Date:
Monday , April 09, 2007
Author:
Steve Lynch
Editor:
Kyle Bennett
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30 Days with PlayStation 3

After long delays, even longer lines and shortages that have only recently begun to subside, Sony's next generation console is finally here. [H] Console spent 30 days with the PlayStation 3 and we share our thoughts on this month long journey.

Introduction

The Sony PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system unleashes a brilliant, high-definition entertainment experience. At its digital soul, the Cell Broadband Engine™ represents a tour de force in parallel processing, which means a gaming experience that is beyond what you know today. Its built-in Blu-ray Disc™ drive delivers a whole new generation in high-definition gaming and unmatched digital media storage. Whether it’s gaming, Blu-ray movies, music or online services, PLAYSTATION®3 invites you to Play Beyond.

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Enjoy high-definition entertainment, HDMI means you can use your PLAYSTATION®3 with High-Definition displays as well as conventional or standard TVs.PLAYSTATION®3 and PSP® (PlayStation® Portable) play nice together. Easily exchange media like photos, videos and music from your PLAYSTATION®3 system to your PSP® system. And get ready to witness an explosion in creativity as developers take on the challenge of integrating the PSP system into PLAYSTATION®3 games. Play thousands of PS one® and PlayStation®2 games as well as your CDs and DVDs on the PLAYSTATION®3.

While some may folks may disagree, there is no denying that the PlayStation 3, while captivating the imagination of millions around the world, has had more than its fair share of setbacks and delays thus far. Originally scheduled to launch in Spring 2006, Sony officially announced the PlayStation 3 at E3 in May of 2005. At the time, Sony’s Ken Kutaragi touted the power of the Cell processor and the NVIDIA based RSX “Reality Synthesizer” graphics processor, calling the PS3 a "supercomputer for computer entertainment." Sony promised features such as dual HDMI outputs for an extra widescreen dual display 32:9, backwards compatibility for over 13,000 PS & PS2 titles, a new boomerang shaped controller and an army of developers with exclusive content for the PS3. A mix of real-time and pre-rendered demos were also shown to demonstrate the power of the PlayStation 3.

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The following year (leading up to E3 2006) Sony dealt fans a blow announcing that the PlayStation 3 would be delayed by a year. To make matters worse, some of the demos shown by Sony at E3 2005 drew harsh criticism from gamers for being pre-rendered and a host of previously announced features such as dual DVI and Sony’s dual-shock controllers were dropped from the final version of the PS3. Not helping the situation at all, Sony executives seemed unable to refrain from making inflammatory statements feeding a wave of negative Sony press. The final blow came at E3 2006 when Sony finally announced the price of PlayStation 3; $499.99 for the 20GB version and $599.99 for the 60GB. Quite literally, a collective gasp could be heard from the crowd as Sony president Kaz Hirai revealed the price.

The PlayStation 3, despite delays and a lower than expected number of launch consoles, finally arrived in stores around the country last November and sold out almost immediately. Long lines and thousands of eBay auctions were a testament to the initial high demand for the PS3 in the first few weeks. Finding a PS3 was nigh impossible in retail stores and, aside from the eBay consoles, the console was equally as difficult to find online.

By early January, the demand for the console ebbed and stock of the elusive console began to build up at retail locations around the country. The following month many retailers had stock of the PS3 and we were able to find a retail 60GB unit at NewEgg for $599.99. Today, retail 60GB PlayStation 3 consoles can easily be found online and in most major retail outlets around the country.

Now that we have the background out of the way, let’s get down to the good stuff shall we?

Hardware Specs

The 3.2GHz Cell processor is an extremely unique, yet power multi-core processor made up of nine independent cores that includes a PowerPC Processing Element, eight identical Synergistic Processing Elements, 64kb L1 cache and 512KB L2 cache. According to Sony documentation, the Cell is 40 times faster than the processor used in the PlayStation 2. A picture of the Cell Broadband Engine Process can be seen on IBM’s website, a co-developer of the Cell processor (along with Toshiba and Sony). Aside from the PlayStation 3, the Cell processor is being used in other applications like custom blade servers from IBM. Currently the Cell is manufactured on a 90nm process but the company has plans to move to a 65nm process that will not only cut production cost but should allow the Cell to run cooler and consume less power.

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Graphics are handled by the RSX “Reality Synthesizer” graphics processor manufactured by NVIDIA. The RSX is reportedly based on the GeForce 7800 graphics technology, has 300-million-transistor and is clocked at 550MHz. The PS3’s GPU contains 24 pixel and 8 vertex pipelines and is capable of 136 shader operations per clock cycle and 74.8 billion shader operations per second. The RSX has a 128-bit memory bus width paired with 256MB of GDDR3 VRAM running at 700MHz. At E3 2005, NVIDIA's CEO Jen-Hsun Huang, said that the RSX is more powerful than two GeForce 6800 Ultras in SLI.