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The Ceramic White PS3 is designated as CECHH00 CW  (Source: SCEJ)
PlayStation 3 dreaming of a Ceramic White Christmas

Sony Computer Entertainment Europe ended weeks of speculation with its announcement of the 40GB PlayStation 3, landing in the region starting October 10. While the new model has yet to be confirmed for North America, Japan will receive the 40GB PlayStation 3 on November 11 with what appears to be an exclusive color.

The Japanese market will see the new 40GB PlayStation 3 in both “Clear Black” and “Ceramic White” colors next month for 39,980 yen ($341). The white PlayStation 3 marks the first official color variation of the console, though professionally painted have appeared in the custom market in white, silver and red.

In another bit of good news for Japan, the new 40GB PS3 units will come packaged with a matching DualShock 3 controller instead of the SIXAXIS. The European 40GB PS3 will ship with the SIXAXIS controller, as the DualShock 3 isn’t expected outside of Japan until spring 2008.

Confirming another piece of expected news is SCEJ’s announcement that it will give free copies of Spider-Man 3 movie on Blu-ray Disc to the next 200,000 purchasers of all PS3 consoles in Japan, including the 20GB and 60GB models beginning October 17.

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Wasn't the price the issue?
By Chaser on 10/9/2007 1:20:47 PM , Rating: 2
Today its backward compatibility.




RE: Wasn't the price the issue?
By akugami on 10/9/2007 1:39:57 PM , Rating: 5
Well...considering that many people looking to buy a PS3 wants and expects backwards compatibility, I'd say it's a pretty big issue.

And I don't know why people would expect their PS3's to be backwards compatible with their PS2's either. Oh that's right, Sony said it's one of their core values for their Playstation branding that future consoles can play the games from the older consoles. That way you always have a huge library of games and your gaming library is also never (within reason) obsolete.

$400 is still a huge wad of dough, about 3.5 to 4 days of work for me (depending on my hours) but probably a full week's worth of work for many others. Especially the working Joe. To have such a high price and no backwards compatibility with the huge library of PS2 games people have amassed is just fagtastic.

With all of the crippling of the PS3 revisions coming out, I'm seriously considering biting the bullet, getting one of the 60GB PS3's and then, depending on price, getting a Dual Shock 3 controller. Option 2 is to say FU Sony and just buy another PS2 to replace my broken one to play all my old games and just go with MS and Nintendo.


RE: Wasn't the price the issue?
By Chaser on 10/9/2007 1:57:02 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
$400 is still a huge wad of dough, about 3.5 to 4 days of work for me (depending on my hours) but probably a full week's worth of work for many others. Especially the working Joe.

Great info thanks.

So lets hear from the "working Joes" out there.


RE: Wasn't the price the issue?
By akugami on 10/9/2007 2:26:55 PM , Rating: 2
I think you miss my point. If I find $400 unpalatable, what must the working Joes who get minimum wage think of such a highly priced console that has no backwards compatibility with their PS2 games.

And let's face it, with over 100 million PS2 consoles sold, there are hundreds of millions of PS2 games floating out there. Someone who has owned PS2 for 5 years can have easily spent $600-1000 (and for many it can easily climb to $2000 in that time frame) would think it was like getting bent over and screwed by Sony to promise, yes promise, backwards compatibility then take it away.


RE: Wasn't the price the issue?
By Murst on 10/9/2007 3:15:24 PM , Rating: 2
If you have invested so much money into your PS2 collection, and you find it very important, why not invest $100 more into a PS3 that will do what you want it to?

Its not like BC is gone from all models.


RE: Wasn't the price the issue?
By nerdmanwhippy on 10/9/07, Rating: 0
RE: Wasn't the price the issue?
By kyp275 on 10/9/2007 4:32:37 PM , Rating: 3
correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the BC on the 80GB model something like well over 90-95%? (can't remember where I've seen it)


RE: Wasn't the price the issue?
By Legionosh on 10/9/2007 1:43:52 PM , Rating: 4
Well price WAS the issue when it was $500-$600..(one needs only to look at the Neo Geo and 3D0 for the history lesson, although to be fair the PS3 even at $600 did far better than either of those systems)

..but this revision lacks something every other PS3 revision has had to date : backwards compatibility.

So Sony resolved one issue (the price..now they just need games to play to go along with the price)..

..and created another issue with the loss of BC..

..but in doing so has almost separated their users. Do you want BC or not? Your choice. High end or Low end.

I think losing the BC will really bite them in the rear. Since this is a feature they've touted since even before the PS3 launch, claiming it "brought value to the customer, etc, etc"..now they cut it out?

Unlike the 360 where BC isn't necessarily one of the big system selling points, for the PS3 BC is something that the 120 million PS2 customers look forward to in the PS3, and were told EVERY PS3 would be capable of by Sony itself..and it gets cut.

(even if you buy the core 360, the BC the 360 is capable of is only a hard drive away. So you'll never have a system that can't be upgraded to do everything the pro or elite can do (I am excluding HDMI. That's an output, not a feature)

While some people may not trade in their old systems when buying new ones, several people do..so unless they know before hand they'll be mighty upset when they get home only to find out their PS2 library won't work in their new $400 PS3.

I'm waiting to see how Sony spins losing the BC in a positive light.

On a funny note, I was watching X-Play not too long ago and Adam Sessler asked Phil Harrison POINT BLANK how he felt about the current sales of the PS3 and it's position as 3rd in the console race..

..Phils reply was almost verbatim "I think the games around me answer that for you/speak for themselves"..

He didn't even TRY to answer the question in any capacity..talk about someone with NO way to spin that positively. Misdirection perhaps?..lol..

My two cents,
Kevin

legionosh@msn.com


RE: Wasn't the price the issue?
By MonkeyPaw on 10/9/2007 6:41:16 PM , Rating: 2
I think the PS3 has a severe identity crisis. In less than a year, we've seen 4 different hard disk sizes--20, 40, 60, and 80. The 2 original models are defunct, along with their PS2 hardware emulation. The 80gb model can run BC in software, the 40gb can't. We've seen 3 different prices, $600, $500, and $400. Now we have another color and new controllers. Don't get me wrong, new colors, updated controllers and cheaper prices are all nice things, but feature removal and murky product launches are not. Sure, you could buy a 40GB PS3 for $400, but who knows how long it will be before something else shows up with some other featureset and price tag? Sony is doing everything it can to salvage the PS3, which is struggling to compete with Gamecube sales.

My point is, before PS3 launched, Sony bragged about all it was capable of. Since then, the PS3 has been hacked and cut to the point that all we know for sure is that it will play BluRay Movies and PS3 games. That is a very limited console for $400, especially considering that Sony's competitors are offering a wider gaming experience for less.


RE: Wasn't the price the issue?
By Murst on 10/10/2007 12:24:06 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
which is struggling to compete with Gamecube sales

What numbers are you looking at?
quote:
PS3 has been hacked and cut to the point that all we know for sure is that it will play BluRay Movies and PS3 games. That is a very limited console for $400

You're right... because the other consoles provide so much more. The $400 Xbox 360 a year ago was just so far ahead of what Sony is offering...


Meh
By SirLucius on 10/9/2007 1:07:11 PM , Rating: 2
It's nice to have the different color options at presumably the same price point, but I still prefer the black one.

And I must be the only person on the planet that doesn't care about SIXAXIS vs. DualShock. Yeah, the rumble feature is nice, but even in games like Silent Hill or Resident Evil, I've found it to be kinda gimmicky. I guess the controller rumbling just doesn't get me more involved in the game. The only reason I'll probably pick up a DualShock 3 is for the added weight.

The lack of backwards compatibility is going to come back to bite Sony. And even if the majority of people may never even play a PS2 game on the PS3, they aren't going to like Sony removing a feature that's been there since the launch of the system.




RE: Meh
By hkssupra69 on 10/9/07, Rating: 0
RE: Meh
By SirLucius on 10/9/2007 2:21:17 PM , Rating: 2
Erm...no, it's more like you don't read. The 40GB PS3 will not support backwards compatibility for PS2 games. They are completely removing all software and hardware emulation.

The article came out on DT 5 days ago:
http://www.dailytech.com/40GB+PlayStation+3+Offici...


RE: Meh
By novacthall on 10/9/2007 2:30:33 PM , Rating: 2
If it's anything like the new 40GB version that is finding its way to Europe at the end of this week, it will not, in fact, have PS2 compatibility. The console will be able to play PS1 games, but will be lacking the software capabilities to handle PS2 games, as covered by DailyTech in this article:
http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=9176

Excerpt:
quote:
Oddly enough, the new 40GB model is not compatible with any PlayStation 2 titles. Dedicated PlayStation 2 hardware was removed previously in a PlayStation 3 hardware revision, though machines still retained some backwards compatibility functions through software emulation. It is still unclear if the 40GB model represents a further simplified PS3 hardware specification, though that is likely the case.
Regarding the rationale for the move:
quote:
Sony UK boss Ray Maguire elaborated in an interview that the company would be “better off” diverting the funds for backwards compatibility into either investing in new games or further reducing the PS3’s price.
I would assume the higher end PS3s, which are not quite as squeezed for a lower price point and arguably cater to a completely different audience all together, will retain their backward compatibility, at least for the immediate future. The desperation to compete in an increasingly two-horse race is what's pushing Sony to this decision, it seems.


RE: Meh
By Zoomer on 10/9/2007 2:23:58 PM , Rating: 2
Please play Fatal Frame (II) and report back.


RE: Meh
By Murst on 10/9/2007 3:19:32 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
I guess the controller rumbling just doesn't get me more involved in the game

Its not just the Sixaxis though. Steering wheels would not support force feedback if there is no rumble (there were several articles about this before).

GT5 would realy suffer if that was the case.


RE: Meh
By SirLucius on 10/9/2007 3:37:21 PM , Rating: 2
Wouldn't force feedback be built into the actual steering wheel? Or be available as an update for the firmware? It seems weird that force feedback would have to come from the controller for a separate steering wheel.


RE: Meh
By Murst on 10/9/2007 4:27:03 PM , Rating: 2
The feedback has to be triggered by something. When PS3 has no rumble support, there is nothing that would trigger the feedback.

Now that rumble will exist, developers will be adding the triggers for feedback to the games. Existing games will need to be patched to support the feedback.


RE: Meh
By SirLucius on 10/9/2007 4:38:12 PM , Rating: 2
Ah, that makes sense. For a second I forgot developers had to program the feedback controls into the game. Duh, noob-y mistake.


Already For Pre-order
By Flunk on 10/9/2007 1:19:56 PM , Rating: 2
Play-Asia.com already has these on preorder for $399.00. So if you want one and don't live in Japan... Considering the price, I might get one.




RE: Already For Pre-order
By killerroach on 10/9/2007 1:26:36 PM , Rating: 2
Must...resist...buying...

This is a real Catch-22 f