Playstation "Orbis"

[Steelmaker]

For those of us who are technologically challenged, Just how powerful are these specs? Are they impressive? What is the graphic potential here? Is it a small, incremental step forward compared to PS3 or will it be a very impressive leap?

[tarvis]

Originally Posted by Nerdkiller likes BD

I don't trust a console based digital distribution method as a whole. Did you see the prices for some of the games? €69.99 for Mass Effect 3 on PS3. And this isn't going to be like on PC, where there is actual competition from multiple download services (with lower prices), as consoles are closed source and only have the service from the consoles manufacturer. DD isn't gonna make prices lower. It's only gonna cut out the middleman, to help companies extend their profit margins.

Geez, somehow, I always have a pessimistic outlook.

PSN and Xbox Live Marketplace retail prices are governed largely by retail chains. If EA lowers the price of Mass Effect 3 on PSN, then it is lowered at Walmart. It's less an issue for PC games because many PC games aren't even available outside of digital downloads.

[SirMontyPython]

Originally Posted by Mavrick

Another thing with the whole PSN account needed to register a game. Not everyone has internet accsess, and to a further extent, not everyone who has the net is aloud to use it!

I'm thinking of kids here. Or younger siblings. My Brother is 9 and has a PS3 but has no PSN account because tbh he's way too young to use one, no matter how many times he begs me to set one up for him.

So there will need to be extensive parental controls built in if they are going to require you to be signed in to register a game. And I don't like anyone playing games on my account.

I agree with you 100% on this...there are places in the US that are so rural there's still no reliable internet access available for consumers to do so...this would be some setbacks on this next gen. console...protection of sales is one thing but I guess these are steps to eliminate piracy? There's always going to be someone that'll do anything to figure out how to go around this...

[PirateBooty]

Originally Posted by tarvis

PSN and Xbox Live Marketplace retail prices are governed largely by retail chains. If EA lowers the price of Mass Effect 3 on PSN, then it is lowered at Walmart.

Did you read this out loud? Those two statements are contradictory.

[Gardenofstone10]

A lot of people think Sony will be shooting themselves in the foot for this but I really don't think so. The used game thing there has to be a way around because companies like Game Stop have very expensive and great relationships with developers. The locked to one account, aren't Vita games like that and there's a quick way around it? The B/C....it's an entirely new system. Look at how ps3 got around the b/c by offering ps2/1 games on demand.

[Mavrick]

Cell was a bad idea from the start. Way too much money was spent on R&D for that thing and in my opinion was probably the one thing that made PS3 so expensive second being Blu-ray.

And for the amount of money spent on it it was never an easy bit of hardware to develope for. It went against everything that the last two Playstations did well. So I'll be glad to see the cell gone, so will all the devs lol.

[Hayabusa85]

Originally Posted by Mavrick

I'm actually not suprised if PS3 B/C is droped all together. I'm not as tech savy as some of you guys might be but I bet it would be a ***** trying to get PS3 games to run on hardware thats not a Cell Processor. And no way would they make the same mistake twice and include Cell as well as the new hardware like they did with the launch PS3 and the emotion engine.

I like they way Sony are heading ever since the Vita. Learning from their mistakes and hopefully keeping costs down for a sweet 299 launch price. Although I wouldn't say no to 349.99

If this is accurate then the bigger obstacle would possibly be the AMD GPU when PS3 uses Nvidia. Which is why I am hoping this isn't true because I want to see them stick with Nvidia. Not because of BC but just because AMD are shit.

[Steelmaker]

Originally Posted by SirMontyPython

I agree with you 100% on this...there are places in the US that are so rural there's still no reliable internet access available for consumers to do so...this would be some setbacks on this next gen. console...protection of sales is one thing but I guess these are steps to eliminate piracy? There's always going to be someone that'll do anything to figure out how to go around this...

True as this may be, just how much does this demographic realistically affect total console sales?? Sony (and MS) could be looking at demographics like these as a sort of acceptable casualty of the console war. It's like when companies stopped packing coax cable connectors with their systems and starting packing in AV cables. Sooner or later you just have to cut certain demographics loose in order to move forward.

[tarvis]

Originally Posted by PirateBooty

Did you read this out loud? Those two statements are contradictory.

No they aren't. If the price of Mass Effect 3 is lowered to, just for arguments sake, $29.99 on PSN, then the price of Mass Effect 3 at Walmart is immediately matched at $29.99.

[Monkey]

Zero chance they make it so you have to log on to play any portion of a disc based game. 100% of PS3 gamers are not 100% online.

[PirateBooty]

Originally Posted by tarvis

No they aren't. If the price of Mass Effect 3 is lowered to, just for arguments sake, $29.99 on PSN, then the price of Mass Effect 3 at Walmart is immediately matched at $29.99.

Re-read your original statement and you'll see that retail stores do not govern the PSN and XBLA pricing. They follow suit.

[Mavrick]

Originally Posted by Steelmaker

For those of us who are technologically challenged, Just how powerful are these specs? Are they impressive? What is the graphic potential here? Is it a small, incremental step forward compared to PS3 or will it be a very impressive leap?

The visual whizzes at Crytek have shown off what they expect the next round of hardware to live up to.

The video demonstrates the CryEngine’s capabilities: character shading, tessellation, character tessellation, ocean tessellation, advanced particle shading, real time reflections and enhanced lighting effects, alembic point cache support, Catmull-Clark compliant SubD surfaces and real time approximated area lights.

On the non-graphics side, there’s also a bit about dynamic AI navigation, high fidelity workflow, and a bit of sizzle for upcoming Crytek products.

Check out the preview reel below, courtesy of IGN. Crytek’s flagship shooter franchise Crysis was the de facto benchmark tool of PC gamers when it released in 2007, and spurred a wave of hardware upgrade.

CryEngine 3 Visual Specs - Preview Trailer - YouTube

[tarvis]

Originally Posted by PirateBooty

Re-read your original statement and you'll see that retail stores do not govern the PSN and XBLA pricing. They follow suit.

No. Because it's Walmart, etc that set those rules in place. Not PSN. It's how that question always comes up about why aren't games on PSN cheaper than in a store when there's no packaging to account for. Because of retail chains. Retail chains can lower the price all they want and take the hit themselves. Like Amazon. But that will never happen on PSN without it being matched in store.

[PirateBooty]

Originally Posted by tarvis

No. Because it's Walmart, etc that set those rules in place. Not PSN. It's how that question always comes up about why aren't games on PSN cheaper than in a store when there's no packaging to account for. Because of retail chains. Retail chains can lower the price all they want and take the hit themselves. Like Amazon. But that will never happen on PSN without it being matched in store.

So, you're telling me that if a retail store drops the price of a digital download than PSN or XBLA will follow suit and drop the price? Can you give me some examples of where this is the standard?

[SoCalTiger]

THANK GOD that they are moving to an AMD-based CPU/GPU and dropping all backward compatibility. This is what I was praying they would do all along for the past few years.

Hopefully this means the architecture will be better aligned with the PC and XBOX in the first place so we don't end up with a bunch of shitty ports. Closer architecture = less hours porting games = better parity across all systems. This also is a big help for PC gamers too, BTW.

The whole thing about locking down games is annoying though. That just pisses me off.

[SirMontyPython]

Originally Posted by Steelmaker

True as this may be, just how much does this demographic realistically affect total console sales?? Sony (and MS) could be looking at demographics like these as a sort of acceptable casualty of the console war. It's like when companies stopped packing coax cable connectors with their systems and starting packing in AV cables. Sooner or later you just have to cut certain demographics loose in order to move forward.

It's more than you think...

[PirateBooty]

Originally Posted by SoCalTiger

THANK GOD that they are moving to an AMD-based CPU/GPU and dropping all backward compatibility. This is what I was praying they would do all along for the past few years.

Hopefully this means the architecture will be better aligned with the PC and XBOX in the first place so we don't end up with a bunch of shitty ports. Closer architecture = less hours porting games = better parity across all systems. This also is a big help for PC gamers too, BTW.

The whole thing about locking down games is annoying though. That just pisses me off.

I was thinking the same things. The game locking, if it is true, has me bothered because of my kids and I playing on multiple systems. I honestly wouldn't be bothered if I wasn't able to purchase used games because of this. Just think of the kids!

[tarvis]

Originally Posted by PirateBooty

So, you're telling me that if a retail store drops the price of a digital download than PSN or XBLA will follow suit and drop the price? Can you give me some examples of where this is the standard?

No, sorry, that is not what I am writing. If EA lowers the price of Mass Effect on the PSN, that is the new retail price in a big box retailer like Walmart, Target, etc. If Amazon lowers the price of Mass Effect 3, as they often do, they are taking the hit themselves and a new retail price is not set. Whether on PSN or at another big box retailer. But, of course, some retailers may price match.

[SoCalTiger]

Originally Posted by dereksworl

so they basically wasted time and effort using the cell in the PS3?

Originally Posted by Mavrick

Cell was a bad idea from the start. Way too much money was spent on R&D for that thing and in my opinion was probably the one thing that made PS3 so expensive second being Blu-ray.

And for the amount of money spent on it it was never an easy bit of hardware to develope for. It went against everything that the last two Playstations did well. So I'll be glad to see the cell gone, so will all the devs lol.

^ This. Cell was always a bad idea. Totally glad it is gone gone gone.

[SleeperAgent]

THE NEXT PLAYSTATION, AT A GLANCE
Won't be backwards compatible with PS3 games.
No sale.
Will lock new games to a PSN account as an anti-used games measure.
Extra incentive not to buy.

If these two things are for real Sony just alienated a lot of their customer base. I barely went online with my PS3, and borrowed games/bought used ALL THE TIME. Plus now all the games you may have amassed are incompatible? This system is destined to fall hard.