Kikizo presents a detailed, early account of its first-hand experience with a little known console called PS3. Is it looking like a new generational leap, or emotion engine tears? Some answers.
:no: Guys i have been trying for a few minutes but the site is crawling, there are just too many hits for the site, maybe cause of First PS3 hands-on, anyways i am posting the link, if you get lucky then go ahead, read the review and post back. :cool2:
Hands-On with PlayStation 3
______________________
OK, took loads of time, but here are 2 pages out of 5, so i am sure the link and article are genuine just have to wait for it :
Nearly twelve years since Sony entered the gaming space, PlayStation's legacy remains untouchable and its leadership barely challenged. But the industry has never seen one company stay on top this long, and a reorganised Sony is surely hoping it won't be third time unlucky for PlayStation 3.
But Sony's silence - deafening ever since the legendary unveiling at Sony Pictures Studios last May - is raising more questions every day. We haven't much of a clue when the next concrete news on PlayStation 3 will turn up - we know it has to be soon, but analysts and gamers alike are seriously beginning to question the machine's ballsy 'Spring' launch date - not to mention its potential, ever since it transpired that the better proportion of its E3 trailers were not the performance indicator we wanted to believe. And that's putting it politely.
Now, we are thrilled to provide at least some form of update for anxious gamers - a behind-the-scenes look at PlayStation 3 with a controller in our hands, leaving no doubt as to the realtime authenticity of what we see on the screen. Last month Sony shipped final development PS3 hardware to many developers - albeit a month behind the latest schedule - and Kikizo has been able to sneak in some time at not just one, but three PS3 developers in multiple territories - one very prominent, and boasting some of the strongest experience working on PlayStation 3 in the world to date.
Naturally, the hardware is not completely final (but pretty damn close), and as you can imagine, all of our access was utterly privileged on condition of complete anonymity for those who helped us get on the inside. We're not supposed to be shown anything on the format, and software we have played is nowhere near final. Disappointingly we can't mention any games or be specific about any game scenarios whatsoever. But we can tell you everything else about our first, intimate experience of getting our hands on PS3, and offer our educated guesses about the larger implications of what it all means and where things might be going next, resulting in what we believe is the first public PS3 hands-on report of its kind.
Firstly however, the box. The stylish PlayStation 3 casing design that SCEI boss Ken Kutaragi revealed last year is, and always has been, empty - and no signs of a final, tangible casing solution appear to be in sight. "I think to fit everything that Sony wants in there AND leave space for a 2.5 inch hard drive," explains one senior developer working on a final kit, who will be our guide for much of this report, "the machine would have to grow. The models they're showing off are way too small for what they want."
Integrated into an imposing tower set-up, the PS3 development kit is playable using pretty much any standard USB controller, but developers are designing games with the familiar DualShock 2 controls in mind. PS3 controller specifics are "nothing we need to be concerned about as developers," explains the techie.
So we have a USB controller plugged into a machine and we're playing a game off a hard disc with not a trace of BluRay technology evident in the building. "PS3 isn't going to have writing capabilities and for us that's of no concern right now. Our stuff runs off a Hard Disc at the moment and won't exceed DVD capabilities; we're programming the game as if it will be written for a 10-speed DVD drive. Anything less would affect load time."
RSX on a First Date
PS3's RSX graphics chip, dubbed "Reality Synthesiser" - a buzzword not tactically dissimilar from the "Emotion Engine" moniker given to PS2 - is based on Nvidia's cutting-edge Next Gen architecture, and allegedly twice as powerful as its GeForce 6800 Ultra. The goal announced back in May was to fully harness the mythical power and bandwidth available from the Cell processor, to use RSX's crazy multi-way shader pipelines and 128-bit pixel precision, and try to reach movie-quality visuals. Nvidia practically invented this shader stuff, so it's got to be straightforward from here. We expect the visual quality and vivid realism you get from pre-rendered special effects in movies, right now, in realtime on PS3, because that's what has been promised. Now that we've played it, have they reached that goal? Really reached it? The short answer is no, of course not - but it's not an ugly picture by any means.
As game technology moves on, so does CG animation, and it seems the former might never catch up with the latter. Our developer offers his view: "We will never reach [up-to-date] Pixar-quality visuals at 1080p, sixty frames per second [in games]. Realtime graphics [technology development] moves fast, but so does CG - you just can't compare realtime games with things that takes a team of 200 people working on render farms for 18 months to make a bunch of stills for a 90 minute movie. If you look at the first animation movie Pixar did, it's stuff that a demo coder could now make with little effort in realtime on a Nintendo 64 or even a PS1."
The Enemy of Graphics
Perhaps the biggest bombshell we've learned in the world of PS3 development right now is that many (if not most) games are simply running in 720p - not the ambitious, bleeding edge 1080p "Full HD" standard that Sony had us so excited about. And certainly, not two of them stuck together for a ludicrous 32:9 double-1080p.
The controller we used was a generic USB controller. Sony plans to change the unpopular concept design while retaining the familiar DualShock 2 layout, which all developers are working to
Nvidia was on the money with its President's comments last May: resolution is indeed the enemy of graphics. Our insider explains: "Sony wanted 1080p, but we're working at 720p and 1080i, same as on the Xbox 360. Even with [final hardware] in mind, reaching good frame rates at 1080p with next-gen graphics is almost impossible. Instead many developers, ourselves included, are reworking so they run at 720p. PS3's output takes care of upscaling it - so no native 1080p, but it still looks killer." Perhaps there was always a specific reason why Sony felt it should say "up to 1080p"?
But the vast majority of PS3 gamers may not see this apparent hiccup as an issue; the tiny (projected) proportion of players lucky enough to own Full HD 1080p sets will see little difference; both 720p and 1080i are already visually stunning, and PS3 competently upscales. Even if it couldn't, most 1080p screens will supposedly upscale pretty well by themselves. Some developers even see this situation as a positive one: "It's not going to be a big deal for players, but it helps conserve CPU cycles so it's certainly a big deal to us."
So is the 1080p dream lost? It's hard to say for sure, but the developer suggests some games will still support it. "I think native 1080p games will be in the minority. Getting the best effects and performance is easier at lower resolution, so we can offer the gamers more thrills. I don't think this situation will change much."
:no: Guys i have been trying for a few minutes but the site is crawling, there are just too many hits for the site, maybe cause of First PS3 hands-on, anyways i am posting the link, if you get lucky then go ahead, read the review and post back. :cool2:
Hands-On with PlayStation 3
______________________
OK, took loads of time, but here are 2 pages out of 5, so i am sure the link and article are genuine just have to wait for it :
Nearly twelve years since Sony entered the gaming space, PlayStation's legacy remains untouchable and its leadership barely challenged. But the industry has never seen one company stay on top this long, and a reorganised Sony is surely hoping it won't be third time unlucky for PlayStation 3.
But Sony's silence - deafening ever since the legendary unveiling at Sony Pictures Studios last May - is raising more questions every day. We haven't much of a clue when the next concrete news on PlayStation 3 will turn up - we know it has to be soon, but analysts and gamers alike are seriously beginning to question the machine's ballsy 'Spring' launch date - not to mention its potential, ever since it transpired that the better proportion of its E3 trailers were not the performance indicator we wanted to believe. And that's putting it politely.
Now, we are thrilled to provide at least some form of update for anxious gamers - a behind-the-scenes look at PlayStation 3 with a controller in our hands, leaving no doubt as to the realtime authenticity of what we see on the screen. Last month Sony shipped final development PS3 hardware to many developers - albeit a month behind the latest schedule - and Kikizo has been able to sneak in some time at not just one, but three PS3 developers in multiple territories - one very prominent, and boasting some of the strongest experience working on PlayStation 3 in the world to date.
Naturally, the hardware is not completely final (but pretty damn close), and as you can imagine, all of our access was utterly privileged on condition of complete anonymity for those who helped us get on the inside. We're not supposed to be shown anything on the format, and software we have played is nowhere near final. Disappointingly we can't mention any games or be specific about any game scenarios whatsoever. But we can tell you everything else about our first, intimate experience of getting our hands on PS3, and offer our educated guesses about the larger implications of what it all means and where things might be going next, resulting in what we believe is the first public PS3 hands-on report of its kind.
Firstly however, the box. The stylish PlayStation 3 casing design that SCEI boss Ken Kutaragi revealed last year is, and always has been, empty - and no signs of a final, tangible casing solution appear to be in sight. "I think to fit everything that Sony wants in there AND leave space for a 2.5 inch hard drive," explains one senior developer working on a final kit, who will be our guide for much of this report, "the machine would have to grow. The models they're showing off are way too small for what they want."
Integrated into an imposing tower set-up, the PS3 development kit is playable using pretty much any standard USB controller, but developers are designing games with the familiar DualShock 2 controls in mind. PS3 controller specifics are "nothing we need to be concerned about as developers," explains the techie.
So we have a USB controller plugged into a machine and we're playing a game off a hard disc with not a trace of BluRay technology evident in the building. "PS3 isn't going to have writing capabilities and for us that's of no concern right now. Our stuff runs off a Hard Disc at the moment and won't exceed DVD capabilities; we're programming the game as if it will be written for a 10-speed DVD drive. Anything less would affect load time."
RSX on a First Date
PS3's RSX graphics chip, dubbed "Reality Synthesiser" - a buzzword not tactically dissimilar from the "Emotion Engine" moniker given to PS2 - is based on Nvidia's cutting-edge Next Gen architecture, and allegedly twice as powerful as its GeForce 6800 Ultra. The goal announced back in May was to fully harness the mythical power and bandwidth available from the Cell processor, to use RSX's crazy multi-way shader pipelines and 128-bit pixel precision, and try to reach movie-quality visuals. Nvidia practically invented this shader stuff, so it's got to be straightforward from here. We expect the visual quality and vivid realism you get from pre-rendered special effects in movies, right now, in realtime on PS3, because that's what has been promised. Now that we've played it, have they reached that goal? Really reached it? The short answer is no, of course not - but it's not an ugly picture by any means.
As game technology moves on, so does CG animation, and it seems the former might never catch up with the latter. Our developer offers his view: "We will never reach [up-to-date] Pixar-quality visuals at 1080p, sixty frames per second [in games]. Realtime graphics [technology development] moves fast, but so does CG - you just can't compare realtime games with things that takes a team of 200 people working on render farms for 18 months to make a bunch of stills for a 90 minute movie. If you look at the first animation movie Pixar did, it's stuff that a demo coder could now make with little effort in realtime on a Nintendo 64 or even a PS1."
The Enemy of Graphics
Perhaps the biggest bombshell we've learned in the world of PS3 development right now is that many (if not most) games are simply running in 720p - not the ambitious, bleeding edge 1080p "Full HD" standard that Sony had us so excited about. And certainly, not two of them stuck together for a ludicrous 32:9 double-1080p.
The controller we used was a generic USB controller. Sony plans to change the unpopular concept design while retaining the familiar DualShock 2 layout, which all developers are working to
Nvidia was on the money with its President's comments last May: resolution is indeed the enemy of graphics. Our insider explains: "Sony wanted 1080p, but we're working at 720p and 1080i, same as on the Xbox 360. Even with [final hardware] in mind, reaching good frame rates at 1080p with next-gen graphics is almost impossible. Instead many developers, ourselves included, are reworking so they run at 720p. PS3's output takes care of upscaling it - so no native 1080p, but it still looks killer." Perhaps there was always a specific reason why Sony felt it should say "up to 1080p"?
But the vast majority of PS3 gamers may not see this apparent hiccup as an issue; the tiny (projected) proportion of players lucky enough to own Full HD 1080p sets will see little difference; both 720p and 1080i are already visually stunning, and PS3 competently upscales. Even if it couldn't, most 1080p screens will supposedly upscale pretty well by themselves. Some developers even see this situation as a positive one: "It's not going to be a big deal for players, but it helps conserve CPU cycles so it's certainly a big deal to us."
So is the 1080p dream lost? It's hard to say for sure, but the developer suggests some games will still support it. "I think native 1080p games will be in the minority. Getting the best effects and performance is easier at lower resolution, so we can offer the gamers more thrills. I don't think this situation will change much."
