Sony’s Supposed Supercomputer
As has been mentioned repeatedly in interviews released in various media formats, Sony execs have been touting that the PlayStation 3, the soon-to-be-released successor to the wildly popular PS2, is more than a gaming machine: it’s a computer. Some execs have even gone so far as to claim that the PS3 is a supercomputer. It will include several USB 2.0 ports, wireless controllers with optional USB connectors(for charging as well as wired play), both models will come with a hard drive(20 Gigabytes for the low end version, 60 Gigabytes for the high end version), both have WiFi built in, as well as an ethernet connector, and, at least on the development kits, there are slots for various flash memory cards, including Compact Flash and Secure Digital cards as well as Sony’s own proprietary Memory Stick Pro format.
PS3 is also being bundled with two new technologies. Firstly, the drive unit is Sony’s own successor to the DVD, Blu-Ray, a disc format which features up to a whopping 50 Gigabytes of data storage. Secondly, the PS3 encompasses Cell, a multicore architecture that is essentially a next-generation PowerPC processor. Sony claims that these two unproven technologies are what will carry PS3 well into the next decade in the marketplace. Along with all of this bleeding-edge technology comes a computer-esque price, $499 for the low end model and $599 for the high end model.
The only appreciable difference between the two models of PS3 is that the low end version comes with a smaller 20 Gigabyte hard drive and lacks HDMI output, a prerequisite for HD-quality movies and video on HDTV’s.
Alright, Sony. You want to call PS3 a computer? Fine, I’ll bite. If you want to sell me on the PS3 computer system, then here is what you must do. Allow me to upgrade certain components on the PS3, namely the bundled hard drive, with industry standard drives. No proprietary hardware or restrictions on what kind of drives I can use(in the IDE family of drives, anyway). If I scope a cheap 120 Gigabyte hard drive on eBay, I had better be able to conveniently swap the existing drive for the new one. Make it simple and straightforward.
Speaking of the hard drive, I need to have the option to be able to backup my existing library of PSOne, PS2, and PS3 games onto the hard drive(assuming my drive is large enough, especially for the gargantuan BD-Rom games). There are two reasons for this. The first is simply convenience. The ability to turn my PS3 on and launch a game, without having to grab the disc, or find the disc(in some cases), is one of great satisfaction. Not to mention, it ensures that as long as my PS3 is working, I will always have working copies of my games. If you want to put in place certain restrictions regarding pirated, or unsigned, copies of games, that’s fine as long as you don’t DRM the hell out of the process. I’m not encouraging piracy, but I want control over the games I buy.
Secondly, the ability to run games from the hard drive results in, in most cases anyway, a very significant decrease in load times. We’ve seen it on the Xbox, and we know it’s possible. Make it happen, Sony. I want the option to skip unnecessary load screens if at all possible by backing the disc up to my PS3. Again, don’t over-DRM the process.
Sony has confirmed that the Linux operating system will reside on the bundled hard drive for the PS3. Of course, saying that it runs Linux is incredibly vague. There are countless variations and builds that use the Linux kernel. There are several popular versions of Linux for PowerPC computers such as the AmigaOne, the PegasOS, and of course, pre-intel Macs. If you want to bundle Linux with the PS3, give me some options. I would like to be able to choose which variation of Linux I want to install on my PS3. At the very least, give me the ability to customize the OS to my liking.
That leads into another point. Don’t limit what I can or can’t do with Linux. If I want to run homebrew games on my PS3, let me. If I want to run ported emulators on PS3, then let me. I know Sony has said in the past that it will allow homebrew coders the ability to program for the PS3, but they haven’t mentioned if there are any restrictions, or if they allow the ability to send code to other people(i/e: distributing usable binaries on the internet for free download). If I can’t download and run what I want that is available for this version of Linux, then you are making it that much harder for me to justify the high price.
A personal desire of mine is to se the OS X, the Mac OS, running on the PS3. An ideal solution would be for me to pop in an OS X installer disc and install it onto my PS3 without hitches. It doesn’t have to be bundled with the PS3, but I like having the option. However, if there are certain reasons that OS X couldn’t be installed natively onto the hard drive, maybe formatting issues or incompatibilities with the current OS, then at least give me the option to run Mac-on-Linux or equivelant. For those not in the know, MoL is a popular tool for running OS X natively in a window inside PowerPC Linux builds on non-Macintosh computers. I want this option if I can’t natively install OS X. That might not be something that Sony has to do, but they need to allow it if nothing else.
As you can no doubt tell, I am a person that likes having choices, especially on a $500-600 dollar console/computer hybrid.
Sony, if you can make this happen, if you can let me do, more or less, what I want to do with my PS3, i’m there. But if you try to tell me what I can or can’t do with my PS3, i’m gone.
- Ricky Coulter, waiting for Sony’s next move
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digg it! http://digg.com/gaming_news/Sony_s_Supposed_Supercomputer
Two things:
You do realize that the ps3 comes with a 20 gig or a 60 gig drive… not an 80.
Also no way in hell a mac based OS could be installed on it, it wouldn’t be able to understand the cell cpu which does not use x86 commands.
Fair enough about the hard drive sizes. I will edit the article to reflect this new information.
However, you must understand that I do know what i’m talking about when it comes to the Mac OS. Yes, there are intel Macs running on x86 hardware, but for 10 years(!), there were Macs running on PowerPC hardware, and the Cell processor is a next-generation PowerPC chip. Matter of fact, i’m typing this article up on my PowerPC based iBook.
A little research here. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Playstation_3
And from what I know, the hdd can be replaced with any sata 2.5 inch drive to what ever size you want. I know on day 1 I plan on getting either a 250 to 500 gig drive to put in mine.
As for Linux, I do not have any hard information, but my understanding is that there will be a sdk that will allow people to create programs for the ps3.
This is just my opinion though and not that of my company.
I cant wait for the Playstation 3 release. Its gonna be better than Xbox for sure! This PS3 site has a PS3 toolbar that will notify you when the Playstation 3 is available to order. Highly recommended.