AfterDawn: News

Hirai says PS3 is 'most powerful console'

President and Group Chief Operating Officer of Sony Computer Entertainment, Inc, Kaz Hirai, has reaffirmed the company's belief that the PlayStation 3 (PS3) console is not matched in performance by any other gaming console. "I have heard many people say our competitors' systems are just as powerful as the PS3. That simply is not true. No other next generation entertainment system pushes the envelope on advanced technology like PS3." he told Blu-ray Today.

The Sony boss, who was ranked by Entertainment Weekly as one of the most powerful executives in the entertainment industry, did however admit that packing so much advanced technology into the machine has caused problems for the company, leading to launch delays and stock shortages.



"I don't think anyone could have foreseen the difficulties we encountered in the production of the blue laser diode for the PlayStation 3, which ultimately delayed the launch of PlayStation 3," Hirai said. "We were asking our teams to develop millions of components for the PlayStation 3, like the Blu-Ray disc player and cell broadband engine, that had previously only been produced in the thousands."

Hirai also made clear the advantage that using Blu-ray media for games has over using the DVD format, which Microsoft chose for the Xbox 360. "I have heard people say that a high-capacity game delivery vehicle like Blu-ray isn't necessary in a next generation computer entertainment system. You just can't expect that 9GB of storage capacity found on today's DVDs are going to have enough space to hold tomorrow's games," he said.

Source:
GamesIndustry.biz

Written by: James Delahunty @ 9 Jan 2007 6:56

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• 22 comments

• hughjars

  OMG!
  Sony says Sony's stuff is great.
  
  Wow, who'd a thunk it?
  
  This is as pathetic as the Blu-ray side yesterday declaring themselves the winner in the format war......but so in keeping with the arrogance, spin & risible mentality of that crowd.
  
  It's so obviously just laughable stupidity, why do they bother?

  9.1.2007 07:45 #1

• BobbyBlu

  First what he say isn't arrogance its the fact that Sony is number 1 when you number1 who can question you...Nobody so why dont Sony have the right to say something...lol you guy on here crack me up you get your boxer in knot when Sony say something.Kaz Hirai said that there was problem during the launch.But this is the first time i heard him come out and clearly say Microsoft name.I own both consoles to be honest right now i think 360 is better than PS3 because it have more games out.But you cant look at the PS3 and come away with the feeling that this system is going to rock when they release in the EUR area then release killer games like MGS,HS,& MS.

  9.1.2007 08:09 #2

• Dela

  @hughjars, they have to be cocky, its the same with all major tech companies, they will constantly say their products are the best and dig for anything they can use as an example to further push the point. They have stock prices to worry about and the company that isn't cocky and stays quiet all the time will just be walked all over by the rest of the industry.
  
  Of course, what they are saying could be 100% BS, but as long as they give an image of being strong and confident, that's irrelevant.

  9.1.2007 08:23 #3

• hughjars

  Anyone who knows much about the techy aspects of XBox 360 & PS3 knows they are very evenly matched.
  
  One is slightly better in one regard and this is offset by the other being slightly better in another regard.
  But overall they are very very similar
  (and almost all of the remaining small detailed differences will be addressed when XBox 360 V2 'zephyr' appears).
  
  Sadly this does not reflect well on the year wasted bringing PS3 to market.
  
  It was not a case of benefiting from another years worth of development or additional 'power' being built in, it's just a year delayed (thanks to Blu-ray).
  
  The rest is merely the ludicrous shouts, spin and mere claims by the Sony fanboys desperate to rush to 'defend' the CE multi-national company they think they actually 'love'.
  
  Like I said, all in all it's so laughably stupid.

  9.1.2007 10:50 #4

• borhan9

  I agree that the way games are going 9gigs is not going to be big enough. The delays were expected for the ps3 because ps3 was the most anticipated console the consumers were waiting for thats why Sony had to make sure it had everything in it running well.

  9.1.2007 11:04 #5

• limelight

  A Corvette is a hell of a lot more powerful than my little Cavalier, but you know what? They both get me to the same places i want to go.
  
  

  9.1.2007 13:24 #6

• chubbyInc

  That whole news article is based on Blu-ray, so of course no over competitor can match that, cuz Xbox and Nintendo don't have Blu-ray. But what good is a format that'll be obsolete in 2 years. The only reason anyone has a Blu-ray player is because it comes with the PS3. HD-DVD is selling 2:1 over Blu-ray. Sony and the Fanboys can brag all they want, I've tried both systems and Xbox360 has better, more graphical games and doesn't look like a PSP when it's turned on.

  9.1.2007 14:10 #7

• BobbyBlu

  Quote:HD-DVD is selling 2:1 over Blu-ray.Wrong right now Blu-ray has picked up alot of ground on HD-DVD i think they caught them but i haven't seen the number in a while, even with its high price tag.Alot of HD-DVD Backers has not been happy how Toshiba has market there player mainly Universal Studios which is there biggiest supporter.If you go to BB or CC you will not see HD-DVD out from in center but you will see Blu-ray hooked up to alot of Sony sets.Sony has market Blu-ray very hard.Also Sony told BB & CC do not hookup any Sony TV to a HD-DVD player or a 360.

  10.1.2007 02:12 #8

• hughjars

  Quote:Sony told BB & CC do not hookup any Sony TV to a HD-DVD player or a 360. - Yeah we have stores in the UK pulling those kinds of crooked and anti-consumer moves too.
  
  They hide the HD-DVD stuff (if they even bother to stock any) away in a bad site (usually a far away corner) and pretend Blu-ray is the only high def DVD to look at.
  
  The funny thing is that most people take one look at the price tags on the Blu-ray stuff and walk away anyway.
  
  The truth is that the only Blu-ray player selling in any kind of numbers at all right now is the PS3 (which as it uncuts everything else by some margin must please the other members of the Blu-ray consortium no end).
  
  It's a highly questionable & very doubtful 'eggs in one basket' strategy.
  
  The PS3 has not led to a huge leap in Blu-ray movie sales (although some short-term increase in movie sales has been expected, by everyone btw, not just BD fans).
  
  Anyone looking at the stats will have seen that on 2 previous occasions HD-DVD & Blu-ray sales came to (almost) parity and then the gap opened up agaon in favour of HD-DVD (which still leads btw).
  Mere parity for a couple of occasions, that's all.
  
  
  Whether that actually works out to a sustained high 'attachment rate' or not is quite another matter and it's something that will take quite a while to see the truth of.
  
  In the meantime we can just leave the Blu-ray crowd to their pathetic & laughably ridiculous claims and self-congratulation of how they imagine they've 'won'.
  
  

  10.1.2007 02:50 #9

• chubbyInc

  Hey "BobbyBlu" rumor has it that you're a Sony fanboy. So unless you have proof like Hughjars, I suggest you don't comment. Go back to your PS2.

  10.1.2007 05:26 #10

• lxfactor

  hey chubbyInc since when were you a mod?

  10.1.2007 06:27 #11

• BobbyBlu

  Quote:Hey "BobbyBlu" rumor has it that you're a Sony fanboy. So unless you have proof like Hughjars, I suggest you don't comment. Go back to your PS2.Look at his chart it support what i said...lol also Hughjars just commet on that HD-DVD is stuff in back of a corner at these stores he didn't disagree with what i said...lol you need to read before you make a statment like that, behavior that you wont last long on this site.

  10.1.2007 07:47 #12

• BobbyBlu

  January 8/2007
  PS3, 360 Dominate Overall Blu-Ray/HD-DVD Sales
  
  Talk about leading the charge. According to a report in the latest issue of the Wall Street Journal, of the 695,000 "next gen" DVD players sitting underneath TV's in the United States, 550,000 are there because of a video game console.
  
  The report claims 400,000 of that number are PS3's (what with their included/bundled/ Blu-ray drives), with the 360's HD-DVD player selling 150,000 units since its launch. Out of interest, that leaves 120,000 standalone HD-DVD players sold, with only around 25,000 Blu-ray players shifted (though that's hardly surprising, what with Sony funnelling all the Blu-ray diodes into PS3's)
  
  http://kotaku.com/gaming/blu+ray/ps3-360-dominate-overall-blurayhddvd-sales-226805.php

  10.1.2007 08:16 #13

• hughjars

  Quote:The North American HD DVD Promotional Group took advantage of its press event to spread the good news about HD DVD, noting that over 300 additional HD DVD titles should be arriving in 2007.
  
  As of January 5th, the group estimates there were more than 175,000 HD DVD players sold in America, with an annualized attach rate of 28 movies per player.
  
  The group projects sales will reach 2.5 million players by the end of this year and more than $600 million worth of movie revenues.
  
  http://www.engadgethd.com/category/hd-dvd/
  
  - If they are accurate in that attachment rate then Blu-ray still has a long long way to go before it overtakes HD-DVD total sales.
  
  (Cos simply having a recent peak which closes some, if not quite all, of the gap still leaves Blu-ray retail movie disc total sales numbers far behind those of HD-DVD)
  
  Like I said, remove PS3 from the equation and Blu-ray aren't even at the races.
  
  But putting all of Blu-ray's 'eggs in one basket' (PS3) is a highly risky course of action and relies on PS3 owners doing a hell of a lot more than buying the odd retail movie disc to try out the DVD player.....
  
  .....and even then using the PS3 as a cheap Blu-ray player isn't much good for Sony as they recoup the most money on games sales.
  Which is kind of ironic in the circumstances.
  
  But the real and serious point about all of this is that thanks to the delays Blu-ray has failed to knock HD-DVD out of the equation.
  The BDA have spent close to $60bn on Blu-ray according to Matsushita's CEO.
  
  The HD-DVD side has spent nothing in comparison.....and 'returns' are therefore much higher.
  HD-DVD can 'afford' slower and lower returns far more easily and for far longer than those on the Blu-ray side can.
  HD-DVD isn't going anywhere.
  
  Blu-ray having a competitor around offering the same (or often higher) quality sound and image was the last thing they needed - especially one that comprehensively undercuts Blu-ray so clearly.
  
  ......and Sony under-cutting the rest of the Blu-ray consortium's products so clearly is probably doing them no favours at all either.
  
  Watch out for more following LG's lead and switching from being solely a Blu-ray supporter to dual format.

  10.1.2007 08:34 #14

• BobbyBlu

  Quote:Watch out for more following LG's lead and switching from being solely a Blu-ray supporter to dual format.[/qoute]
  
  I dont think you read that page right
  
  LGs combo HD DVD/Blu-ray player could very well be the killer blow for HD DVD. What's that you say? Well, the combo player fully supports Blu-ray's interactivity, BD-J, but the BH100 seems to have forgotten all about HD DVD's interactive features, iHD. That's right, none of it - no PIP, next-gen menus, user bookmarks, HD DVD downloads/updates - nothing that will "WOW" the average Joe. However, when our friend Joe pops in a Blu-ray disc, the menu pops with excitement and is accompanied with, well, PIP, downloads/updates for instance. Why would Joe buy an HD DVD the next time out when the Blu-ray discs offer so much more? (He won't) Is this player the saving grace for both formats, nope, but it may well turn out to be the saving grace for Blu-ray. Plus, with the $1200 MSRP, you could make your own combo player by getting a PS3 ($600) along with a Toshiba HD-A2, ($410 at Amazon) duct taping 'em together. Then you can sit back and enjoy the best of both worlds with enough money left over to buy some titles on both formats. We just hope Warner's Total Hi Def hybrid disc doesn't have any skeletons in the closet.
  
  

  10.1.2007 09:06 #15

• ashley12

  the ps3 is just the best it had so many delays because sony wanted 2 make it perfect and i think it is it ROCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
  

  10.1.2007 10:25 #16

• hughjars

  Quote:Well, the combo player fully supports Blu-ray's interactivity, BD-J, but the BH100 seems to have forgotten all about HD DVD's interactive features, iHD. - If you honestly think the public are particularly interested in, want or need this ridiculous "interactivity" you have got to be insane.
  
  People want better movies, not idiotic extras they might watch the once and a few sad little java games.
  
  Wake up.
  
  Quote:Plus, with the $1200 MSRP, you could make your own combo player by getting a PS3 ($600) along with a Toshiba HD-A2, ($410 at Amazon) duct taping 'em together. - Of course that $1200 prce tag is just typical of many (most?) of the current Blu-ray offerings.
  
  PS3 is the only one of them below $800
  (cos Samsung doing a little stock-clearance on the failed, old, dead and very dodgy BDP1000 doesn't count).
  
  So the question is not one of how the LG compares to the HD-DVD players which already hugely uncut that price-point but whether someone interested in a Blu-ray stand-alone is going to risk (and cut themselves off from the available HD-DVD movie catalogue) by buying a Blu-ray only player.
  
  No matter how you cut it and how much you want to believe it's true the a/v market is not especially interested in a game console.

  10.1.2007 12:11 #17

• lcarbutt

  First of all, the people on this forum who have some strange "loyalty" to a console(a machine) please I beg you, go get a girlfriend. Anyway Sony saying Sony is the best is about as surprising as seeing the sky when you look up. In reality the 360 and ps3 have different hardware advantages over each other, to say one is overtly "more powerfull" than the other is factually incorrect. The difference between the graphics of the two machines is so tiny that the argument should not be about the hardware, but which has the better games. At the moment, in my neutral opinion(I dont have that strange loyalty thing) the 360 has the edge on games, but the ps3 is new and will catch up very soon. As for the people that want sony/microsoft to "die" or whatever, you should be thankfull that the console market is so competitive, if it wasn't we would still be playing on the NES.

  10.1.2007 12:32 #18

• BobbyBlu

  Quote:First of all, the people on this forum who have some strange "loyalty" to a console(a machine) please I beg you, go get a girlfriend. Anyway Sony saying Sony is the best is about as surprising as seeing the sky when you look up. In reality the 360 and ps3 have different hardware advantages over each other, to say one is overtly "more powerfull" than the other is factually incorrect. The difference between the graphics of the two machines is so tiny that the argument should not be about the hardware, but which has the better games. At the moment, in my neutral opinion(I dont have that strange loyalty thing) the 360 has the edge on games, but the ps3 is new and will catch up very soon. As for the people that want sony/microsoft to "die" or whatever, you should be thankfull that the console market is so competitive, if it wasn't we would still be playing on the NES.Thank you i couldn't say it better myself.Thats why i own both consoles.

  10.1.2007 13:59 #19

• chubbyInc

  Sorry if I hurt ya feelings BettyBlu

  10.1.2007 19:59 #20

• bbruner

  Who cares which ones better if you can afford both like me enjoy life and play both systems and stop worrying about one being absolete because everything will be eventually. I personally like the functionality of the PS3 better than 360 mostly because I don't have to pay 100 more for a wireless adapter 200 more for an HD-DVD drive and 70 a year for online gameplay..I know 599 is only a hundred more than premium when it came out and has way more options, they just need to work on the games now...if you remember when sega cd came out it was like the same price

  1.2.2007 15:28 #21

• butterfen

  Originally posted by chubbyInc: That whole news article is based on Blu-Ray, so of course no over competitor can match that, cuz Xbox and Nintendo don't have Blu-Ray. But what good is a format that'll be obsolete in 2 years. The only reason anyone has a Blu-Ray player is because it comes with the PS3. HD-DVD is selling 2:1 over Blu-Ray. Sony and the Fanboys can brag all they want, I've tried both systems and Xbox360 has better, more graphical games and doesn't look like a PSP when it's turned on.evan tho this forum is hella old, you are wrong, blu-ray is winning now lol

  24.3.2009 10:29 #22