PS3 To Use Blu-Ray Technology

[Suhit Gupta]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.gamespot.com/news/2004/08/04/news_6104095.html' target='_blank'>http://www.gamespot.com/news/2004/08/04/news_6104095.html</a><br /><br /></div><i>"According to Kyodo News, Sony officials announced today that they will use Blu-ray Disc technology in their next-generation console, most commonly referred to as the PlayStation 3. Sony revealed its decision at a press conference held by the Blu-ray Disc Founders (BDF), an organization committed to developing and standardizing the next-generation optical disc format. The BDF also used the occasion to announce that it will finalize the specifications for the read-only version of Blu-ray Discs (BD-ROMs) by September 30."</i><br /><br />As you may already know from our many previous posts, Blu-ray technology supports 25GB on single layer and 50GB on the dual-layer discs, while HD DVD discs would hold only 30GB on a dual-layered disc. Sony will be revealing more details on the PlayStation 3 at a premiere event in Japan on March 31, 2005. It is cool to hear that Blu-ray technology will actually be used in a real world product, but I wonder what they will need at ultra capacity for. High quality games (even Doom 3) don't require as much space as that. I guess they are thinking of the PVR market? :?

[dean_shan]

Blue-Ray seems over kill on a game system but I think that they are doing so that there will be a large market of blueray capable players once they start releasing movies on it.

[Suhit Gupta]

Yeah, but soon we are going to have compatibility issues with blu-ray vs. traditional (red laser) technologies. It is going to be nightmarish, I can see it already. Why not have a system that either has both drives or a drive that can support both techs (yeah, I know it doesn't exist yet).

Suhit

[dean_shan]

So does that mean that the PS3 does not have backward compatibility?

[Suhit Gupta]

So does that mean that the PS3 does not have backward compatibility?
Hmm, I am guessing not because it currently does not use blu-ray tech. It is very possible that the games would not be backward/forward compatible. Sony must have some plan in mind. But knowing how they screwed over their customers when it came to the whole memory stick fiasco, I would not be surprised if they did the same here.

Suhit

[Mojo Jojo]

At some point in time the hardware changes enough that support for backward compatiability becomes unbalanced to costs. The PS2 usues a lot of CPU power to emulate the hardwired chips from the original PS.

I think the next generation of consoles will raise the bar once more and be system 'restarts' if you will. In this case changing the media type AND a different multiprocessor architects make backwards compatiability unfeesable.

In truth however the PS2 is the only console in comes to mind that has been backwards compatible with a previous generation console.

I think that given a hardware vaccum (in surplus) there becomes a software filler that will use it.

[dean_shan]

The PS2 was the first console to do that. And they made sure everyone knew about it. That was one of their big selling points, 'Use all your existing games!'.

[MyquiH]

One potential use for the BluRay capaticites would be to produce BluRay DVDs with a compilation of old PS2 games on them, in effect allowing Sony and their publishers to resell old PS2 games to PS3 owners.

Just a thought...
Mike