Guest Shack – Rebecca Rice from Sony re: PS3

This week we interview Rebecca Rice from Sony Computer Entertainment about the launch of the PlayStation 3. Click on the link below to read the interview.

ABOUT GUEST SHACK

Each week we bring you an interview with an interesting and relevant guest speaker on everything from brand new tech or gaming products being launched or a special topic.

Special guest for this week is Rebecca Rice, Assistant PR Manager from Sony Computer Australia.

What are some of the PS3’s new technologies or capabilities?

The PlayStation 3 is a revolutionary digital entertainment hub. At its core, providing the best possible gaming experiences on and off-line.

Having said that, the PlayStation 3 is much more than a high quality gaming console – it is also about experiencing High Definition entertainment from Blu-ray discs, it is about surfing the internet from your sofa, it is about the highest possible quality audio entertainment and it is about shopping on-line via the PlayStation Network.

The PlayStation 3 has a built-in and expandable hard disk drive allowing for the easy storage, transfer and manipulation of your digital photos, video and music. It adopts blu-ray disc, providing more storage of gaming content and the ability to playback high definition movies. It has a 1 gig Ethernet Port and a comprehensive Web browser allowing you to surf the web from your TV. It supports a variety of inputs from USB to Bluetooth allowing you to plug in everything from a keyboard to your digital camera. The PlayStation 3 moves your digital lifestyle from the office to the living room.

How do the graphics compare to the Xbox 360?

The PlayStation 3 offers true 1080p high definition support, the best picture quality available today. This means life-like representations of objects (cars, buildings, landscapes), but how does this apply to fictional or cartoon games? It means brighter colours, sharper curves. The PlayStation 3 concurrently sends millions of individual signals to the TV The same goes for movies – the PlayStation 3 offers the highest standard of movie playback available today.

Why has there been a loss of backwards compatibility?

The PlayStation 3 offers a level of backwards compatibly. A broad range of PlayStation games will be playable on your PlayStation 3 in addition to a limited range of PlayStation 2 titles.

The PlayStation 3 has been engineered to take advantage of current and emerging technologies. For this reason our focus will be on the continual enhancements of the PlayStation 3 capabilities. As further developments are made to backwards compatibility with PlayStation 2, we’ll pass on the information to consumers via our website.

If you visit the following website: http://faq.eu.playstation.com/bc you can check in advance as to which of your PlayStation 2 titles will give you the best experience on your PlayStation 3.

What games can we play online at launch?

In addition to a number of 3rd party developed games, the following titles developed by SCE World Wide Studios can be played online:

• MotorStorm
• Resistance: Fall of Man
• Ridge Racer 7
• Formula One Championship Edition

Which titles will be available exclusively for the PS3 at launch?

• MotorStorm
• Resistance: Fall of Man
• Ridge Racer 7
• Formula One Championship Edition
• Genji: Days of the Blade
• Virtua Fighter 5 (Published by THQ)

What major differences are there between the Xbox 360 and the PS3?

There are now many products available for people interested in ‘interactive entertainment’. We are confident that consumers will begin to recognise the benefits attributed to each of the platforms.

The PlayStation 3 has the ability to provide un-matched gameplay experiences. This is a requsite for any next generation console. We are pleased that this is only an element of our product offering.

Why has Sony made the PS3 an entertainment unit in addition to being a gaming console?

Sony has made a ‘computer entertainment’ device that provides interactive experiences. While sounding like a mouthful of marketing words this explains our objective for the development of the console.

Consumers are no longer passive recipients of technology; they decide how technology and content will be included in their life. PlayStation 3 is an entertainment hub that provides the best gaming experiences but also addresses peoples desire to create their own content, rip their own music playlists for their digital music players, download podcasts, write their own blogs, post and rate submissions to user generated content community sites.

People demand responsive, interactive and participatory experiences that involve and engage them on every level. We believe our “entertainment unit” delivers on this proposition.

Why is Blu-ray disc technology better than HD DVD?

The PlayStation 3 provides the platform for game developers to create larger, more detailed and more intelligent games. Developers now have the technological freedom to create game scenarios and options they had only previously imagined.

With this in mind, PlayStation 3 supports the Blu-ray disc for it’s larger data storage and the ability to playback high definition movies.

The large majority of consumer electronics and movie houses are all backing this format, ensuring one standard and that lots of content will available.

Cyber Shack’s comments on the downside of the PS3 are:

• No component or HDMI cable in the box, so need to buy additional cables if you’re after true 1080p support.
• Not all TVs support high definition displays, so you’re going to need to outlay some cash for Plasma/LCD/projector if you really want next-generation graphics.