PLAYSTATION®3 (PS3) computer entertainment system combines state-of-the-art technologies featuring Cell, a processor jointly developed by IBM, Sony Group and Toshiba Corporation, graphics processor (RSX) co-developed by NVIDIA Corporation and SCEI, and XDR memory developed by Rambus Inc. It also adopts BD-ROM (Blu-ray Disc ROM) with maximum storage capacity of 54 GB (dual layer), enabling delivery of entertainment content in full high-definition (HD) quality, under a secure environment made possible through the most advanced copyright protection technology. To match the accelerating convergence of digital consumer electronics and computer technology, PS3 supports high quality display in resolution of 1080p(*) as standard, which is far superior to 720p/1080i.

Playstation 3 Technology:
With an overwhelming computing power of 2 teraflops, entirely new graphical expressions that have never been seen before will become possible. In games, not only will movement of characters and objects be far more refined and realistic, but landscapes and virtual worlds can also be rendered in real-time, thereby elevating the freedom of graphics expression to levels not experienced in the past. Gamers will literally be able to dive into the realistic world seen in large screen movies and experience the excitement in real-time.

In 1994, SCEI launched the original PlayStation® (PS), followed by PlayStation®2 (PS2) in 2000 and PlayStation®Portable (PSP®) in 2004, every time introducing the latest advancement in technology and bringing innovation to interactive entertainment software creation. Over 13,000 titles have been developed by now, creating a software market that sells more than 250 million copies annually. PS3 offers backward compatibility enabling gamers to enjoy these enormous assets from PS and PS2 platforms.

With the delivery of Cell based development tools that has already begun, development of game titles as well as tools and middleware are in progress. Through collaboration with world’s leading tools and middleware companies, SCEI will offer full support to new content creation by providing developers with extensive tools and libraries that will bring out the power of the Cell processor and enable efficient software development.
Preparations are under way for launch of PS3 and new generation software in the spring of 2006.
(*)1080p/720p/1080i: “p” stands for progressive scan method, “i” stands for interlace method. 1080p is the highest resolution within the HD standard.

The Specs:

CPU

• Cell Processor
• PowerPC-base Core @3.2GHz
• 1 VMX vector unit per core
• 512KB L2 cache
• 7 x SPE @3.2GHz
• 7 x 128b 128 SIMD GPRs
• 7 x 256KB SRAM for SPE
• * 1 of 8 SPEs reserved for redundancy
• total floating point performance: 218 GFLOPS

GPU

• RSX @550MHz
• 1.8 TFLOPS floating point performance
• Full HD (up to 1080p) x 2 channels
• Multi-way programmable parallel floating point shader pipelines

Sound

• Dolby 5.1ch, DTS, LPCM, etc. (Cell- base processing)

Memory

• 256MB XDR Main RAM @3.2GHz 256MB GDDR3 VRAM @700MHz

System Bandwidth

• Main RAM 25.6GB/s
• VRAM 22.4GB/s
• RSX 20GB/s (write) + 15GB/s (read)
• SB< 2.5GB/s (write) + 2.5GB/s (read)

System Floating Point Performance

• 2 TFLOPS

Storage

• Detachable 2.5" HDD slot x 1

I/O

• USB Front x 4, Rear x 2 (USB2.0)
• Memory Stick standard/Duo, PRO x 1
• SD standard/mini x 1
• CompactFlash (Type I, II) x 1

Communication

• Ethernet (10BASE-T, 100BASE-TX, 1000BASE-T) x 3 (input x 1 + output x 2)
• Wi-Fi IEEE 802.11 b/g
• Bluetooth 2.0 (EDR)

Controller

• Bluetooth (up to 7)
• USB 2.0 (wired)
• Wi-Fi (PSP)
• Network (over IP)

AV Output

• Screen size: 480i, 480p, 720p, 1080i, 1080p
• HDMI: HDMI out x 2
• Analog: AV MULTI OUT x 1
• Digital audio: DIGITAL OUT (OPTICAL) x 1

Disc Media

• CD PlayStation: CD-ROM, PlayStation 2 CD-ROM, CD-DA, CD-DA (ROM), CD-R, CD-RW, SACD, SACD Hybrid (CD layer), SACD HD, DualDisc, DualDisc (audio side), DualDisc (DVD side)
• DVD PlayStation 2: DVD-ROM, PlayStation 3 DVD-ROM, DVD-Video, DVD-ROM, DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD+R, DVD+RW
• Blu-ray Disc: PlayStation 3 BD-ROM, BD-Video, BD-ROM, BD-R, BD-RE

PlayStation 3 Games

• Vision Gran Turismo
• Spider-Man 3
• Unreal Tournament 2007
• Eyedentify
• Fifth Phantom Saga
• I-8
• Final Fantasy Next
• NioH
• EA Sports Fight Night Round 3
• The Getaway 3
• Killing Day
• The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
• MotorStorm
• Mobile Suit Gundam
• Heavenly Sword
• Formula One PS3
• Killzone Next-Gen
• Tekken Next
• Old West Game [untitled Rockstar project]
• WarHawk PS3
• Exploding Gas Station Tech Demo [untitled]
• Devil May Cry 4
• Metal Gear Solid 4
• Dirty Harry
• Scarface: The World is Yours
• Possession
• The Darkness
• Demonik
• Dark Sector
• Theseis
• Metronome

Hooray for Google cache.

http://groups-beta.google.com/group/alt.ga...96ea78ea9?hl=en

Yup, I had this sensation that it was going to come out! It had to come out sooner or later, and here it is!

Honestly, I think I'd rather stick with my PC... it is more versitile and is generally more powerful than most consoles. Also, there's comes the fact that I'm going to update it at the end of summer and it'll be much superior to anything those can offer.

Actually, I've already gotten a new harddisk, and the performance of my games has jumped up big time!

Till next time stay cool