PS3 Due In March 2006 (and more on the cell-powered TVs)

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After Sony\'s somewhat obscure comments at their E3 conference regarding their forthcoming Cell processor - which will be used to power PlayStation 3 - Sony chairman Nonuyuki Idei has revealed more of their plans for the chip. And he\'s confirmed that their first consumer application for it is going to be PS3, which now looks set to appear in March 2006.

"We\'ll first focus on developing a successor console to the PlayStation 2," he says. "But incorporating the Cell chip into TVs will give us greater control in adding functions, so we\'ll concurrently pursue the development of a new game console and the incorporation of the chip into TVs. It just means that demand for TVs with computer-like functions is starting to emerge and we are going to meet such demand."

So what "computer-like functions" will those be, then? We\'d imagine that we\'ll see Sony\'s next-gen TVs have built-in PSX-like capabilities that will enable them to play games, connect to the net, and store and play MP3s, movies and music. In addition, don\'t be surprised if the PSP\'s wi-fi function will enable you use it as a remote control for your Sony home entertainment set-up.

Trial production of the Cell processor itself has already started and the first prototype of a Cell-based workstation is due to be ready by the end of the year. With Sony having announced that they plan to start shifting Cell-based products in March 2006, and with PS3 being Sony\'s priority for the chip, it appears that this could well be the planned release date for PS3.

Seems they\'re just feeding investors hype of more sony domination in the consumer electronics market.  Everyone else wants to know what it will do.

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all i have to say is if this thing is comin out in 2006 it better be more powerful than xbox2 as i understand that xbox2 will be debuting in 2005...the sony hype won\'t save it this time if it doesn\'t put forth a mchine that can rival microsoft\'s..we all know that the hype is contributed to a part of the dreamcats demise and honestly dreamcast had games that were lookin better than sony\'s machine..

i\'m not a graphics whore but sony\'s machine has to be better,..graphic wise & performance wise,.. we all know microsofts machine has a solid hold the market and is here to stay so hype imo is not gonna stop people from buyin the box when it\'s released..make that thing easy to program for & make it better in all aspects than the box especially if it\'s comin out a year later and they should be okay...

one last note* i just wanted to say to those that don\'t care about graphics..you do! it\'s not the most important,..but we all look forward to the next gen. to see how the new games are going to look...there\'s no way any of us would buy a new gen console if it had the same graphic capabilities on it..damn this turned into a little rant...

oh please. the demise of the DC , especially in Europe, was Sega\'s own damn fault. Sega started screwing up for the loyal
European Sega fan since Megadrive 32X. they lost alot of goodwill
by only themselves.

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Originally posted by Knotter8
oh please. the demise of the DC , especially in Europe, was Sega\'s own damn fault. Sega started screwing up for the loyal
European Sega fan since Megadrive 32X. they lost alot of goodwill
by only themselves.

i don\'t know what went down in europe but like i said..the sony hype was a part of the dreamcast demise...sega made some silly decisions which ultimately spelled their doom...

Sony has nothing to worry about, it\'s a pretty safe bet that some of the 60+ million owners of PS2 will upgrade.  People aren\'t going to shy away from the strong franchises Sony has built.

This isn\'t to say MS won\'t be able to convert some though.  Xbox Live has been a success and chances are they will continue to improve upon it, MS has finally started in house development in Japan, XNA seems to be causing some buzz, and the third party support will continue to grow.  Last I read MS does plan to have a six to nine month lead on the PS3 and alot can happen in that amount of time given the right circumstances...a kick ass line-up of games and a competitive price could do some good things.

About the DC, Sega made some very good decisions about the Dreamcast that made it such a success.  The DC was selling quite well, in fact there was a point where they couldn\'t keep them on the shelves.  The announcement of the PS2 only slowed it down a little bit.  It wasn\'t until the PS2 was released in Japan that the DC came to a halt.  If you remember, DVD wasn\'t very accessible in Japan.  The fact that PS2 had a built in DVD player is what sold it there, people didn\'t care about the games, Matrix was THE best seller for the system.

There was nothing Sega could do afterwards in Japan.  The American market was a bit different, it did well but the lack of some key third party support is what hurt it.

it dont really matter anyway. most ppl at the end will have both system since most gamer will want to play exclusive for MS or exclusive for sony. they are only 400$ gaming machine, with tousand features.

People pay 500$ just to have a PC videocard.

2 system, over 2 year is not much for most people.

I paid my PS2 470$ CA the day it came out, and today i feel that this 470 was well invested

[GmanJoe]

I\'ll definitely be anticipating its arrival and its games.

On a slight tangent, this 2006 debut might sway SquarEnix to switch over the Xbox, as one of their spokesmen alluded to recently.

Originally posted by Knotter8
oh please. the demise of the DC , especially in Europe, was Sega\'s own damn fault. Sega started screwing up for the loyal European Sega fan since Megadrive 32X. they lost alot of goodwill
by only themselves.

Thats bullshit. I was working in one of the busiest gaming stores in the south east region when the DC was launched and all the way up to the launch of the PS2. There were SO many people who looked at the DC and wanted to buy on but wouldn\'t because they knew the PS2 was coming. What consoles do in Europe affects no one. The DC/GCN/PS2/Xbox could ignore Europe all together and be fine. They make their money in North America and Japan.

Originally posted by GmanJoe
I\'ll definitely be anticipating its arrival and its games.

On a slight tangent, this 2006 debut might sway SquarEnix to switch over the Xbox, as one of their spokesmen alluded to recently.

I doubt they\'d switch as they are concerned with installed user base more than anything.  There\'s no guessing with PS3.  

However, if MS can pull their shit together and have a strong launch then maybe Square would consider going multiplatform.  FF:CC doesn\'t count...such a disappointment.

The thing about game system they all are powerful none all that more powerful than the other. The this console is more powerful than that console is just fanboy bs.

Xbox came out after ps2 and the graphics are not all that compared to out dated ps2 technology. So as I say graphics are always simular the games matter.

Only way you will see a huge graphical difference is system if ps2 launches at least 2 years after xbox2

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Originally posted by QuDDus
The thing about game system they all are powerful none all that more powerful than the other. The this console is more powerful than that console is just fanboy bs.

Xbox came out after ps2 and the graphics are not all that compared to out dated ps2 technology. So as I say graphics are always simular the games matter.

Only way you will see a huge graphical difference is system if ps2 launches at least 2 years after xbox2

tru but what i\'m sayin is this..ps2 came out after the dreamcast & the graphics did not blow it away...some games on dreamcast looked better than sony\'s machine..who\'s to say if the dreamcast was still around how it\'s graphics over the years would\'ve looked?

all i\'m sayin is sony can\'t release a machine after xbox2 with graphics that are about the same then say you have work to get to it\'s potential..it should come right outta the door with it\'s graphics lookin better...

I really don\'t think graphics are gonna make much of a difference this time around.  All three consoles will be able to make visually stunning games...it will come down to the game line up and right now there\'s no telling who will be the first to win over consumers.  MS and Nintendo both want out before Sony...it might get interesting.

With such a small window of less than a year don\'t expect the consoles to greatly differ in power.  PS2 was released a full 17 months(I think) after DC (Japan) which would give it the upper hand in the long run even though it didn\'t need it.

I think sony was dominating this generation untill both consoles went online. Xbox picked up most of its momentum with xbox live being such a great system.

I think Xbox and Sony will be head to head when they both release new consoles.

Originally posted by Ginko
I really don\'t think graphics are gonna make much of a difference this time around.  All three consoles will be able to make visually stunning games...it will come down to the game line up and right now there\'s no telling who will be the first to win over consumers.  MS and Nintendo both want out before Sony...it might get interesting.

With such a small window of less than a year don\'t expect the consoles to greatly differ in power.  PS2 was released a full 17 months(I think) after DC (Japan) which would give it the upper hand in the long run even though it didn\'t need it.

If thats the case PS3 is bound to fail.XBOX2 will come sooner, gaining consumers, third pary support (since fame companies can sell games on a released console) and games whil PS3 will be left behind.
Consumers that will wait for PS3 becuase of better expecations will be dissapointed and purchase an XBOX2 instead which will have the games, support and similar graphics.

PS2 managed to beat DC because of people\'s expecations and lets face it.TTT was better looking than any other fighting game on the DC and RRV was looking better than every racing game on the DC except MSR.
Also another aspect was the DVD playback as mentioned earlier.
So what will make PS3 attractive enough to keep paople\'s attention away from XBOX2 this time