The PS3 Processor Has Been Shrunk. Cheaper PS3s will follow

At an ISSCC session yesterday afternoon, IBM announced details of a smaller, lower-power version of the Cell BE processor that powers Sony's PlayStation 3. The Cell BE is currently fabricated on IBM's 65nm SOI process, but IBM will soon move the console chip onto the company's much-ballyhooed, next-generation 45nm high-k process.

The 45nm Cell will use about 40 percent less power than its 65nm predecessor, and its die area will be reduced by 34 percent. The greatly reduced power budget will cut down on the amount of active cooling required by the console, which in turn will make it cheaper to produce and more reliable (this means fewer warrantied returns). Also affecting Sony's per-unit cost is the reduction in overall die size. A smaller die means a smaller, cheaper package; it also means that yields will be better and that each chip will cost less overall.

All of these chip- and unit-level savings may or may not get passed on to gamers in the form of price cuts any time soon. It all depends on whether Sony wants to boost its margins and show a profit in its gaming unit, or attract new gamers to the console by lowering the price. Eventually, the cost savings will get passed on to users; it's just a question of when.

Read the whole article @ ARS Technica

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Blu-ray in the PS3 - When Is Sony's Credit Due?

When you go against the grain because you feel you’re right, it can be an amazing feeling when everyone acknowledges your foresight and perseverance. To have a plan and stick to it even in the fact of likely failure can be considered confidence or foolhardiness; with the distinction being made once the final outcome has been determined. We seem to be one step closer to such a distinction with respect to the Playstation 3.

One major multi-pronged criticism of the Playstation 3 has been it’s forced inclusion of Blu-ray technology. I use the term “Blu-ray technology” because I think it’s very important to distinguish the Xbox 360’s optional support of HD-DVD movie playback from the Playstation 3’s mandatory support of both Blu-ray movie playback and BD-ROM storage for games.

The inclusion of Blu-ray on the Playstation 3 was responsible (in part) for: a higher price, slower disc reading speeds than DVD, limited availability early on due to a shortage of blue laser diodes, and causing the standalone Blu-ray player market to reach the market artificially late by hogging all the limited availability blue laser diodes in the first months after launch for Sony’s flagship Blu-ray player, the Playstation 3. When you add in the fact that early Blu-ray movies (still encoded in MPEG-2) looked worse than their VC-1 encoded HD-DVD counterparts and that the Blu-ray spec was outmatched feature-wise to HD-DVD, it would seem to have beeen easy money betting against Blu-ray.

Read the whole article @ Sarcastic Gamer

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Capcom: don't worry, the 5GB Devil May Cry install is worth

Devil May Cry 4 should be hitting retail shelves in the next day or so, and since the demo is available on both the PS3 and Xbox 360 you can test out both versions to see which one you prefer. We enjoyed the demo on the 360, simply because it was available first, but news has been circulating that the game requires a one-time 5GB install on the PlayStation 3. Oh the humanity! It can take upwards of twenty minutes before you get to play! Gamers, as they often do, sounded off on the message boards. Capcom, as it often does, responded in a somewhat amusing fashion.

"It's true: the first time you drop your DMC4 Blu-ray disc into your PS3 tray, you're going to be treated to an exciting 22-25 minute load process as the disc spins a few gigs of data onto your hard drive," writes Chris Kramer, senior director of Communications and Community. "While the game is loading, you get to watch a really nifty series of screens that completely catch you up on the DMC4 backstory. Think of it as compressing the last three 'seasons' into a single info blast, accompanied by some fantastic DMC artwork."

He then says if you don't need to catch up on the story, go make some food. You'll need to be able to concentrate on the game, and that's hard to do while hungry. "Low blood sugar will make you dizzy and you’ll need to be focused like an Alan Parsons Project to defeat the enemies in this game."

Read the whole article @ ARS Technica

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PS3 and 360 Versions of GTA IV Are Identical

Can you tell the 360 and PS3 versions of GTAIV apart?

You may recall Jeronimo Barrera, Vice President of Product Development at Rockstar, saying:

“It’s really no surprise to anybody that the PS3 was definitely a contributing factor to [the delay].”

Although, with the extra development time granted between the October 2007 release date and the recently announced April 29th, 2008 ship date, it appears that they have really pulled it together, and now go as far as to say that both versions are identical (sans the 360 exclusive DLC).

“Now, we’re neck and neck. That’s not an issue anymore. But back then that was something we were taking into account.” said by Barrera.

He further clarified that PS3 owners out there, all 9.43 million, can rest easy knowing that you’re not going to be receiving a crippled version of their favorite game from last-gen.

Read the whole article @ Rip Ten

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Gran Turismo 5 Prologue - April 17th / $40

It’s official - SCEA announced today the April 17 North American release date for Gran Turismo 5 Prologue, available exclusively for PS3. Developed by famed Polyphony Digital, Gran Turismo 5 Prologue will be available for $39.99 on Blu-ray Disc (BD) and as a download via the PLAYSTATION Store.

The BD version will offer added value with an exclusive behind-the-scenes High Definition (HD) video feature called “Beyond the Apex”. This video will offer some awesome access to the folks at Polyphony and give some background on how they are able to create such a realistic and beautiful driving simulator. We’ll have more information on GT5 Prologue leading up to its launch in April.

Read the whole article @ the Official Playstation Blog

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PS3's Folding@Home Hits 1,000,000 Users

SCEA's Playstation 3 Folding@home project, which went live back on March 22, recently topped one million user, meaning that about 3,000 PS3 users have registered for Folding@home a day since the software went live on the console.

"Since partnering with SCEI, we have seen our research capabilities increase by leaps and bounds through the continued participation of Folding@home users," said Vijay Pande, Associate Professor of Chemistry at Stanford University and Folding@home project lead. "Now we have over one million PS3 users registered for Folding@home, allowing us to address questions previously considered impossible to tackle computationally, with the goal of finding cures to some of the world's most life-threatening diseases. We are grateful for the extraordinary worldwide participation by PS3 and PC users around the globe."

Thanks to all of those PS3 owners willing to tie their console to the network, and pay the resulting electric bill, PS3 users make up about 74 percent of the total teraflop computing power of the Folding@home project.

Well done Sony, well done. Oh, speaking of well done, Team Kotaku is currently ranked number 106 at folding@home. If you haven't signed up (for Folding@home) and own a PS3, you really should.

Read the whole article @ Kotaku

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