What is the potential? / What will make PS3 unique?

[gozirah]

In don't post very much, so I hope you all don't think this idea is too out there.

I wanted to hear some opinions about how Sony could make the PS3 qualitatively stand out compared to its competitors. Sure, we have seen some signs of (perhaps) superior graphics and the PS3 could have an even higher potential, but I would argue that the PS3 could do better than just more of the same gaming experience with a technology upgrade. Nintendo introduced a qualitative shift in gaming experience with an innovative controller design. So how could the PS3 capitalize on its unique strengths? Here are some unfinished ideas.

* Use the standard hard drive to change game play. Rather than just to cache data, the HD could store user created data or procedurally created data, maybe unique to each user.

* Treat Blu-Ray media as the google database of game data. Content is hard for artists to make from scratch. But highly detailed data is out there in the real world. Imagine if google earth could be done in high def.

* Really take advantage of the Sony library of entertainment media. I don't know how. But it would be cooler if it were really interactive instead of tacked on videos.

* The cell? Isn't it really good at working with other cells? Well, at least for simulating protein folding. Could networked cells deliver new gaming experiences? Beats me. Can't we get Skynet up and running already.

Perhaps the scale and efficiency at which the PS3 operates is simple enough of a quantitative change of stats to achieve next generation leaps. Many have argued that simply proving more space on Blu-ray and more flops/sec will create a larger pallete for developers.

What do you think?

[julps31]

I think the first one is one the works. I'm not sure how it would work exactly. But you should be able to make your own maps and characters in certain games and share em over the net.

Really i think most of the stuff you proposed is in the works besides the google thing lol. With the kinks worked out the PS3 should be a force to be reckoned with.

[Logan Cano]

I believe that in terms of gameplay, there's three factors that will make PS3 unique: the sixaxis, Cell and Blu Ray.

With Blu Ray, developers will be able to create bigger sandbox games. It's simply not desirable to break up content between several discs nowadays and this is something Blu Ray can help in. For linear games, it's use isn't as usefull, but allowing HD FMV, which makes PS3 unique. Like it or not, there are still things that cannot be accomplished or are not efficient through real time cinemas, so FMVs will still be part of games. Fans of other plattforms like to downplay this aspect, but the higher the quality of an FMV, the better.

Cell is already a factor in making PS3's games unique. Look at Motorstorm, its gameplay makes excellent use of the processing capabilities of the CPU. While X360's CPU certainly isn't bad, it still lags considerably when compared to Cell.

Finally, the sixaxis controller. Unlike wii, Sony does not wish to change the way we play completely, but rather add to it. IMO this is the correct way, motion will add greatly to games, think of it as a third stick. Be patient, games will eventually make proper use of the sixaxis due to them being actually designed with it in mind.

[Delirious]

Finally, the sixaxis controller. Unlike wii, Sony does not wish to change the way we play completely, but rather add to it. IMO this is the correct way, motion will add greatly to games, think of it as a third stick. Be patient, games will eventually make proper use of the sixaxis due to them being actually designed with it in mind.

I beg to differ. Nintendo got it right with the wii remote, no need for substitutes. Plus the lack of rumble brings the whole idea down for me.

[Logan Cano]

I beg to differ. Nintendo got it right with the wii remote, no need for substitutes. Plus the lack of rumble brings the whole idea down for me.

Substitutes?? I don't think you understand the idea behind the sixaxis. I'm hoping you are not being immature about this and just think "Sony ripped off Nintendo!! Burn them!!" because I intent to respond seriously.

While I agree that losing rumble is not ideal, it's not the end of the world. Rumble is a reactionary feature, it does not impact gameplay and has hardly been used in a good way. Sony was going to lose it regardless, so the news that motion sensing was added was very pleasing, since that one affects games in a much more interesting way than rumble. Besides, wii's rumble is very subdued IIRC, so it's not ideal either. Anyway, on to the interesting part, the motion controls.

What Nintendo proposes is a new way to play, a simpler way of controlling our games in order to make them more accessible. Less buttons in favor of motion gestures and that translates into easier to play games, even if that also results into much simpler titles.

That's a nice philosophy, but what Sony proposes is not to change the way we play. Why do it?? It works and people are very familiar with it, it's akin to reinventing the wheel. Instead, what Sony hopes for is a way to add to existing games with it. In a FPS, instead of trying to shoehorn the existing console mechanics, a developer could work to tie the looking mechanics into the sixaxis, while still giving the player access to all the buttons we are all familiar with.

That's the difference, no controller substitutes another and are the result of two different philosophies. Who thought of it first is juvenile and IMO irrelevant, it's the effect on games that we are interested in.

[TheGreenElf]

^Who says a more intuitive way to control makes for simpler games...it also allows for more complex ideas than were ever before possible.

[Haris]

Forgive me but

what is skynet?

[Delirious]

Embrace change my friend. If you never step outside of the box you'll never get anywhere, so to speak. The wii remote might be the next step on our way to virtual reality and holograms. Well a small step, but a step none the less.

[Smokey]

Embrace change my friend. If you never step outside of the box you'll never get anywhere, so to speak. The wii remote might be the next step on our way to virtual reality and holograms. Well a small step, but a step none the less.

lol :)

[Nameless]

Forgive me but

what is skynet?

It's a fictional self-aware computer network from the Terminator movies...

[gozirah]

Haris:

Skynet was the artificial intelligence depicted in the Terminator movies. I'm sure AI will be prominent in next gen games. I am wondering if the cell and networked game consoles could achieve an interesting milestones in AI.

Logan Cano:

A comittment to backwards compatibility is a key feature in the PS strategy. Your arguments about the SixAxis follows this idea in terms of it adding features as opposed to an entire redesign. While motion sensing is not unique to PS3, I think its inclusion will integrate with the PS3's other features in refreshing ways.

[OmniCloud]

Any1 who played Zelda knows that it's a nice learning curve to get the hang of that thing, Yeah there will be some simple games for everyone, but there will still be gamers game on the Wii. IMO, the controller could be just as complex as the Sixaxis after you add the analog, the hardware of the Wii will hold it back if anything when comparing the games directly to PS3. Either way, the Wii already is a hot product simply because it's the most diverse..

The PS3 will have to wait for developers to make it stand out...since it takes time to take advantage of Cell and Blu-ray and the early games only add minor tweaks with the Sixaxis and not different experiences...

For me the controller makes the Wii standout as something different and unique.
For PS3 it will be the combination of things it can do...

[Red_Eyes]

One word: Homebrew

[curryking1]

Cool topic.

The obvious answer for me, it's the games that make the PS3 unique, and the best gaming investment I can imagine. The PS3 is almost guaranteed to again have the largest number of A rated titles and variety of titles.

Playstation systems have historically held the crown to undisputably have the largest number of games, and the largest number of exclusive hit games in their respective major 5 years. No other console could compete.

There's all the obvious big games too on the system you cannot get anywhere else, and those are the faces of the PS3.

Other than that, I don't know what else to say. Well, I guess it has a next gen disc player, and the homebrew potential up the whazoo, but for me, it's all the games.

Wherever MGS, FF and KH, and GT go, I go. There's nothing much else to it.

[venomv]

I agree with Logan Cano, why do we need to replace the current controls? Why not just add to them? While SixaxiS's motion sensing is obviously inferior, it has far and away more buttons, which some genres benift from (I don't wanna move the control differnt ways for differnt menus, that idiocy). If Nintendo would have added the sensing ability of the Wii-mote to the Gamecube control we wouldn't even be having this conversation (Or if they just put more buttons on the nunchuku, or even a varient with more buttons) , as it would obviously be better in all areas.

[Garfunkel]

Linux.

[frosty]

eyetoy2

[cliffbo]

who said the motion sensing was inferior? it`s actually just as accurate maybe even more accurate than the wiimote the pointing ability of the wiimote requires the infrared bar to work and as for rumble apart from it being a bit weak i believe that there is no rumble in the nunchuck or the classic controller on offer besides the more separate bits(i mean external addons ie:sensor bar\nunchuck\classic controller etc.. ) to a controller/console the more cumbersome/ugly it becomes look at older console addons that hardly got use such as light guns they were all the rage to begin with but not many gamers wanted them so there were not too many games that used them properly mainly because devs lacked the imagination to utilize them admittedly but the point i am trying to make is that the SIXAXIS will be available for every game if needed and you will not need the extra controller bits or indeed a classic controller as the SIXAXIS will be able to be used for virtually ALL games whether they need tilt or not leaving any gimmicky controls to independents to create or just use eyetoy as a better alternative instead all without having to plug in an extension to the existing controller or replacing it.

:)

[venomv]

Lol, try a period ever now and then.....you in a hurry? It is inferior because it cannot sense it's possition in space, and there is only one of them (I guess you could us two 6Xs, but that would be combersome) where there is the Wii-mote and the nunchuku. But I think it is overall a better control because it adds to the experience rather then replacing it, but that is opinion. And I could care less about rumble......

[Red_Eyes]

How about Fight Night Round 4, with that same first person fight mode, but, using the motion sensing controllers. So what I am saying is that, you hold two SIXAXIS controllers, one in each hand, and punch with them and the floating boxing hands will moves accordingly.

[pari]

I beg to differ. Nintendo got it right with the wii remote, no need for substitutes. Plus the lack of rumble brings the whole idea down for me.

I would not say so, when you have flying wiimote. The wiimote is a technically a great solution but the possibility of flying projecticle is the main weakness of wiimote. So there are pros and cons in Nintendo and Sony aspect. Before starting Sony copied Nintendo, the implementation are totally different. Sony uses Hall effect Sensor, Nintendo triangulation using IR light. Sony's is limited in range of movement and no rumble and can play in any light condition. Wiimote does not work if there is bright light (ie evening sunlight) it confuses the triangulation in the wiimote. On other hand Wiimote has the best possible range of movement and rumble because it does not rely upon physical vibration.

[pari]

Lol, try a period ever now and then.....you in a hurry? It is inferior because it cannot sense it's possition in space, and there is only one of them (I guess you could us two 6Xs, but that would be combersome) where there is the Wii-mote and the nunchuku. But I think it is overall a better control because it adds to the experience rather then replacing it, but that is opinion. And I could care less about rumble......

Actually its possible to sense position in space with sixaxis. Position in space is in with reference to a stationary point or to a reference point. Wiimote is doing triangulation for sensing the position in space and the reference point is the light source. For sixaxis, the reference point can be your initial position in which you hold your controller after that any movement can be mapped to a relative position in space with respect to the initial position. The difference between wiimote and sixaxis is a fixed stationary reference point and Sixaxis essentially depends on the Gyroscope principle.

[venomv]

Yes, but those are very differnent, the Wii-mote knows where it is at all times, the SixaxiS could know where it is based on the original position, but that is it, they could be the same depending on how the game is made, but the Wii-Mote still has the edge.

[game designer]

I want games that are never the same each time you play. Take the topography and satelite imagery, and make levels from that. That'd be totally rad.

Or one thing that I think the PS3 could do this time around with it's processing power is to create random levels and maps on the fly. I know that there are potential problems to this (like players getting stuck or there being glitches), but this is an area that hopefully developers will work on to iron out those kinds of kinks. Imagine having a FPS in a jungle where the level changes every day. Or an exploration game, racing game, what ever.

There can be loads of problems with this (balance, glitches and so on),but the idea get's me more excited than any other concept I've heard of. Could be we'll have to wait for the PS5 or something to see this happen. Hopefully sooner though.

GD

[gozirah]

GameDes-

Yeah, that's along the lines that I am thinking of. With lots of raw computational power, potenial access to a large BDROM archive, and the ability to write procedurally generated data to a standard hard drive, the PS3 is in a particularly unique position offer novel experiences.

Just leave Spore on for a week, come back home, and... !