Sony PlayStation 3

Chris Chiarella, December, 2006

1080p Gaming and Blu-ray galore.

It's just so beautiful. I realize that's a pretty shallow initial evaluation of Sony's much-hyped super-fun-happy-smile machine, the PlayStation 3. But the lines are so bold, the shape is so commanding, and it's all just so�shiny.

Of course, it's what's inside that counts, and, in this case, that would be the imposing new Cell Broadband Engine, which Sony developed in collaboration with IBM and Toshiba. The Cell engine features a mind-blowing eight processors working in parallel-a main CPU, plus seven Synergistic Processing Units. It's 40 times as powerful as the PlayStation 2's processor, performing 208 billion floating-point calculations per second. This translates to highly detailed, highly interactive environments, complex effects, and bigger battles with a greater number of enemies. Backing this is the RSX graphics-processing unit, which is capable of 4X antialiasing. This can be a real boon in the large-format high-definition universe. The games themselves spin on the PS3's Blu-ray drive and arrive on high-capacity BD-ROM discs.

The PS3 is the very first device to support the recent HDMI 1.3 standard. So, in addition to its superior 10-bit Deep Color technology, it will also pass a multichannel SACD, Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby Digital True HD, or DTS-HD signal to a home theater receiver equipped with an HDMI input, not that Sony includes one in the box.

USB mice and keyboards are plug-and-play, and I highly recommend that you use them, especially during the data-entry-intensive system setup. They'll also come in handy when you name new characters within a game. Otherwise, you can use the new SIXAXIS controller. It's virtually identical to the classic PlayStation controller in terms of its dense, ergonomic layout. But it weighs less and has two other key differences. It's wireless, and it uses Bluetooth technology, which gives it a much greater range than other wireless controllers. At the same time, you won't need to maintain a line of sight between the controller and the PS3. The SIXAXIS also comes with a rechargeable lithium-ion battery. Oh, and it's motion sensitive, so you can interact with a game by tilting and otherwise moving the controller, without even pressing any buttons.

The onscreen setup utilizes a big-screen version of SCEA's XMB (XrossMediaBar, pronounced "cross media bar") user interface. The PS3 detected the attached HDMI cable and asked me if I would like to use that for audio/video output. Thanks to the first of three firmware upgrades I undertook, the PS3 also supports full 1080p. Although this 60-gigabyte unit includes integrated 802.11g Wi-Fi, I used a wired broadband connection in deference to the speed needed for such large downloads

Blu-ray: It's Not Just for Movies Anymore
Genji: Days of the Blade (720p) has a breathtaking palette and an ethereal placement of singing voices in individual speakers. When you insert this game, the PS3 offers to copy almost 3.5 GB of data from the optical disc onto its hard drive to shorten the loading time. In Resistance: Fall of Man (720p), the increased level of detail really pays off. I could accurately target and hit enemies from greater distances than ever before. The dynamic range of the aggressive, on-the-fly 5.1-channel mix also struck me. At times, it rivaled the clarity of the best movie soundtracks. The THX-certified NBA 07, meanwhile, offers amazingly realistic lighting and depth of focus. Even the draping of the jerseys looked believable in "Full HD 1080p" at 60 frames per second. The motion-sensitive controller takes a little getting used to, but then it becomes pretty darned neat. Move the device, and your character moves accordingly, bringing you one step closer to where the movie Tron tried and failed to take us: inside the game.

Blu-ray movies on the PS3 offer video nirvana with a pure, nearly perfect picture bursting with previously impossible color. Compared to other Blu-ray players, the PS3 loads faster (not to mention faster than a Toshiba HD DVD player). On the same disc, like Corpse Bride, there is little visible difference between HD DVD and Blu-ray. There is less noise than with the Samsung BD player. All the detail promised with Blu-ray (and realized with HD DVD), is now visible.

Even with the seamless, next-generation menus, I missed a CE-style remote control, which was unavailable at press time. As it performed the most demanding functions, and during the quietest movie scenes, the PS3 was nearly silent in my home theater. An efficient fan ushers out the heat with a gentle whooshing from the right side when the console is laid flat, as mine was.

After days of nonstop movies, music, photo exhibitions, and gaming so extraordinary, only the underside of the console grew tepid. I, on the other hand, was left wallowing in the grip of full-blown PS3 fever.

For a more in-depth version of this review check out our March issue.

Also check out Peter Suciu's first look here which also includes several game reviews.

At a Glance
Connections
Outputs:
Video: HDMI (1), proprietary audio/video "Multi" out (1, supports component video, S-video, and composite video)
Audio: Digital optical (1), proprietary audio/video "Multi" out (1, supports analog stereo)
Additional: USB 2.0 (4)
Networking: 10BASE-T/100BASE-TX/1000BASE-T Ethernet (1)
Wireless: 802.11b/g Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.0 (1, EDR)

Features
Compatible Game Formats: PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2, PlayStation
Compatible Playback Formats: Blu-ray, BD-ROM, BD-R/-RE, DVD-Video, DVD-ROM, DVD-R/-RW, DVD+R/+RW, CD, CD-R/-RW, SACD, MP3, AAC, ATRAC, JPEG, MPEG-4
Possible Playback Resolutions: 1080p/1080i/720p/480p/480i
Memory-Card Slots: Memory Stick (1, standard, Duo, PRO), SD (1), Compact Flash (1; Type I/II, Microdrive)
Available Finishes: Black
Dimensions (H x W x D, inches): 3.9 x 12.8 x 10.8
Weight (pounds): 11
Included: Proprietary composite video/analog stereo A/V "Multi" cable, SIXAXIS controller, USB minicable, Ethernet cable, AC power cable

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