The PlayStation 3
The Third In A Line Of Already Great Consoles.
Does The PS3 Hold Up To The Standards Sony Has Unwittingly Set For Itself?
The PlayStation 3 is the third in a long line of consoles by Sony. It wasn’t unveiled until E3 2005, and a functional version could be seen at E3 2006. The PlayStation 3 is the most exciting seventh generation system for hardcore gamers, as the graphics and interactions are, quite literally, stunning. Did Sony really ‘bring it’, or did it go home nursing its wounds?
Dun-Dun-Duuuun! The Launch Of The Long Awaited PS3
The PlayStation 3’s launch was… less then typical for a gaming console. Almost all of the consoles sold in Japan were purchased by business men who paid others to buy them, and then re-sell them on eBay. More consoles than games were sold, because the men didn’t care too much for the games – just the consoles, which would sell better.
In North America, there was literally a craze for the PlayStation 3. Reports of robberies, shootings, fighting, and even employees fabricating robberies were all over the place in the days following the launch, and the PlayStation 3 was the most looked-for item on eBay for a great long while.
Prices on eBay went through the roof, as it seemed that everyone wanted one, and they wanted one right that second. All of the 60 gigabyte PlayStation 3’s easily went for over $1000.00 dollars, and most people paid upwards of a hundred dollars for overnight shipping.
Wait, Is There One Version or Two?
Originally, there were two versions of the PS3 available – one holding a 20 gigabyte hard drive, and one holding a 60 gigabyte hard drive. The 60 gigabyte version also supported Wi-Fi connectivity. The hard drive is upgradeable in both versions.
However, the 20 gigabyte was ultimately discontinued on April 11, 2007 in the US, because of lack of demand. You can still find this version, but it will most likely be used.
Backwards, Forwards, It’s All The Same To Me.
The PlayStation 3 has utterly amazing backwards compatibility – better then even the Xbox 360. Every single PlayStation and PlayStation 2 game that observes the Technical Requirements Checklist for its console can be played on the PS3.
It’s because the games are being emulated at the hardware level, not the software level. Sadly, the European versions of the PS3 are emulated at the software level now, and the Japanese and American versions will do the same soon. Sony is trying to cut manufacturing costs of the PS3 in order to make a larger profit.
Hardware – Why It’s Completely Awesome
A lot of the hype that surrounded the PS3 was about the hardware it utilized. It features an amazing 3.2 GHz Cell processor, which consists of a PowerPC processor. It’s mainly used to control the eight SPEs (Synergistic Processing Elements).
One of these is used for security and OS functions, while the eighth is disabled in order to reach even higher yields. The processing power in this system is so great, the PS3 has exceeded all other systems in the Folding@home project in a measure of teraflops contributed. Folding@home utilizes the parts of your computer that aren’t working, and greatly contributes to the study of improper protein folding. Folding@home may one day help us to better understand horrible diseases, like Alzheimer’s, Huntington’s, Parkinson’s, cystic fibrosis, and several different forms of cancer.
The PS3 also supports a massive number of video and audio formats, and it displays on both SDTV, and features HDTV resolutions of up to 1080p. On the audio side, the PS3 allows 7.1 digital audio, TrueHD, and the more common formats, like over analog stereo cables.
It also supports a large number of disc formats, including a number audio CDs and video DVD formats. The best is, without a doubt, Blu-Ray format, which the PS3 plays beautifully. It also has much better codec support than the PlayStation 2 had.
And The Verdict Is…
The PS3 is an awesome seventh generation system, and without a doubt will hold up for a long time in the gaming world. It’s a safe bet that you can toss your PS2 out the window, and opt with the sleek, beautiful, extremely powerful PlayStation 3. What more could you ask for in a gaming system?
