“Already, at our launch titles, we’re getting up close to the 25GB limit that we have on our Blu-Ray discs this year,” he claimed. “Next year we’ll raise that to 50GB, and I’d expect that we’ll be getting close to that in the fairly near future as well.”
Sony’s worldwide studio boss Phil Harrison has finally stepped up to the plate to answer all the nasty criticism that’s been directed toward Sony for using the Playstation 3 to power the Blu-Ray market. Since the PS3 launch date is close, it’s good decision on Harrison’s part to come out and talk about the Blu-Ray infiltration in the Playstation 3. There are just too many people out there hating Sony right now, and they don’t know a lot of the reasons behind certain decisions Sony has made, especially with the PS3. I’m not picking sides here, I just want to give everyone an equal chance with their new consoles. On the subject of Blu-Ray being a part of the PS3 to just fuel non-interactive content Harrison stated:
It’s got nothing to do with movies. DVD is not sufficient capacity to power the kind of data consumption, or to feed the data consumption needs of Cell and RSX – just purely as a gameplay device, we need Blu-Ray to supply the kind of data that PS3 games use. It’s not just about graphics. It’s about 7.1 audio, it’s about speech, it’s about having up to 1080p movies built into the game; it’s high res textures, it’s animation, it’s everything that goes into making a very rich and varied next-gen experience. Partly it’s visual, partly it’s sound, and partially it’ll be down to gameplay benefits as well – more levels, more detail, richer experiences.
Finally, we’re getting some real answers (somewhat) out of Sony. It’s about too time too, because I really just can’t take any more of that “PS3’s are overheating because they are next to each other” garbage. If all Harrison says is true, than it’s a good thing Sony has something different to offer us. Maybe there is a whole new gaming experience in the PS3 waiting for us.
Sony Talks Playstation 3 And Blu-Ray [gameindustry.biz]