Brushed Aluminum on PS3? ASUS to make PS3

Joining Hon Hai Precision Industry company, ASUStek will be aiding SONY in production of the SONY PlayStation 3 it seems.

http://www.forbes.com/markets/feeds/afx/2006/07/18/afx2888056.html

 

Yeah, I heard that too... It's funny, of all the devices I've bought in this millenium, if Asus' name isn't actually on it, it turns out they make it....

... and is it me, or am I the only one who believes the PS3 is going to be worth every penny? For console critics out there, it's three times more than they think is worth it for the "young gamer"....... but this isn't just a game console... it's going to be a life changing event!

In regards to the design of the PS3, I think everyone's seen a billion different ideas they had and although it's been a while, I doubt Asus had any real input on the finish of the unit. One of the reasons Asus went out and made their own brand notebooks is because sony had to watch the bottom line and often chucked the original finishes Asus had designed..... So, if it's between plastic and aluminum for the already expensive PS3..... I'd love aluminum, but given that this is Sony, if that saves a couple bucks over the millions they'll make in the first year....... then that's money back in their pockets. I never understood how something that might cost another couple dollars would be left off a $2,000 computer.... but when you consider that it might mean a million dollars in salary to give to the group of people making the deicsions.... then you'd understand.

 

I was excitecd for the PS3 but i think its going to be a let down. I dont think its going to be that much better than the 360. and as a blueray player its useless consoles make horrible dvd players in quality compared to a standalone. but we will see. i am interested more in the nintendo Wii and its 3d controller.

 

It's ridge racer....riiiiiiddge raccerrrrr

I have serious doubts about sony's ability to dominate the console market this time around. I believe sony has calculated that they will lose the console war but hope to sell enough blu-ray capable machines to end up winning the format war.

Honestly, yes the playstation 3 does a lot of other things besides gaming but the core of any console is still gaming. To go high class, high tech, is to cater to a higher clientele. However, any businessperson will tell you that the higher clientele is more of a niche market rather than a mass market. I really do believe sony's ultimate objective is to make blu-ray the standard DVD format.

But hey, go Asus. Better not overheat like my PS1.

 

Very true, but I think Sony looked at this more as a home entertainment unit on a whole, rather than a console gaming device with the ability to play blu-ray discs.... I'd go so far to say that they may have learned from the PS2.... but we all know they may not have.

I don't know if I'll get one, because I think I've outgrown gaming...... but that's what I thought when the PS2 came out and then I got it as a gift... So, maybe anyone who wants to give me a gift, I certainly wouldn't mind

.... gran turismo..... medal gear.... I'm not sure if MG expanded onto 360 or not... and now that I've got a car that is actually used on those racing games... I don't need to pretend anymore. Ahh... they're going to really need to impress me to get me into a PS3.... Either an update to last year's "Gun" that is better than whatever they put out for 360, or something amazing.

 

"...or am I the only one who believes the PS3 is going to be worth every penny?"

Yep....

"and now that I've got a car that is actually used on those racing games... I don't need to pretend anymore"

So, does that mean we'll see you at Watkins Glen next month?

(BTW - looking forward to Forza 2 on 360 with the new MS wireless wheel with real force feedback!)

 

From a non-fanboy view, this is my take:

Xbox360 is a nice update from the Xbox. They took more of the same, and spruced it up. Its also a very easy system to program for, which is a good indicator that by the 2nd or 3rd generation of titles, developers will have hit their limit as to how much they can squeeze out of the system. The Dreamcast was VERY similar in this regard.

The PS3 will be a TRUE next gen system. Next generation architecture, next generation storage capacity. They actually went into developing this with some forward thinking into what the display standards it will be used on will be during the entire expected life of the system... and that is very exciting to me. Take a look at the first gen PS2 game, then compare it to one of the big releases from the past year or two. Its amazing how much developers were able to optimize in order to squeeze that last bit of power out of that system. I can only speculate that the PS3 will go through similar cycles.

From a movie player standpoint, the standards are completely different this time around. The problems with picture quality you see from most DVD players is due to the players inability to smooth out or cope with the inherant lack of quality you get from low-bitrate video encodes. That will not be an issue this time around... quality for HD-DVD and Blu-Ray movies are almost completely dependant upon the quality of the mastering. All the players need to do is contain powerful enough hardware to render a hi-def video stream. The higher the bitrate, the better the quality, thats just how it works... higher bitrate means more capacity needed to store the video. Blu-Ray wins easily.

For me, being an avid importer, there is also the wonderful news that the US and Japan will be in the same "region", which means I won't have to worry about modifying my system anymore if/when I buy my first import next gen games/movies. Again, that's a big deal to me, probably not to Joe Gamer.

 

From the movie player standpoint, you don't take into account that HD-DVD uses newer codecs (VC-1, MPEG-4) that compress much higher, while BluRay uses MPEG-2, just like DVDs. BluRay disks are larger because they need to be, since they can't be compressed as much, and HD-DVD can get equivalent qualities at lower bitrates (using less storage space).

"Nine gigabytes is not nearly enough space to hold a high-definition movie and extras using the old MPEG-2 format. But it will be enough space for a movie encoded with Microsoft's VC-1, or the rival AVC."

"Satellite TV companies Echostar and DirecTV are close to upgrading their high-definition subscribers to equipment that supports the MPEG-4 AVC codec. For the satellite companies, this will allow them to broadcast more channels in the same space they use today."

Full article here.


From the gaming side, Xbox360 may have been better off with a digital connection, but a the time of development, component was the most common standard, and supported all the current ATSC broadcast standards, which are the only standards digital TVs are required to observe. Other than that, I'm not sure what you mean by "They actually went into developing this with some forward thinking into what the display standards it will be used on will be during the entire expected life of the system..." in talking about the PS3 (though, and correct me if I'm wrong, the lower-cost PS3 will only have component output as well?).

 

HMDI offers no imporved video over component. they both support 1080p if they want. so if HD dvd allows high def broadcast over analog HDMI offers little.

 

To me it doesn't seem that the PS3 is all that wonderful (at least I don't think it is) But, on the true issue, way cool that Asus is making the PS3

 

The finalized Blu-Ray standard supports MPEG-2 and VC-1. I think that article is a little outdated... considering Directv rolled out MPEG-4 hardware and the first channels to use it in most major markets last year.

And no, even with VC-1, 9 gigs is NOT enough for a high bitrate full length hollywood movie at 1080p. It is a much more efficient compression method, but it ain't that efficient.

What I mean is that Sony is expecting HDMI to be the connectivity standard for quite some time, and the industry trend supports that. Native 1080p is also pretty much brand new, with the first TV's to support it just being rolled out late last year. Then of course, the decision to go with Blu-Ray as the media standard itself, with the system being the true launch vehicle for it even if a few players crop up between then and now.

 

Not true. Most avid video buffs will tell you that DVI/HDMI offers superior color clarity. Granted, its not the kind of difference you'd see when going from Composite or S-Video to Component or HDMI, but the difference is there, and it is tangible.

Eliminating an unnecessary digital to analog conversion is a good thing. No analog video DAC = no potential signal degradation on the players end.

 

Lee, you know I emailed you the other day when you PM'd me and I found out on Monday that the email bounced back.... I was going to ask you what day that was at the glen because I've got to check my calendar...... but you're exactly right.. The only reason I like GT is because you can wreck the car and your insurance doesn't go up and you don't get hurt... but I can honestly say I learned to drive a stick from GT when I was kid..... The best wheel out there is the logitech they made for GT3.. I fabricated everything up on a sweet racing seat with a butt kicker in the back and I'll tell you what.... if it were in high def, it would be really real..

 

the wheel for gt4 is great with the feedback in the wheel..the only thing that needs a bit improvement is more resistance in the pedals..wayyy too easy to floor it

 

@Justin - The dates for the event are Aug 28th/29th. Check www.neqclub.org for more info, or email me.

@Burn Knuckle - Yeah, the article is over a year old. I actually found it in trying to look up the BluRay spec. I'm curious, though - why would Sony adopt MS' VC-1 codec, and not the MPEG4? Also, the T2 Extreme ed. DVD with a 1080p transfer of T2 has been on store shelves for years, on normal DVD, so there definitely is enough room on a 9GB DVD for a full-length movie.

BTW, to stay on topic, yeah, it is cool that Asus got the manufacturing contract.

 

That's actually a very good question, which I have no answer to whatsoever. I'll do some digging.

Not quite, but it was in the parking lot of the ballpark. The HD T2 wmv was actually 1440x816@24fps (film rate), and wasn't exactly what most would consider a presentation quality encode.