NightshooterIn bed with SolitairePosts: 2,917MI6 Agent
Do you mean will you be able to rip DVDs onto your PS3 harddrive? If so, the answer is no.
I think there is a strong possibility of future movie and TV downloads.
Blu-Ray is pretty much a high capacity DVD, meaning the video can be of a much higher quality, HD up to 1080p, and it can also pack in more extras, but I doubt it does.
Just to expand upon what Nightshooter said, the PS3 does not have any DVD recording capabilities built in, only playback.
The ability to download movies, TV shows and music is almost a foregone conclusion at this point; it's just a matter of time. Microsoft already offers these services thru their Xbox360 and given Sony's many film and music connections it's a revenue stream they absolutely must tap into. This is one of the reasons every PS3 comes with a built in hard drive.
BluRay is basically a high-definition video format that Sony is pushing; it is one of two hi-def formats (the other being HD-DVD) currently vying for the consumer's dollar. Technically speaking, BluRay is the superior format as it can hold approximately 50GB of data on a single disc (that's roughly 10 times the capacity of a standard DVD). Also, several movie studios currently support the BluRay format exclusively (20th Century Fox, Disney, MGM and of course Sony). The only current exclusive for HD-DVD is Universal Pictures ( and adult video companies also seem to prefer HD-DVD; not sure if that's an advantage or not ). The reason the format is called BluRay is because it uses a blue laser to read the discs.
In order to really take advantage of BluRay you need a BluRay DVD player (obviously). You can either invest in a PS3 or a dedicated player (early models sold for over $1,000; Sony has just released a 2nd generation player that retails for around $500). You also really need a fairly sized high-definition TV (at least 40 inches) to be able to see the difference in the video quality.
Personally, I've avoided jumping on the hi-def DVD bandwagon. The current hardware is just too glitchy and expensive. And the picture quality of the actual movies (especially early BluRay releases) has been wildly inconsistent from title to title and generally not considered to be worth the extra cost. Once this war between BluRay and HD-DVD shakes down and we have a clear winner, the quality of product will no doubt improve greatly and costs will drop. But for the present I'd just stick with standard DVD's for at least a couple more years.
Bill Tanner"Spending the money quickly" iPosts: 261MI6 Agent
A very full answer - thanks guys!
NightshooterIn bed with SolitairePosts: 2,917MI6 Agent
Sony has just dropped the 20GB PS3 from their lineup. So now it's $600 or nothing. 8-)
HD films look considerably better on my 37" tv. I'm really considering the HD-DVD player. Because it's the only option for HD films I can afford. I just wish wmv HD would take off a bit more, so I could just download the films and play through my PC.
Their gaming division had losses of 1.04 Billion for the quarter. I'm sure a lot of that can be blamed on R&D but it is still a massive amount.
A lot of developers are also complaining that, upon closer inspection, the Cell processor isn't really all that great for game programming - a very bad sign since that is the core of the PS3. Many studios are developing their games for the 360 first and then port them to the PS3. As a result, most games look and play better on the 360, further tarnishing the PS3's rep. Even their first party developers are having a hard time coming to grips with the console and it's quite possible that Kutaragi simply over-engineered it.
I think it's a little to early to write off the PS3 as a failure, but the price tag, lack of good games, and overall difficulty to program for are major obstacles that Sony still hasn't overcome. This holiday season will be their make or break time. The system will be a year old and well into its second generation of games. You can be sure MS will be hyping Halo 3 to death (Mountain Dew is even coming out with a special flavor as a promo tie-in). If Sony doesn't have something really strong up it's sleeve to counter the Halo onslaught and has another Christmas like 2006, then you can probably write the PS3 off.
For me the major issue is definitely the price. I would guess the majority of console gamers are teens and therefore these people generally have little or no spare cash. Especially over £400 just for the console. I know when I was younger there would have been no way I could have afforded this, and it would have even been too expensive for something as a present. Therefore unless I was desperate and saved for a long time, I would not bother. The Wii's success is based completely on price and the 360 being still quite expensive is a viable option.
Ken Kutaragi, father of and driving force behind the Playstation name is stepping down from his CEO post at Sony to pursue other, more amorphous activities. Yet more evidence that the PS3 is a major disappointment, especially within Sony itself.
Apparently, somebody procured the dead carcass of a goat and made it the centerpiece of Sony's God of War II unveiling in Athens, Greece. There were also other acts of questionable taste performed. When I first read this, I thought it was a joke but it has since been corroborated by Sony, who is now launching an investigation.
That has been big news here. Apprently they were running competitions on who could eat the most. Tasteless, but it's got them more news time than they could have hoped for.
Interesting article over at Hi Def Digest about Sony's next big marketing push. The way I read it, it looks like they're going to focus on the machine's BluRay and multimedia capabilities rather than the games - which one executive seems to refer to as a "niche market". Personally, I don't think the general public will go for it as most people I know still look at the PS3 as a games machine. We'll see what happens but based on this you could make the argument that Sony is already throwing in the towel on the games.
RogueAgentSpeeding in the Tumbler...Posts: 3,676MI6 Agent
Funny thing happened to one of my art students over the weekend.
For his birthday, his parents bought him a PS3 so he was so excited that of course, he skipped class for the two days to stay home and play with it...
I get a call from him Sunday evening; I presumed it was to tease me for being an X-Man and that the PS3 was superior (y'know kids)...He tells me upon putting in some sports game, the system crashed on him. Apparently there was smoke and then nothing. Then he says he had a time prying the game from his system.
Does that happen often? I know his parents are pi$$ed after what?- shelling out 600-700 bucks?
Mrs. Man Face: "You wouldn't hit a lady? Would you?"
Batman: "The Hammer Of Justice isUNISEX!"
-Batman: The Brave & The Bold -
I actually haven't read much in the way of complaints about the PS3's reliability. I few people on another board I go to own one and they uniformly say it is very reliable, runs cool and is very quiet. Assuming it was in a well ventilated area and he has no power spikes / brownout issues, it sounds to me like your friend got a bad unit. If he got it within the past few days, he should return it to the place of purchase and get an exchange (or better yet, trade it in for a 360 :v ).
Is there any more news about the future possibility of downloading movies and TV shows onto PS3?
One of the ideas Sony is supposed to be serious about is adding a file to future Blu-Ray releases that would enable PSP owners to download a copy of the film to their handheld via PS3 or laptop. There are also negotiations with Sky with a view to providing Wi-Fi downloadable programmes in a PSP friendly format.Since Sony is trying to push a new DVD format on us I suspect they won't be offering downloadable movies for home consumption anytime soon.
I actually haven't read much in the way of complaints about the PS3's reliability. I few people on another board I go to own one and they uniformly say it is very reliable, runs cool and is very quiet.
I bought my wife one for Christmas. She's being playing it daily without a single glitch.
he skipped class for the two days to stay home and play with it...
Were they p!ssed about that too? I would have gotten it taken away when I was little if I skipped school to stay home and play with it. KIDS!
) Well, if it was a real school that depended on your scholastic well-being, I'd be right behind you, 'Nique.
They're paying me so if they let their son squander their hard earned money like that, it's up to them I guess...
I think my monthly tuition is the least of their problems seeing they need to exchange that expensive console or get a refund...
Maybe getting "X'ed" is the solution for him. :v
Mrs. Man Face: "You wouldn't hit a lady? Would you?"
Batman: "The Hammer Of Justice isUNISEX!"
-Batman: The Brave & The Bold -
Ohhhh...sorry! I gotcha. But I can seriously see kids doing that now, they are so addicted to those things. )
Like Nightshooter says, its not just the kids. This soon to be 42 year old has been known to skip a day at work here and there because of his unfortunate fondness for all things electronic. When the 360 debuted, my brother and I even got up in the wee hours of the morning and went for a long, ultimately fruitless drive, in heavy rain no less, looking for a console.
Just to contribute to the 'What can Sony do wrong next?' theme, I came across this stroy about the Church of England demanding an apology for using the Manchester Cathedral as a 'battleground' in one of their games...
Thanks for the heads up Night, I'll definitely keep that in mind. I'm still not sure whether I'll get one so soon or not but if the ad is true, the sale starts the day after my birthday. If I sink into a sufficiently depressing mid-life crisis, I may just spring for it.
NightshooterIn bed with SolitairePosts: 2,917MI6 Agent
Does it really come with FIVE free Bluray movies? I mean... damn... that may be worth it even if you forget about the whole "game playing" thing.
Does it really come with FIVE free Bluray movies? I mean... damn... that may be worth it even if you forget about the whole "game playing" thing.
There's a promotion from the BluRay group but it's not as good a deal as you think: you're limited as to what movies you can choose from a list of about 20. Here's a link to a pic of the ad:
Yup, they are lame. Then again, there really aren't a lot of memorable movies available on the format. None of the studios have released any of their big guns, other than maybe the first two Pirates of the Caribbean movies. Still, free is free and if I pick a PS3 up, I'll get the least offensive ones, if only to be able to trade them somewhere for store credit. I would have preferred getting a couple of free games myself.
I also did a little checking around and there are rumors that Sony may announce a permanent $100 price drop for the PS3 at E3 next week. If true, then it'll be $499 everywhere. In fact, I seem to recall trying to tell you a while back that there would probably be a price drop by summer. :v
Comments
I think there is a strong possibility of future movie and TV downloads.
Blu-Ray is pretty much a high capacity DVD, meaning the video can be of a much higher quality, HD up to 1080p, and it can also pack in more extras, but I doubt it does.
The ability to download movies, TV shows and music is almost a foregone conclusion at this point; it's just a matter of time. Microsoft already offers these services thru their Xbox360 and given Sony's many film and music connections it's a revenue stream they absolutely must tap into. This is one of the reasons every PS3 comes with a built in hard drive.
BluRay is basically a high-definition video format that Sony is pushing; it is one of two hi-def formats (the other being HD-DVD) currently vying for the consumer's dollar. Technically speaking, BluRay is the superior format as it can hold approximately 50GB of data on a single disc (that's roughly 10 times the capacity of a standard DVD). Also, several movie studios currently support the BluRay format exclusively (20th Century Fox, Disney, MGM and of course Sony). The only current exclusive for HD-DVD is Universal Pictures ( and adult video companies also seem to prefer HD-DVD; not sure if that's an advantage or not
In order to really take advantage of BluRay you need a BluRay DVD player (obviously). You can either invest in a PS3 or a dedicated player (early models sold for over $1,000; Sony has just released a 2nd generation player that retails for around $500). You also really need a fairly sized high-definition TV (at least 40 inches) to be able to see the difference in the video quality.
Personally, I've avoided jumping on the hi-def DVD bandwagon. The current hardware is just too glitchy and expensive. And the picture quality of the actual movies (especially early BluRay releases) has been wildly inconsistent from title to title and generally not considered to be worth the extra cost. Once this war between BluRay and HD-DVD shakes down and we have a clear winner, the quality of product will no doubt improve greatly and costs will drop. But for the present I'd just stick with standard DVD's for at least a couple more years.
http://www.forbes.com/2007/04/19/sony-job-cuts-markets-equity-cx_jc_0419markets1.html?partner=yahootix
Their gaming division had losses of 1.04 Billion for the quarter. I'm sure a lot of that can be blamed on R&D but it is still a massive amount.
A lot of developers are also complaining that, upon closer inspection, the Cell processor isn't really all that great for game programming - a very bad sign since that is the core of the PS3. Many studios are developing their games for the 360 first and then port them to the PS3. As a result, most games look and play better on the 360, further tarnishing the PS3's rep. Even their first party developers are having a hard time coming to grips with the console and it's quite possible that Kutaragi simply over-engineered it.
I think it's a little to early to write off the PS3 as a failure, but the price tag, lack of good games, and overall difficulty to program for are major obstacles that Sony still hasn't overcome. This holiday season will be their make or break time. The system will be a year old and well into its second generation of games. You can be sure MS will be hyping Halo 3 to death (Mountain Dew is even coming out with a special flavor as a promo tie-in). If Sony doesn't have something really strong up it's sleeve to counter the Halo onslaught and has another Christmas like 2006, then you can probably write the PS3 off.
http://ps3.ign.com/articles/783/783728p1.html
Kaz "Riiiiiiiiiiidge RACER!!!" Hirai is taking over for him...less annoying...no.
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=24639
Apparently, somebody procured the dead carcass of a goat and made it the centerpiece of Sony's God of War II unveiling in Athens, Greece. There were also other acts of questionable taste performed. When I first read this, I thought it was a joke but it has since been corroborated by Sony, who is now launching an investigation.
Hi Def Digest Article
For his birthday, his parents bought him a PS3 so he was so excited that of course, he skipped class for the two days to stay home and play with it...
I get a call from him Sunday evening; I presumed it was to tease me for being an X-Man and that the PS3 was superior (y'know kids)...He tells me upon putting in some sports game, the system crashed on him. Apparently there was smoke and then nothing. Then he says he had a time prying the game from his system.
Does that happen often? I know his parents are pi$$ed after what?- shelling out 600-700 bucks?
Batman: "The Hammer Of Justice is UNISEX!"
-Batman: The Brave & The Bold -
One of the ideas Sony is supposed to be serious about is adding a file to future Blu-Ray releases that would enable PSP owners to download a copy of the film to their handheld via PS3 or laptop. There are also negotiations with Sky with a view to providing Wi-Fi downloadable programmes in a PSP friendly format.Since Sony is trying to push a new DVD format on us I suspect they won't be offering downloadable movies for home consumption anytime soon.
I bought my wife one for Christmas. She's being playing it daily without a single glitch.
Were they p!ssed about that too?
They're paying me so if they let their son squander their hard earned money like that, it's up to them I guess...
I think my monthly tuition is the least of their problems seeing they need to exchange that expensive console or get a refund...
Maybe getting "X'ed" is the solution for him. :v
Batman: "The Hammer Of Justice is UNISEX!"
-Batman: The Brave & The Bold -
Like Nightshooter says, its not just the kids. This soon to be 42 year old has been known to skip a day at work here and there because of his unfortunate fondness for all things electronic. When the 360 debuted, my brother and I even got up in the wee hours of the morning and went for a long, ultimately fruitless drive, in heavy rain no less, looking for a console.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,281952,00.html
http://www.engadget.com/2007/07/05/ps3-price-slashed-to-499-at-least-at-circuit-city/
Thanks for the heads up Night, I'll definitely keep that in mind. I'm still not sure whether I'll get one so soon or not but if the ad is true, the sale starts the day after my birthday. If I sink into a sufficiently depressing mid-life crisis, I may just spring for it.
There's a promotion from the BluRay group but it's not as good a deal as you think: you're limited as to what movies you can choose from a list of about 20. Here's a link to a pic of the ad:
http://www.bluraysavings.com/
Most of those movies are pretty forgettable; although Natasha Henstridge in hi-def may be worth a look.
Yup, they are lame. Then again, there really aren't a lot of memorable movies available on the format. None of the studios have released any of their big guns, other than maybe the first two Pirates of the Caribbean movies. Still, free is free and if I pick a PS3 up, I'll get the least offensive ones, if only to be able to trade them somewhere for store credit. I would have preferred getting a couple of free games myself.
I also did a little checking around and there are rumors that Sony may announce a permanent $100 price drop for the PS3 at E3 next week. If true, then it'll be $499 everywhere. In fact, I seem to recall trying to tell you a while back that there would probably be a price drop by summer. :v