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Sony takes the Lotus philosophy and adds lightness
Sony's modern-classic PS2 goes on a diet

With the PlayStation 3 feeling $100 lighter as of yesterday morning, Sony is also lifting some weight of from the venerable PS2. According to Japanese publication Nikkei Business Daily, by way of IGN, Sony is releasing a new hardware revision of the slim-line PS2.

The new model will appear to exactly the same as the current slimmed model, with the only distinguishing characteristics a new designation code of SCPH-79000 and lighter weight.

The main console hardware itself for the SCPH-79000 model drops in weight from 900 to 600 grams, and the system’s AC adapter falls from 350 to 250 grams.

Nikkei reports that the system’s considerable weight savings were achieved by Sony reducing the number of parts inside the machine. The more efficient hardware revision is also suspected to cost less for Sony to produce, giving the company even greater flexibility to drop the price.

Despite the release of the PlayStation 3 last year, the PS2 remains a strong seller for Sony, even outpacing the newer console. Recent console sales figures place PS2 sales ahead of both the Xbox 360 and PS3.

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Interesting.
By Valtiel on 7/10/2007 8:57:04 AM , Rating: 2
To me, every revision like this gives us an idea of how far they are from being able to produce handhelds with the horsepower of the ps2. Since the optical drive and power brick are now an even larger proportion of the unit's components, and such things are always more compact in handhelds, PSP2 may not be too long off.




RE: Interesting.
By Mithan on 7/10/2007 9:02:21 AM , Rating: 4
This is awesome!
I am going to buy one to sit on the PS3 I have!

Just kidding... ;)


RE: Interesting.
By Comdrpopnfresh on 7/10/2007 9:20:50 AM , Rating: 3
The psp supposedly has the same power of the ps2


RE: Interesting.
By Chris Peredun on 7/10/2007 10:23:11 AM , Rating: 2
While the PSP is a powerful handheld, and perhaps "half" or "close to" the power of a PS2 in certain scenarios, it's definitely not the "same" power. Granted, the PS2 has been out for a much longer time, and developers have had lots of time to squeeze the most out of it, but you can't get blood from a stone.


RE: Interesting.
By Samus on 7/10/2007 3:02:24 PM , Rating: 2
Overclocked, the psp exceeds the ps2 in fpu performance :)

I think the new revision is just to thwart current modchip compatibility.


RE: Interesting.
By Samus on 7/10/07, Rating: 0
RE: Interesting.
By Zensen on 7/10/2007 10:50:10 AM , Rating: 2
quote:
Since the optical drive and power brick are now an even larger proportion of the unit's components, and such things are always more compact in handhelds, PSP2 may not be too long off.


but short battery life would be the killer. Once someone can solve that, so many possibilities will open up.


RE: Interesting.
By Christopher1 on 7/11/2007 6:00:05 AM , Rating: 2
Yeah, that's the big problem with the PSP that I have heard: the battery life is ATROCIOUS.

But really, let's be honest: how many people are playing the PSP where there is absolutely no AC power or car power for periods over 2 hours (the battery life of a fully charged PSP battery)? Not many, I'd assume.


RE: Interesting.
By PrinceGaz on 7/11/2007 10:25:36 AM , Rating: 1
I doubt that many people are playing the PSP where there is absolutely no AC power or car power for periods over 2 hours, as not many people play PSPs anywhere.

However not all of us travel in cars everywhere, and not all trains in Britain have power-points, which would mean the PSP would be dead long before I arrived at my destination whereas a DS would still be going strong.


RE: Interesting.
By someguy123 on 7/11/2007 3:30:13 PM , Rating: 2
yep, the battery life is incredibly short, and with future games (gow) "unlocking" the processor speed further, the battery life looks to only get worse. it should be renamed the psmini instead of portable :)


RE: Interesting.
By Wolfpup on 7/10/2007 3:10:15 PM , Rating: 2
As others have mentioned-they already did release a handheld with the Playstation 2's power. Two years ago.

Granted it's not exactly the same, it's a bit better in some ways, a bit worse in others, but it's even a very similar hardware design.


Thank you Captain Obvious :-)
By Aeonic on 7/10/2007 9:26:53 AM , Rating: 5
quote:
Nikkei reports that the system’s considerable weight savings were achieved by Sony reducing the number of parts inside the machine.


In other news, researchers at MIT found that adding stuff to other stuff created heavier stuff, while leaving the amount of stuff unchanged caused the stuff to weigh the same as the original stuff.

Sorry, it's morning and I found the quoted text to be kind of funny. I know they could have changed materials and made it lighter.

The real question is, who cares how "light" a console is? Personally, I like a little heft to these kind of things - makes you feel like you got something, makes it feel quality. Like the old NES with it's pleasing spring sounds when you push down the cartridges. There was metal inside. Hoooray metal.




RE: Thank you Captain Obvious :-)
By eyebeeemmpawn on 7/10/2007 10:08:43 AM , Rating: 5
quote:
Personally, I like a little heft to these kind of things - makes you feel like you got something, makes it feel quality.


quote:
Heavy is good.
Heavy is reliable.
If it doesn't work, you can always hit him with it.
-Boris the Blade


RE: Thank you Captain Obvious :-)
By luhar49 on 7/10/2007 12:24:28 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
quote:
Heavy is good.
Heavy is reliable.
If it doesn't work, you can always hit him with it.
-Boris the Blade


:-) Snatch


RE: Thank you Captain Obvious :-)
By jmke on 7/10/2007 3:12:42 PM , Rating: 2
Thank you Captain Obvious :-)


RE: Thank you Captain Obvious :-)
By bargolf on 7/10/2007 12:08:16 PM , Rating: 2
Probably you don't care about the weight of the console, but Sony might as it could well help reduce costs. Firstly distribution may become cheaper (if their haulage contractor charges per kilo for example), secondly storage may become cheaper (warehouse space is reduced as boxes can be stacked higher).

Maybe they should make the casing like HiFi speakers where you can add lead shot / sand to the base after delivery.


Price cut
By bkm32 on 7/10/2007 9:16:22 AM , Rating: 3
Now, just get it under $100 and make it even harder for PS3 adoption.




RE: Price cut
By oTAL (blog) on 7/12/2007 6:16:35 AM , Rating: 2
Don't forget that compatibility (*cof* emulation in EU *cof*) to PS2 is currently the greatest asset the PS3 has against the Xbox360. People that buy a PS2 now, are more probable buyers for a PS3 in 2 or 3 years than if they bought a Game Cube. Plus it's money in for Sony - end of the line products generate revenue with little costs. Win-win situation there.


Fan noise?
By Freddo on 7/10/2007 6:57:42 PM , Rating: 2
What I wonder the most is how much the fan noise and heat had gone down compared to the older model.

It would be pretty darn awesome if the hardware now ran cool enough so it could be cooled with passive cooling or no cooling at all! And have a 100% silent gaming experience.




RE: Fan noise?
By Alexvrb on 7/10/2007 7:44:57 PM , Rating: 2
Yes, because heaven forbid your gaming software produce sound effects or music to help immerse you in the gameplay or to better help you understand what is going on.

Seriously, if the existing PSTwo is "too loud" for you and overwhelms your speakers, you need to turn it up a little. Not to mention the fact that the DVD drive is the loudest part of the old units, and having no fans wouldn't eliminate this. They'd have to put in a quieter, more expensive drive and possibly sound-dampening materials, which would increase the cost and weight of the unit. I do believe they're looking to decrease those things.


let's speculate
By semo on 7/10/2007 1:51:39 PM , Rating: 2
i've been wondering when will sony introduce their slim ps3 before it even came out. the first ps took a whole generation cycle before becoming the psx and the ps2 took 3 years(?) or something.

i hope this is a trend and we see a smaller ps3 in a year or so. the realist in me however says that this will happen when the cpu and/or gpu are built on 45nm tech.




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