PS3 looking to expand?
From TM Silverclaw @ The Allspark, who got it from GamePro:
Japanese gaming site PC Watch has scored an interview with PlayStation 3 mastermind Ken Kutaragi. In the interview, Kutaragi hints that the company may upgrade the PS3 with more advanced technology, such as Blu-ray disk writing, in the future.
What new features might an enhanced PS3 have?
In the interview, which is in Japanese, Kutaragi describes the current PlayStation 3 models as more basic in nature, hinting that the hardware could be expanded.
Likening the PS3 to a computer more than a video game system, Kutaragi discusses how future versions of the PlayStation 3 might include more RAM or even a different Cell chip configuration. “PS3 is a computer, so there are no ‘models,’ only ‘configurations,’ Kutaragi explains. “We’re trying to make that clear …we think it would be okay to [expand] the configuration once a year. Dell would do that, as well as even Apple.”
Responding to the question of whether a PS3 with stronger computing power would ever come out, Kutaragi says “it’s possible. If the stuff we want to do increases, it will come to that.” Kutaragi then again compares the PS3 to a computer. “With PCs, if they hold the [same specs] for 2 years,” Kutaragi continues, “they get obsolete. Don’t computers change? A 60 GB hard drive will become inadequate, and memory could become inadequate. There are a lot of possibilities.”
Kutaragi also dropped a potential bombshell — the possibility of Blu-ray disc burning in a future PS3 version! “In the future, if there are new advancements in PCs, we may want to write to BD drives.” It’s far from a certainty, though, and Kutaragi admitted that Sony may not take that path.
I’m not sure that’ll go so well in the console market… I mean, if they want to make a game-playing PC, why not work with the Vaio more? PSV or something?
Tiny Plutonium PlasticBoss offers this analysis: What they’re shooting for here is not what console gamers want. They’re stepping away from the console market, and stepping toward a PC gaming market which they are sorely unprepared for. A PC gamer already has greater hardware available than Sony is offering with the PS3, if they’re not careful they’re going to hang in limbo between markets and not really hook either of them.
Well said, and a little concerning there.
awa64 speculates that if it happens, it could be related to the possible PS3 downgrades that could hit the system before launch.
LBD “Nytetrayn”