Sony's Plan All Along: The $499 HDMI-Having PS3

[Dukefrukem]

figured i'd clear up the rumors and post the facts when they get released since this is what we all care about

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PS3 to offer HDMI support on both sku's

Both versions of the PS3 to offer full HD support

Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. has announced a major change in the 20GB version of the upcoming PlayStation 3 (PS3). The cheaper of the two PS3 sku's (20GB version) will now come equipped with HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface, Ver 1.3/supporting Deep Color) output as standard with the system.

Since Sony first announced the original product specifications of PS3 at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in May 2005, demand for enjoying full HD quality image and realistic digital sound through HDMI has grown tremendously. That in addition to the sharp increase in availability of flat HDTV displays with HDMI in the market, Sony has decided to equip HDMI as standard on all PS3 systems. This represents a major shift in the strategy behind PS3 marketing. The differences between the lower and higher priced versions of the PS3, unlike the Xbox 360, is less about performance, and more about options.

While Microsoft claimed that the 360 would usher in HD gaming, it seems like only the PS3 will truly support it.

http://playstation.about.com/od/ps3/...DMISupport.htm

http://www.movieweb.com/dvd/news/81/14781.php

[Dukefrukem]

more cool news

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A lot of the critics, and apparently Microsoft, think that the only use of the Blu-Ray drive in the PS3 is for HD movie playback and just makes the device more expensive even for those who don’t plan to use it as a movie player. I will leave you with Phil putting the “Smack-Down” on that idea.

“There’s this sort of misunderstanding that the Blu-ray disc player for movies is somehow burdening the console with unnecessary cost. That is completely not true. We put our Blu-ray Disc functionality in the console purely from a game design point of view. Once we had that storage capacity on Blu-ray Disc, adding the movie playback functionality was extremely cost-effective, [the cost] is actually non-existent.

So games like Resistance which, as a launch title, is up to 20-something gigabytes already. And that’s day one—think about four years, six years from now. We’ll be pushing the 50 gigabyte limit with dual-layer Blu-ray very quickly. So we absolutely need it as game designers, and in that regard, the consumer is getting the movie functionality effectively for free.”
--Phil Harrison, Representative Director SCEA

the long run is going to be fun

[YankeeDeuce]

I wonder how many times Sony has said, "Think about four years, six years from now", and that format is no longer made

[Dukefrukem]

probably twice

gotta remember Beta was the superior format over VHS... and looked which prevailed