PS3 and next generation dvd's

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A meeting held in
Tokyo, this week, has offered some insight into Sony's plans for the
DVD drive of the PS3. The meeting was held in order to decide the final
specifications of a read-only Blu-Ray system and present were the big boys of the electronics industry, including Sony.

Blu-Ray
is considered by many to be the next step in DVD technology as its use
of a blue laser, to read and write data, provides increased accuracy
when compared to the red laser currently used. In addition a single
layer Blu-Ray disc will hold up to 27 Gb of data. Blu-Ray discs, until
now, have been readable and writeable.

Sony has confirmed
that it will utilize Blu-Ray on PS3, allowing the device to playback
High Definition movies and giving developers more room to
create next-generation games. Blu-Ray is backward compatible, so the
drive is expected to handle standard DVD movies and PS2 games without
causing the PS3 any problems.

Stand-alone Blu-Ray units are
expected to launch by early 2005 and movies will migrate to the new
format, gradually, over the next few years, so PS3 will be armed with a
state of the art drive. Even though plans call for a 23 Gb capacity
drive for PS3, it will still hold 5 times more data than current DVD
discs.

I don't care about the PS3, but those blu-ray disks sound pretty cool. I wonder how much more expensive they will be to produce.

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Lots.

That is just a guess but consider this:

price of a cheap red laser pointer: 10-20 USD

Price of a "cheap" green laser pointer: 100-200 USD

For some technical reason which I don't fully understand, it is much more expensive to manufacture short wavelength lasers, and blue is an even shorter wavelength than green! I suspect that the lasing cavity has to be more precisely machined for shorter wavelength operation but that is only a guess.

On the other hand, I've no idea how much the laser itself actualy adds to the price tag of a disc drive relative to all the electronics and such.

You forgot to mention that blu-ray was made by 13 of the leading consumer electronics and pc compaines, including dell, hitachi, hp, lg, mitsubishi, panasonic, pioneer, phillips, samsung, sharp, sony,tdk and thomson.

TB, maybe the drives will cost more but the discs won't, they will be 51% paper :smile: and mixed with a polymer.

These blu-ray disks are big mofo's, there about 1 cm thick. And er, don't worry about your old cd's and dvd's, they can still be played on a blu ray player. I wonder why they didn't use HD-DVD/ AOD [ advance optical disc].

I knew about Blu-Ray discs about 4 years ago...

Well, aren't we Mr. Fancypants? I'll bet you even know the ending to HL2 already! :razz:

Blu ray disks are not 1 cm thick. I have a lecturer who is a world expert in the field, so now I'm Mr. Fancypants :smile: There is still nothing to say that HD-DVD [the other new format] won't become dominant. They are both going to be released afaik, it's going to be another version of VHS vs Betamax.

wow, PS3 is using Blu-Ray? :O

I wish they'd just drive down the price of Flash Memory and screw the loading times all together.

I think the reason the shorter wavelength lasers are more expensive is because the gases used in them is more expensive... or something...

save all the technobabble, it is high time Sony improved the build
quality of their Playstation machines, considering the price/warranties
offered for PSX/PSII (both in their relevant time period for these
cited examples), the lifespan and durability was dreadful.

i managed to burn out two PSX's due to "over use".. ^_^ in about a year
and halfs worth of non solid gaming.. poor show Sony, poor show.

oh god. first vhs and beta, then dvd+r and dvd-r, now this!

btw, anyone heard much about the dual-layer dvds? we have the burners at microcenter, but still no media for them to speak of. a customer told me there were issues with getting them to work right, and that a lot of home players didn't work with them..?

save all the technobabble, it is high time Sony improved the build
quality of their Playstation machines, considering the price/warranties
offered for PSX/PSII (both in their relevant time period for these
cited examples), the lifespan and durability was dreadful.

i managed to burn out two PSX's due to "over use".. ^_^ in about a year
and halfs worth of non solid gaming.. poor show Sony, poor show.

Really? My PSX and PS2 have lasted ever since I bought them (8 years ago and 4 years ago respectively). In fact, my GameCube f**ks up more often than my PSX or PS2, and I've only had it for just under a month.

Xbox is the best plz, I think we can all agree. Not only are Xbox's the most powerful console there be, but they are piss easy to chip and are nice because of thier HD which you can store games on by making image files. Quality consoles if you ask me :biggrin:

Jinx, i''ve not heard any actual owners comment on the dual-layer burners, but the D-L technology is part of the original dvd specs. the 'real' dvd's you hire down the local moviemart are almost all D-L, so all home players should be able to use them. maybe those peeps were using bad media, or even an iffy burner, or making multi-session or badly structured discs that a lot of home players won't play due to other limitations.

i've found that my ?35 player from ASDA plays anything i've chucked into it, where older, much more expensive players,turn turtle at even the slightest problem.

i'm gonna get me one soon anyways. i'm just waiting 'till the software and media are both right. which shouldn't be long away.

The Xbox is my favourite console for a number of reasons, but I've not been hugely impressed by the durability of them. My first one screwed up within two weeks, and the replacement one which I've had for about a year and half often crashes in some games like Ninja Gaiden and Crimson Skies, due to the infamous "disk drive error". Then again, I did have a Dreamcast stop working on me and a Playstation break, so perhaps I'm just unlucky :rolleyes:

When I first bought a PS2 it broke the same day. It didn't like catch flames or anything, it just wouldn't turn on.
I had to call the store I bought it from, inform them, and also ask their permission for me to open it so I could get my newly rented game that I would have to reimburse the rental place for.

So, in any case, I don't trust my PS2. But its problems stem from problems SONY has always had with their electronics, they're made to break, and break well after the warranty.

I've noticed almost all CD related SONY products that are also Tray Load die very very soon after purchase. Its the way they position stuff inside the machines. In their old CD changers the laser would be snug in between whatever it was sitting on and a large triangulated piece of metal. That thing would get dirty as hell and if you opened it, you'd A) Void your pathetic warranty and B) Not be able to reach the laser to clean it (because that is REALLY all that was wrong with it).

Now, I've found ways to clean that thing of course, but I've noticed that I have to clean my god damed PS2 every time I was to put anything other then a game in it. It reads game just fine. But it always struggles with DVDs and such. Takes it quite awhile to read them, if at all.

No, SONY, don't worry I like getting "Disk Read Error" when I put in a brand new dvd ...

If it weren't for select games that console has they'd be out of business.

I know many people have had problems with their PS2s. And its probably one of the only consoles out there where you can expect them at some point.
I, nor anyone I know, has ever had a problem with their GameCube (By the way, if you're having troubles with it only a month after buying, go back and exchange it). I've had no troubles with any of my consoles actually, even my NES works great (especially after you fix the pin alignment problem).

I did have a friend who's Dreamcast stopped working before though, the track on the laser just died or some crap like that. They told him it would cost like $50 to fix, I told him just to buy a new Dreamcast, that would certainly be a cheaper option.

My Dreamcast is still working great. I just love the feel of it when
you pick it up! It's just the right size and just the right weight!
(Size of Dreamcast ~= Regular X-Box controller). It's so lovingly adorable.

I know! Sega has a way of doing that. :smile:

By the way, I've never had troubles with my DC either.
The only people I've ever heard of having problems with it were my friend and Reno.

I was somewhat happy mine died - meant I had to buy a new one and at that time that meant I got 3 new games - Metropolis Street Racer, Jet Set Radio and Virtua Figher 3. By that point I really should have bought MSR, and I had a Japanese version of JSR which meant I could never quite justify forking out ?30 or whatever just to see what they were saying. Considering the new DC only cost me ?99 and came with ~?80 worth of games, I was sort of happy to be pushed into getting them :biggrin:

Jet Set Radio! YES!! Soooo much better than Jet Set Radio Future in my
opinion. You could dash anytime you wanted, you weren't forced to fight
that much (and if you were, it was a lot more fun than it was in JSRF),
and it's also a lot more difficult and great too! Long live
Dreamcast! :smile:

Oooh and I'll never forget the first time I got online with PSO! Fantastic experience. Online console gaming at it's finest.

JSR really was vastly better than JSRF. Getting the Jet Tech "Jet" rankings had a degree of difficulty to it, and finding the endless grinds in all the levels and keeping to them was a fun challenge. Unfortunately in JSRF they added in the bonus rails that gave you rakes more points for grinding them, and all you had to do to get Jet rankings was grind up while switching grinds, then grind back down. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Sleep.

Having staged fights instead of free roaming enemies also ruined the challenge and fun of the story mode. That said, I love the game anyway, and its one of the best games in the current set of consoles in my opinion.

I remember I tried to get "Jet" on everything in JSR for the longest
time... I got Jet on everything all the way up until Grind Square (it's
the New York-type level in the Combo/Cube sidestory). But getting Jet
on Grind Square was just impossible! Those electrified grind rails and
having to time it just right on the wires... Eek! Craziness!

Man, I need to go buy that, I always see it for like $5 :smile:

only problem ive had was with a PSX Dual shock controller the D-pad got
stuck on left about a week after i got it but the shop i got it from
replaced it, even though there was no warranty on controllers (dont
know id that is still the case)

I don't have the money to support a console gaming habit, so I have little to contribute. My main comment is that the price of a technology isn't dictated solely by a cost of materials - just as important is what people are willing to pay for it and how efficient the creation process is. Cassette tapes cost more to produce than a CD, but hop to any music store to see them selling at half the price.

I was also a bit curious as to why we'd want DVD's that are that much more info packed, as one movie fits on one DVD quite well, but then I remembered that TV Shows on DVD are becoming a hot seller and they'd certainly want the increased storage.

Campaignjunkie said:
I remember I tried to get "Jet" on everything in JSR for the longest time... I got Jet on everything all the way up until Grind Square (it's the New York-type level in the Combo/Cube sidestory). But getting Jet on Grind Square was just impossible! Those electrified grind rails and having to time it just right on the wires... Eek! Craziness!

Yeah I think that was quite a tricky one actually, there is a lot going on in it, and if you miss a grind you have to get those damn lifts back up to the top of the level :sad: Worth persevering though - if you get all Jet rankings in story mode, then on your next play through the Noise Tanks will show up at your door and challenge you, and if you beat them you get to play as Potts the pet dog :biggrin:

Crono, buy it - its a bit wierd and perhaps not for everyone, but I've no doubt you'll enjoy it. And give the music a chance, while it may sound odd, there is no substitute for it when playing JSR!

scary_jeff said:
Blu ray disks are not 1 cm thick. I have a lecturer who is a world expert in the field, so now I'm Mr. Fancypants :smile: There is still nothing to say that HD-DVD [the other new format] won't become dominant. They are both going to be released afaik, it's going to be another version of VHS vs Betamax.

Erm.....S_J no disrespect to your lecturer, but from the pics that I have seen they are quite thick, because they are held in a casing.

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<TD bgColor=#151515>Xbox is the best plz, I think we can all agree. Not only are Xbox's the most powerful console there be, but they are piss easy to chip and are nice because of thier HD which you can store games on by making image files. Quality consoles if you ask me :biggrin: </TD></TR></TABLE>

Chiping a console, is now, actually illegal :razz:

And Jinx, there are a couple of places selling them online, but they are about ?6/ $9 each :O

Reno, I've played it many times before, I just don't own it.
Not to mention whenever I actually go looking for a DreamCast game it seems to disappear off the face of the Earth. (Grandia II, D2, and Shenmu are all examples, now that I own them, I find them all the time)

Oh how I pity you Americans for missing out on Shenmue 2 :razz:

Well ... you're not missing out on it if you have an Xbox now. And GameStop was selling Euro copies of the DC version years ago. I could probably find one if I tried hard enough.

Chiping a console, is now, actually illegal

It is not and never has been illegal to chip a console. It is illegal to sell a mod-chip, but you are free to distribute for free the plans for such a chip and allow users to make a mod-board themselves. Very common mistake- when Sony sent C&D letters to mod-chip companies, it is to stop them profiting by selling an unlicenced device for use with a Sony console, not to stop people from altering their own property, which they are of course free to do. The mod-chip companies could perfectly legally put up a circuit diagram, but they don't because they want to make money.

The only problem with chipping your console is that it invalidates any warranty you received with the console. So if you f**k up installing one, you're on your own and you have to buy a new console.

Well, you could take it to an independant repair place. Dunno how much they cost though, or if they give free quotes, so it might not be worth it.

scary_jeff said:

Chiping a console, is now, actually illegal

It is not and never has been illegal to chip a console. It is illegal to sell a mod-chip, but you are free to distribute for free the plans for such a chip and allow users to make a mod-board themselves. Very common mistake- when Sony sent C&D letters to mod-chip companies, it is to stop them profiting by selling an unlicenced device for use with a Sony console, not to stop people from altering their own property, which they are of course free to do. The mod-chip companies could perfectly legally put up a circuit diagram, but they don't because they want to make money.

meh, I knew it was something like that.