PS3 Un-Stuffed at E3
Sony dropped a bomb at Los Angeles’ Electronic Entertainment Expo today
during a press conference by officially announcing the specs, release
date and images of their 3rd generation console.
Externally, the console is reminiscient of recent inkjet printers. It’s
drive tray is tray-less opting for the sleeker mechanical load most
in-dash CD players utilize. The patented Blu-Ray disks will be the
medium of choice for PS3 games, but the system will also support DVD
and CD playback. Additionally, the console sports slots for memory
sticks, SD cards, compact flash cards as well as an external 2.5 in
hard drive. No word on whether this would be included with the console.
Inside, this baby is packing a 3.2 ghz Cell processor, providing 2
teraflops of performance. 256 megs O’ main RAM and 256 megs O’ VRAM.
Nvidia is providing the RSX chip with 512megs on board to push the HD
resolution games to your piddly little 13 inch TV. Reportedly, the
graphics processor can outperform not one, but two GeForce 6800 Ultra
cards. Consider that Amazon prices these
suckers at just under $500 a piece, it’s hard to believe the entire
console will make it in under the $400 target price. Taking a page from
perhaps the Nintendo DS, the PS3 will offer dual video out, either
stretching the image akimbo or providing seperate data to each video
output.
The new Dual Shock controls will likely top the
Xbox360 announcement, promising support of up to 7 controls using
Bluetooth wireless technology and hold a 24 hour solid game time before
recharging becomes necessary. Though not confirmed, WiFi connectivity
to the PSP is rumored.
Several games were confirmed for the console’s release:
- Metal Gear Solid 4
- Devil May Cry 4
- Tekken 6
- Gran Turismo 5
- Killzone
- a yet unamed western-themed title from Rockstar Games.
- Getaway 3
- Motor Storm
- Heavenly Sword
- Fifth Phantom Saga
- a yet unnamed Gundam game
- Killing Day from Ubisoft
Beyond that, PS fans will rejoice not only in know that their beloved
PS2 games can be played on the new box, but PSOne games can join the
party too! Lots to look forward to in the coming days.
