[OT]Console Losses Was RE: [ILUG] Thoughts on a digital mediaserver...

[Glen Gray]

On Tue, 2004-04-06 at 00:19, Timothy Murphy wrote:
> Do serious people go for XBox rather than PS2?
Well I'm generally not a serious person, so perhaps I fit in with your
assumptions.

> I haven't heard much about Linux on the PS2 lately.
> Has it faded away?
Nope, in fact, it's recently been given a price drop. The personally I
don't see the point in having a 32MB computer.

> Is it easier to put Linux on the XBox?
> 
Depends on what you mean. To get Linux on the PS/2 you have to use the
Sony Linux Kit and AFAIK the Sony patched 2.2 kernel. If you want it on
the xbox then you can install and modchip and treat it like a legacy
free PC.

> Incidentally, I though PS3 was supposed to be out by now.
Oh no no no. They're only finalizing the revolutionary new "Cell"
architecture. I don't think final silicon for the components is due for
tap out 'til June. It'll be 2005/6 released, most likely same as before,
Japan first, then  a few months later the rest of the world. Though
perhaps sales are high enough now that they can do a global release at
the same time.

> I saw PS2 slightly cheaper in Power City;
Yes, they've all been getting price cuts. Both for compition and as a
result of being cheaper to manufacture. Sony can now put a PS/2 on a
chip IIRC. The Sony handheld device to be released at the end of this
year will effectively be a PS\2 with mods for low power usage.

> does that mean PS3 is on the way?
Yes. Interestingly the PS3, Xbox2 and Nintendo's next gen console will
all be using a derivative of IBM's PowerPC designs. IBM, Toshiba and
Sony all joined forces to design Cell based on PowerPC. The Xbox2 is
thought to be using one or more of the PPC970 low power derivatives. I
can't remember the name but it's like the one going into the Apple
Xserver. In fact I've seen reports of early Xbox2 dev kits out at
studios that are basically Apple G5's (dual 2GHz) running a version of
NT kernel and the Xbox2 dev dashboard (main interface). There's even an
Apple logo on there somewhere. That's certainly intriguing.

> [I'm hoping I can get a cheap PS2 when PS3 comes out.]
> 
Why would you do that, apart from getting a "bargain". You'd be buying
something with a very foreshortened lifespan. Once the PS3 is out the
level of new games for the PS2 will plummet, just as it did for the PS1.
And just like the PS2 can play PS1 games, the PS3 is expected to play
PS2 and therefore PS1 games. I think it's a false economy doing things
like that. If you want a cheap PS2 then buy one now as the price won't
drop by much more.

I also don't believe we are going to see one PS3 console. I think
there's be 3 versions of it. A plain old console that will only play
games, this will be cheap. A mid-level version that will have some sort
of media center capability. Most likely play DVD's and store Audio CD's
on a HDD, similar to what the retail xbox does now and perhaps a TV
Tuner with TV Guid. And finally a fully blown media server version of
the PS3 which will have a large capacity HDD, at least one TV tuner (put
probably two) and on screen TV Guide and a recordable optical format.
Possibly DVD+/-RW or also possibly Sony's own Blu-Ray format so you can
archive off your content. Similar to what they are doing with the PSX (a
media center version of the PS2).

-- 
Glen Gray <glen at lincor.com>                             17 Dame Court
Senior Software Engineer                            Dublin 2, Ireland
Lincor Solutions Ltd.                          Ph: +353 (0) 1 6746413