Sony banks on "future-proof" tech to win next-generation console war
Back in May, Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. (SCEI) president Ken Kutaragi was quoted as saying that the $499 and $599 price points for its PlayStation 3 were "probably too cheap." Today, Sony CEO Howard stringer again defended the steep price of entry and justified its pricing structure to the best of his ability.
"The price of the PS3 is high... But you're paying for potential. Obviously, it's a higher-risk strategy as all new inventions are. But if the PS3 lives up to its total potential, then I don't think anyone will be worried about Nintendo or Xbox's cheaper price," said Stringer. Considering that consumers feel that a console purchase to be a long-term investment, Stringer feels that the PlayStation 3 is more future-proof which will allow potential customers to justify the price tag.
Stringer also notes that Hollywood studios may be the ones who determine whether HD DVD or Blu-ray wins this battle. Gamesindustry.biz reports:
Stringer went on to concede that Hollywood movie studios, currently divided over whether to support Blu-Ray or Toshiba's rival HD-DVD format, could ultimately determine who wins the next-gen war. However, the Sony CEO believes that film execs are "beginning to sense, in Blu-Ray, that the pendulum is swinging, and swinging for a clear reason" - namely that Blu-Ray discs can store more data.
Official PS3 Specs
Here are the official technical specifications for the PS3, taken directly from Sony:
CPU
Cell Processor
PowerPC-base Core @3.2GHz
1 VMX vector unit per core
512KB L2 cache
7 x SPE @3.2GHz
7 x 128b 128 SIMD GPRs
7 x 256KB SRAM for SPE
* 1 of 8 SPEs reserved for redundancy
total floating point performance: 218 GFLOPS
GPU
RSX @550MHz
1.8 TFLOPS floating point performance
Full HD (up to 1080p) x 2 channels
Multi-way programmable parallel floating point shader pipelines
Sound
Dolby 5.1ch, DTS, LPCM, etc. (Cell- base processing)
Memory
256MB XDR Main RAM @3.2GHz 256MB GDDR3 VRAM @700MHz
System Bandwidth
Main RAM 25.6GB/s
VRAM 22.4GB/s
RSX 20GB/s (write) + 15GB/s (read)
SB<>
System Floating Point Performance
2 TFLOPS
Storage
Detachable 2.5" HDD slot x 1
I/O
USB Front x 4, Rear x 2 (USB2.0)
Memory Stick standard/Duo, PRO x 1
SD standard/mini x 1
CompactFlash (Type I, II) x 1
Communication
Ethernet (10BASE-T, 100BASE-TX, 1000BASE-T) x 3 (input x 1 + output x 2)
Wi-Fi IEEE 802.11 b/g
Bluetooth 2.0 (EDR)
Controller
Bluetooth (up to 7)
USB 2.0 (wired)
Wi-Fi (PSP)
Network (over IP)
AV Output
Screen size: 480i, 480p, 720p, 1080i, 1080p
HDMI: HDMI out x 2
Analog: AV MULTI OUT x 1
Digital audio: DIGITAL OUT (OPTICAL) x 1
Disc Media
CD PlayStation CD-ROM, PlayStation 2 CD-ROM, CD-DA, CD-DA (ROM),
CD-R, CD-RW, SACD, SACD Hybrid (CD layer), SACD HD, DualDisc, DualDisc (audio side), DualDisc (DVD side) DVD: PlayStation 2 DVD-ROM, PlayStation 3 DVD-ROM, DVD-Video, DVD-ROM, DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD+R, DVD+RWBlu-ray Disc: PlayStation 3 BD-ROM, BD-Video, BD-ROM, BD-R, BD-RE
