The launch of Sony's PlayStation 3 next month will be accompanied by a host of freebies that Sony hopes will take the sting out of the game console's $999 price tag.The James Bond film Casino Royale will be offered free to the first 20,000 buyers who register their PS3 online. Additionally the game Gran Turismo: HD will be available to all PS3 buyers as a free download from the PlayStation Network.
In total 30 game titles will be available at launch, with a recommended retail price of $99.95 each.
Sony Australia and New Zealand managing director Michael Ephraim made the announcements at a media briefing this morning.
The March 23 launch was originally scheduled for November 17 last year, but this was marred by production issues associated with the bundled Blu-ray player.
As a result, Sony's competitors have enjoyed a significant head start, which some say will put a cap on the PS3's potential sales. Microsoft's Xbox 360 was launched almost a year ago, while Nintendo's Wii was unveiled locally in December.
Sales of the Xbox 360 remain strong given its maturity, and retailers have reported that the Wii is selling as fast as they can get their hands on stock.
Sales figures from market-watcher GfK show that it took the Wii just three weeks to surpass the Xbox 360 in Australian sales for the entire fourth quarter of last year. Nintendo sold 51,744 units, whereas Microsoft sold 45,036.
But the PS3's late entrance may not have a significant impact, as Sony is positioning the console as an all-round entertainment system for a mature audience. Its photo, music and movie viewing capabilities, as well as the built-in internet browser, are being marketed just as heavily as the gaming features.
Targeting an older generation could prove to be a smart move for Sony - a recent report released by the Interactive Entertainment Association of Australia said the average age of gamers had risen from 24 to 28 in the past two years.
Aside from causing delays, the Blu-ray player built into the PS3 has also pushed the price of the console up - it will sell for $999, whereas the Xbox 360 and Wii can be had for about $650 and $399.95 respectively.
Blu-ray is one of two next-generation disc formats competing to be the successor to DVD. HD DVD, the other format, is backed by Sony's chief console rival, Microsoft.
Unlike Sony, Microsoft decided against including a HD DVD drive in all Xbox 360 consoles, instead offering it as an optional add-on. The add-on will cost $249.95 and be sold from March 29.
Microsoft insists that, by letting consumers decide whether to upgrade to HD DVD, it is "not forcing technology on the consumer", while Sony says the inclusion of a Blu-ray player in the PS3 by default makes the console "future-proof", and will result in better looking games.
Regardless of PlayStation's pre-launch setbacks, the strength of the brand is undeniable - the first two PlayStations boast combined unit sales of more than 200 million worldwide.
And even seven years after the PlayStation 2 was unveiled, it was still by far the highest selling games console during the fourth quarter of last year with 122,639 units sold.
PLAYSTSTION 2
Only a few million people had obtained consoles by the end of 2000 due to manufacturing delays.[8] Directly after its release, it was difficult to find PS2 units on retailer shelves.[9] Another option was purchasing the console online through auction websites such as eBay, where people paid over one thousand dollars for a PS2.[10] The PS2 initially sold well partly on the basis of the strength of the PlayStation brand and the console's backward compatibility, selling over 980,000 units in Japan by March 5, 2000, one day after launch.[11] This allowed the PS2 to tap the large install base established by the PlayStation — another major selling point over the competition. Later, Sony added new development kits for game developers and more PS2 units for consumers.Many analysts predicted a close three-way matchup between the PS2 and competitors Microsoft's Xbox and the Nintendo GameCube (GameCube being the cheapest of the three consoles and had an open market of games); however, the release of several blockbuster games during the 2001 holiday season maintained sales momentum and held off the PS2's rivals.[12]
Although Sony, unlike Sega with its Dreamcast, placed little emphasis on online gaming during its first years, that changed upon the launch of the online-capable Xbox. Sony released the PlayStation Network Adapter in late 2002 to compete with Microsoft, with several online first–party titles released alongside it, such as SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs to demonstrate its active support for Internet play.[citation needed] Sony also advertised heavily, and its online model had the support of Electronic Arts. Although Sony and Nintendo both started out late, and although both followed a decentralized model of online gaming where the responsibility is up to the developer to provide the servers, Sony's attempt made online gaming a major selling point of the PS2.
In September 2004, in time for the launch of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, Sony revealed a new, slimmer PS2 (see Hardware revisions). In preparation for the launch of the new models (SCPH-70000-90000), Sony stopped making the older models (SCPH-30000-50000) to let the distribution channel empty its stock of the units.[citation needed] After an apparent manufacturing issue—Sony reportedly underestimated demand—caused some initial slowdown in producing the new unit caused in part by shortages between the time the old units were cleared out and the new units were ready. The issue was compounded in Britain when a Russian oil tanker became stuck in the Suez Canal, blocking a ship from China carrying PS2s bound for the UK. During one week in November, British sales totalled 6,000 units — compared to 70,000 units a few weeks prior.[13] There were shortages in more than 1700 stores in North America on the day before Christmas.[14]
The original life span for the console was set at 10 years, but according to Sony, its lifecycle will continue as long as developers continue to make new games for the system, and as long as the console and its games continue to sell.[6]
Hardware and software compatibility
See also: List of PlayStation 2 games, List of PlayStation games incompatible with PlayStation 2, List of PlayStation 2 CD-ROM games, 2010 in video gaming#Game releases, List of PlayStation 2 DVD-9 games, List of PlayStation 2 games with HD support, and Chronology of PlayStation 2 games
PlayStation 2 software is distributed on CD-ROM (blue/purple polycarbonate) and DVD-ROM (clear polycarbonate with four "PlayStation" logos). In addition the console can play audio CDs and DVD movies, and is backward compatible with PlayStation games. The PS2 also supports PlayStation memory cards and controllers, although the memory cards only work with PS1 games and the controllers may not support all functions (such as analog buttons) for PS2 games.
The PS2's DualShock 2 controller is essentially an upgraded PlayStation DualShock; analog face, shoulder and D-pad buttons replaced the digital buttons of the original. Like its predecessor, the DualShock 2 controller has force feedback, which is commonly called the "vibration" function.
An 8 MB PlayStation 2 memory card.The standard PlayStation 2 memory card has an 8 MB capacity and uses Sony's MagicGate encryption. This requirement prevented the production of memory cards by third parties who did not purchase a license for the MagicGate encryption. Memory cards without encryption can be used to store PlayStation game saves, but PlayStation games would be unable to read from or write to the card - such a card could only be used as a backup. There are a variety of non-Sony manufactured memory cards available for the PlayStation 2, allowing for a larger memory capacity than the standard 8 MB. However their use is unsupported and compatibility is not guaranteed.
The console also features USB and IEEE 1394 expansion ports. Compatibility with USB and IEEE 1394 devices is dependent on the software supporting the device. For example, the PS2 BIOS will not boot an ISO image from a USB flash drive or operate a USB printer, as the machine's operating system does not include this functionality. By contrast, Gran Turismo 4 is programmed to save screenshots to a USB mass storage device and print images on certain USB printers. A PlayStation 2 HDD can be installed in an expansion bay on the back of the console, and was required to play certain games, notably the popular Final Fantasy XI.[15] This was only available on certain models (see "Hardware Revisions" below).
See also: List of PlayStation 2 network games
Some games on the PlayStation 2 support online multiplayer gaming through the use of a broadband internet connection and a PlayStation 2 Network Adapter. This is integrated into the hardware on "slimline" models, and can be bought as an add-on for the original "fat" models. Some games also allow online gameplay using a Dial-Up connection (not available on all models), or LAN play by connecting two network adapters (or slimline consoles) together directly with an Ethernet cable or through the same router network.
Instead of having a unified, subscription-based online service like Xbox Live, online multiplayer on the PS2 is the responsibility of the games publisher and is run on third-party servers. Most recent PS2 online games have been developed to exclusively support broadband internet access. Xbox Live similarly requires a broadband internet connection.
All online PS2 games released in and after 2003 are protected by the Dynamic Network Authentication System (DNAS). The purpose of this system is to prevent piracy and online cheating. DNAS will prevent games from being played online if they are determined to be pirated copies or if they have been modified. However, methods have been developed to get around this protection by modifying key files in the modified game.
Over time, many game servers have been shut-down, because of this many games can no longer be played online. However, there is a program that allows you to achieve online play for some PS2 games again. This is done by using a network configuration that simulates a world-wide LAN, because of this the game must support LAN play.
In addition to online gaming, some unofficial modifications have been made on the PS2 software allowing it to be used as a fully-functional web browser or messenger when connecting to a certain network. This can also be done through PS2 Linux.
