Sony Japan discusses PS3: Controller, RSX, Linux and more...

Edison

Sony Japan discusses PS3: Controller, RSX, Linux and more...
by Bhavin Shah


A number of interviews with a Sony Japan executive has cleared up some ambiguities and revealed some more exciting information.

Izumi Kawanishi, head of SCE's Software Platform Development division, was interviewed by Japanese site IT Media, and asked some of the difficult questions a number of fans and critics have been wanting to ask since Sony's pre-E3 conference.

Kawanishi said consumers should think of the 20GB and 60GB packages as variations, like with different PCs that have a bigger hard drive or more memory. The basic hardware is identical, but sometime in the future there may be further variations to add extra functionality. This will never prevent old games from working, because the operating system and drivers stored on every PS3 can adapt to hardware changes, much like a PC.

He admitted that one HDMI port had been dropped, but suggested that it may reappear in the future.

As Phil Harrison has said in his interviews, the motion sensing technology for the PS3 controller has been in the planning stages for many years. However, Sony felt now was the right time to introduce it because the technology had developed to a suitable level.

The PlayStation logo underneath the Start and Select buttons is a button itself that will allow you to switch the PS3 on and off, connect the controller to the PS3 (i.e. pair up over bluetooth) and access the user interface. Unfortunately, battery life has not been finalised, but he did confirm that the USB port will allow charging and wired gaming.

Kawanishi was asked whether the PS3 would have an internal power supply unit, or an external power brick like with the Xbox 360.

"It's of course internal," he responded. "It's better that way. We of course do things the good way."

In another interview with AV Watch, Kawanishi was questioned about why final specifications of Cell and RSX, in terms of numbers, was not shown at E3, and is not available on their website. He said that the numbers will be revealed later, but during a different part of the interview referred to the 3.2GHz clock speed of the Cell. This is the same as last year, possibly suggesting a changed RSX specification.

And finally, since Linux is pre-installed on the hard drive, users will be allowed to programme applications. However, Kawanishi stressed that certain game development tools would not be available to homebrew enthusiasts, and that Linux users would be provided with minimal support.