# Playstation 3 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 17, 2005, 9:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playstation-3/304212 "2005-05-17T09:12:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![audiobottle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bc8723/32.png) [@audiobottle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/audiobottle)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playstation-3/304212/41 "2005-05-18T16:44:19Z")
> [@FordPrefect](#): > > I think PS3 is going to blow Xbox 360 out of the water graphically, but the Xbox 360’s CPU looks like it is higher powered so it may be able to process better physics, AI and gaming engines. It may also come down to the networking, Live looks like it is going to be great on the 360. What does Sony plan to do there? > > I am hoping one comes out noticeably ahead, I cannot afford both systems 🙂 The CPUs are both clocked at the same speed, but they’re completely different beasts. Supposedly the PS3 will be about 2 times as powerful as the 360. I don’t know anything about the networking, but there is no way they could expect the PS3 to be connected all the time. I’m sure it’s a safe bet that the majority of PS3 owners will also be connected to the internet via high speed connection, but I’m sure there will be some with one and not the other. They just want to make it a multimedia center like the 360 wants to be. ---
**Author:** ![FordPrefect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e99b99/32.png) [@FordPrefect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FordPrefect)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playstation-3/304212/42 "2005-05-18T17:24:46Z")
The wording of the CPU description for the Xbox talks about 3 cores running at 3.2 each. Which I see as meaning that it has three times the CPU power of the PS3, but I may have misunderstood that description. ---
**Author:** ![Scoundrel\_Swanswater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dfb087/32.png) [@Scoundrel\_Swanswater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scoundrel_Swanswater)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playstation-3/304212/43 "2005-05-18T18:12:29Z")
You shouldn’t pay too much attention to how much Ghz the processor is. The thing that counts is raw performance. The Xbox can output 1 Terraflop, while the PS3 can get 2 with just the one processor. You really need to take a look at the tech-demos to appreciate the brilliance of this processor, it is a completely different breed. By the way I have also heard some news that the performance of the Xbox 360 was exagerated by Microsoft, and that it didn’t perform as well as anticipated. I will check to see if I can find a cite. ---
**Author:** ![Tarrsk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/97f17d/32.png) [@Tarrsk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tarrsk)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playstation-3/304212/44 "2005-05-18T18:32:39Z")
> [@Scoundrel Swanswater](#): > > True, but the hardware isn’t responsible for AI or destructible environments, so I am not sure what your point is. > That is the job of the developer, and as consoles get more powerfull they will have more resources to spend on things like tweaking the AI. Not exactly. The game developer is responsible for creating the AI, environments, etc., and for optimizing them as much as possible, but the hardware must be powerful enough to run them. AI programming as complex as you see in modern first-person shooter takes quite a large chunk of processing power, as I understand it. And Halo’s ridiculously huge environments (with almost zero load times, and absolutely zero load times in Halo 2) would have simply been impossible for any console older than the Xbox. As it was, both Halo games still chugged on occasion, and believe me, it had little to do with the detail of the textures or bump mapping on Master Chief, and everything to do with rendering massive swathes of outdoor environments combined with dozens of Covenant soldiers and vehicles. None of this would have been possible on the N64 (or even the PS2, for that matter). It’d take that sort of refinement and revolution in game design for me to even consider shelling out four hundred bucks for any of these consoles come launch day. ---
**Author:** ![FordPrefect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e99b99/32.png) [@FordPrefect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FordPrefect)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playstation-3/304212/45 "2005-05-18T18:54:00Z")
> [@Scoundrel Swanswater](#): > > You shouldn’t pay too much attention to how much Ghz the processor is. > The thing that counts is raw performance. > The Xbox can output 1 Terraflop, while the PS3 can get 2 with just the one processor. > You really need to take a look at the tech-demos to appreciate the brilliance of this processor, it is a completely different breed. > > By the way I have also heard some news that the performance of the Xbox 360 was exagerated by Microsoft, and that it didn’t perform as well as anticipated. > I will check to see if I can find a cite. I am not saying that the PS3’s graphics are not outperforming Xbox 360, but the 2 teraflops is overall, with a hefty 1.7 of that coming from the GPU. MS has not released (as far as I can tell) the teraflops from the CPU but only a 1 teraflop overall. Outside of rendering, shading and the like, I am wondering which machine will perform better. Like I said, all I want is one obvious choice 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playstation-3/304212/46 "2005-05-18T19:00:00Z")
The PS3 looks _very_ interesting. But did anyone else notice in the OP’s linked report that the PSP’s UMD disc format was _not_ included among the discs playable by the PS3? I hope I’m wrong about this. ---
**Author:** ![Tarrsk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/97f17d/32.png) [@Tarrsk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tarrsk)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playstation-3/304212/47 "2005-05-18T19:12:26Z")
Okay, just checked out the Warhawk trailer, and _damn_ if that’s not by far the most impressive next-gen game I’ve seen so far. Nice work, **Pochacco**. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Slacker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6bbea6/32.png) [@Slacker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slacker)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playstation-3/304212/48 "2005-05-18T19:26:59Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > The PS3 looks _very_ interesting. But did anyone else notice in the OP’s linked report that the PSP’s UMD disc format was _not_ included among the discs playable by the PS3? > > I hope I’m wrong about this. Was that in the plans at one point? I thought UMD was pretty much just a PSP thing. Would movies compressed for the PSP screen look good on a normal or HD TV? ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playstation-3/304212/49 "2005-05-18T19:34:54Z")
> [@Slacker](#): > > Was that in the plans at one point? I thought UMD was pretty much just a PSP thing. Would movies compressed for the PSP screen look good on a normal or HD TV? I have no idea. I was just dismayed when I found out that Sony was creating yet another semi-proprietary media format for one of their devices instead of going for previously-existing standards, like the 8-cm DVD-ROM or BD-ROM. ---
**Author:** ![Arwin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/51bf81/32.png) [@Arwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arwin)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playstation-3/304212/50 "2005-05-18T20:59:52Z")
> [@Pochacco](#): > > I was at the press conference yesterday. I kept laughing at all the obvious digs at Microsoft … particularly the heavy emphasis on BACKWARDS COMPATABILITY. > > The general consensus on the developer boards where I hang out is that Microsoft is SCREWED. > > (BTW, they showed MY game, so now I can talk about it somewhat freely! Check out the footage of **Warhawk**. We’re the title with the flying battleships and the thousands of airplanes. That’s all real-time baby … no pre-rendering there!) That was a really, really short clip but it looked absolutely fabulous. I immediately dreamed away about being just one of those planes and feeling totally overwhelmed and insignificant, being part of something that big. I had a similar feeling with some of the ground-wars that were showcased - those games I don’t think I will ever play, just too damn depressing! At least air combat still looks good, all the ugly human flesh has pretty aerodynamic metal shapes around it. 😃 Great job you’re doing there, will be very interesting to see what kind of gameplay experiences are coming … ---
**Author:** ![audiobottle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bc8723/32.png) [@audiobottle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/audiobottle)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playstation-3/304212/51 "2005-05-18T21:28:12Z")
> [@FordPrefect](#): > > I am not saying that the PS3’s graphics are not outperforming Xbox 360, but the 2 teraflops is overall, with a hefty 1.7 of that coming from the GPU. MS has not released (as far as I can tell) the teraflops from the CPU but only a 1 teraflop overall. Outside of rendering, shading and the like, I am wondering which machine will perform better. Like I said, all I want is one obvious choice 🙂 I thought that the big deal with the cell processor is that instead of being one unit that takes care of everything, it has specialized parts (see my fancy high tech talk?) that take care of separate tasks individually. So it can do the same task much faster. Or something. Either way, 2 teraflops is 2 teraflops, and I don’t think MS is even close to the performance if the trailers are any indication. ---
**Author:** ![FordPrefect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e99b99/32.png) [@FordPrefect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FordPrefect)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2005, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playstation-3/304212/52 "2005-05-19T04:12:47Z")
> [@audiobottle](#): > > I thought that the big deal with the cell processor is that instead of being one unit that takes care of everything, it has specialized parts (see my fancy high tech talk?) that take care of separate tasks individually. So it can do the same task much faster. Or something. Either way, 2 teraflops is 2 teraflops, and I don’t think MS is even close to the performance if the trailers are any indication. I saw the Killzone trailer this afternoon, and the drool is still running down my chin. ---
**Author:** ![Scoundrel\_Swanswater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dfb087/32.png) [@Scoundrel\_Swanswater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scoundrel_Swanswater)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2005, 9:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playstation-3/304212/53 "2005-05-19T09:51:00Z")
I have also looked at some of the Xbox 360 game-demos and although they look a lot better I thought the background textures were nowhere near as sharp as those on the PS3. It also seemed to be running a bit slow. And the 1 Terraflop was released by Microsoft itself, so I don’t think it will be faster than that. ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2005, 10:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playstation-3/304212/54 "2005-05-19T10:01:50Z")
That’s because they weren’t running on Xbox 360s but rather dual Mac G5s. ---
**Author:** ![drgnrdr07](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/71e660/32.png) [@drgnrdr07](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drgnrdr07)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2005, 10:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playstation-3/304212/55 "2005-05-19T10:20:32Z")
> [@Pochacco](#): > > Thanks. > > Yep. The only thing we did in post-production was add the sound. If you watch the footage of the Unreal demo from the press conference they actually freeze their movie and fly the camera around to show that they really are doing it in real time. > > I’ve heard it’s easier as well. But I’m just the designer … I don’t actually have to deal with the hardware. 🙂 I don’t mean to hijack this thread but I do have a genuine question for you about your profession. I would love to get into the industry (game design specifically) and would like to know how you did it and exactly what educational background you have. If you see fit to respond you can always email me with the address in my profile. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![cckerberos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@cckerberos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cckerberos)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2005, 10:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playstation-3/304212/56 "2005-05-19T10:41:20Z")
I wonder how long it will take for a modded version to come out (assuming that regional coding is still included.) I would really like to avoid buying two. ---
**Author:** ![Scoundrel\_Swanswater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dfb087/32.png) [@Scoundrel\_Swanswater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scoundrel_Swanswater)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2005, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playstation-3/304212/57 "2005-05-19T12:57:55Z")
They will probably adapt the Microsoft Live! method. This will probably mean that a modded console will be banned. So if you need a modded one, you will probably need another one for on-line game play. Now this is just an assumption, but I do think it is quite probable as this will bring back the numbers of modded consoles and illegal copies. ---
**Author:** ![audiobottle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bc8723/32.png) [@audiobottle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/audiobottle)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2005, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playstation-3/304212/58 "2005-05-19T13:14:31Z")
I thought the modded ones were able to be un-modded, so to speak, so you could still play online. **E-Sabbath** , how did you hear about the demos being run not on 360s? It seems like with a release at the end of the year, they’d have a functional Xbox 360 they could have used for those demos. ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2005, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playstation-3/304212/59 "2005-05-19T14:09:09Z")
> [@Scoundrel Swanswater](#): > > They will probably adapt the Microsoft Live! method. > This will probably mean that a modded console will be banned. > So if you need a modded one, you will probably need another one for on-line game play. > Now this is just an assumption, but I do think it is quite probable as this will bring back the numbers of modded consoles and illegal copies. If there were a way to dual boot these suckers off that hard drive… ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2005, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playstation-3/304212/60 "2005-05-19T18:04:06Z")
[http://news.com.com/2100-1043-5706658.html?tag=tb](http://news.com.com/2100-1043-5706658.html?tag=tb) I’m trying to find the photo I saw of the wires going to a display with a 360 in the front, and hidden underneath a pair of G5s. [http://anandtech.com/tradeshows/showdoc.aspx?i=2420&p=5](http://anandtech.com/tradeshows/showdoc.aspx?i=2420&p=5) There we go! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playstation-3/304212.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playstation-3/304212.md?page=4)