PlayStation 3. Brand New Hardware Hardcore

Explicit, close-up and fully exposed

Posted by Staff
Oh yeah!

Sony Computer Entertainment Europe released these shots to us today in Germany. Nice huh?

You'll notice a few changes. The PlayStation 3 looks a little slimmer than it has in some images floating around cyberspace of late. Whether this is the result of a sizing rethink or simply different camera angles we cannot tell.

There's more vents along the lower end of the machine and the Spider-Man 3 font is now inscribed across the top of the machine, replacing the PS3 logo as seen on some SCE-released renders. Other changes include two new LEDs near the power button and a revised power button, with the green version being ditched.

Much of the feedback on the images at time of press seems to centre on the fact that PlayStation 3 is looking better than it ever has. It is big and the Spider-Man 3 font hasn't proven to be popular, but the addition of press images of this quality has underscored Sony's history of designing stunning-looking consumer electronics.

The PlayStation 3 certainly isn't the pinnacle of what Sony designers are capable of, though packing as much power as we are promised into anything smaller than a family saloon car is an achievement of epic proportions. It's also worth remembering that the PlayStation 2, an indisputable design classic, did not receive the kindest reception on launch.

It's interesting to see the PlayStation 3 in a more tangible presentation. Encased in a glass cabinet detaches it somewhat from what it will be - a machine for gaming, movies and other forms of entertainment. It nice to see the trayless disc-load in (simulated) operation and it's interesting to imagine slotting a variety of solid-state memory formats into your home console, no doubt housing your digital photographs, music and movies...

Companies:

Comments

Showing the 20 most recent comments. Read all 49.
vault 13 25 Aug 2006 19:21
30/49
LUPOS wrote:
Just because it wanted to be a large pile of noisy s**t in a black and green box and succeeded, doesn't mean people have to like it.


I wasn't singling anyone out in particular, but the whole thread has been about how ugly game consoles are. Just wanted to burst some people's bubbles who were still clinging to the idea that the X-Box was actually a good design.

Also the PS3 is very much curved, but at least it's sleek and slim so it's a bit pardoned for that one. The X-Box was mammothly large AND had a curved top for no reason. The PS3 at least has good asthetics to back it up.
fluffstardx 25 Aug 2006 20:53
31/49
I would hardly say PS3 was svelte; they looked pretty hefty being wielded at E3.

It still looks like a kitchen appliance.
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LUPOS 25 Aug 2006 21:30
32/49
vault 13 wrote:
I wasn't singling anyone out in particular, but the whole thread has been about how ugly game consoles are. Just wanted to burst some people's bubbles who were still clinging to the idea that the X-Box was actually a good design.


I think i'm the only one who said it and you where indeed talkign to me, no back peddling mister.

vault 13 wrote:
Also the PS3 is very much curved, but at least it's sleek and slim so it's a bit pardoned for that one. The X-Box was mammothly large AND had a curved top for no reason. The PS3 at least has good asthetics to back it up.


SLIM?! aaaahahahahah...
of the current and next gen consoles the ps3 is the second largest in every aspect, being beaten out by fractions of centimeters on all fronts by the orignal xbox. I'm more than willing to give sony their due when they do somehting right... but be honest man this thing is emense.

if you want to lie to urself at home in your own head thats fine, but atleast have the decency to not purport your delusions as facts to the rest of the world :/
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tyrion 26 Aug 2006 11:34
33/49
LUPOS wrote:
I'm more than willing to give sony their due when they do somehting right... but be honest man this thing is emense.

I notice that pic doesn't include the 360's power brick. The PS3 still looks like it has an internal transformer in these new pictures. Without that, the PS3 would be much smaller. Not just due to the transformer its self, but the cooling systems would also be smaller.

Not saying that makes is prettier or not, but its a bit disingenuous to remove external bricks from the comparison. We have to find space for them as well in our entertainment centres.
PreciousRoi 26 Aug 2006 19:47
34/49
meh, at least you can hide the power brick behind the entertainment center...
vault 13 27 Aug 2006 21:41
35/49
PreciousRoi wrote:
meh, at least you can hide the power brick behind the entertainment center...


Heh. I don't know what kind of space you got behind your furniture, but I got a whole mess of optical, compoment, video, audio, speaker, and garrote wire behind there. I can't exactly shove any much else back there. And I want to keep it as neat as possible.

Also, the Gamecube and possibly the Wii have external power bricks. So they bloat up too.

Oh and I think everyone has been potshotting the size and grotesqueness of systems, so I single out the thread,... maybe.
PreciousRoi 28 Aug 2006 03:10
36/49
Just making the point that with an external brick you have options, I have plenty of space for mine.

...also, seeing as how power supplies are one of the major sources of heat, and one of the components most likely to fail, even though I LAN and travel with mine a lot, I see an external brick as a minor annoyance with a tremendous, if subtle upside.
LUPOS 28 Aug 2006 03:22
37/49
tyrion wrote:
I notice that pic doesn't include the 360's power brick. The PS3 still looks like it has an internal transformer in these new pictures. Without that, the PS3 would be much smaller.


It does indeed look that way, but it also LOOKS like it cooks up a delicious lowfat burger in only a few minutes. Until we get conformation one way or the other we are just speculating. Based on what we KNOW, that thing is just as big if not bigger than a 360... all though as its curved like it is its total volume may be less, hard to say without doing way mroe math than i care to try. So untill some crazy website dunks one in water we wont know for sure.

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vault 13 28 Aug 2006 03:29
38/49
PreciousRoi wrote:
Just making the point that with an external brick you have options, I have plenty of space for mine.


I mean yeah I could fit a few power bricks two, but the reason they did it was to keep the size down and the heat away. It wasn't to give people placement options. If you can't fit a power supply inside a small formfactor, you've essentially failed. And I'm not excluding Gamecube either! Most entertainment centers have enough z axis space, it's the x an y, the horizontal and vertical that's a problem.
PreciousRoi 28 Aug 2006 21:01
39/49
I don't understand...you're (like many on here of late) are confusing motives with results. Wether it was intended to give people replacement options or not matter not at all, the FACT that it does is relevant. You're that commited to an integrated power supply? Any console without one is a failure? I don't get it. Personally, I like the idea of keeping the heat away from my consoles innards. Pretty ridiculous thing to base the success or failure of a console design on if you ask me...
vault 13 28 Aug 2006 22:39
40/49
PreciousRoi wrote:
Pretty ridiculous thing to base the success or failure of a console design on if you ask me...


Console design can make or break a system! If it's not hip and sleek enough, people wont want an ugly piece in their house. If it's big and bulky, people won't buy it (look to Japan folks with the X-Box). I mean it may not be the biggest thing to worry about for a system, it does bear weight.

Also, if you say that it's okay to separate pieces of a console, then they should separately house everything and make it super cool and quiet. Yeah that'll work. Having everthing in one box is neat tidy and easy to manage. That really can't be disputed. Whether you have room for it or not, some people don't.
PreciousRoi 28 Aug 2006 23:28
41/49
Bah, console design is one thing, making bricks a litmus test is quite another. Japan is an abberation, and that had as much to do with previous brand loyalty, software, and xenophobia.

As to your attempt at pulling a "slippery slope", sorry, doesn't follow here...the strongest arguments can be made for the brick, no reason to look beyond there, though MS' HD-DVD addon could be seen as a bad example.

I think you're making much ado about nothing here.
vault 13 29 Aug 2006 05:09
42/49
Okay now look, you want a good idea of what I'm talking about? Take the PS2. It had room INSIDE the console for a hard drive. The parallel here is HD-DVD vs. the PS2 Hard Drive. Or you may substitute the power brick, but as Precious has daftly pointed out, but the HD-DVD is much better example. Now remember when they did the redesign? Without the hard drive? It was no bigger than The Little Engine That Could. That's how a console is supposed to be designed. Not with lots of outside contraptions and tricks to reduce the size.
TigerUppercut 29 Aug 2006 05:17
43/49
vault 13 wrote:
Okay now look, you want a good idea of what I'm talking about? Take the PS2. It had room INSIDE the console for a hard drive. The parallel here is HD-DVD vs. the PS2 Hard Drive. Or you may substitute the power brick, but as Precious has daftly pointed out, but the HD-DVD is much better example. Now remember when they did the redesign? Without the hard drive? It was no bigger than The Little Engine That Could. That's how a console is supposed to be designed. Not with lots of outside contraptions and tricks to reduce the size.

It is true.
Anyone seen any news on the PlayStation 3 PSU yet?
tyrion 29 Aug 2006 07:27
44/49
vault 13 wrote:
Now remember when they did the redesign? Without the hard drive? It was no bigger than The Little Engine That Could. That's how a console is supposed to be designed. Not with lots of outside contraptions and tricks to reduce the size.

I'm not trying to start an argument when you're basically making the same point as I am, but the PS2 Slimline did have an external power brick. :-)
tyrion 29 Aug 2006 08:12
45/49
LUPOS wrote:
Based on what we KNOW, that thing is just as big if not bigger than a 360

Based on what we know, i.e. have seen, then the PS3 is smaller than a 360 because we have seen the 360's power brick.

On another point; having to find space for power bricks is very relevant because of airflow and cooling issues. The number of bricks I have now is just silly with power supplies for my PS2, Gamecube, flat screen, SFF PC, network hub, wireless access point and mouse docking station all in one place.

At least the brick type power supplies are better than the in the plug type of transformer. Those just annoy the hell out of we because I can't get two next to each other in my power strips.
LUPOS 29 Aug 2006 15:10
46/49
tyrion wrote:

Based on what we know, i.e. have seen, then the PS3 is smaller than a 360 because we have seen the 360's power brick.


The 360 also has larger controllers, a remote control, and a headset... do we count those? what about the extra half inch you shave of if you get the sans-hard drive one? I'm relatively sure we are just talking about the size of the sytem. Admitedly it does APPEAR that the powersupply is internal on the PS3 but we wont know for sure till we see final hardware.

tyrion wrote:

At least the brick type power supplies are better than the in the plug type of transformer. Those just annoy the hell out of me because I can't get two next to each other in my power strips.


HERE HERE!
Though an interesting if somewhat rediculous work around is available.
vault 13 29 Aug 2006 15:48
47/49
LUPOS wrote:
The 360 also has larger controllers, a remote control, and a headset... do we count those? what about the extra half inch you shave of if you get the sans-hard drive one?


The power brick is obviously not an accessory. Things like headsets and keyboards are obviously external. Add-on drives and other contraptions which were obviously meant to be in the system in the first place do count toward size. I think it should at least. I don't think people are gonna complain so much when it's in their house. I'm more upset with lack of innovation in the controller.
tyrion 29 Aug 2006 17:51
48/49
LUPOS wrote:
Though an interesting if somewhat rediculous work around is available.

Oh my god! Can I just say "fugly"?
LUPOS 29 Aug 2006 19:06
49/49
tyrion wrote:
Oh my god! Can I just say "fugly"?


Yea, the extension cord to the powerstrip, to the tiny extension core, to the power brick/plug, to the console, is hardly ideal :/

First time i saw such a thing was in an ofice supplies catalog. I suppose in that setting it makes sense.
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