PS3

[Yegolev]

So the "there is no ethernet cable connected" popups shall continue....

[BitWarrior]

Apparently David Turek, IBM's Vice President, says in this article (German) that IBM is canceling Cell processor development. What this means for Sony is likely profound, as they pinned quite a bit of cost in this generation to the Cell processor, and likely hoped to keep the core in the future. Developers taking it upon themselves to learn the complicated Cell structure today might begin resenting their investment.

One also wonders if Sony is forced to abandon the Cell processor what this will mean for future backwards compatibility. Two generations lacking backward compatibility could be received quite poorly by the community.

Also, if you are fluent in German, please post a translated version of this page!

[Trippy]

They are cancelling development of a dual CPU/32 SPE model.

Internet, such as sparrows HPCwire already shouted from the rooftops, now has IBM's Vice President of Deep Computing, David Turek, confirmed in an interview with heise online that the planned successor to the current PowerXCell 8i processor with dual PowerPC processors and 32 SPEs not will give. Thus was the Cell design, but not dead, says that parts of it will reappear in another form.

[BitWarrior]

As optimistic as I'd like to be, most places claim they're dropping out of the Cell race entirely, not just stopping the development of one particular version. Although these translation engines are weak, the comment that "parts of it will show up in other forms" suggests they'll be taking some technology from the Cell into another processor design they have, but the roadmap for the Cell itself has ended.

Some additional discussion on the matter: http://www.playstationuniversity.com/ibm-cancels-cell-processor-development-1295/

[Azazel]

One also wonders if Sony is forced to abandon the Cell processor what this will mean for future backwards compatibility. Two generations lacking backward compatibility could be received quite poorly by the community.

I think a lot of the grief that Sony took about the lack of backwards compatability (when they removed it) was because the PS3 upscaled PS2 games. Since the PS3 is already HD-ready and capable, includes a BRD and HDMI output, it'll be less likely to upset people if they have to keep their PS3 for it's own games.

[stray]

Well, they could quell resentment I guess by just going intel? Heh.. But then, Sony just loves differentiating themselves.

Not sure how much Toshiba had involvement with Cell. Maybe they'll just sort of go their own route, like Motorola did with PowerPC (vs IBM). I would hope the Cell "alliance" is not actually dependent on just one company. 

[Kageh]

One also wonders if Sony is forced to abandon the Cell processor what this will mean for future backwards compatibility. Two generations lacking backward compatibility could be received quite poorly by the community.

I think a lot of the grief that Sony took about the lack of backwards compatability (when they removed it) was because the PS3 upscaled PS2 games. Since the PS3 is already HD-ready and capable, includes a BRD and HDMI output, it'll be less likely to upset people if they have to keep their PS3 for it's own games.

The upscaler was pretty crappy as far as PS2 games went though, way inferior to the DVD upscaling engine for Blu-Ray for example. I found playing games on my PS2 and using various noise reduction/softening filters on my TV made SD input look noticeably better than using the PS3 upscaler and HDMI - except for way sharper text with the PS3 upscaling.

I think the outrage was more about the general lack and removal of the option as most of the people caring about PS2 compatibility probably had a PS2 available, they just didn't want to use two devices.

[Yegolev]

The current upscaling makes me happy.  Also, I would primarily be angry about having to connect two devices, secondarily missing out on the various format options.  Tertiarily, I'd have to buy a shit-ton of memory cards.

[Cyrrex]

Tertiarily

I just want to go on the record in admiration for your use of this word.

[Salamok]

Tertiarily

I just want to go on the record in admiration for your use of this word.

You realize he learned that from a motherboard manual. 

[Cyrrex]

Tertiarily

I just want to go on the record in admiration for your use of this word.

You realize he learned that from a motherboard manual. 

If you're trying to increase the amount of impressiveness that is Yegolev, it is working.

[Yegolev]

Just following the pattern.

I don't read fucking motherboard manuals.

[Azazel]

The upscaler was pretty crappy as far as PS2 games went though, way inferior to the DVD upscaling engine for Blu-Ray for example. I found playing games on my PS2 and using various noise reduction/softening filters on my TV made SD input look noticeably better than using the PS3 upscaler and HDMI - except for way sharper text with the PS3 upscaling.

I think the outrage was more about the general lack and removal of the option as most of the people caring about PS2 compatibility probably had a PS2 available, they just didn't want to use two devices.

I never got to see it, but I found the 360's upscaling to be surprisingly good, so I assumed Sony's upscaler wouls have been just as good. Hence my own rage and refusal to buy a PS3 for a long time (until the slim price drop).

[Salamok]

Just following the pattern.

I don't read fucking motherboard manuals.

Obviously, 15 years ago when you learned how to set up that tertiary drive there was no further need for the manual.

[Yegolev]

Just following the pattern.

I don't read fucking motherboard manuals.

Obviously, 15 years ago when you learned how to set up that tertiary drive there was no further need for the manual.

Hmm.  Yes.  Also, I am now much less impressed with myself.

Is anyone being signed out of PSN at random?  I am and it is pissing me off.

[stu]

Just picked up The Last Guy and Bomberman Ultra for five bucks each on PSN. Good deal.

[ffc]

A couple days ago my PS3 controller started desyncing itself.  It's fully charged and I can turn the PS3 on with the controller's PS button but then the controller's 4 lights keep blinking and it won't navigate the menu or turn the PS3 back off.  I can resync it by connecting the controller to the PS3 via USB while the PS3 is off and then turn on the PS3 (either by the PS3 power button or the controller's PS button).  Then I disconnect the controller and it will remain sync'd but within a day of turning the PS3 off the controller will desync itself again. 

If I try to resync via USB cable while the PS3 is on, after I press the PS button on the controller and see it is sync'd and charging if I disconnect the USB cable the controller returns to desync'd status with 4 blinking lights.

I tried to recreate the problem by turning the controller off/on as well as the PS3 off/on but the desync'ing seems to only occur after the PS3 has been off for a few hours.  I looked up these symptoms and tried resetting the controller with the button on its back but it has not made a difference.

Anyone know what's going on?  The only thing I can think of is how I used to charge the controller on my PC with no problem but I recently installed Windows 7 so something automagically broke.

[fuser]

If I try to resync via USB cable while the PS3 is on, after I press the PS button on the controller and see it is sync'd and charging if I disconnect the USB cable the controller returns to desync'd status with 4 blinking lights.

I tried to recreate the problem by turning the controller off/on as well as the PS3 off/on but the desync'ing seems to only occur after the PS3 has been off for a few hours.  I looked up these symptoms and tried resetting the controller with the button on its back but it has not made a difference.

Question, do you have a slim and 3.10? It seems to be a bug effecting the line as a friends controllers wouldn't even work wireless and had to be USB connected. He reset with the controller with the pin also but I cannot remember if it worked sporadically.

[ffc]

Yep, I have a slim and 3.10.  If this is a bug then at least it wasn't my magic touch that broke it.

[fuser]

There's a few threads in the official ps3 forums so your not alone, check out http://boardsus.playstation.com/playstation/board/message?board.id=ps3updates&thread.id=138234

[ffc]

Thanks for that link.  Looks like a bluetooth issue.

[waffel]

Well, picked up a PS3 slim 120g for 250 today. I have some questions.

Originally, before I planned on a PS3, I was going to HDMi my PC to my LCD as a monitor and watch movies that way.

However, after purchasing the PS3 I'd like to use that instead. From what I've been reading, watching streaming HD content wirelessly is nearly impossible unless you have an N network, or kill the quality.

So, it looks like the other option would be to send the movies to the PS3 HD, and then watch them off that.

Question is, would the quality be better/worse than just hooking the LCD up via the vid card in the PC?

[Trippy]

Well, picked up a PS3 slim 120g for 250 today. I have some questions.

Originally, before I planned on a PS3, I was going to HDMi my PC to my LCD as a monitor and watch movies that way.

However, after purchasing the PS3 I'd like to use that instead. From what I've been reading, watching streaming HD content wirelessly is nearly impossible unless you have an N network, or kill the quality.

So, it looks like the other option would be to send the movies to the PS3 HD, and then watch them off that.

Question is, would the quality be better/worse than just hooking the LCD up via the vid card in the PC?

Rephrase the question.

[waffel]

PC ->(HDMI)-> 1080p LCD
or
PC ->Wired Ethernet-> PS3 -> 1080p LCD

Which would be a better choice as far as quality/ease/etc? In first case, I'm playing video from PC, send case I'm playing video from PS3. I'm talking about 1080p/720p .mkv files

Looks like I'd be using ps3mediaserver if I were to stream from PS3. On PC I'd be using Powerdvd 9.

[Kageh]

Then the question boils down to "PS3 Media Server" vs. "PowerDVD 9" for HD content watching? Should be pretty much the same if you use cable ethernet.

I'm using the PC with PS3 Media Server and WLAN connection to the PS3. I can stream 720p content fine while throttling the bandwidth somewhere around 15Mbit/sec. Once I try 1080p and the bitrate goes above 20 MBit/sec via WLAN, I start to get stuttering. 720p looks good enough for me on my set.

You might want to experiment with PS3 Media Server encoding settings and file types and see what works best to you. I usually transcode the files on the fly to mpeg in order to use subtitles. Maybe using .mkv for HD content works with lower bitrates, not sure.

[Trippy]

I'm not a big fan of using a Media Server unless you happen to have all the files in formats the PS3 can handle without needing any transcoding by the Media Server.

You'll have to experiment with it like Kageh suggested but if you can already hook your PC up to your monitor it seems kind of weird to have both your PC chewing up substantial CPU cycles (assuming you are transcoding) and your PS3 running just to watch a video you can already play on your PC.

[apocrypha]

I've actually compared the 2 directly recently and found the PS3 gave me much better video quality than the PC did.

Streaming from PC to PS3 over the LAN using ps3mediaserver compared to HDMI directly from PC and the PS3 streamed video (1080p) looked sharper, clearer and with better colours than using VLC, WMP or PowerDVD from the PC. I have no idea why that should be the case but it very clearly was.

The disadvantage is the streaming with a media server is clunky and slow. Fast-forwarding or skipping to halfway through a video is very difficult, lags badly and often just doesn't work, whereas that was all fine when playing them directly from the PC.

[BitWarrior]

Wireless G just isn't sufficient for streaming higher quality video; I recommend simply copying over the entire content of the movie/show or whatever you're watching. Browse to the file on the PS3 when your media server is up, but rather than pressing X to play the file, press the Triangle button for options. Select "Copy", and the PS3 will download the entire file. Once the file is done downloading, it'll run perfectly and allow everything from pausing to rewind and fast forward. Enjoy!

Personally, one of my biggest wishes for future firmware upgrades is a) more codec support (MKV, ISO, IMG, etc) and b) Samba share support so we can push content to the PS3. If Sony does that they'd have a media tank that competes with the best of 'em.

[waffel]

Ok cool, I have a gigabit cable/LAN so I'll probably stream wired. If that doesn't work then I'll move it to the PS3's HD and try that. Thanks for the tips.

[BitWarrior]

White Knight Chronicles gets a release date of Feb 2, 2010. Is this game still worth picking up? I read that it wasn't received very well in Japan. Is that true?

From what I can see they have exactly 1 month to make any and all sales before the second coming of Jesus Final Fantasy 13 arrives.

[Mrbloodworth]

Browse to the file on the PS3 when your media server is up, but rather than pressing X to play the file, press the Triangle button for options. Select "Copy", and the PS3 will download the entire file.

Mother fucker, really? I cant believe I ever found/thought of that. I always just let stuff buffer up.

Thank you.

[Velorath]

White Knight Chronicles gets a release date of Feb 2, 2010. Is this game still worth picking up? I read that it wasn't received very well in Japan. Is that true?

From what I can see they have exactly 1 month to make any and all sales before the second coming of Jesus Final Fantasy 13 arrives.

I think a lot of the criticism was in regards to the online stuff, which seems to have been improved quite a bit (including the addition of voice chat).  I'll probably pick it up although I expect that I'll still be playing Mass Effect 2 at that point.

[Rendakor]

Anyone else having problems syncing the controller to the PS3? If I use my controller to turn the system on, it turns on then all 4 lights just flash. Pushing the PS button on it does nothing; turning on additional controllers at this point also just puts them in 4-flashing mode.

However, if I turn the system on FIRST with its button, then turn the controller on, it syncs fine. 

[Azazel]

Look up the page.

I'm not updating my PS3 until there's 3.10.1 fuck that noise.

[Rendakor]

  Reading is hard. Sorry about that.