PlayStation4 To Be Neutered, Rendered DISC-LESS

another article on the subject


http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=3664

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Sony Says Disc Drive for PlayStation 4 Unlikely

August 4, 2006 2:10 PM


No discs for PS4

When it comes to disc technology in the next-generation console market,
Sony is making a Blu-ray drive standard on both the $499 and $599
versions of its PS3, whereas Microsoft has decided to play it safe by
using traditional DVD-9 media with its XBOX 360. While many like to
point to a "Blu-ray vs HD DVD" battle in the console arena, one
must take into account that no XBOX 360 games will use HD DVD media and
the HD DVD drive will be an optional, external USB unit aimed at
playing back high-definition movies. Microsoft has also stated that it
has no plans to offer an XBOX 360 with an integrated HD DVD drive. With
that being said, even though Sony's PlayStation 3 has yet to hit store
shelves, Sony is already talking about its successor. Sony's Phil
Harrison believes that the PlayStation 4 will forgo discs altogether.

With the rising popularity of using an online marketplace to download
games, additional game content, demos and movie trailers, many are
questioning the need for physical media in the future. "I'd be
amazed if the PlayStation 4 has a physical disc drive," said Harrison
to Wired Magazine. While the market may not be quite to the point where
a 100% digital distribution model would be feasible for console gamers,
it may be ripe for the picking when the PlayStation 4 is released.

Looking at the PS2, it has been on the market for 6 years. Both NVIDIA
and Sony have stated that the PS3 will have a shelf life of 10 years --
that pushes us to 2016 for PS4. Perhaps by 2016, large-scale digital
distribution of game and movie content and high-speed Internet
connections will be at a point where such a model would be feasible for
a home console.
................................................................................................................................

though I don't believe PS4 is as far away as 2016...more like 2012 or
2013 at the latest.

Jordan wrote:
> AirRaid wrote:
>
>>http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/sony/playstation-4-to-be-neutered-rendered-discless-192028.php
>>http://www.tinyurl.com/z6ch8
>>
>>PlayStation 4 To Be Neutered, Rendered Disc-Less
>
>
> So much for backwards compatability then. :^)
>
> - Jordan
>
is it me or do others think that Phil will be the death of the PS and
maby Sony?

> Looking at the PS2, it has been on the market for 6 years. Both NVIDIA
> and Sony have stated that the PS3 will have a shelf life of 10 years --
> that pushes us to 2016 for PS4. Perhaps by 2016, large-scale digital
> distribution of game and movie content and high-speed Internet
> connections will be at a point where such a model would be feasible for
> a home console.
> ...............................................................................................................................
>
> though I don't believe PS4 is as far away as 2016...more like 2012 or
> 2013 at the latest.

Since Sony isn't just marketing the Playstation brand in the US, Japan
and Canada, I really don't see how even the console releasing in 2016 will
get them a marketplace able to support a digital download system. The
DSL/cable connections in the states are generally pretty reliable as they
are, from what I'm told, in Canada. However, I've heard horror stories of
DSL/cable not being even close to that reliable in the UK, much less places
in Europe they want to make the PS brand more popular or places in Asia like
China or India. If Sony depends on people in those countries having wide
access to DSL/Cable modems, I think they'll be in for a pretty rude
awakening.

On Sat, 05 Aug 2006 05:46:43 GMT, "CJ" <cjmartin04 RemoveThis @verizon.net> wrote:

> Since Sony isn't just marketing the Playstation brand in the US, Japan
>and Canada, I really don't see how even the console releasing in 2016 will
>get them a marketplace able to support a digital download system. The
>DSL/cable connections in the states are generally pretty reliable as they
>are, from what I'm told, in Canada. However, I've heard horror stories of
>DSL/cable not being even close to that reliable in the UK, much less places
>in Europe they want to make the PS brand more popular or places in Asia like
>China or India. If Sony depends on people in those countries having wide
>access to DSL/Cable modems, I think they'll be in for a pretty rude
>awakening.

DSL/Cable is pretty reliable in the UK, the only problem is with
cheapskate users that go with ultra cheap or "free" ISP's and then
whinge when they get slow service, download limitations, port blocking
and poor reliability. If you go with a decent ISP, of which there are
plenty, and pay a sensible price, you shouldn't have a problem.
--
Andrew, contact via http://interpleb.googlepages.com
Help make Usenet a better place: English is read downwards,
please don't top post. Trim replies to quote only relevant text.
Check groups.google.com before asking an obvious question.

I believe Bill Gates has been quoted as saying that the two blue laser discs
will be the last physical media.

"AirRaid" <AirRaidJet RemoveThis @gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1154715883.452621.25570@75g2000cwc.googlegroups.com...
> http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/sony/playstation-4-to-be-neutered-rendered-...cless-1
> http://www.tinyurl.com/z6ch8
>
> PlayStation 4 To Be Neutered, Rendered Disc-Less
>
>
> The PlayStation 3 isn't out yet, but that doesn't stop Sony's Phil
> Harrison from making wild speculations about the capability of
> Playstation 4. According to him, the PS4 won't support physical discs.
> At all. He opines:
>
> I'd be amazed if the PlayStation 4 has a physical disc drive.
>
> So you mean in 5-10 years, our home's series of tubes/big
> trucks/broadband connections will be fat enough to download a 50GB game
> in a decent amount of time? We sure hope so.
>
> But wait, Phil! You mean those precious Blu-ray discs that your
> company's humping so hard is going to be gone by the time PS4 is out?
> Oh wait, Kotaku's Ashcraft already beat me to that joke/conclusion.
> Damn you Ash! Damn you and your 16-hour head start. - Jason Chen
> ___________________________________________________________________________
>
>
>
> I hope that both Xbox1080 (or whatever it'll be called) and
> PlayStation4 will have solid-state media that hold the games.
> something with no moving parts. like the old ROM cartridges but newer
> technology with a few gigs of storage. we don't even HAVE to have as
> much storage as plain DVD holds if FMV / prerendered CG scenes are
> gone. what IS needed are consoles with fewer moving parts, and
> game-media that cannot be as easily ruined as CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, Blu-Ray,
> or future optical disc formats such as HVD. solid-state media would
> also load much faster into RAM. like the old ROM-cartridge based
> systems of yesteryear.
>

In article <1154715883.452621.25570.RemoveThis@75g2000cwc.googlegroups.com>,
"AirRaid" <AirRaidJet.RemoveThis@gmail.com> wrote:

>
> So you mean in 5-10 years, our home's series of tubes/big
> trucks/broadband connections will be fat enough to download a 50GB game
> in a decent amount of time? We sure hope so.

Maybe he's expecting Flash RAM to advance sufficiently.

On Sun, 6 Aug 2006 01:42:32 +0100, "Angus Looney"
<SPAMmakingSPAMupSPAMtheSPAMnumbers.DeleteThis@gmail.com> wrote:

>I believe Bill Gates has been quoted as saying that the two blue laser discs
>will be the last physical media.
>
maybe he has, but he hasn't also been plugging one of them as one of
the major features of his brand new super-toy.
--

gamertag: Chrisflynnuk
http://live.xbox.com/member/Chrisflynnuk

In microsoft.public.xbox Ghost <night-rider DeleteThis @cookieshaw.ca> wrote:
> >>
> >>PlayStation 4 To Be Neutered, Rendered Disc-Less
> >
> >
> > So much for backwards compatability then. :^)

Not necessarily.

Maybe you'll be able to buy an add-on drive if you want BC? (after all,
most folks on usenet scream and shout about having to be made to pay for a
feature they don't want, right?)

Or, maybe broadband will be such that you'll be able to download and play
PS2/PS3 games from Sony's online service just as you'll supposedly be able
to download and play old Nintendo games with the Wii?

Of course, I don't know how you'll play movies on a discless box. Sure,
Sony could go into the video-on-demand market but you'd think people would
still have a lot of stuff on existing optical media formats.

In microsoft.public.xbox Quiet Desperation <x.RemoveThis@x.com> wrote:

> Maybe he's expecting Flash RAM to advance sufficiently.

I expect we'll have 30-50GB thumbdrives within a few years.

Hopefully they'll be faster, and we'll also have USB 3.0 or something
similar by then. Otherwise you're looking at a long long time to load
that much data onto a stick...