Playstation Meeting later tonight/early tomorrow (PS3 info almost guaranteed)

Via Reuters:
http://in.today.reuters.com/News/ne...101223Z_01_NOOTR_RTRJONC_0_India-240503-1.xml

(for reference, I believe 3PM Wed in Japan would be around midnight or 1AM Wed here)

This has been heavily rumored since about a week ago when the president of Koei let it slip that SCE was planning a meeting on the 15th (more info here). Then, the Untold Legends: Dark Kingdoms screens were taken down shortly after hitting the net, and the date "March 15th" was mentioned as the day the embargo would be lifted on UL media/info, and possibly other things as well (more here). And now we have Sony officially announcing this event.

So it seems like the long silence will soon be over. There are already some rumors about what will be said at the event, including more Untold Legends: Dark Kingdom media/info (can't wait ). There is also some speculation that Sony might also address the Connect service for the PSP, which should go online later in the month, as well as maybe any possible PSP revisions (4-8GB models?).

This might also be a good time and place to "sandwich" any bad news for the PS3. IOW, at this meeting, Sony might show off some game footage, detail their online service, show off some other surprises (maybe something like this), announce a delay for the PS3 (at least in Japan), maybe give details on the RSX GPU, announce some new games, and maybe announce a price for the PS3 (assuming it is "good"...otherwise, it might go in the sandwich portion of the meeting). Might as well since it we'll find out soon anyway if there was a delay.

Just giving a heads up to everyone out there desperate for PS3 news. Hopefully we'll get some things cleared up in the next 24 hours or so. FYI, but one interesting thing to note is that FFXII, probably one of the biggest titles on the PS2 (and one of the biggest PS franchises), will be released in Japan the day after this meeting IIRC.

 

Uh-oh...

Not too surprising I guess, although the reason for the delay is a bit strange. If you want to hang onto a glimmer of hope, Nihon Keizai Shimbun have reported false news before (think they said that Toshiba and Sony agreed to unify the next-gen DVD formats). And as I said, delaying it because of the BR copy protection is a bit strange since Blu-ray players will be out before November, and HD DVD players will be out by the end of the month (although I read that might not happen). One possibility is that Nihon Keizai Shimbun saw that it might take 6-12 months to finalize the AACS (the copy protection for BR), and then assumed the PS3 would be delayed, even though they could release prior to that and upgrade the PS3 to the final AACS specs via firmware or something. Well...that's one way of looking at it if you didn't want to believe the news.

Otherwise, I guess we won't see the PS3 on store shelves for a while, unless this delay only affects the Japan launch. IOW, say Sony planned on a Spring release for JP and a Fall release for NA, but now will try to launch in both regions around November. If the copy-protection is the reason for the delay, Sony might be able to produce enough units to launch in both territories (another optimistic way of looking at it); otherwise, if Sony misses the Christmas holidays here in the US, they'll be in BIG trouble. Even though the 360 has had a rough start, giving it two holiday seasons it asking for trouble, and then there's also the Revolution launching later this year.

Guess we'll find out more in about another 12 hours.

 

$30-$35 MSRP IIRC, which is about the same as some big DVD releases (meaning like $20-$25 or so at a store). So the prices aren't that much higher. And if that's too much, too bad I guess. Prices will go down; something tells me that the people who can afford HDTVs and a 1st-gen BR player will have no problem spending that much money on a BR movie.

As for Blu-ray in general, I think it is kind of a "Blu-ray or nothing" type situation. Either Blu-ray will be adopted as the "successor" to DVD, or we'll be living with the DVD format for a while longer. IMO, I think BR has a good shot at succeeding considering the amount of support it will be getting. I mean, if you get a PS3 and also get a HDTV to play games on it, you're basically set to play BR movies (which will only cost a little more, but look much better on your HDTV). I think with HD gaming and other HD services being pushed (including BR and HD DVD), HDTV adoption will see big increases in the next few years, especially with the price drops (~$1500 1080p 40"+ HDTVs) and new HDTV tech (SED,OLED, and CNT technologies). It will take a while for all this to become "mainstream," but I think there is a strong possibility of this happening in a few years or so.

Also, on another note, I just want to mention that at least Sony Pictures won't be down-converting HD signals over analog, unless piracy becomes an issue. I believe most other studios except for Warner and Universal will be doing the same IIRC, so it appears as though the "no HDMI" issue may turn out not to be much of an issue.

So...which one is Beta-Max?

 

So wait...the key to winning the war isn't cost advantage, industry support, technical advantages, etc., but the actual name of the format?

So when people see ads for movies like Spider-man, Underworld, The Matrix, Pirates of the Caribbean, Star Wars, The Fifth Element, Robocop, Mission Impossible, Saw, LOTR, etc. (some "only" on Blu-ray), when they see PS3 games coming in blue transparent cases with the Blu-ray logo slapped on, and when they see Dell, Samsung, Panasonic, Philips, Sony, etc., promoting the hell out of the format...they still won't have a clue on what Blu-ray is? And on another note, I would imagine the first adopters of HD DVD/Blu-ray will be VERY knowledgeable about the 2 formats (probably the guys that hang out at the AVS forums ). It isn't like every average Joe will be making a decision on HD DVD or Blu-ray in a year or two, especially with HDTV prices the way they are (although they are dropping). Then again, according to Howard Stringer's CES keynote, I think they're trying to call Blu-ray "BD" or something like that. Maybe that move will secure them another 10% of the market.

Yeah, I wonder if something is up too; the copy protection issue might be part of the delay, but I doubt it would be THE reason to delay the PS3. Not sure if it is a hardware issue or a software issue though (maybe still working on copying XBL ).

Of course, that's assuming the reports are true. Che (ironically, now a MS employee) posted on GAF that he's still hearing a Oct 2006 launch window for the PS3 (imagine he meant Japan release). *edit:Nope, he actually heard Oct for NA, Nov for JP. Interesting.

 

The tech gurus who pick BR over HD DVD in the first day might be enough to kill off HD DVD though, which will basically give the general consumer just one choice to pick from in a few years once these go mainstream.

BTW, since I guess the name of a product means so much, I guess the 360 won't sell much more than 30M or so consoles, while the PS3 will surpass 100M within 5-6 years. After all, casuals won't know the difference and will just go with the name that is more "consumer friendly."

Ugh...not the $900 figure again.

Search some of my past posts (or the thread about "Sony's silence") if you want an answer to that.

 

Blu-ray is a next-gen DVD format. Basically, it is DVDs for people who have a HDTV since DVDs don't look all that great on these big screens (compared to say HBO HD or channels like those). It also offers 25GB per layer, meaning 50GB for a DL BR disc (additional layers are possible if necessary...up to 8 IIRC). You can read more about it here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blu-ray