PS3: PAL Hardware Specs: Less Backwards Compatibility

With the official PlayStation 3 launch exactly four weeks away, Sony Entertainment Europe has officially released information about PAL hardware specs, and all the attention is focused on reduced backward compatibility.

Confirmed for the launch is the following:

Cell Broadband Engine
60GB hard drive
Blu-ray Disc player
Built-in Wi-Fi connectivity
SIXAXIS wireless controller

And at the bottom of that list was the following note:



Although we have not had this confirmed as yet, it suggests Emotion Engine (or the graphics synthesizer) is now being emulated in software. This would ring true with Nobuyuki Oneda’s (Sony's chief financial officer) statement in January in which he stated that PS3 production costs would be reduced by component cost savings on the chips.

SCEE’s president, David Reeves, commenting on the officially released PS3 specs told the press, “PS3 is first and foremost a system that excels in playing games specifically designed to exploit the power and potential of the PS3 system. Games designed for PS3 offer incredible graphics quality, stunning gameplay and massively improved audio and video fidelity that is simply not achievable with PS and PS2 games."

The PS2 compatibility issue was further addressed in the official statement from the company, which reads, "Rather than concentrate on PS2 backwards compatibility, in the future, company resources will be increasingly focused on developing new games and entertainment features exclusively for PS3.

“Some additional PS2 titles will become compatible on the PS3 system through regular downloadable firmware updates, which will be made available through the PlayStation Network, from www.playstation.com or via PS3 game discs, with the first update planned for the launch date of the 23rd March 2007.

Users will be able to check whether their titles are compatible with PS3 at http://faq.eu.playstation.com/bc. This site will be available on 23rd March to meet launch day.”

Other news included in the specs regards the compatibility of storage media, “Usability of all storage media types is not guaranteed”, which we take to mean that not everything you burn to DVD can be expected to play!

Audio output is also addressed as follows: "A device compatible with Linear PCM 7.1 Ch is required to output 7.1 ch audio, supported by Dolby TrueHD or a similar format, from the HDMI OUT connector.

“This system does not support output from the DTS-HD 7.1 Ch. DTS-HD 7.1 Ch audio is output from a 5.1 or lower channel.”

So, basically, you're going to have to have an output system armed with full Dolby TrueHD in order to get the most out of your PS3.

The upshot to all this? Well, the backwards compatibility issues which, according to a Sony executive, will mean that "far fewer" PS2 games will be playable in Europe than the 98% target for the US and Japan - are obviously going to be first in the firing line. However, the possible cost reductions, ongoing upgrades and fixes could provide some balance. Certainly getting the news out early indicates that Sony has learnt some lessons from its US and Japanese launches.

The main question remains, however, and it is, "Will you by buying a PS3 on March 23rd?" Tell us in the Forum below.


Full Official Specs
Product Name PLAYSTATION®3 Computer Entertainment System
Product Codes Europe, Middle East and Africa: CECHC04
UK and Ireland: CECHC03
Australia/New Zealand: CECHC02
Russia/India: CECHC08

CPU Cell Broadband Engine™
GPU RSX™
Audio Dolby Digital 5.1 ch, DTS 5.1 ch, LPCM 7.1 ch, AAC, others1,2
AAC Dolby 5.1ch, DTS, LPCM, etc. (Cell-base processing)
Memory 256 MB XDR Main RAM, 256 MB GDDR3 VRAM
Hard Disk HDD 2.5” Serial ATA – 60GB
Inputs/Outputs3 USB 4 x Hi-speed USB2.0
Memory Stick™ slot Supports standard/Duo size, MagicGate™, Memory Stick PRO™ and high speed data transmission
SD Memory Card slot Copyright-protection function is not supported
CF slot (Type I, II), Microdrive
Networking Ethernet (10BASE-T, 100BASE-TX, 1000BASE-T) x 1

Wi-Fi IEEE 802.11 b/g
Bluetooth Bluetooth 2.0 (EDR)
Wireless Controller (Bluetooth) SIXAXIS™ Wireless Controller
Built-in rechargeable Lithium-Ion battery
Voltage - DC 3.7V
Battery capacity – 610 m/Ah
Weight – Approx 136g

AV Output Resolution 576i, 576p, 720p, 1080i, 1080p
HDMI HDMI (supports Deeep Color / Ver 1.3a) x1
Analog AV MULTI Out connector x 1
Digital audio Digital out (optical) connector x 1
Disc media
* read only CD PlayStation® CD-ROM
PlayStation®2 CD-ROM4
CD-DA (audio CD) CD-DA (ROM), CD-R, CD-RW
Super Audio CD
DVD PlayStation®2 DVD-ROM4

DVD-Video DVD-ROM, DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD+R, DVD+RW, AVCHD
Blu-ray Disc PLAYSTATION®3 BD-ROM
BD-Video BD-ROM, BD-R, BD-RE*
*BD-RE version 1.0 is not supported


BD/DVD/CD drive maximum read rates BD x 2 (BD-ROM), DVD x 8 (DVD-ROM), CD x 24 (CD-ROM)
Dimensions
(excluding maximum projecting part) Approximately 325mm (W) x 98mm (H) x 274mm (D)
Weight Approximately 5Kg