me like a moron and a pirate if they want my money.

    • It's never been about Slashdot, grasshopper (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Moraelin ( 679338 ) on Wednesday March 15, 2006 @01:22PM (#14925365) Journal
      Sony doesn't actually give a flying fsck about Slashdot or Linux as such.

      Sony needs Linux on their console for the same reason they've needed it on the PS2: to dodge import taxes. I don't know what the situation is in the USA, but in the EU if it's a general purpose computer, it doesn't get taxed the way toys do. And EU is a games and consoles market of the same order of magnitude as the USA (if marginally smaller), and twice as big as Japan. So being able to say "see, you can boot this CD on it and have a general purpose OS that makes it a general purpose computer" is gonna make Sony a _lot_ of money in dodged import taxes.

      Even better, what this means is that it can be more competitive with Microsoft and Nintendo who chose not to dodge those taxes. Sony needs to take much less of a loss to give those a nasty price competition.

      And as the final exhibit: notice how Sony never actually bothered marketting or even selling (more than theoretically) that Linux they've flaunted all along for the PS2. They _didn't_ really want you to play Tux Racer on their subsidized machine.

      Think about it this way: they sell the consoles at a loss and make the money from games. Each console bought just to run Linux and troll Slashdot in Mozilla is for Sony just a loss. Each console that you run gnometris (Gnome's tetris clone) or kshisen on in Linux, instead of buying a game from Sony, is just a loss. It's not something they want you to do, but a nasty risk they're willing to take, in the hope that they'll lose less with that than they gain by dodging customs.

      So basically, don't let that ego blind you. We nerds like to pretend that the world revolves around us, and Sony would bend over backwards to please Slashdot. In practice, Sony couldn't care less about Slashdot. It's just a business decision, in which Slashdot played _no_ role whatsoever.
    • Dear Slashdot,

      And you are....?

      - Sony

  • Need a Linux for PSP (Score:4, Insightful)

    by DrXym ( 126579 ) on Wednesday March 15, 2006 @12:24PM (#14924797)
    Seriously. Sell the thing on UMD with a downloadable cross-platform set of compilers and let the homebrew people have at it. Then everyone's happy - the user for having a bunch of cool new things to run, the homebrew scene for having official endorsements, and the games makers since running homebrew over Linux and through different APIs effectively kills any notions of piracy.
    • I'm pretty sure they want to make money through software sales. I think the PSP is sold close to at cost, or even at a loss.

      It would be in their best interest to keep people from using the hardware for other purposes.
      • OTOH they can sell a boot loader UMD for the price of a game and help make it up that way. I actually have bought one new game for my Xbox (GTA:SA) so Microsoft's unwitting strategy of releasing a box that runs Linux is not entirely unuseful...
      • Linux is software. Sell it on a UMD for $60 and people will buy it, especially if it works nicely and allows people to tinker around with it, writing their own apps that run from a memory stick. Sony even used to sell Linux for PS2 but it was hamstrung by the need to buy a keyboard, mouse, network expansion & harddrive. None of this is necessary for a PSP - just a UMD, somewhere to download dev tools from and the rest will take care of itself.
    • and the games makers since running homebrew over Linux and through different APIs effectively kills any notions of piracy.

      It would slaughter the game makers.

      PSP games are doing badly enough anyway. Look at the PSP shelves, it's mostly UMD movies, at least in the stores where I am.

      Suddenly there's a homebrew kit, and people can load MAME or Z-SNES or something onto the PSP, along with hundreds of roms. Illegal, perhaps, but certainly not to be caught by Sony's protection.

      I'd buy a PSP at that point,

      • FWIW a GP2X would probably be a better platform for emulators. It's cheaper and has more options, including a video out cable. It also has a hardware scaler, which can help both with emulation, and with watching video - you're supposed to be able to watch unscaled videos right on the unit. Personally, I got a Pocket PC, which has a faster primary CPU (400MHz instead of 200MHz) and more expansion (CF-II and SDIO) but then, it has no spiffy graphics hardware, and I have to recode video at 320x200 before I can
      • How would it slaughter the games makers? Homebrew writers would be restricted to using the APIs that were exposed through Linux which almost certainly aren't going to compete with the ones games makers use. And such a kit certainly wouldn't allow them to pirate games either since the whole Linux thing gets in the way. All this does is allow tinkerers and others with bespoke requirements to suddenly find new and innovative ways of using their PSPs. The only effect of a devkit is an increase in sales to such

  • Simultaneous Worldwide Launch (Score:4, Informative)

    by jon.wolf ( 938920 ) on Wednesday March 15, 2006 @12:24PM (#14924799)
    According to the coverage on joystiq [joystiq.com], It will be a worldwide release in November of this year. "The PS3 will launch 'in early November 2006 in Japan, North America and Europe simultaneously.'"

    Until further details emerge, claims of a US '07 release appear to be unsubstantiated.

  • FUBAR summary....again (Score:5, Informative)

    by Mille Mots ( 865955 ) on Wednesday March 15, 2006 @12:24PM (#14924800)
    From the summary:

    ...More interestingly, the article claims that PS3 will ship with a 60-gig hard drive, built-in network card, and Linux!" Serious stuff here, with Sony's shares falling on the delay confirmation...

    From TFTA (link to Ken Kutaragi's 10 Point Breakdown):

    7. Kutaragi said that that the PS3 will require a hard drive, which will have a 60 GB capacity and support Linux OS. No word on if it will be included.

    Oops.

    --
    Sig arrêt

    • Well, a lot of people don't seem to be taking that as quite so black-and-white. On The Register [reghardware.co.uk], their interpretation is that the PS3 will probably ship with cheaper no-harddrive version for those that just want basic console gameplay, and a more expensive premium version with harddrive. Considering the cost figures floating around, that would make a lot of sense, and they did state the harddrive would be upgradeable, so it's not hard to do the two versions.

    • Kutaragi said that that the PS3 will require a hard drive, which will have a 60 GB capacity and support Linux OS. No word on if it will be included.

      Oops.

      If you don't need a special 'Linux Kit' to run Linux on the thing, it hardly matters whether or not it's included. THAT is the question which must be answered.

    • Not only that.. but doesn't anyone remember the exact same statement when the ps2 harddrive came out? That's right, Linux was available on the PS2. Didn't really mean anything though.

  • Good news (Score:3, Insightful)

    by caluml ( 551744 ) <slashdot@spamgoe ... minus herbivore> on Wednesday March 15, 2006 @12:25PM (#14924806) Homepage
    If it's true, it can only be good news. The more big companies that use Linux for their products, the more defen[c|s]e there will be for any legal challenges that affect it - hurrah!

  • Like I've always said (Score:4, Interesting)

    by tomstdenis ( 446163 ) <tomstdenis@gma[ ]com ['il.' in gap]> on Wednesday March 15, 2006 @12:28PM (#14924827) Homepage
    I'd be willing to pay more for a gaming console if I had control to produce my own content [e.g. programs, games, whatever].

    I'd pay 800$ for a PS3 if it meant I could ssh to the thing and play with the cell processor or beam media to it or something.

    If all I can do is play games then I wouldn't pay more than 200$ for it. Cuz at that point I'd just play my xbox1 out of spite.

    Tom

    • Re:Like I've always said (Score:5, Funny)

      by Shihar ( 153932 ) on Wednesday March 15, 2006 @12:48PM (#14925042)
      I think the consol you are looking for is known as a "computer". Yes, I believe "computer" is the correct answer.
      • I think the consol you are looking for is known as a "computer". Yes, I believe "computer" is the correct answer.

        True, but there are important differences between a hackable console and a computer. You get more bang for your buck in a console (at least when it comes to graphics) because the hardware is subsidized by the games. In addition, because the console is a fix platform, the game writers can squeeze more performance.

        The fixed platform is also valuable because it makes every thing much simpler for

    • I wholeheartedly agree. The only way Sony might possibly get people to buy significant numbers of this PS3 thing at the prices that are kicked around most frequently is to make it a computer. A PS3 with a hard drive, high-speed networking, and Linux is a very reasonable device to use for all of the average person's computing needs. Linux with KDE or Gnome (plus a bunch of apps) on the PS3 should be plenty speedy, very reliable, and do everything most people want to do.

      Put another way: There ain't no fuc

  • will they do the smart thing? (Score:4, Insightful)

    by LWATCDR ( 28044 ) on Wednesday March 15, 2006 @12:32PM (#14924874) Homepage Journal
    Will it also be a PVR?
    Will it have a memory stick slot so you can take your show straight from the PS3/PVR and put the on the PSP?
    Any chance that the PS3 will play UMD movies so you don't have to buy two versions?
    Just some ideas that could really help Sony do better. Of course what they really need to do is drop this DRM crap like a hot potato.

    • Will it also be a PVR? Will it have a memory stick slot so you can take your show straight from the PS3/PVR and put the on the PSP? Any chance that the PS3 will play UMD movies so you don't have to buy two versions? Just some ideas that could really help Sony do better. Of course what they really need to do is drop this DRM crap like a hot potato.

      They will probably try the PVR thing again, but for less money. The unit almost assuredly is not coming with video capture hardware.

      There is little to no

      • NTSC video capture is actually pretty easy the tuner could be a bit more complex. It would just make sense to me to put a PVR right in the box if really want it to be a home media center. How about a transfer cable for the PSP so you could dump your UMD movies to the PS3? Probably will not happen since Sony REALLY wants to sell you the same data over and over and over again.
  • The release will be right in time for the Christmas shopping season; lots of disposable income being thrown around at that time.

  • The secret reason for the delay (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 15, 2006 @12:33PM (#14924883)
    I have it on good authority that Sony is having trouble porting their x86-based rootkit to the cell architecture. No software will be released until they get a multi-threaded roootkit with decent performance.

  • Where do you think you're posting? (Score:3, Informative)

    by PetiePooo ( 606423 ) on Wednesday March 15, 2006 @12:38PM (#14924930)
    If you have to choose between a solid platform that costs $300 (and already has a stable of games available) and a brand-new system that is two hundred bucks more with far fewer games, which one do you think most people will buy?

    The one with Linux on it, obviously!

    In all seriousness, that was a big factor in my personal decision to buy the
    - WRT54G [openwrt.org] wireless router
    - NSLU2 [nslu2-linux.org] storage server
    - TiVo [ptvupgrade.com]
    - XBox [xbox-linux.org] (original)
  • I wonder how easy it will be to soft-mod a PS3 through Linux, so that it can boot burned games.

  • Interesting non-PS3 point in the article... (Score:4, Informative)

    by Futaba-chan ( 541818 ) on Wednesday March 15, 2006 @12:38PM (#14924943)
    They're adding a PSOne emulator to the PSP! That should help fix the lack of compelling titles problem, as Metal Gear Solid and the entire Final Fantasy series up to FF IX (except III) will now be portable, plus Xenogears, Chrono Trigger, and lots more. Hooray for portable Aeris and Snake!
  • Sony could follow Microsoft's example, and launch with almost no availability of the actual console. Until very recently, the XBox 360 was virtually unattainable for anybody who was not on a waiting list months before the launch. This sort of limited launch makes good strategic sense:

    It convinces people who might otherwise buy a competing console to wait in hopes of actually getting their hands on a PS3.

    It reassures investors and developers with an on-time launch

    Long lines of people and inflated prices on E
  • After reading this summary(not TFA) and another summary of the new things for PSP(GPS, eye toy, and several other non-game-related things), I am questioning the proejct managers at sony. And so the dance of the developers versus marketers begins.

    It is obvious they are eager to stuff as many non-video-game related features and now buzzwords(Linux, DRM, Cell,Blu-Ray etc) into this mystical console. Gee, and we wonder why there are so many delays. With every new feature they want to stuff in,it's going to just

  • Blaze of Glory (Score:5, Interesting)

    by blueZhift ( 652272 ) on Wednesday March 15, 2006 @12:48PM (#14925045) Homepage Journal
    I actually love how Kutaragi-san is putting it all on the line. Global launch, standard hard drive, free online service... Oooh Weee! Sony is either going to astound the analysts with one of the most successful product launches ever, or go out in a blaze of glory that may cripple the company. Either way, you gotta love the balls to the wall attitude. This is going to be really interesting to watch.

  • NetHack (Score:2)

    by jonv ( 2423 )
    If it is running Linux a next gen console version of Nethack cannot be far away!
  • Were they trying to make a Linux rootkit?
  • Seeing as Sony have never officially supported anything but Windows for any of their computer hardware, and have never released the APIs for them either, I can't take that seriously. What it *could* be is a method of demonstrating one of the virtualisation technologies included in the P3, say a virtual PC, without the overhead of a Windows license. Of course, if anyone can prove me wrong, I'm happy to stand corrected.
  • How many stories do we need about this? I'm waiting for the Sunday Supplement -- "PS3: Still Delayed".
  • The 360, after this month when GR:Advanced Warfighter and Elder Scrolls: Oblivion launch, will hit the point of having titles in nearly every genre that can push consoles out the door.

    Sports: Plenty. College Hoops 2k6 is the best IMO.
    Racing: PGR3.
    FPS: C0D2 and GRAW.
    RPG: Oblivion.
    Adventure (dying genre unfortunately): Kameo.


    The 360 is missing a MMORPG (in the works, probably won't do well anyhow) and a strategy game. The major genre's are covered.

    with Halo3 and a price cut coinciding with the

  • the ADAM computer (Score:5, Interesting)

    by mrpeebles ( 853978 ) on Wednesday March 15, 2006 @01:03PM (#14925214)
    More and more, the PS3 is reminding me of the ADAM computer. For those who don't remember, it was the successor to the colecovision video game system, and it was going to be both a video game system, AND an affordable home computer system. Unfortunately, it tried to do too many things, didn't do enough of them well enough for the money, and flopped. (Also, the controllers attached to the SIDE of the main box, so that when you pulled them out, little kid that you were, you broke the machine.) Anyway, these similarities may only be superficial, but a much better comparison may be the LISA computer by apple. We will see...
  • Aparently the following nubmers came out of the press conf

    1) 1 million units manufactured per month
    2) 6 million units available by the end of Q4 (march 07)

    Assuming those numbers are right they are going to start manufacturing in October for the November release and their are going to be around 1 million units available world wide for the November launch.

    Is it just me or does that seem REALLY DAMN low? 1 mill systems doesn't seem like enough for just the Japanese market, not to mention the Americas and Europ

  • Curious (Score:3, Interesting)

    by RyoShin ( 610051 ) <<tukaro> <at> <gmail.com>> on Wednesday March 15, 2006 @01:16PM (#14925318) Homepage Journal
    If Linux support is going to be native (instead of requiring a bunch of hacking and modding), does this mean they are open to indie game development?

    With their PSOnline service (or whatever they're calling it,) they could give low-brow development kits (or sell them for a small fee,) and all people to upload games to a server. Having a lot of free, smaller games would really add to the service.
  • *If* they make Q4, they'll be able to set the terms and conditions of selling their console to any retailer that matters. The retailers will hate it, but can't say no.

    They may sell the console below their BOM cost, but I'm sure they will save 10's of millions by setting the terms of sales with the retailers.

    Note, most retailers make substantial money simply charging slot, promotional fees, and any other fee they can dream up. That's why nearly all single products from a single vendor tend to vanish after
  • So the lateness has to do with DRM. Well, that's great and all, but that doesn't explain why nobody has seen real code running on mostly-real PS3s. If all was fine and good with this exception, I would think you'd have seen a lot of playable demos at the various shows; they wouldn't have to show the *final* machine (wasn't it Microsoft showing off the 360 games on modified G5s?) but at least people would have something to get excited about.

    All anyone is talking about is the unit itself and the various compo

  • Horray for Nintendo (Score:3, Insightful)

    by MBCook ( 132727 ) <foobarsoft@foobarsoft.com> on Wednesday March 15, 2006 @01:40PM (#14925532) Homepage
    Wow. I wasn't expecting the world-wide launch. Here is hoping they can pull it off. The Linux thing is interesting. The only other question I have is... if I download a game to play on my PSP (I'll be buying Parappa and UmJamma Lammy), can I play it on my PS3 too?

    But the thing that this says to me is... Sony screwed up big time. Now I don't see why they didn't just do update the Blu-Ray driver later (like they did with the DVD driver in the PS2). Instead they delayed the launch.

    Now Nintendo has a major leg up. I have been waiting for the Revolution and I think that it will do much better than the 'Cube did this generation. But now they will both launch around Christmas. Let's ignore the fan-boys and look at the people who want a new video game console. So little Billy wants a console. Do you...

    1. Buy him a XBox 360 ($300 for the full system plus games, based on hypothetical price cut)
    2. Buy him a PS3 ($425 based on "minimum" price, plus games)
    3. Buy him a Revolution ($200 plus games)

    So if we assume $60 games, that is $360 for a XBox with one game, $485 for a PS3 with one game, or $260 for a Rev with one game (assuming no pack-in). So for the price of a XBox, you can get a Revolution with about 3 games. For the price of the PS3, you can get the Revolution plus 5 games.

    That will be a MAJOR plus to Nintendo, not counting all the other pluses (controller, backed library, etc). Look how Nintendo is doing in Japan with the DS. Nintendogs was HUGE here in the states, I know lots of little girls who got a DS just for that game. If Brain Training becomes big here too, wow. If they can do the same sort of thing with the Revolution, they could break out of their "slump" big time.

    I can't wait for E3/GDC when we'll see more of all three systems.

  • Landscape same as ever (Score:3, Insightful)

    by caffeination ( 947825 ) on Wednesday March 15, 2006 @01:52PM (#14925646)
    It'll be no different from today: Microsoft and Sony will still be taking up 90% of the press attention with their wafer-thin attention grabbing B.S., with Nintendo continuing to take in profit by the truckload in the background. Graphics will continue to win ground against gameplay, and I will continue to buy less and less games. More companies will be bought by bigger companies as the price of producing a game is forced up by increasingly laughable production values.

  • We'll know more after GDC (Score:4, Informative)

    by Animats ( 122034 ) on Wednesday March 15, 2006 @01:53PM (#14925649) Homepage
    The Game Developer's Conference [gdconf.com] is next week. On Wednesday, March 22, at 10:30 AM, Phil Harrison of SCEA will tell developers what's going to happen.

    This is the point where Sony has to make it clear to developers exactly what's coming out and when, or there will be very few games ready at launch.

    So wait a week.

  • MS vs Sony? More likely, Sony vs Nintendo (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Opportunist ( 166417 ) on Wednesday March 15, 2006 @02:21PM (#14925910)
    Does anyone know how the XB360 sold in Japan? According to what I hear, Japanese customers are quite loyal to their local manufacturers, so I would consider it likely that (unless that changed with the X360) Sony tries to pick up the battle with Nintendo instead. The one against MS is pretty much over by the time they could push the console on the market.

    By then, the X360 will be "old" already. It's more likely that they will try to match with the Nintendo Revolution instead of trying to fight the X360. Simply because those 2 consoles will be the ones to share the XMas market for this year.

    For the X360, you either already have it, you're going to buy it within 6 months or you don't care about it. Who's gonna get a 360 for XMas? Hardly anyone. It's "old" by then.

    On the other hand, both the PS3 and the Rev are going to hit the market roughly around XMas this year. And usually people only buy ONE console per XMas, not both.

  • Maybe a troll (Score:3, Insightful)

    by tprime ( 673835 ) on Wednesday March 15, 2006 @03:57PM (#14926764)
    You guys don't get it when it comes to Sony and Linux. Go ahead and mark this a troll. Sony is MORE abusive than MS when it comes to their interactions with their customers, but slap the words Linux on it and many people on Slashdot become instant supporters. I use Windows and Linux (depending on which workstation I am currently working on) and to me, Sony defies everything that Linux originally stood for. We have DRM that limits YOUR rights with your media. The PSP has not 1 but 2 proprietary media formats. Does anyone remember ATRAC3, another proprietary DRMed format we didn't need. Also, please keep in mind that the version of Linux that will be bundled with the PS3 will have to conform to ALL of Sony's vices, and won't be the garden variety that we can do what we please with. Linux compatibility doesn't make it all better.....

    The most that all three companies care about is your money, its the underlying current that differs. MS cares about the profit of their system while forcing you to have their desktop system to use all of the functions. Sony cares about the profit of their system while forcing you to give up your fair use rights in music and movies. Nintendo seems to be the biggest straight shooter of them all, they just want to make money (maybe I am just missing their subversion)

    None of the three companies are doing ANYTHING here because they think it is the right thing to do, but rather because it suits their profit model in the long term

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