Hacking the PSP Blog

Sony looking to "refine" cost of PlayStation 3, says Stringer

Sony boss Sir Howard Stringer has said he is aware that consumers would like the cost of PS3 to be lower - confirming that the company is working to "refine" how much it can afford to drop the console's price.

Speaking in an interview with the Financial Times Stringer said, "While people have not bought as many PlayStation 3s as it looks, it is no different from PS2 and PS1 in terms of percentage of sales."

However, he conceded, "I think that the public would like the cost to be lower, there’s no question about that."

When asked by how much Sony could afford to cut the price the CEO replied, "That’s what we’re studying at the moment; that’s what we’re trying to refine."

The interviewer then asked if Sony will "come up with an answer by Christmas" - and Stringer answered, "Yes, of course." He went on to observe that PS2 is "selling gangbusters", and that introducing a PSP price cut sent sales of the handheld "into an upward spiral".

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Ellie Gibson
June 14, 2007

Source: GamesIndustry.biz

Sony threatens to pursue legal action against PS3 hackers

Following reports that hackers have cracked PlayStation 3's anti-piracy software, SCEA has declared that it will "aggressively pursue" anyone caught engaging in such activity with legal action.

"Unfortunately, hackers will try to exploit any hardware system software," SCEA spokesperson Dave Karraker told GamesIndustry.biz.

"The best we can do as a company is to make our security that much stronger and aggressively pursue legal action against anyone caught trying to use an exploit in an illegal manner."

As reported by CVG.com, hackers have cracked PS3 firmware versions 1.10 and 1.11 - thereby forcing the console to boot illegal copies of games.

Booting games and playing them are two different things, however; so far, hackers have not been able to get any of the copied games to run, nor have they been able to run homebrew software.

Every hardware launch brings with it a race for hackers to defeat the system's protections, whether for the technological challenge, to run copied software, or to allow for homebrew games.

Despite Sony's attempts to prevent its emergence, the PSP has a strong homebrew community - and hackers are doubtless hoping to establish a similar base for PS3.

If legal consequences are not a deterrent, there are other risks involved. Like Microsoft, which has banned some modded Xbox 360 consoles from Xbox LIVE, Sony could easily stop PS3 units from accessing the PlayStation network. Hackers also risk bricking their consoles.

"Naturally, any use of an exploit on the system software does void the warranty on the PS3 system... Which could be a costly mistake to see if you can run an old SEGA CD game on it," said Karraker.

Mark Androvich
June 12, 2007

Source: GamesIndustry.biz

Sony Answers Critics On PS3 Development Ease

Sony's Dave Karraker has used the recently launched PlayStation.Blog website to give his company's take on ease of development for the PS3, admitting that Xbox Live has more robust online infrastructure, but noting: "It’s not that PS3 is harder to write for, it’s just that you can do more with it."

The new entry is entitled 'Is the PS3 Really Harder to Develop for?', and uses a GamePro article as the jumping-off point for Sony's product development group to comment on the thorny issue.

The group initially claims: "If the game starts life on PS3, then man-hours per feature or costs related to asset production are comparable with industry norms", going on to suggest: "Since PS3’s Cell processor allows MORE features - better physics, more complex graphical processing, lighting or sound, etc. — there is inevitably going to be more cost in supporting those extra features. It’s not that PS3 is harder to write for, it’s just that you can do more with it."

Correctly harnessing the parallel SPU processors in the Cell chip is one of the most difficult parts of PlayStation 3 development, according to multiple sources, and the PD group at Sony weighs in on this: "SPUs are not ‘normal’ processors like the PPU. There is a trade-off between performance and versatility. A Ferrari is not the best car for a visit to Home Depot."

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Gamasutra Staff
June 14, 2007

Source: Gamasutra