So finally we all get some more information on the PS3 at E3. There is a press release on the Sony Computer Entertainment Japan site, describing what is supposed to be the final specs. The guys over at engadget have put up a nice pic as well, with some comments. If you just cannot get enough, then head over to the E3 coverage at Joystiq.

Originally, I think that many thought the PS3 would become the hub of the digital lifestyle in the home, myself included. We all probably had visions of running some new Linux shell on top of the Cell chip, performing all sorts of transcoding goodness. However, after looking at the price to get your hands on ($599) one with HDMI and a reasonable sized harddrive, I no longer feel that will ever be the case.

There are a number of reasons I do not feel the PS3 will dominate the digital home or the living room.

1. The price is to high. It will eventually come down, but someone had to sit down and do an ROI calculation on this product and said, hey, there is no way we will be able to recoup the investment at $400. Considering what happened with the PSP and low number of games users are buying, they most likely did not want to see could not afford that to happen again with the PS3. The more Sony positions this as something other than a gaming machine, the more likely they are to lose money.
2. As powerful as the Cell chip is, when someone is using the PS3 to play games, do not count on this thing streaming HD movies to the other rooms at the same time.
3. 60GB harddrive? What’s up with that? Anyone who has downloaded lots of full length movies off the net or ripped DVDs, not to say that I have, 60GB of space will not last you long. Unless there is an easy way to upgrade this, your going to struggle finding place to store all your digital goodies.
4. Low end model. What is up with this? No HDMI, 20GB harddrive. Anyone who was waiting for the PS3 as their Blu-Ray player, myself included, will have to go for the high end model. This low end model is not very useful for anything, but gaming.
5. Support for mutiple DRMs and codes. Its highly unlikely that initially this thing will be supporting Windows Media, let alone Windows Media DRM. From the start it will most likely only support a limited number digital formats, until Sony realizes that no one uses those and they have to add support for more, as they did with the PSP.
6. Networking. It’s Sony so they will have DLNA in there, but support for UPnP and ViiV, unlikely. If you own a VAIO of course you are all set, but what about the majority of PC users out there. You would have to find a DLNA client for the PC.
7. Set Top Boxes. The power of the set top box is continuing to grow and we all get one with our cable subscription. As more intelligence is added in, as AT&T has done with their 2wire box, they will continue to dominate.

Categories: Digital Home, Gaming
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