Next-Gen DVD for PS3?

I just got the latest PSM in the mail yesterday (coincidentally, my wife just got her latest PMS yesterday, but that\'s another story). It has some more info on the possibility of the PS3 using Sony\'s Blu-Ray disc technology as a medium for games. Here\'s some of the text:

The future of DVD has a color, and it\'s blue. Recently revealed at a Sony technology showcase in Japan, the so-called Blu-Ray DVD format is part of a multi-company effort and promises to make the current DVD format look like the data-storing equivalent of a thimble in comparison.

An Ocean of Data
Compared the the current DVD format\'s 9GB per side, the new format will be capable of cramming 23GB onto one side of a single disc, which is housed inside of a plastic "cartridge" of sorts. Not only that, but the technology is being designed as a recordable medium and fully HDTV-ready from the get-go.
According to its creators, the format is pegged to hold 15 hours of DVD quality video, or 3-4 hours of HDTV content. For recording, it will be rewritable, just like current day VHS tapes - only without any of the annoying rewinding, of course. Blu-Ray discs won\'t play on current DVD players, but players designed for them will be backwards-compatible with original DVDs and CDs.

Part of the PS3s Picture?
The format is still a way off even in it\'s video-only form, but it\'s nevertheless in the official running (against what else we don\'t know) for the data storage medium used by the PS3. The potential is impressive, to say the least. Since it\'s rewritable, the PS3 wouldn\'t necessarily need a hard disk drive like the one the PS2\'s going to be getting - each game disc could simply have it\'s own writable space.

There\'s a little bit more, but that\'s the main part of the article that refers to the new DVD format.

:alien:

Nice.Very nice.

Yep its very possible..

You wont need any memorycards if you can save data on the disc

it would be cool every game has its own built-in HDD.

[Kurt Angle]

That sounds like an excellent way to go. The only thing that worrys me is how much it would cost to repair if it broke down, or how much would a new blue ray dvd replacement drive cost.

The cost of the discs themselves (casing and all) will be higher.

I doubt that it\'ll be enough to escalate game prices, though.

I just scanned a picture from the mag. Here\'s what the disc is supposed to look like:



:alien:

I hope they go with it, as it seems the perfect medium for storing games on. Along with all the other features, I love how it\'s encased in plastic so as to avoid damaging the DVD disk itself. Almost like the perfect marrage of both CD and Cartridge for people and kids who like to treat their CD\'s and DVD\'s like NES carts... then bytch cause they won\'t work. = /

Sony\'s blue ray? LOL

A company in sanfransisco 4 years ago invented the laser for the so called blue ray, as I remember reading it in popular science at the time. Then 2 years ago they were implementing it in prototypes.
The japs have refined the tech, which they call blue ray!
So Hitachi, LG Electronics, Matsushita Electric Industrial, Pioneer, Royal Philips Electronics, Samsung Electronics, Sharp, Sony and Thomson Multimedia will all have it for HDDVD and hopefully as a recordable medium.

DVD has never really impressed me which it\'s low-resolution, grainy picture quality.  If anything the DD 5.1 was the selling point for me.  2003 we will see the first blue ray DVD players from the japs, and soon enough the content will follow.  I don\'t think it will be as big as DVD for a long time, seeing how DVD has grown to become the standard medium for movies.  HDDVD will be there for those whom have the big screen HD TV\' and what the best picture quality, or to put a better way(for those whom, want to rep the full potential of there HDTV\'s)

Finally I can watch a DVD movie on my 19inch monitor and get super clear/sharp picture.

As for the cartridge idea, it\'s about Godamn time. Dumbest idea ever for the industry to not implement CD\'s in a cartridge format, they are so delicate, and scratch easy.  Honestly I wish the NEW SACD format would be cartridge based, oh well.  

PS. "DVD Audio" belongs in the toilet, as SACD has shown to be of better sound quality.

sound\'s very nice

the ability to use blue ray (read/ write)

plus the also advantage that it can do backwards-compatible with original DVDs and CDs sounds superb.

just think this could be the end of the internal HD or External Memory card.

insted of saving you game on memory card or HD (if its a X box) you can simpaly save it on the blue ray cart/disk along with a potential of vast quantites of data... like custom made levels etc...

just think this could be the end of the internal HD or External Memory card

I\'m not to sure how that is going to work, I could be wrong, but I question how man times you can read/write on the disk before it goes dead. Again I will look into blue ray and see if indeed it\'s like MiniDisc where you can record over it 1 million times.

here some info

"Though larger recording capacity is the main differentiating factor, it isn\'t the only characteristic that puts Blu-ray Disc ahead of DVD on the storage arena. Some of its key features are as follows:

Large capacity: The adoption of 405nm blue-violet semiconductor laser has made it possible to record video data of up to 27GB on a single-sided 12 cm phase change disc. Translated in terms of high definition video—the most apt applications for Blu-ray—it means that Blu-ray can hold over 2 hours of digital high definition video. It can record more than 13 hours of standard TV broadcasting. However, the length can vary, it is possible that Blu-ray discs may be made available in three different sizes, such as 23.3GB, 25GB and 27GB.

High-speed transfer: Blu-ray discs will have a data transfer rate of 36Mbps. This means that Blu-ray disc can record digital high definition broadcasts or high definition images from a digital video camera while maintaining the original picture quality.

Recording format: Like the DVD, the Blu-ray disc uses phase change recording. This must be good news for those who plan to make the new format compatible with its wildly popular predecessor. This recording format will also makes a two-sided disc easily realizable because both writing and reading can be executed by a single pickup.


They are also aiming to further enhance the appeal of the new format through developing a larger capacity, such as over 30GB on a single sided single layer disc and over 50GB on a single sided double layer disc. Adoption of the Blu-ray Disc in a variety of applications including PC data storage and high definition video software is being considered.

I sure hope they use this new technology,  it would mean Gran Turismo could have a 500+ cars 50 tracks etc

Also I love the plastic covering over the disc,  Ive lost a ton of games in the past to scratches,  this should make that a thing of the past

[Kurt Angle]

As long as the games are not any more expensive than current DVD format games I will be happy.

Also the blue ray discs look more like cartridges so that will help reduce piracy.

Originally posted by Kurt Angle
....
Also the blue ray discs look more like cartridges so that will help reduce piracy.

Well that would have been true if the discs weren\'t recordable like someone stated earlier.

We\'ll see though.

Does that pic say something about the PS3 not being a console or am I wrong?Good or bad news?