@Lou

Quote:

interesting HD-DVD vs. Blue Ray sales #'s for the US:

When I read that article a while ago (like a few other articles) I found them confusing and thought they were playing with or mixing up numbers, the following data is useful though:

Quote:

In November, Microsoft launched an HD-DVD add-on for the Xbox 360, which had sold 92,000 units in North America as of the end of December 2006, according to the NPD.

Earlier aticles reported confusing claims, this regarding claims of 150,000 HD-DVD add-on player sales in the US or North America as a whole. But the NPD is the most accurate source available, so likely sold was actually 'shipped & sold to retail'.

We also know 1 million PS3s were shipped and sold to North American retail for 2006, of which 780,500 (NPD) were sold to consumers, of which about 670K sold in the US (currently estimated above 1 Million for North America, yet NPD January US and North American figures are still pending).

Worldwide sales figures of both standalone players and PS3s would IMO be more interesting. With regard to this we know that according to VGCharts, 642,250 PS3 have been sold in Japan as of the 4th of February.

Realtime Amazon salesrank of top 100 products, last 7 days:
Blu-Ray leads (Blue line represents Blu-Ray)
http://www.eproductwars.com/dvd/graphs/salesrank100-1-1-recent7.jpg

This despite the fact that there are more HD-DVD 'copies in stock' at Amazon:
http://www.eproductwars.com/dvd/graphs/quantity-1-1-recent7.jpg

Last edited by MikeB on 09-Feb-2007 at 11:07 AM.

Quote:

"Sony will unveil the flagship PS3 shooter next month, plus masses of other new games CVG has learned

Looks like CVG was wrong though:

"There was some debate yesterday on Three Speech about whether or not Sony has any comment on the current “solid” rumors by Luke Smith from 1UP and CVG regarding Killzone being shown at GDC next month, possibly with a playable demo. The response is:

“No, Killzone won’t be at GDC at all,” stated SCEA Manager, Ryan Bowling, in a conversation with IGN held yesterday afternoon. “The time for that game is coming and we’ll have new information about it in the future, but not at GDC.” "

Probably that makes sense, as there should be focuss on Resistance and new PS3 European launch games such as Motorstorm and Virtua Fighter 5.

@MikeB

Thought you'd like to know --
Xbox360, Feb 20, 07 release - EA NBA Street Homecourt, 1080p native
Xbox360, March 07 release - Sega Virtua Tennis 3, 1080p native

So much for the theory there'd be 0 Xbox360 games on native 1080p.

@BrianK

Quote:

So much for the theory there'd be 0 Xbox360 games on native 1080p

Yeah, so much for Microsoft's theory.

'1080p for games impossible says Microsoft'
http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=30480

Last edited by MikeB on 08-Feb-2007 at 08:48 PM.

@MikeB

Again: That was *one* idiot.

Wanna start with the Harrison and Kutaragi quotes now?

@Trezzer

Quote:

Again: That was *one* idiot.

Maybe it was just a 'honest' mistake, but Microsoft didn't debunk the widely covered media coverage on these statements.

BTW, an interesting interview:

D.I.C.E. 07: Factor 5’s Julian Eggebrecht Q&A
http://www.gameinformer.com/News/Story/200702/N07.0208.1857.43468.htm

"Well, we should go high-definition and 7.1 audio"

Would be great, like Resistance.

"We talked to them openly back then, we talked to Sony—we also talked to Microsoft—and Sony really had the whole package. I was blown away, because initially, I was hoping for the motion control that would also be in the PS3. When we had our early talks with Sony, it was basically about our dream system. The dream system included high-definition graphics and definitely larger storage media, which at the time was Blu-ray—that was pretty clear—but also motion control"

"GI: So why Sony and not Microsoft?

Eggebrecht: On the technology front, there is simply more vision at Sony."

"Microsoft was very determined and they delivered very nicely on what they wanted to do with the 360. But even back then, there was the, “Well, 1080p? Well, we don’t know about that. Real high-definition? You know what? Let’s do 720p for the games, mostly.” And they’re doing catch up right now, and they’re doing it quite cleverly. But nevertheless, in the early days you had that as a vibe of the system. What was a killer for me was no HDMI. We had huge fights with Microsoft basically going back and forth about, “Please, please, please, please put an HDMI port in there, because only then can you really see the graphics,” and they said, “No, we’re designing the whole graphics chip around being analog.” And they’re retrofitting it now, trying to catch up with the PS3. But all of that vision was there, right from day one, with the PS3. That was very encouraging. Kutaragi-san, in that sense, is on the technology front, and I don’t think anyone would contest that it’s still the greatest visionary in the industry. So, it made it easy. Sony was the clear-cut, perfect match."

"What we are thinking about is basically with the PS3 is going back to our old Turrican games, and basically, finally doing something like that but in 3D. That’s finally going through."

"GI: How have your overall experiences been with the hardware?

Eggebrecht: It’s an interesting ramp-up, interesting in terms of challenging—like I said before, less so than the PS2, but certainly moreso than, say, the GameCube, which was extremely easy. But that’s to be expected, because that’s where the power is. If it’s too easy, then as we’ve seen with the GameCube, there’s no headroom. We had a terrible time trying to squeeze more out of that system for Rebel Strike. On the PS3, the sky’s the limit. I’m happy that we got as much from it as we do right now, but we could go on for three years developing that engine and we know that the system will bear it. That’s the genius of Kutaragi’s designs—there’s so much headroom. And that makes the start up harder. But when you cross a certain threshold for the system and you know what to avoid and what to do right and how you write efficient code, how to basically have the Cell really talking in an optimized way with RSX, at that point it’s an exponential increase in productivity with what we’ve seen. At this point, it’s really going fantastically. It’s great hardware—it really is."

My opinions are clearly very similar to those of Eglebrecht, there was a lot of forward thinking involved in designing the PS3. Yes, it's currently relatively expensive, but I think for the long run current and future PS3 owners will greatly benefit from this forward thinking.

Quote:

A Sony senior exec revealed plans for a major firmware upgrade in time for the European launch. Rumours are that next to improvements, new features will include

Some teasers from Sony’s Phil Harrison (D.I.C.E. Summit):

“We have supplied the market with more products in Japan, Asia and the US than we did the PlayStation 1 and PlayStation 2, and more software than PlayStation 1 and PlayStation 2,” Harrison said. Sizing up the high volume of product shipped to criticisms of the PS3’s launch, he asked, “So, what’s wrong with this picture?”

He also reiterated that the PS3 European launch is on track with 1 million due on the day of its March 23 launch, as sea freight from China is on its way to European ports.

Croal also asked how and when will Sony’s online gaming service catch up with Xbox Live on a features basis. Harrison argued that the “PS3 shipped with some pretty compelling content that delivered a compelling online experience,” as he cited 40-person online deathmatches in Insomniac’s Resistance: Fall of Man.

He didn’t delve into specific updates that are due for PS3's online service, but said Sony will be adding more community aspects as time goes on. “The basic functionality is there. … We still need to do more, and we will continue to do that,” he said.

During the presentation, Harrison also described the PS3 as constantly evolving. “The launch of a platform like PS3 is not a fixed specification the day you buy a console,” he said. “The day that you buy a console is the beginning of a relationship. … We will continue to refine and add features [to the PS3].”

Croal also asked if the PS3’s free online gameplay hinders Sony’s ability to fund a truly full-featured service. Harrison’s answer was frank, as he said “Absolutely not,” and said that Sony would generate online revenue in other ways, with more announcements to be made in the future.

User-generated content is also clearly part of Sony's online strategy. Harrison showed off the upcoming SingStar karaoke game for PS3, which will eventually allow users to record their performances on video using a USB camera and upload them to the service for others to view."

BTW he also mentioned SingStar will include background loading, it was earlier mentioned the plan to include this feature for all PS3 downloads.

Quote:

Maybe it was just a 'honest' mistake, but Microsoft didn't debunk the widely covered media coverage on these statements.

And I think this has significantly hurt Namco, Ridge Racer 7 is overall a big improvement over Ridge Racer 6, I am sure that due to many Microsoft fanboys and 1080p propaganda coming from one of its Execs the game was FUDed way too much (Ridge Racer fans generally love the new version).

I hope Namco fixes the minor graphical glitch found in one of the maps in time for the European launch, where some details and reflective water/textures were shortly dissappearing. In any case like Trezzer pointed out small TV shots aren't the best way of doing objective game comparisons, the article gained way too much exposure. The new maps in RR7 are more impressive, the amount of rework done on RR6 maps varies greatly and I am sure this was due to time constraints with an eye on not missing the PS3's launch.

[edit]Also interesting:

Sony Pictures making Metal Gear movie

Last edited by MikeB on 09-Feb-2007 at 12:22 PM.

@MikeB

Quote:

Maybe it was just a 'honest' mistake, but Microsoft didn't debunk the widely covered media coverage on these statements.

Microsoft always spoke of the "sweet spot" that is the 720p. If one person took this too far (and granted, he did) I wouldn't read too much into it. What is of interest, will Microsoft make 1080p games in the future or will they continue to stick by their self-proclaimed sweet spot as they so far have suggested. (I wouldn't be surprised if they changed their minds due to market pressure.)

As discussed earlier, 720p inherently allows for more effects than 1080p (since processing power on any console is limited) so it will be interesting to see how many developers view the added resolution of 1080p as enough of a justification to leave some of the comforts of 720p behind.

Interestingly this may turn out to be a marketing-driven change. Once 1080p is on everyone's lips, who dares to make 720p games any more? I hope that doesn't result in inferior games (or even just inferior graphics) just for the sake of some additional pixel-resolution (as opposed to content/effects-resolution).

If there indeed is enough power in either, or both, of the consoles to run eventually everything in 1080p with all the effects one needs, that will obviously be great, and I guess most people would love for the "sweet spot" comments to be proven wrong. I know I would. I have made my opinion clear that I dislike the talk of sweet spots, because I dislike compromises... but I also like to be realistic.

We are still far from that all-1080p bliss with either PS3 or Xbox 360. Many developer comments, not only from Microsoft, have suggested that they feel going to 1080p would limit some of the power they have with the next-gen systems at 720p. Maybe they will learn to work around all that, who knows.

Certainly 1080p games are now starting to emerge in volume, no doubt about that. I'm looking forward to tasting some of them in the future.

@MikeB

From now on I'm simply gonna skip all posts that have annoying bold in them.

@MikeB

It's great that Sony is going to add more community aspects to their online. It's a good thing for PS3 users that Microsoft is in the game. Microsoft has shown more online vision then Sony or Nintendo. As such it's helping Sony drive their online to be more competitive.

Various people talk about how Microsoft's service is $50/year where Sony's is free. I know the price of lower then a McDonald's Happy Meal per month is important but Microsoft is a big company if they really needed to go free I'm sure they could get creative on how to do that. Sony too is a big company and will get creative on how to compete better in the online realm.

For those in the US who want a PS3...I've yet to see any takers wanting me to pick you up the ones laying around here.

Sunday AM at Cost Co they had 32 consoles by Thursday PM they had 29. I'd thought the PS3 was in demand, perhaps was is the key phrase. I asked the stock guy and he said they got no shipments. If you don't know Costco it's a warehouse there is no place to hide stock.

@Trezzer

Quote:

From now on I'm simply gonna skip all posts that have annoying bold in them.

That would be a shame, considering I do value your perspectives. I have seen people use bolded text on other forums to put emphasis on the exact parts of the text you are referring to without the text losing its context, nobody got upset though. But I will try to refrain myself from using bold!.


More Blu-Ray vs HD-DVD

"Disney, Fox and Sony have all announced release dates for Blu-ray titles previously announced at CES including; Turistas (April 17), Chicken Little (March 20), Finding Neverland (March 20), King Arthur (April 3), G.I. Jane (April 3), and The Pursuit of Happyness (March 27). High-Def Digest has already updated their release page which is shows that Blu-ray has more titles with dates for February than HD DVD has for all of 2007."

Article here:


More 360 vs PS3

CNET's Prizefight 360 vs PS3
http://www.cnettv.com/9710-1_53-26047.html

First round the PS3 wins in terms of feature comparison, I guess in a follow up round the PS3 will lose in terms of available software. It's too early for this, especially considering the XBox 360's 1 year headstart.

http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=72821


Harrison demos PS3 background downloading
http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=72821

Last edited by MikeB on 09-Feb-2007 at 03:47 PM.

@HD-DVD supporters

A good article on Blu-Ray vs HD-DVD replication costs:
http://wesleytech.com/blu-ray-vs-hd-dvd-replication-costs-revealed/





"Cost comparison conclusions
From these figures taken from 3 different replication sources, we can see that "Blu-ray media replication does not cost significantly more than HD DVD. In fact, we found that Blu-ray is actually cheaper per GB in many situations! I did not include setup fees or AACS fees in the quotes above, so keep in mind that the final cost of replicating an HD DVD or Blu-ray disc will definitely be a bit higher than the per disc pricing noted above. According to our sources, the Blu-ray setup fee was not significantly more than the HD DVD setup fee. Looking at these numbers and pricing information, we can now dispell the myth that Blu-ray replication is significantly more costly than HD DVD."

@MikeB

Quote:

But I will try to refrain myself from using bold!.

LOL

See, it wasn't the bold as such - it was the artificial emphasis which disturbs the reading. Using italics or underline is no better. I appreciate the effort though

@Trezzer

Quote:

LOL

Good to see you smile.

Latest PS3 Linux article from IBM:

Programming high-performance applications on the Cell BE processor, Part 2: Program the synergistic processing elements of the Sony PLAYSTATION 3
http://www-128.ibm.com/developerworks/power/library/pa-linuxps3-2/?ca=dgr-lnxw09PS3-Linux-P2

@MikeB

Apparently Jack Tretton doesn't like money - or is too optimistic

@Trezzer

"there's not a single retail location in America where there's a PlayStation 3 on the shelf for sale for more than five minutes"

Sounds like he was joking though, or he meant something like the first shipped million have all been sold to consumers, if not....

Though there have been severe PS3 shortages in Canada for quite a while now and with the US being such a large country it's not unlikely that in some areas shops are dealing with severe shortages, while others have been relatively 'overstocked'.

Last edited by MikeB on 10-Feb-2007 at 12:06 AM.
Last edited by MikeB on 10-Feb-2007 at 12:05 AM.

Even if Gears of War wasn't my personal favourite, it seems it's the industry's favourite game. It won the following awards at D.I.C.E. :

Overall Game of the Year:
Gears of War (Epic Games/Microsoft Game Studios)

Console Game of the Year:
Gears of War (Epic Games/Microsoft Game Studios)

Outstanding Achievement in Animation:
Gears of War (Epic Games/Microsoft Game Studios)

Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction:
Gears of War (Epic Games/Microsoft Game Studios)

Outstanding Character Performance - Male:
Gears of War (Epic Games/Microsoft Game Studios)

Action/Adventure Game of the Year:
Gears of War (Epic Games/Microsoft Game Studios)

@MikeB

Quote:

Programming high-performance applications on the Cell BE processor, Part 2: Program the synergistic processing elements of the Sony PLAYSTATION 3

That's a nice hint. Thx for the link. I wasn't so sure that the SPE can call stdlib functions directly. I gotta try this (gotta meassure the overhead).

Update: Tried that out, and works pretty well. It reminds me pretty much to power up and the warp os. A hello world (printf) has a pretty visible delay in the context switch (not that such an example would make sence), but still. It seems to be pretty good embedded into tools, you can compile a

int main() {
    printf("Hello World!\n");
}

spe-gcc -o hello hello.c

Last edited by Jorge on 10-Feb-2007 at 05:31 AM.

_________________
AmigaOne XE G3/933/VIA/FM801/R200 (fixed),
G3SE/600/Voodoo3/Sil680/RTL8139/SBLive! (noiseless!)
µA1-MK2/G3/933/R200/CMI8738
XE/G4 (broken 7450/800)

@Trezzer

Visually Gears of War is still impressive, but I think if you would deduct the visuals and degrade the game to bland polygons only, there wouldn't be that much of a viable game left. At least based on the demo (if the rest of the game is of similar quality) I would say Rainbow Six would likely survive such a test much better.

If the following statement came from Nintendo's Mario64 team instead of coming from Electronic Arts, this would carry more weight but still I agree:

“I’m not talking about my tastes, I’m just saying, when you go to metacritic and you see a 96 for Gears of War, then you read the critics saying, ‘Okay, storyline - there’s none, gameplay is not innovative…’ Then I say, why did they give this 96? They were blown away by the high quality of the graphics…"