Sony have just announced (presumably in response to yesterday's announcement from Microsoft) that the 20gb PlayStation 3 will ship with HDMI as standard.

Since SCEI first announced 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. Given the sharp increase in availability of flat displays supporting HDMI in the market, SCEI has decided to equip HDMI as standard on all PS3 systems.

And the arms race continues!

http://australianit.news.com.au/

SONY will cut the price of its forthcoming PlayStation 3 console to put it on par with Microsoft's rival Xbox 360 on debut in its home market of Japan.

Doesnt say anything good about price cuts in AUS but.

Sony is doooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooomed

I hope Microsoft decide to keep dicking with them; it'd be hilarious.

Actually it's been long semi-confirmed that the lite version would be packaged with HDMI

just sayin'

Microsoft is doing this in response to Sony more than the other way around

Super edit: And as a voice of reason beyond all this microsoft fanboyism in a sony thread here are some of the new gameplay videos from TGS:

http://playsyde.com/index_en.html

last edited by Hashy at 16:40:54 22/Sep/06

There's nothing to stop Microsoft releasing a second gen xbox360 with an HDMI port.... actually, it'd be funny as hell if announced something like that in the not too distant future.

Is having HDMI really that big a deal?

Will the PS3 have a media thingy so you can stream vids and pics from your PC onto your TV ?

they are doing it to (price drop) compete with the wii, cos sony is gonna get pwned in japan.

it just sorta shoots sonys own foot again though. there is not a huge need for the premium system now.


last edited by phatmike at 18:57:54 22/Sep/06

Is having HDMI really that big a deal?

Do you think HD is a big deal?

No -> HDMI is not a big deal.

Yes -> Is 1080 a big deal?

No -> HDMI is not a big deal.

Yes -> HDMI is a big deal

SCEA just revealed to 1UP that the price drop in Japan is for that territory ONLY. The pricing structure in the U.S. has not changed.

Phatmike is right in that Sony has no reason to do this except to help compete with the Wii over there as the 360 has a very small following in japan.

I still won't be terribly surprised if it happens by the time it hits our shores too, despite Sony stating it's japan only. In western regions they have to compete with The Wii AND the 360 - gaming households often buy two consoles but they rarely buy 3.

only 20% of the shipped playstatiosn are going to be the lite model. the 80% of "premium" systems haven't got a price drop, even in japan.

Actually, the premium bundles are getting the exact same price drop.

Why must you turn this into a house of lies.

last edited by Hashy at 19:27:54 23/Sep/06

i think the first company that will bring a product similar to a modded xbox 360 able to stream media off your pc to the tv *easily* will do extremely well. not so much a console but a complete media/game centre. itll also prompt me personally to buy the first console ever, seeing as the "pc" developers can't invent a half decent networkable media centre.

gaming households often buy two consoles but they rarely buy 3.

I'd tend to agree with this but could you possibly provide some sort of reference to back up this statement?

itll also prompt me personally to buy the first console ever, seeing as the "pc" developers can't invent a half decent networkable media centre.

Until then we have the MediaGate, which doesn't look too bad.

yeah it was a little disapointing playing dead rising and not being able to clearly read some of the text in the game due to my television. but thats hardly microsofts fault.

i just want something cheap, that will let me watch movies i download to my PC, from the comfort of my living room....

by cheap i mean ~$300

and it needs wireless

and it needs to be able to play SSX snowboarding

last edited by partyhat at 23:23:27 24/Sep/06

yeah it was a little disapointing playing dead rising and not being able to clearly read some of the text in the game due to my television. but thats hardly microsofts fault.

wtf.. ofcourse it is their fault.

You could always do what we used to do (cept this would involve some of you actually having friends) is for a couple of people to buy a different console each an then just share em.

That's stupid

PS3 will rock, and I'll be getting one in the new year because I'm getting a Wii first.

I've have a PS1 and a PS2 and they have been great, Xbox was good too as my flatmate had one and we used it as a media center as well. The 360 also looks like a good system but Sony have never failed me yet.

Now as for using the console as a media centre, not my cup of tea, because you can't install turner cards. Also whats the point of having HD if all you want to do is watch divx's at some crappy resolution, and if your that concerned about quality you'll also be wanting quality sound, something dl'd content just doesn't have at the moment, and the bandwidth costs wouldn't make it a viaable option in Australia.

For me I'm buying a console, and PS3 has sold me on Grand Turismo and WRC, the same way they got me with the PS2.

BLASPHEMER...

Also Tourist Trophy is another franchise that makes the decision more justified.

I'm pretty meh to GT as are a few other car enthusiasts, but I guess cos we haven't had a ps2 in the house for a long time. Forza though..that is good :)

edit: just found this info

Xbox 360 HD DVD playback: Maximum 1080i via component, 1080p VGA-only

When Microsoft revealed it will support 1080p HD DVD and 1080p DVD upconversion we were surprised because it's commonly accepted that the CSS (DVD) and AACS (HD DVD & Blu-ray) copyright provisions wouldn't allow that (although some manufacturers have looked the other way before) via unprotected analog connections. We were right, sort of. Even after the software upgrade this fall, via component cables, the Xbox 360 will still only upconvert DVDs to 480p, and will play HD DVD movies at a maximum resolution of 1080i. To get 1080p output for movies, you must use a VGA cable, which is not subject to the same copyright restrictions. This just means the Xbox 360 is just like every other HD DVD and Blu-ray player on the market, but you wouldn't know that by reading Microsoft's press releases.

last edited by PHATm at 18:13:05 26/Sep/06

Silently sitting here waiting for QGL to discover GT:HD's "micropayment" system

There's no doubt in my mind that I'll get a PS3, but like many others I'll be waiting until late 2007 early 2008. When all the exclusive PS3 RPGs start to come out, and when around the time MGS4 is out.

Also hopefully a year after launch it will be more affordable, $1000 is just f***ing insane.

I know all about the micrpayment system, but that never stopped me from playing games, after all anyone who knows me will know my thoughts on paying for entertainment including games, and my total distain for gamers who complain about the cost of games while pirating and enjoying something only to complain when companies come up with unique ways of making you pay. Also you will be only fooling yourself if you don't think MS will miss the same opportunity to make money by not implementing a similar system! I predict that micropayments will succeed like steam has and will be here to stay.

The whole PS3 bashing is about as pointless as Linux Distro flames. If you don't like the PS3 then don't buy one, get a 360 if that yanks you chain...

lol yeah, gt hd, wont it cost like 300 USD or something to access most the game content?

I'm not bashing the PS3 at all.

I still think GT:HD's particular implementation of delivering content through micropayments is f***ing horrible though.

Mostly because it is.

lol yeah, gt hd, wont it cost like 300 USD or something to access most the game content?

Something like 500

There is lots of speculation but in reality how many cars did you buy in GT4, all 650 of them?

Tracks are a different story, there are 34 tracks in GT4, 50 if you count the variations on these tracks.

There are lots of rumours to the costs;
cars 50Y-100Y (57c - $1.15)
tracks 200Y-500Y ($2.28 - $5.71)

The game has 2 versions.

a) Micropayments this game is rumoured to ship for just the cost of materials, guessing $20 because it has no cars or tracks.

b) Premium will ship with 30 cars and 2 tracks with a further 30 cars and 2 tracks available online. It's not sure if you'll be able to choose the online content. Guess regular game costs $99

NB There is additional rumours riff about GT HD being extended with even more content past that rumoured for release which will extebd the content even further.

NOW the main point here is that the content delivery system is no different to say paying for a MMO, the longer you play the more you pay. WoW addicts pay $240ish a year to play their game of choice.

Realize for a f***ing second that I don't give a s*** enough to even spend the time to look for proof. I only just then even looked at the link you posted, which was an article posted not soon after the official break of information and before anything was totally finalized and it doesn't even f***ing specifically mention the 60gig model, so congratulations on that startling disproof. Here are the results of f***ing 30 seconds of googling; as much as I care to do, to be honest (especially since you basically hold burden of proof here):

The 60 gigabyte model is still set at open pricing, meaning retailers are free to price it as they please. However, given that the price drop for the 20 Gig model, the actual retail pricing of the 60 gig model will likely change accordingly.

and that's about all that's been released on the issue so far.

So now you've wasted my time, go ahead and back up your statement about 80% of the japanese rollout being premium bundles with hard evidence. Lord knows I won't read it.

Idiot.

I hope it works as well as the haldheld


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKycuV5DwEE&NR

yeah it was a little disapointing playing dead rising and not being able to clearly read some of the text in the game due to my television. but thats hardly microsofts fault.

wtf.. ofcourse it is their fault.

Actually its the fault of the developer for not checking their font size properly.

They were lucky enough to slip through the old MS QA testing policy, it wouldnt have passed in the new one.

So maybe it is partially MS's fault, for having poor QA policys....but I put the majority of the blame on the developer, for not testing it properly first.