PS3 Hard Disk Sold Separately

[ChuckS]

http://ps3.ign.com/articles/630/630331p1.html

Sony to keep hard disk separate from main system, according to magazine.
by Anoop Gantayat
June 30, 2005 - A recent issue of Famitsu contains confirmation that the PS3 will ship with a slot for a hard drive, but no actual hard drive included. The magazine has a feature in which all facets of the next generation systems are presented for the non-technically inclined (this is done through some hilarious cartoon drawings -- pick up issue 864 to see for yourself!). As part of a section detailing the hard disk functionality of the systems, the magazine states that, while Xbox 360 will ship with a 20 gigabyte hard disk included out of the box, the PS3 hard disk will be sold separately from the main system.


Sony Computer Entertainment has been hinting at this approach for some time now, but hasn't specifically stated its intentions one way or the other. In a recent interview with Nikkei Electronics, a bi-weekly electronics magazine in Japan, SCE president Ken Kutaragi hinted that we could expect an 80 gigabyte size for the PS3 hard disk. Given the added cost of such a large hard disk, Kutaragi's comments seemed to all but confirm that the device would be sold separately.
The question now turns to the cost of the hard disk peripheral. In Japan, Sony currently sells the PlayStation BB unit, which bundles a network adapter and 40 gigabyte hard disk together, for 12,800 yen.

Famitsu is a Japanese magazine, of course, so this confirmation applies only to the Japanese market. We'll have to wait for comment from Sony Computer Entertainment America on the possible stateside inclusion of a mass storage device with the PS3.

[fishepa]

Re: PS3 Hard Disk Sold Separately

nice....

[Fresh Tendrils]

Re: PS3 Hard Disk Sold Separately

This is going to affect the Xbox 360 games as well, at least the ones that are available on more than one console. **** YOU SONY!

[luv_mist]

Re: PS3 Hard Disk Sold Separately

This is going to affect the Xbox 360 games as well, at least the ones that are available on more than one console. **** YOU SONY!

Now that is hilarious. It was already expected. I'm just wondering how much it'll be honestly. The 40GB was $50, so I'm expecting this one to be $100. Of course, we'll just have to wait and see what it's looking like. Well, I wasn't leaning towards the PS3. This just reconfirms my choice for the system with more of what I want....

[jmood88]

Re: PS3 Hard Disk Sold Separately

This is going to affect the Xbox 360 games as well, at least the ones that are available on more than one console. **** YOU SONY!

No it won't. Multiplatform games still used the hard drive on the xbox.

[ExtremeGamer]

Re: PS3 Hard Disk Sold Separately

No it won't. Multiplatform games still used the hard drive on the xbox.

Not to their fullest potential though...

[jmood88]

Re: PS3 Hard Disk Sold Separately

Not to their fullest potential though...

That's true.

[Kodiak33]

Re: PS3 Hard Disk Sold Separately

Especially rosters, that's why you can only edit so many things on players now. The bad thing about having no hard drive is also a cache that games use. The Xbox was faster on loading because it loaded some information from the hard drive. Hopefully it won't take too much of a performance hit on the PS3. Sony is making some big mistakes, hopefully it catches up to them so they can offer their customers more.

[dagger55]

Re: PS3 Hard Disk Sold Separately

PS3 - - XBOX 360

[luv_mist]

Re: PS3 Hard Disk Sold Separately

Wouldn't the increase of space for the information be a positive thing though? At least the first games that are done on the XBOX 360 can be pushed with the mindset of not having to do the port over. I think Sony deliberately did that to affect Microsoft's power on the same games. I see it as that a little way. Maybe I'm just reading too hard into Sony's lack of HDD. Maybe we might see better distinguishing between the systems that have HDD and those that don't.

[Kilmer]

Re: PS3 Hard Disk Sold Separately

This is a mistake by Sony and I knew it would happen when they revealed the specs at E3 and it included a hard drive "slot". I could not believe how the media missed that for days.

[sdrotar]

Re: PS3 Hard Disk Sold Separately

What you may see for this next generation is something that's been hinted at by developers for the last few months: Multi-console games may end up being developed using the Xbox 360 as the code base, and then porting it over to the PS3 - the reverse of what we saw in the current generation.

That way, developers can complete their games to their fullest potential, knowing that hard drives will be in every Xbox 360, and "port down" to the PS3, knowing that certain parts of the game will have to be removed or re-designed due to the lack of accessible physical storage on the PS3 unit. You simply can't design something that needs a hard drive when you don't know which users will have one and which users don't.

This is same nightmare that PC game designers deal with all the time - trying to satisfy the high-end users, while keeping the game playable for people possessing lower-end technology.

This is not to suggest that the PS3 is "lower-end" technology, of course - but the fact of the matter is that the ability to access a hard drive or other mass-storage device is a major component of any top-flight game, and it simply can't be worked around.

It seems to me that Sony is making a mistake of epic proportions in this case. Perhaps they had to sacrifice the hard drive to keep the prices down, but the proliferation of studios designing quality console titles is greatly aided by a standard hardware loadout - something that Sony has just removed from it's own equation.

It's perplexing to say the very least.

[23]

Re: PS3 Hard Disk Sold Separately

This almost makes the blu-ray thing seem like a huge gimmick concerning the PS3 because that extra space wont be utilized when making the games.


This simply does not justify the higher price.

[Nivek]

Re: PS3 Hard Disk Sold Separately

This almost makes the blu-ray thing seem like a huge gimmick concerning the PS3 because that extra space wont be utilized when making the games.


This simply does not justify the higher price.

BINGO!

[Tha_Kid]

Re: PS3 Hard Disk Sold Separately

This is like Microsoft saying that future X360s may use HD-DVDs. It doesnt matter, developers cant develop for what only a portion of owners have....