Misc. Info

September 25, 1998

All right, so it is the same scenario as with the last generation. Sega introduces the next generation first, then comes Sony, then comes Nintendo. We know everything about the Sega and it’s looking good. Little is known about the PlayStation 2, even less about the Nintendo "2000".... Let’s redraw the matrix from last time, this time with some imagination...

"Are you out of your mind? You’re talking about a <$300 home system, for crying out loud!" It might sound far fetched, but remember that it is still a year away. They’re probably not far from finalizing the design, but with the anticipated volume, and Moore’s Law, it is actually quite realistic. Let’s quote hardware guru Ken Kutaragi (http://www.techweb.com/wire/story/TWB19980713S0005):

"Owning the silicon technology behind the next-generation console will be a key advantage for Sony as it faces off against Sega and other competitors that must use off-the-shelf PC silicon and software."

Hey, he’s got a point. While Sega relies on NEC, Microsoft and others, Sony can basically run the whole show themselves. (Maybe with a little help from a couple of key partners, but as Kutaragi said, they own the hardware.)

From this we can expect much higher integration of the components, thus helping in keeping the price down. Another quote from the same article.

"A Sony Computer Entertainment engineering team based in Tokyo is working on a whole new generation of real-time image-rendering technologies, from silicon to platform algorithms to software titles, for the next PlayStation. Today's video game computer graphics look like computer graphics. Our goal is a film-like graphics quality that won't make viewers conscious of or annoyed [by the fact] that they are indeed looking at computer graphics."

Coming from a visioneer like Kutaragi, this is extremely promising info. Knowing Jurrasic Park required up to 20.000.000 polygons pr. sec., 10.000.000 polygons on a homesystem a few years later isn’t so hard to imagine anymore.

Of course, Kutaragi mentions the polygon competition: "Graphics-chip vendors in Silicon Valley today are all doing the same thing; [they're] obsessed with the polygon race," said Ken Kutaragi, executive vice president and co-chief operating officer at Sony Computer Entertainment, Tokyo, developer of the popular PlayStation console. "Their R&D goals are so near-sighted that they are only paying attention to gradual changes in graphics technologies that can be developed in lockstep with the short-term PC product-development cycle."

What is he talking about? Well, we don’t know much except that we’d all love a trip to the Sony R&D labs. Puleeeeze!!!! (I’ll pay the plane ticket myself!!) All right, so maybe polygons isn’t the solution afterall. Well, what is it then? Voxels, NURBS? Hard to say. It doesn’t mean that the console won’t push polygons, it might just push them in a whole new way, not based on the generational developments found on the PC. Or Sony could revolutionize the computer graphics arena with completely new concepts blowing us all away. You know what, it really doesn’t matter. No matter what they come up with, it will rule. Simply put. (Believe, oh ye of little faith.....)

All right, we know the graphics will rock. What else can we expect. Well, now that Sega has announced without a DVD drive, what do you think Sony will do? DVD, baby!!! There is just no way you introduce a new system to last several years with only a CDROM in 1999... No way! Uh... What about Sony Consumer Electronics? SCEA and Sony Consumer Electronics are two different divisions in Sony. Which means that they have different budgets, products etc. With the DVD revolution, a LOT of DVD players are sold. Chances are that SCE won't be too happy if SCEA start taking some of their market share. So making a "DVD movie-ready" PlayStation 2 might cause some unsolvable political problems killing the idea. However, with the overall gradual change happening to the consumer electronics industry currently, Sony might use this to consolidate product lines. TV's are appearing Internet-ready, set-top boxes will include cable-modems, PC's include all kind of gadgets etc. It would fit right into the current paradigm shift from each box does one thing, to one box does it all. OK, that might be strething things a bit, but I expect basic movie playback capability. Play, skip and stop. And Final Fantasy IX will fit on one disc! :-)

How about sound? Why not keep the ball rolling, let’s say they add Dolby Digital! Yeah, none of this Aureal simulated 3D sound stuff. We’re talking full directional audio, full frequency and a sub channel to boot. Dolby labs have started to push Dolby Digital in game development, decoding is getting cheaper day by day, more and more people have AC-3 decoders. It makes perfect sense... So, a digital out in the back of the PlayStation 2!

"Hey, I want to play my PlayStation games on it!" Nintendo didn't do it, Sega didn't do it, but Sony will? Well, whenever there has been talk about future machines from Sony, backwards compability has been an issue. Just yesterday, it was mentioned on the Next Generation web site. Sony were early on very strict in keeping people from programming down to the metal and instead encouraged developers to use the supplied libraries, or at least to stick to C. Supposedly, this was an effort to ensure that titles made for the PlayStation would indeed play on the PlayStation 2. However, recent reports suggest that it will not be backwards compatible. Anyways, pros and cons?

• Pros. You can play your old games! What can be better than that? With the Texture Perspective Correction, suddenly all those whacky lines will be straight! (Don't expect to run Gran Turismo at 120fps in 800mph, though. When sensing old games, the system would drop to compability mode, and essentially perform like the original PlayStation.)
• Cons. Although it is great to play your old games on the new system, it comes at a price. To include backward compability they'll have to include stuff that potentially slows performace. Not by much, but some. Of course, no one will know how it would have performed had it not been implemented.
• Peripherals. No problem here. There should be no reason to introduce new connectors, unless Sony are in the money making game. Are they? Of course they are! In other words, we’ll have to buy a whole new set of accessories. We will see a brand new bundled controller, expect an enhancement of the Dual Shock.

Conclusion: No compability. Sony is in it for the money. They want us to buy new games and new accessories. Should we worry. No! Why should we worry? We still have our original PlayStation, if you want to play old games, use your old system.

All righty then, what about networking, combat cables, the Internet etc. There is no better gaming than that against other human players. No matter how great the AI might be, beating the heck out of your friend is the better way. No longer do you have to haul your system over to your friends house, you just call him. Or call a server and play multi-player games. Sega is doing it, thus Sony will have to do it too! A modem might not be included, but it certainly will be an option. With that, comes surfing the web etc. The possibilities are endless. Something similar to the Combat Cable should also materialize. It hasn't been an all out success, but it does provide some excellent gaming sessions!

All in all, Sony most likely has another ace up their sleeve. Although none of the info in this article is based on real info, I think and hope I’m close to what we’re getting. Anything less and I’ll be disappointed!