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Phil Harrison Edge interview: PS3 controller not final

G

gofreak

GAF's Bob Woodward
Sorry if old. The latest issue of Edge (PS3 is on the cover - bears the subtitle "Sony shows Microsoft how to launch a console at E3") has an interview with Phil Harrison re. PS3. From it:

In terms of hardware design, Playstation 3 certainly seems more...traditional (vs PSP).

They perform a very different function because PSP is very much a public device and the technology and form factor are one and the same whereas PS3 by very nature of its Bluetooth connectivity can be a private device - it can be hidden away, you could even have it in a cupboard. They perform different roles. Oh, and before you ask, the PS3 controller you saw at the conference is not final.

Does that mean you're not especially pleased with the way it's designed?

No, it's just it wasn't particularly clearly communicated that it was just a design study and there's been all sorts of chatter about it.
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He also mentions that all demos shown were either realtime or to spec - "We're not going to be presenting a piece of hardware and then backing it up with games that are irrelevant or incapable of being generated". He also reiterates that he thinks PS3 games will be cheaper to make at launch than PS2 launch games were.

They also have some lovely hires shots of some of the demos and games - shots I hadn't seen before from demos whos' media wasn't released. The UT shots look really really nice. There seem to be some other anecdotes and nuggest packaged away in the main news article itself..I'll post them if there's anything interesting.
 
a design study?

FAILURE!!!!!

Don't mess with the Dual Shock 2 formula....just add triggers and slightly more resistance to the analog sticks and you have a winner.
 
AWSOME NEWS

and the

He also mentions that all demos shown were either realtime or to spec - "We're not going to be presenting a piece of hardware and then backing it up with games that are irrelevant or incapable of being generated".
Click to expand...


that is also AWSOME NEWS! GOOO KILLZONE
 
Now if someone would just make some sense in to them so they'd at the very least include a 1-5GB HD in the damn thing at lunch....
 
One more tidbit - Edge says The Getaway demo was "reusing" assets from the game series, which might explain why some look a little blocky. They were also implementing "automatic white balance correction" etc. to capture how a tourist's camera might view London.

Sony also had originally offered Epic to show their UT demo on video only, but they apparently were the ones who insisted it be demonstrated interactively on stage - presumably a better ad for their engine.
 
I think they should allow in some way to use the old DS2/DS1...Just give us the chance, like X360 does.
The same happened to me with PS2 where I barelly use the DS2...Instead of this I've kept myself to the good old DS1 :P
 
DarienA said:
Now if someone would just make some sense in to them so they'd at the very least include a 1-5GB HD in the damn thing at lunch....
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Damn, dude, at least let them have lunch. They can put the hard drive in after they eat.
 
Also - According to Edge's own article - not the Phil Harrison interview, I should say - the PS3 hardware design itself is due one minor, final revision.
 
gofreak said:
Also - According to Edge's own article - not the Phil Harrison interview, I should say - the PS3 hardware design itself is due one minor, final revision.
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Please let it be the damn font :lol

Actually, thinking about the design that Sony actually came up with, it'd be nice if they just made a few modifications (venting at the top, front USB ports, and an exposable front panel for the CF, SD, and other slot) to this rather old PS3 fake design which I was always fond of due to its minimalistic nature:

ps3fake.jpg
 
robertsan21 said:
AWSOME NEWS

and the

He also mentions that all demos shown were either realtime or to spec - "We're not going to be presenting a piece of hardware and then backing it up with games that are irrelevant or incapable of being generated".



that is also AWSOME NEWS! GOOO KILLZONE
Click to expand...


NVidia assures us that the Killzone demo "was indeed made in realtime".
Click to expand...

http://playscope.com/viewarticle.php?num_article=9236

Bring on the Killzone graphics goodness, that's how a game labeled next gen should look like. :D
 
In terms of hardware design, Playstation 3 certainly seems more...traditional (vs PSP).
Click to expand...
I think the PS3 design is kind of a merger of PSP and PS2 designs. Especially obvious if you look at the black one, which uses basically the same material as PSP. It is however more traditional by the very nature of having the similar 2-tier shape as PS2.

Also - According to Edge's own article - not the Phil Harrison interview, I should say - the PS3 hardware design itself is due one minor, final revision.
Click to expand...
In this, as in the previous question, it's not quite clear whether they are talking about the casing design / industrial design or the design / hardware layout of what's inside (CPU/GPU, etc.)
 
Another lil' tidbit - Sony asked Ninja Theory to put together their demo in March. But obviously they had been working on HS for a good long while..so it was perhaps easier for them to do that than for others. Ninja Theory is also finishing their diary of HS in Edge this month :(

edit - another thing: RSX is apparently undergoing "preproduction work" at Sony's fabs.
 
The problem with the PS2 font is that when they get to PS5, the 'S' and '5' will look almost exactly alike. "PSS" or "P55". But I don't think they should go with Spider-Man font.
 
This interview must have been conducted during E3, which means it's old.
Didn't Chatani said that the final PS3 controller will pretty much be like that with maybe some minor adjustments in a recent interview? (or was that also from E3?)
But I think Chatani knows more than Phil.
 
I think it will be similar.

Someone get the Gamecube prototype pad pictures. The handles were longer (and uglier) on that too. I'm sure even if it looks like a boomerang, that comfortability would be a decent excuse if it had it.
 
radioheadrule83 said:
I think it will be similar.

Someone get the Gamecube prototype pad pictures. The handles were longer (and uglier) on that too. I'm sure even if it looks like a boomerang, that comfortability would be a decent excuse if it had it.
Click to expand...
Prototype 1:
gcnprot1.jpg


Prototype 2 with symmetric B button (I <3 this one):
gcnprot2.jpg
 
gogogow said:
Didn't Chatani said that the final PS3 controller will pretty much be like that with maybe some minor adjustments in a recent interview? (or was that also from E3?)
But I think Chatani knows more than Phil.
Click to expand...
Chatani said this in the interview in the latest issue of Famitsu
so the "banana" is almost the final shape of PS3 controller :D
 
They're not just copying Nintendo's controller, they're copying Nintendo's responses about said controller! :)
 
gogogow said:
This interview must have been conducted during E3, which means it's old.
Didn't Chatani said that the final PS3 controller will pretty much be like that with maybe some minor adjustments in a recent interview? (or was that also from E3?)
But I think Chatani knows more than Phil.
Click to expand...

What "minor" means for someone could very well mean "significant" for someone else.
 
Wait, where is that GameCube proto 1 controller pic from?? Since it's lacking the d-pad, it must be earlier than proto 2. However, proto 2 was the one shown in August 2000 in Spaceworld 2000, and no real pics leaked before that. Even more confusingly, it seems to be shown in some exhibit, with purple silk around it.

? ??
 
Cerebral Palsy said:
Damage control.
Click to expand...

Maybe. But they didn't say ANYTHING about the controller at the show. Everything about the system that was interesting was spotlighted in a demo or in the showcase or in the fact sheets, but most people at the show didn't even know that the controller was this fucked-up thing until they got back and saw a picture of it on the internet.
 
RE4 vs. SH4 said:
The problem with the PS2 font is that when they get to PS5, the 'S' and '5' will look almost exactly alike. "PSS" or "P55". But I don't think they should go with Spider-Man font.
Click to expand...

They could always pull the SOCOM switcheroo and start going with Roman Numerals. PSV would be a good start. :)
 
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