PS3 Update: Worldwide release, backwards compatibility, 60 GB HDD @ Gaming Target

Written by John Scalzo on March 15, 2006

News: Sony reveals the goods on the PS3. I am pleasantly shocked.

The real story of the PS3 Press Conference was to, of course, announce some details about the PS3 and put the rumor mill to a grinding halt. Sony would much rather start up the Hype Machine instead. And boy did they ever.

The big detail is that Sony plans to launch the PlayStation simultaneously in Japan, North America and Europe in early November. This would be a first for the company as they plan to supply the market with one million PS3s a month during the launch period, meaning 2 million PS3s should be in stores at the end of 2006. For comparisons sake, Microsoft's recent financial statement said that the company released 1.5 million Xbox 360s in 2005. Or about 1.2 million a month. Uh oh, I smell another shortage.

Joystiq went on to scour the net for the high points of the conference and managed to come away with a pretty good overview of what to expect from the PS3.

Blu-Ray really is the PS3's secret weapon as all games will come on BD-ROM discs, which will feature "a maximum storage capacity of 50 GB and robust security". Those security features were also the reason the PS3 was pushed back from its original "Spring 2006" release date.

If that weren't enough storage space, a 60 GB, upgradeable hard drive will also be included with every system.

Sony went on to confirm that the PS3 will have 100% backwards compatibility with all PS2 and PSone titles. It will also take a page from the Xbox 360 and upscale those classic titles to high definition resolutions.

Sony also touched on the beginnings of a PS3 Live-like service by mentioning that the system will feature "community tools, lobby matching and voice chat" along with downloadable software and other goodies. "Basic" access to this service will be free.

Finally, Sony said that final PS3 dev kits will be shipped to developers in June in anticipation of the system's launch. This will give developers plenty of time to tweak titles for the November launch.

But what about those games you say? No information about specific titles or pricing was revealed. I guess you have to save something for E3.

So there you have it folks. I'll leave you with a capable quote from "Crazy" Ken Kutaragi: "The PS3 concept is '4D'" Sure it is Ken, sure it is.