Sony: PS3 will replace computers, controller not copied

[Specially Cork]

Stealing ideas is commonplace in every industry. Innovation is supposed to push the entire industry forward, not just one individual product. You can argue as much as you want over who did something first, but it is the company that most successfully implements the idea that is most important.

[Quzar]

the saturn was orginally suppose to be a super power 2d machine, the 3d elements were threw in at the last moment

I hear this a lot, but I hear from more informed sources that after seeing PS1 they totally scrapped their existing design and started over with like 18 months to go. IIRC, the original so-called "Giga Drive" design was reported to be much closer to the arcade systems; something like a hybrid of Model 1 and System 32. I've never heard any real support for the notion that 3D was thrown in at the last minute except that it's something that "everyone knows". Considering the number of staggeringly wrong things that "everyone knows" about console tech ("You can't burn Gamecube DVDs because it spins the discs backwards!") , I don't give that much weight.

Also, the main reason most of Saturn's games are 2D is that it had a huge number of arcade ports from Capcom, SNK, Raizing, Taito, et. al. The fact that Saturn kicks PS1's ass at 2D does not mean that Saturn sucks at 3D or wasn't designed for 3D.

uhh there has been documentaries on it, I remeber on that show "Icons" they were talking about how it was originally suppose to be a 2d machine but add 3d elements later to compete with the ps1..

I'm sure you also learned from "Icons" that the Saturn was 'hard to code' for. When that was mentioned in the show it came from the lead art director from Rez. yea, REALLLLLLL reliable.

Considering that "Icons" is the show where they couldn't bother to figure out how to pronounce "Yamauchi" correctly, I can't say I trust that as a source. Besides, do you seriously believe that they would launch a 2D-focused console after having already released the 3D-capable 32X and at a time when their biggest arcade hits were 3D?

Well I wouldn't count it out seeing that actual sega representatives appeared in the episode, so I have a hard time believe that they just made it up.

i think the complete failure of the 32x might have showed them that 3D isnt the right way to go at the moment and seeing at the time it was being developed the home console market was still mainly 2D, and maybe wanted a console more powerful than the snes?

Considering that the 32x came out in America first and only a few months before the Saturn came out in Japan, I don't think they were reflecting on anything. They both just had 3D capable consoles and used hitachi chips.

[Ex-Cyber]

I'm sure you also learned from "Icons" that the Saturn was 'hard to code' for. When that was mentioned in the show it came from the lead art director from Rez. yea, REALLLLLLL reliable.

There is some truth to that, though. Compared to Playstation and N64, Saturn is hard to program. It's powerful, but it's also pretty complex. I'm pretty sure it's nothing any competent console/arcade programmer of the time would have been daunted by, though. As far as I've seen, Jaguar makes Saturn look like a cakewalk, for instance.

[Quzar]

I'm sure you also learned from "Icons" that the Saturn was 'hard to code' for. When that was mentioned in the show it came from the lead art director from Rez. yea, REALLLLLLL reliable.

There is some truth to that, though. Compared to Playstation and N64, Saturn is hard to program. It's powerful, but it's also pretty complex. I'm pretty sure it's nothing any competent console/arcade programmer of the time would have been daunted by, though. As far as I've seen, Jaguar makes Saturn look like a cakewalk, for instance.

No, it's hard to get as much power as possible out of the saturn. Actual gamedev on it was no harder than on the playstation considering they both had PSY-Q devkits for them. Yes I do realize that SMP is a harder environment to take advantage of fully, but it's not like it would really hinder the production of games. Also, wether or not the fact itself is valid, it came from a source who has no expertise of any sort in the area, and odds are he just heard that from people who heard it from people who didn't want to work on saturn games.

[Ex-Cyber]

Actual gamedev on it was no harder than on the playstation considering they both had PSY-Q devkits for them.

I realize that high-quality, sophisticated devkits/SDKs became available for Saturn, but AFAIK the PS1 came with a very nice library "out of the box" from Sony from day 1, whereas the early Saturn SDK was pretty weak.

[ASCIIN]

the saturn was orginally suppose to be a super power 2d machine, the 3d elements were threw in at the last moment

I hear this a lot, but I hear from more informed sources that after seeing PS1 they totally scrapped their existing design and started over with like 18 months to go. IIRC, the original so-called "Giga Drive" design was reported to be much closer to the arcade systems; something like a hybrid of Model 1 and System 32. I've never heard any real support for the notion that 3D was thrown in at the last minute except that it's something that "everyone knows". Considering the number of staggeringly wrong things that "everyone knows" about console tech ("You can't burn Gamecube DVDs because it spins the discs backwards!") , I don't give that much weight.

Also, the main reason most of Saturn's games are 2D is that it had a huge number of arcade ports from Capcom, SNK, Raizing, Taito, et. al. The fact that Saturn kicks PS1's ass at 2D does not mean that Saturn sucks at 3D or wasn't designed for 3D.

uhh there has been documentaries on it, I remeber on that show "Icons" they were talking about how it was originally suppose to be a 2d machine but add 3d elements later to compete with the ps1..

I'm sure you also learned from "Icons" that the Saturn was 'hard to code' for. When that was mentioned in the show it came from the lead art director from Rez. yea, REALLLLLLL reliable.

because its impossible for an art director to actual talk and or know actual programmers while working on the game..right

[Quzar]

the saturn was orginally suppose to be a super power 2d machine, the 3d elements were threw in at the last moment

I hear this a lot, but I hear from more informed sources that after seeing PS1 they totally scrapped their existing design and started over with like 18 months to go. IIRC, the original so-called "Giga Drive" design was reported to be much closer to the arcade systems; something like a hybrid of Model 1 and System 32. I've never heard any real support for the notion that 3D was thrown in at the last minute except that it's something that "everyone knows". Considering the number of staggeringly wrong things that "everyone knows" about console tech ("You can't burn Gamecube DVDs because it spins the discs backwards!") , I don't give that much weight.

Also, the main reason most of Saturn's games are 2D is that it had a huge number of arcade ports from Capcom, SNK, Raizing, Taito, et. al. The fact that Saturn kicks PS1's ass at 2D does not mean that Saturn sucks at 3D or wasn't designed for 3D.

uhh there has been documentaries on it, I remeber on that show "Icons" they were talking about how it was originally suppose to be a 2d machine but add 3d elements later to compete with the ps1..

I'm sure you also learned from "Icons" that the Saturn was 'hard to code' for. When that was mentioned in the show it came from the lead art director from Rez. yea, REALLLLLLL reliable.

because its impossible for an art director to actual talk and or know actual programmers while working on the game..right

What I'm saying is that the people who gave the information on icons were for the most part only regurgitating things that were already commonly known from standard internet myth/rumor type things. The one informative part was the man who told about how the only reason they actually stopped physically producing dreamcasts is becasue they were already grossly overstocked and nobody was buying, which countered the popular belief that it was just a single 'kill it' decision.

[Covar]

A common misconception is that 3D capabilities were added as an afterthought to the Saturn to compete with the Sony PlayStation and later with the Nintendo 64. In reality its 3D display chip, VDP1, was a logical progression of the established framebuffer-based sprite hardware implemented in the Sega System 24 and System 32 arcade platforms.

there. now all three of you shut up.