| The Playstation began way back in 1986 - when | | | | is a 9 core processor that runs as a single fully |
| Nintendo was experimenting with disc reading | | | | integrated system within itself. with one core |
| technology. when the CD ROM XA format was | | | | being the primary and distributing the load |
| released, Nintendo began to talk to one of the | | | | between the other 8 cores. The Cell's full name is |
| two companies involved with the standard ... Sony. | | | | Cell Broadband Engine Architecture - and combines |
| The two companies struck a contract deal | | | | a PowerPC base upon with 9 parallel-processing |
| whereby Sony would develop a Nintendo branded | | | | cores are placed. All designed to run as a single |
| console that would load both traditional cartridges | | | | unit with distributed functions - so the main core |
| and the new Sony-developed CD format for | | | | can send information to all the other cores for |
| gameplay. | | | | processing, then hand the result back to the |
| However, the deal fell through in a shocking | | | | system bus at speeds between 3-12 times that |
| fashion at the 1991 CES (Consumer Electronics | | | | of a similar non-Cell processor such as an Itanium |
| Show) when behind-the-scenes re-negotiations by | | | | or Opteron. The Cell has been tapped to be the |
| Nintendo cancelled the contract between them | | | | main processor in IBM's new supercomputer, |
| and Sony and struck a new deal with Philips. | | | | codenamed Roadrunner, that is expected to |
| This sent waves through the Japanese business | | | | exceed one Petaflop or 1,000,000,000,000,000 |
| community as this type of backstabbing had | | | | Floating Point Operations per Second. |
| never before been done - it as very un-Japanese. | | | | 2. Blu-Ray DVD player - A new technology DVD |
| However, the deed had been done, and Sony | | | | player that can read 50gb CD style discs. this is |
| was left in the cold. They took their technology | | | | one of two competing DVD technologies, the |
| which they had dubbed "Play Station" and went | | | | other being HD-DVD. Playstation 3 is the first |
| forward with it, developing their own games for | | | | console to include Blu-Ray DVD functionality in the |
| the new console. | | | | console itself for DVD playback. |
| The Official Launch of the PlayStation was on Dec | | | | 3. An upgradable Hard drive - The PS3 will ship |
| 3, 1994 and in North America on Sept 9, 1995. | | | | with either a 20gb or 60gb hard drive installed, |
| The PlayStation had in fact released over a year | | | | and from what has been reported, that device is |
| previously in Japan and had been the subject of a | | | | upgradable to larger sizes as they become |
| lawsuit between Sony and Nintendo as Nintendo | | | | available |
| tried to block sales and production claiming full | | | | 4. HDMI port - A High-Definition Media Interface |
| ownership of the technology. Nintendo lost the | | | | port is standard with the PS3 and allows it to be |
| lawsuit. | | | | connected to new format television sets to allow |
| Sony had an innovative advertising campaign that | | | | for video and audio playback at much higher |
| helped to massively fuel expectation for the | | | | qualities than standard Composite video or Coax |
| PlayStation release to a public unaware of Sony | | | | signal input. HDMI is all digital, providing for a very |
| as a gaming company. It worked and has helped | | | | clean and crisp multi-channel signal. |
| to push sales of the PlayStation console to more | | | | 5. Bluetooth controllers - All PS3 Bluetooth |
| than 100 million units by the end of it's production | | | | controllers shipped are designed to be fully |
| run in March 2006. | | | | cordless. There is a usb port for recharging the |
| The Playstation 2 was next - with development | | | | internal batteries, and with Bluetooth up to 7 |
| being announced in March 1999, the 6th | | | | controllers can be used with one game. |
| Generation console was unleashed to a waiting | | | | 6. Wifi access - The PS3 has WiFi access and will |
| world in 2000, and rapidly outsold everything else | | | | allow for 802.11 wireless networking as well as |
| - to date over 120 million Ps2 consoles have been | | | | wireless controllers to be used with the console. |
| sold. | | | | 7. Memory card readers - The PS3 will have a |
| The PS2 had a unique feature in it's casing, the | | | | flash memory card reader compatible with |
| ability to fully play PSone or original PlayStation | | | | Memory Stick, CompactFlash, and SD/MMC flash |
| games due to the addition of the PSone chipset in | | | | memory. |
| the PS2 case, so it did not run a PlayStation | | | | 8. Software base - One of the innovative |
| emulation, it ran an actual PlayStation itself. | | | | developments is the inclusion of an Open Source |
| The PS2 went up against the newly released | | | | Development suite running on Linux - which |
| Xbox and the Nintendo Gamecube - due to the | | | | appears to be the underlying OS for the |
| marketing campaigns and effective game | | | | Playstation 3. Not only does this mean |
| development, the PS2 won the duel and emerged | | | | independent developers can write code for the |
| Sony as the industry leader - a title it would hold | | | | Playstation 3, but it means anybody can modify |
| until the release of the Xbox 360. | | | | some of the Playstation OS to perform tasks; |
| With the release of the Xbox 360 and the | | | | such as the Folding @ Home project from |
| massive delays in the PS3 release, Sony has | | | | Stanford University, which will be available as a |
| slipped - they still hold the title of market leader, | | | | download to run when the PS3 is idle to take |
| but they are slipping daily as both Microsoft and | | | | advantage of the processing power of the Cell. |
| Nintendo gain on Sony's head start. | | | | One rumor that has not been substantiated is the |
| The Playstation 3 was announced after many | | | | Link Cable. It has been said that the PS3 will have |
| months of speculation at the E3 conference on | | | | an accessory called a link cable that will be similar |
| May 16, 2005. The PS3 has a huge number of | | | | to a SCSI cable in that multiple PS3's can be |
| technological achievements and a lot to live up to | | | | chained together in series. If this is correct it |
| in regards to expectations. | | | | would enable a user to purchase multiple |
| | | | PlayStation 3's and use them as a massively |
| 1. The Cell Processor - this is the heart of the | | | | parallel computer for gaming or software |
| Playstation 3 and in a lot of ways a very new | | | | development, such as 3D rendering or large scale |
| generation and direction for Sony to go in. The | | | | math calculations. If correct, that would be very |
| Cell was developed by IBM with Toshiba and | | | | cool and would bring the abilities of a |
| Sony providing funding (approaching $400 million) | | | | supercomputer into the homes of millions of |
| and technical requirements. The Cell is a totally | | | | players. |
| new direction for computer processors because it | | | | |