StarDestroyer.Net BBS

Gamespot wrote:TOKYO--According to Kyodo News, Sony officials announced today that they will use of Blu-Ray Disc technology in their next-generation console, most commonly referred to as the PlayStation 3. Sony revealed their decision at a press conference held by the Blu-Ray Disc Founders, an organization committed to developing and standardizing the next-generation optical disc format. The BRDF also used the occasion to announce that it will finalize the specifications for the read-only version of Blu-Ray Discs (BD-ROMs) by September 30.

Sony has been investing heavily into Blu-Ray product development and was the first company to have a disc recorder on the market. The company had previously hinted that it may use to format in the PS3. Sony's Blu-Ray Disc R&D division chief Kiyoshi Nishitani commented in an interview with Asahi PC magazine in March that the company would like to establish ground in the Blu-Day Disc market by adopting BD-ROMs for its "home video game console."

The Blu-Ray Disc Founders organization is comprised of Sony, Panasonic, and 11 other major electronic makers. Like its predecessor, the DVD, the BD-ROM will primarily be used for movies. The companies plan to start marketing Blu-Ray Disc playback machines (without recording capabilities) by the end of the fiscal year.

Sony is relying heavily on the Blu-Ray Disc format, so the use of Blu-Ray as the market standard in next-generation media is vital, especially since the company also publishes movies through its Sony Pictures subsidiary. Sony hopes adopting the Blu-Ray discs for the PS3 will help spread use of the format, similar to what the PlayStation 2 did for DVDs.

Early expansion of the Blu-Ray format would be ideal for Sony, considering it will have to compete with high definition DVDs (HD DVD) in the future. Blu-Ray discs can hold 25GB on a single layer and 50GB dual-layer discs, while HD DVD Discs--which have yet to be released--will hold only 30 GB on a dual-layered disc. However, HD DVD has the upper hand when it comes to convenience, as its players will be backwards-compatible with current DVDs. Sony did not say if the PS3 would be able to play DVDs or will be backwards-compatible with PS2 games.

Sony said it will reveal details more on the PlayStation 3 at a premiere event in Japan on March 31, 2005. The console will also be on display at next year's E3 in Los Angeles.

StormTrooperTR889 wrote:Backwards compatibility will screw them over. No one wants to shell out another $20 for each movie just to go to Blu-Ray.

StormTrooperTR889 wrote:That would make it better, but there are other formats under study. Something to do with a purple light or something?

It could work with PS1 games, but it's by no means guaranteed. The reason PS2 is backwards compatible is because it's got a PS1 processor that takes over whenever you want to play a PS1 game. Whether or not Sony puts a PS1 processor in PS3 will depend on how economical/feasible it is and whether it'd be in great demand (the PS1 will be more than ten years old when PS3 comes out).

Darth_Zod wrote:they're going to use blu-ray technology, eh? given that the burners and readers for that are still in their infancy, wouldn't that make it horribly expensive? iirc the drives for blu-ray discs are estimated to cost around $5k apiece. i'd shudder to think how much the console would cost.

phongn wrote:Looks like BD-ROM is indeed the winner, then. Neat, but I wish they switched to MPEG4.