It was great to see Sony boss Kaz Hirai back at E3 this year (he officially revealed the PSP Go during the E3 press conference), and thanks to a recent Guardian interview , he has more to say concerning the PlayStation business.
One of the first questions Hirai fielded regarded motion sensing, and whether or not he saw it as the "future of gaming." Hirai had a good reply: he said that "it all depends on what the content creators can do" with such technology, and if the consumers will respond well to that new software. He did say he's "pleased with the response to the demo" Sony showed off at the conference, and many publishers are excited about it. As for the PSP Go, the important question centered on the lack of physical software; was it a risky move to go download-only with the new handheld? Kaz doesn't think so, as he cites the current size and continued growth of the PlayStation Network; he figures that 24 million accounts worldwide translate to a good market for something like the PSP Go. Lastly, and perhaps most interesting from our point of view, Hirai was asked whether or not it was a mistake to include Blu-Ray with the PlayStation 3. His response:
"Purely from a gaming standpoint there was no other choice for us. Why? The capacity of the disc. Last year's Metal Gear Solid 4 was pushing 50GB as it was. If it was on DVD it would have been a 6 disc set. The packaging and cost would have been prohibitive and it would have been hugely inconvenient to consumers. So from a gaming standpoint there was really no choice if you wanted a high definition gaming experience. Kojima-san has been pushing the boundaries already. And then there is the motion picture issue. The PS3 installed base certainly went a long way to making the movie studios side with Blu-ray rather then HD-DVD or supporting both. Ultimately it ended up being the right thing for the entirety of the industry as consumers don't need to hedge their bets. We had a lot to do with making Blu-ray the de-facto standard. That's great. But our decision to include a Blu-ray drive in the ps3 was mainly driven by gaming priorities and what the content creators could do with the storage space."
Well, we'd have to agree with that. For the most part, Blu-Ray has been nothing but a positive addition to the machine, especially since HD-DVD bowed out early in the high-def format war. As for the motion sensing and PSP Go, we reserve judgment for now but can easily say, "we'll wait and see." Our expectations are way high for both, though.
Interesting, but I wonder what Hirai-san would say about that dvd holding up to 1TB…hmm On topic though, blu-ray was definitely a great choice, the HD-uncompressed audio (HDMI required) makes it a dream for audiophiles and hd movies, and games have never been better =D
That 1TB DVD is so far off. It'll be years before they figure out how to develop that tech cheap enough for the market.
Yes the 1TB DVD. Which as Jawknee said is quite a way off. In fact I believe it's more like 5 years away according to the engineers working on it.
By then DVD's will be the size of a shiny new penny and will hold 1.4petajugs(PJ) of data.
even if HD-DVD did win the format war, both would exist because the playstation uses Bluray for its games and movies whereas shitbox uses DVD…if they took out the bluray drive then peoples launch games would be worthless…if you stop to think about it, the victor was clear from the very beginning…
Last edited by SarahPalinMILF on 6/11/2009 10:21:02 PM
I always laugh when journalists ask questions like "Do you regret including BluRay in the PS3". Why do I laugh? Read on….
BluRay was a mandatory thing for this generation of games. Games at 480p were already filling multiple DVDs. Going from 480p to 1080p is a 6x increase in resolution. Even with good compression you still need several times the amount of data for modern games compared to PS2 era games. Therefore a new storage media was an absolute requirement. Since Sony was already involved deeply with BluRay the chances of them selecting HD-DVD for the PS3 were essentially nil, and no other technology available 3 years ago was capable of storing up to 50GB on removable media.
Basically, there was no choice, it wasn't really a decision, it was just something that had to be, after all, what else could they have done?
Not only that but the way in which the present BluRay drives were designed, they are already designed with the idea of more layers per disc. So things like th 200GB BluRay disc that Pioneer has showed will work on PS3 and other existing BluRay players with nothing more than a firmware update.
Really, think about it, you have a game console that will have to have up to 6 times the data for graphics, you're about to release a game console, and your choices are to use the cutting edge BluRay drive which is super costly, or HD-DVD which offers less capacity and is similarly super expensive, or go with DVD and hope that no one minds swapping discs… Even though it drove the cost of the PS3 way high, what other alternative did they have?
So, if you were Kaz Hirai, and you were asked about BluRay, what would your answer be? Mine would be something along the lines of "No, it was the only viable choice to deliver high definition visuals in games on the PS3."
Oh, wait, that's what Kaz said… 😉
I really do enjoy reading the things you say…please don't leave this site.
Me too.=)
I read about BluRay in a tech magazine 3 or 4 years before being released to the public, and they were saying at that time that the resolution was good enough to show in movie theaters. So when I heard Sony was using BluRay, I felt it best to skip the xbox360 and save my money for the PS3.
Blue light travels slower than red, so you'll always be able to put more readable info on a BluRay disc than on a dvd that uses a red laser.
How many DVDs will FF13 take up?
You would need to know what the file size of FFXIII to answer that.
Probly 5 or more. It reminds me of the 'ol ps1 days.
I skipped the 360 and waited for the PS3 too. Launch day was one of the greatest days of my life.
I did get a 360 for halo 3 though.
Last edited by Jed on 6/12/2009 1:10:45 AM
If I could afford to buy every version of every Halo game ever made I would surely do it and send them into a black hole.
No Blu-Ray=No MGS4=Gamers lose out. Simple math.
Xbots still want a 6 disc game?
If they do I wouldn't blame 'em, MGS4 was kick!
My brother's roomate in college in the late 90s was sponsored to work on blu-ray and it was interesting watching the data results. Little did I know then of what the technology is doing now.
Don't know 'bout psp Go
But PSP alone has an AMAZING lineup and will get even more insane this fall and into next year
Just like ps2 went into DVD
ps3 went blu-ray
Quality gaming!
I personally find myself playing far more PS1 games and emulated games than actual PSP games thus far on my PSP. It needs more Rpg's IMO. I typically play my PSP every night thought before I go to bed, it helps me fall asleep 🙂
@vertigo
Me too. In fact I think I will be firing mine up pretty soon.
ps3 doesn't have many rpgs and I still play it a lot.
There are a lot of good games for it. By the way it does have some good rpgs, mainly very nice jrpgs like Disgaea
Ultimate Ghosts N Ghouls…that's all I need <3
MGS: Peace Walker, GT(psp), etc.
There's a lot of good things coming out for it in its future
I agree that there are some great games coming up for the PSP, right now I'm playing FF7. I love RPGs, by far my favorite genre. I'm actually thinking about buying a DS simply for Golden Sun. I loved that game for gameboy. I wish it would come to the PSP ::sigh::.
The way I see it, there would be no ps3 without blu ray, and no blu ray without the ps3. They both helped each other out sustantially.
I wonder what the outcome would have been had microsoft been more patient and included HD DVD originally in the 360. I guess we'll never know.
About the PSP Go, I don't know if going all digital is the way to go. But keeping the PSP 3000 in the game should definitely make the digital transition more smooth. I don't think I will be getting the PSP go. Maybe when the 2nd gen comes out.
I feel as time goes on the strategy Sony adopted by using Blu Ray will become all the more clearer and justified. I admit I only own a couple Blu Ray movies but knowing I atleast have the option plus only needing one disk for a game is worth while. I've always trusted Sony to deliver a product that lasts a long time, the PS3 is no different.
So are there any 360 games out there using more than one dvd?
Like for real, i think these devs keep limiting our games just so they can fit on the 360's dvd.
Sometimes i feel this WHOLE ENTIRE GENERATION OF GAMES have been dumped down all cause of xbox 360,damn!
Putting blu ray in the PS3 was the perfect way to get blu ray players out to the public. How many of 24 million current ps3 owners would have bought a stand alone blu ray player if the ps3 never had blu ray? Now there is a percentage of people who bought the PS3 for blu ray only, I know a few people that have. As far as 50 GB games, Metal gear Solid is around 50 GB's, however it isn't 50 Gbs of gameplay, those long cut scenes play a huge factor in the size of the game. Also DVD so far can put games on the same level in terms of graphics, not with all those cut scenes.
Fact is that there are millions of extra blu ray players out there because of the ps3.
You know, Sony has a very smart strategy here.
BluRay is likely to be the last of the optical disc formats that consumers use. Certainly it's not going to be replaced any time soon. The difficulty which both it and HD-DVD had breaking into the DVD market has shown just how hard it is to release a new optical disc. Leaving BluRay as the lone HD disc format. If some future video standard doubled or quadrupled the amount of video data, BluRay has the ability to grow it's capacity by adding more layers. So unless something totally unforeseen happens BluRay is going to be here for a long time.
A lot of people talk about digital distribution (downloads) as if they will snuff out BluRay before it get's a chance to shine. However, as anyone who waited for the download of FFVII can tell you, that's just not going to happen right now. Even a paltry 1.7GB takes forever unless you have an uber-fast fiber optic Internet connection. So downloading true HD material of any length is simply not possible with today's internet. Considering just how many people in the US have relatively slow DSL, still use dial up, or don't even have Internet, digital distribution is not going to replace optical discs any time soon.
However the Internet is just about good enough for games of the size of FFVII and standard definition video. So Sony has a strategy for both digital distribution as well as BluRay for optical disc distribution. In addition, their hand held device offers both. For consumers without the Net access a PSP-3000 is a perfect solution because games on UMD don't require tye net. At the same time the PSP Go, and older PSPs with a Memory Stick can take advantage of the developing digital distribution model where net access is assured.
While we wait for the Internet's technology and availability to improve. Sony continue to work on maturing and developing their digital distribution model. Both the PSP and PS3 can do digital distribution via the PSN. Sony has BluRay and UMD available for physical distribution. This way they are in a position to transition away from physical media, if that's where the market wants to go, but also to retain physical distribution if the market shows a preference for that instead of digital. Or they can do both.
To me, this was one of the key failures with both Microsoft and Nintendo, they did not address the needs of HD consumers, neither has a strategy in place for delivery of real HD material in any way except digital download. Which as any one can tell you certainly isn't practical for all but a minority now, and may never be universally available – meaning a physical media may always be required. Certainly within the foreseeable future.
And some people still think BluRay was a mistake?
BluRay and HD-DVD, which sounds better and easier to pronounce?
Hence the reason for BluRay emerging winner, yes it's that simple.
I'm pleased to see all that xbot BS about blu-ray's slow read/seek has ended. Infamous has the merest of installs and it plays great with barely any popup, and I imagine a sand box game is a good test of data transfer speed.
I for one definitely appreciate the HD movies too, it finally justified the small fortune I spent on a HDTV.
Nice ain't it?
I'll tell you what though, I spent nearly three years laughing my butt off at people on various tech forums and comments areas who swore blind that the couldn't see what all the fuss was about. As far as they were concerned, there was no appreciable difference between up-scaled DVD and BluRay.
I wouldn't want to be a passenger when they're driving if that is how good their vision is.
Still, it was a fun three years pointing out the fallacies and inaccuracies that so many HD-DVD and Digital download folks would spout about their favorite HD technology, and the slander that they threw at BluRay.
Solid Snake: "DAMN IT JOURNALISTS GET A GRIP!!!!"
I think that the motion sensing was a better idea than the PSP Go!. Don't get me wrong, the PSP Go! will be a hit, but it's not really much better than the original PSP (what's the big deal about digital downloading?).
I'd rather get a 16gb. memory stick for my original PSP so I could do digital downloading & UMD games, instead of paying $250 for a PSP that can only do digital downloading!