No Disc Drive in Playstation 4?

[Borys]

There is a short article (http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=3664) over at DailyTech (http://www.dailytech.com/) that touches our favourite Blu-Ray vs HD-DVD battle, restates the "PS3 shelf life will be 10 years" saying and has a very interesting quote from Sony's Phil Harrison about Playstation 4 media format:


With the rising popularity of using an online marketplace to download games, additional game content, demos and movie trailers, many are questioning the need for physical media in the future. “I’d be amazed if the PlayStation 4 has a physical disc drive,” said Harrison to Wired Magazine. While the market may not be quite to the point where a 100% digital distribution model would be feasible for console gamers, it may be ripe for the picking when the PlayStation 4 is released.
Excellent news for future PS4 owners.

PS It's good to be back!

[Tricky Thumb]

I'd say that while interesting, it's a bit early to be discussing the techincal possiblities of the PS4.

[Adam Blue]

Hmmm....Ok, first Sony should worry about some good games, or just games period, to release with the PS3. First they tell us about the mem card transfer and now marketplace content. I want some friggin' game announcements!!!!!

[Heretic Machine]

Blu-ray is future proof!

[The Continental]

What he failed to mention was that the PS4 would itself be completely intangible as a result of digital distribution, and that you could pay for it with hopes and dreams.

[F3nyx]

hopes and dreamsAKA your eternal soul. Faust would be proud.

[Arphahat]

Just because one guy would be amazed doesn't really mean much of anything. It seems that is said just off-the-cuff.

[GammaLeak]

Ah yes, just on the heels of news about Sony's amazingly perfect backward's compatibility for the PS3 is news that, apparently the PS4 may have no physical disc drive and thus no backward's compatibility with any previous Playstation titles.

;)

[Syrinx]

What he failed to mention was that the PS4 would itself be completely intangible as a result of digital distribution, and that you could pay for it with hopes and dreams.

Nah, you'll just trade in your entitlements.

[Adam Blue]

Ah yes, just on the heels of news about Sony's amazingly perfect backward's compatibility for the PS3 is news that, apparently the PS4 may have no physical disc drive and thus no backward's compatibility with any previous Playstation titles.

;)

Hahaha good call there. I missed that.

[pavlovscow]

Actually, the digital distribution angle is exactly the reason why I don't care about the HD wars. We are already downloading music. Movies are hot on their heels. Why would we ever need hard media, if we have portable, reusable hard drives?

[GrinR]

PS4 is so going to suck in comparison with the Z-Box. Microsoft will finish off the PS3 in 2008 and you'll have the PS4 reminding you of an old favorite:

http://img468.imageshack.us/img468/262/storyphantomboxad2.jpg

[rickmus]

Ignoring the fact that Sony is hot to have backwards compatibility, then not having physical media rules that out, not being able to play DVD movies, being able to play Blue-Ray movies, not being able to play Cyan-Ray movies, etc. PS4 will have a physical media, I guarantee it!

[Adam Blue]

Ignoring the fact that Sony is hot to have backwards compatibility, then not having physical media rules that out, not being able to play DVD movies, being able to play Blue-Ray movies, not being able to play Cyan-Ray movies, etc. PS4 will have a physical media, I guarantee it!

Well, according to that dude, he'd be surprised.

[Dag-Sabot]

PS4 will have a physical media, I guarantee it!
Bet you my hover-car it won't!
Well, according to that dude, he'd be surprised.
He's got plenty of surprises coming much much sooner. Say umm November?

[zipR]

Instead of a disc drive, it'll use these:

http://www.cibernetic.com/art/t_superatari5.jpg

It worked before, right?

[Harlan Hoyt]

http://www.cibernetic.com/art/t_superatari5.jpg

Good lord do I want to play Super Atari Poetry! e.e. cummings FTW!

I think it's an awful funny thing for a Sony guy to say, on the dawning of their new media format, that media formats will be obsolete by 2016. I guess then you'll have to buy all your movies on Sony Blu-Brain-Ray.

[Grifter]

Didn't Gates say pretty much the same thing a few months ago...the media part not the PS4 part.

Considering the PS4 will be here around 2012-2013 what the fuck is the point of Blu-Ray if not to screw over your fanbase and take their money for a soon to be obsolete(sp?) technology. Gotta love Sony :rolleyes:

[Royal Fool]

Typical PR speak from Sony. Sony won't be abandoning physical media unless they can make exorbitant amounts of money off electronic purchases.

Why do people listen to Krazy Ken and Phil?

[MasterEvilAce]

Few things.. with no "physical drive" in PS4.. you're not only screwing yourself with customers that don't have broadband, or have broadband limits placed on them by their ISPs (10 years from now.. it would have gotten better, hopefully.. but right now, it's too early to tell)

secondly, PS4 = no backwards compatibility :P

this also points out a problem with sony.. they think more about the future than present, perhaps? "Oh, let's not worry about that on the PS3.. we'll fix it for the PS4"

[Returner]

I don't want any fucking console to last 10 damn years.

[Borys]

Nobody noticed the subtle bapenguin's newspost reference I made?

It is the "excellent news for..." line.

[MoJoBehaumat]

No way. Sony is going to release an add-on device for PS4 that allows CD/DVD/HDDVD/BlueWave/HeliumDisk all for the low low price of.... 2 billion yen :rolleyes:

[Kefkataran]

Interesting idea, but like Tricky Thumb said it's WAY to early to know if this will actually be feasible at the time the PS4 is in development.

[Borys]

Kef has 9000 posts ?!?

Mind melts.

[Dracula-X]

Kef has 9000 posts ?!?

Mind melts.
He's very chatty. :)

[eth3rton]

“I’d be amazed if the PlayStation 4 has a physical disc drive,”

Sony quietly surrenders the the format war....... ;)

[CrashCart]

Nobody noticed the subtle bapenguin's newspost reference I made?

It is the "excellent news for..." line.
I just skimmed the comments to see if anyone else had noticed. Either they're ignoring it, or they're a little slow. Nice placement, too, right above bap's news item.

[Rook34]

The PS3's not even out and already they are making it obsolete. Too funny.

Somebody should start a list like the Chuck Norris'isms for the PS4 on what it can do. It would be funny. I just can't think of anything yet.

[Kefkataran]

Kef has 9000 posts ?!?

Meh. I've been in the 8000s for a long time. I just hit 9000 today. Boring summer job with computer access = me posting lots.

[Taco]

PCs will perform a form of mind meld when the PS4 is out.

The mouse, though just an abstract object in your mind, will still be better.

[Taco]

Few things.. with no "physical drive" in PS4.. you're not only screwing yourself with customers that don't have broadband, or have broadband limits placed on them by their ISPs (10 years from now.. it would have gotten better, hopefully.. but right now, it's too early to tell)

On a more serious note, think of where we were in 1996. And I don't think we've seen anything yet. I suspect we'll be looking at 10mb speeds like we look at RAM capacity in the 80s, 64k!!!!!. Internet lines are going to become a neccessity for everything in the relatively near future and are going to power things we can't even think of now. Gaming and apps ought to be a piece of cake.

[Jack B]

I've said many times, that the biggest competitor to Blu-Ray, HD-DVD acceptance will be digital distribution and people hanging on to DVD's until they jump to digital.

I could easily be wrong as it's a race against time for compression, bandwidth and the cable/satellite providers giving more on-demand content, but physical media will go the way of the 3 1/2 inch floppy at some point.

We'll have personal backup storage, but snail mailing CD's and buying physical CD's has a life expectancy at some point...

[flinxz]

... but physical media will go the way of the 3 1/2 inch floppy at some point.

You mean we will keep them around just to install drivers?

[31 Flavas]

What he failed to mention was that the PS4 would itself be completely intangible as a result of digital distribution, and that you could pay for it with hopes and dreams.Nah nah... The PS4 will be intangible because it will be part of the Virtual Console on Nintendo's post Wii video game machine.

[Deadend]

As long as my PS9 still comes in a inhaler.

[Zeal]

Fully digital distribution and storage = the future.

ACCEPT YOUR FATE.

[Phanto]

I don't think that PS4 will not have a physical disc dirve, why?!?
Two words: backward compatibility

Anyway still too freaking early to be talking about the PS4 shhessh the PS3 isn't even released yet and people is already talking about PS4... :confused:

[31 Flavas]

ACCEPT YOUR FATE.OH NOZ! IT IS SO! ZEAL HAS SPOKEN!

[Xerxes]

I'm sorry networks in the US are too slow for that. Sure in the last five years we've gotten boost, but I mean we need some big ones soon for that kind of action. People want instant gratification. You won't get that having to download a game to HDD in the morning, go to work, kick back, decide to game, and see the shitty ass console is still downloading. I'm not calling the console shitty as in PS4 is ass already but you as a pissed off gamer wouldn't be to happy about not getting your game when you want it so I'm gonna be pissed at something. And I'm sorry for that type of action we're going to need massive, massive HDDs. There getting cheaper by the day so I doubt that's a big concern.

[thecrazyd]

How long do you think it will take for Kefy to hit 10000? We should throw him a party.

[31 Flavas]

I'm not calling the console shitty as in PS4 is ass alreadyMight as well. And I mean why not get it over with now... You know some one is going to say it sooner or later.

[31 Flavas]

How long do you think it will take for Kefy to hit 10000? We should throw him a party.Give him a cookie, too!

[Taco]

I'm sorry networks in the US are too slow for that.

Not sure how that's relative to silly speculation about the future.

I suspect 10-15 years from now a 5gb download will be sucked down in a matter of minutes. If not, seconds.

[Zeal]

We need a script that automatically bans you when you hit 10,000 posts.

"You have been banned. Reason: Get a life."

[Taco]

I'm scared to think how much I posted at VE back in it's glory days. I corrupted all with my inanity.

Thank goodness for the lack of post count.

[Kelegacy]

We need a script that automatically bans you when you hit 10,000 posts.

"You have been banned. Reason: Get a life."
Kefka is the epitome of Geek. He needs not an outside life. He has hundreds of comic books, novels by obscure European authors, wears Coke-bottle glasses, he works for a videogame site as a comic book news guy and is the lead poster at said site, has a videogame podcast that airs on FRIDAY NIGHTS, and jerks off to free girl on girl porn before the grease from dinner at KFC dries on his palms.

But he has a girlfriend, so that washes EVERYTHING. Do you have one, Zeal? ;)

[Zeal]

Of course I got a fuckfriend (gf). I just bout a new Benz, nigga.

http://img78.imageshack.us/img78/9960/benz2my7.jpg

LAZURRRR KEYYYYYYYY

[31 Flavas]

Of course I got a fuckfriend (gf). I just bout a new Benz, nigga.

[img snip]

LAZURRRR KEYYYYYYYYFuckfriend... You sure she isn't the inflatable kind?

[Zeal]

Affirmative. Cyberdyne Systems Real Doll, Model 101.

Highly effective sucking machine.

[Kelegacy]

Affirmative. Cyberdyne Systems Real Doll, Model 101.

Highly effective sucking machine.
Fuck the doll. I'll suck you off for a Benz.

[Zeal]

Fuck the doll. I'll suck you off for a Benz.
I feel violated. I call for KELEGACY BAN by reason of sexual harassment and thread jacking.

STAY ON TOPIC!!!11 1

[eth3rton]

Fuck the doll. I'll suck you off for a Benz.

Thats sooooo wrong on soooo many levels... :(

[tombofsoldier]

The PS4 will have human bodies as the power supply, use animal brains as a storage device, and will use trained monkey slaves doing calculations for the graphics.

[Deadend]

Thats sooooo wrong on soooo many levels... :(
but on so many other levels... it's so right.

[Kefkataran]

How long do you think it will take for Kefy to hit 10000? We should throw him a party.

I'd be down with that.


Kefka is the epitome of Geek. He needs not an outside life. He has hundreds of comic books, novels by obscure European authors, wears Coke-bottle glasses, he works for a videogame site as a comic book news guy and is the lead poster at said site, has a videogame podcast that airs on FRIDAY NIGHTS, and jerks off to free girl on girl porn before the grease from dinner at KFC dries on his palms.

That's mostly correct. Small corrections: my glasses aren't that thick, though they are very high prescription because I'm practically blind. Also, there's no KFC in this area, so whatever. But seriously, Zeal saying I have no life doesn't concern me for some reason. ;)

On-topic: Anyone think Sony could be doing some negative shit to their relationship with physical retailers by saying stuff like this?

[Norse]

10 years? The PS3 will look really dated the last 5 years of its lifetime when the next Xbox has been released. And how many PS3's would you need to buy to have a working one throughout the 10 years?

[mixuk]

Come on, wouldn't you guys love to get all the games directly from the marketplace? You are already downloading 1gb demos without a shrug.

[Kefkataran]

10 years? The PS3 will look really dated the last 5 years of its lifetime when the next Xbox has been released. And how many PS3's would you need to buy to have a working one throughout the 10 years?

Sony's stuck a "10-year life span" for their consoles since the original PS1. That doesn't mean the next gen doesn't come out before that 10 years is up.

[wolfma]

great to talk about PS4 now, the 3 isn't even out yet.

Any next gen console needs a 5++ year lifespan --- according to MS and Sony it will take 3++ years for the console to be profitable (MS said the division to be profitable in 2008?), and then you will need a few years to recuperate the losses of the precious years. If I follow my argumentation, we will receive the next console gen not before 2012 ... (hard to believe)

anyway - next gen consoles will not have a cd/dvd or comparable drive - well, I could agree to that, these days a 2++GB SD card is pretty cheap, it will be even less expensive 5++ years from now (perahps 10GB for $10 or so), copy protection will probably be easier (just guessing). Also - a lot of game-buying will happen through downloads ... but not everyone will have a 10Mb++ connection, the rest will buy throug USB or SD cards


Another interesting question - will there by hard drives in the next gen console. I'm also not sure about that, memory cards, sd, etc are getting cheaper, less power hungry, and probably more fault taulerant. Also - if I have a NAS device in my house, why would I need a big storage device on my console ...


just my thoughts-
back to playing ...

Wolfgang

[easi]

Here's how PS4 delivery will work if broadband penetration/adoption isn't high enough:

You take your Sony-branded USB stick-like device to a bricks n mortar store where they have a kiosk or station (like an arcade cabinet) and download games using the dedicated fibre it's hooked up to.

Sony-branded sticks will cost $599.99, but sticks which can only hold games with crappy graphics will retail for $499.99. So it's really $499.99, really.

[Kelegacy]

That's mostly correct. Small corrections: my glasses aren't that thick, though they are very high prescription because I'm practically blind. Also, there's no KFC in this area, so whatever. But seriously, Zeal saying I have no life doesn't concern me for some reason. ;)


Well, at least you know I'm kidding. People have been touchy around here lately, even with my trademark love-jabs. But not my Keffy! :)

[The-Builder]

So erh.... for the ps3 we get Blu-ray in order for developers to make much better games, using the 50gb (or whatever it is) space there's on blu-ray discs.

Now ps4, which i suppose will have even bigger and better games, we're going to be downloading the games... So we're talking 50gb+ downloads, which would be quite alot to download even with whatever broadband speeds will be common in 10 years, plus we'll need harddrives big enough to actually have room for all the games...

Something is just wrong with sony's way of thinking.

(and what about backwards combatibilty?)

[easi]

Maybe Sony will let you rip your old games and transfer the images to the PS4.

..I kill me.

[Megalith]

There will be no PS4.

[Schnoogs]

“I’d be amazed if the PlayStation 4 has a physical disc drive,”

Sony quietly surrenders the the format war....... ;)


HAHAH!! Good point!

[Magnanimous Gnome]

Fuck the doll. I'll suck you off for a Benz.


Fuck, I'm broke and can't find a job. I'm going to be in the park sucking dick for $20 a pop pretty soon.

Just think of how angry my posts will become once I have to deal with herpes. :mad:

[MoJoBehaumat]

Just think of how angry my posts will become once I have to deal with herpes. :mad: :eek:
Hahaha
Gnome sucking dick left a gross picture in my mind. :(

[Magnanimous Gnome]

:eek:
Hahaha
Gnome sucking dick left a gross picture in my mind. :(


More gross than the thought of Kelegacy doing it?? :(

[MoJoBehaumat]

More gross than the thought of Kelegacy doing it?? :(

Yea its pretty damn close, almost as close as the Luke & Leia kiss... ;)

[blackzc]

I will prolly stop buying the games i do if it goes to DLing every game you buy. Im a collector and i have no problem ending my collection when they cant even give me a mother fucking box and a CD/cart....stupid shit i tell ya!!!

[easi]

You don't need a box or a disc. Stop clinging to those archaic values.

Will box art enhance your enjoyment of the GAME? No.

[Zurik]

Eh, I think I'm gonna hold out for the PS9. It downloads games directly to your brain!!!

[MoJoBehaumat]

Will box art enhance your enjoyment of the GAME? No.

Why hell yea :D
Plus I love being able to take my game wherever I go, weither it be friends house, or to go trade in.
You are going to to loose all flexablility that comes with that great box art :)

[Taco]

You don't need a box or a disc. Stop clinging to those archaic values.

Will box art enhance your enjoyment of the GAME? No.


Students of good games would recognize the value of a physical manual. But that doesn't apply to this platform I suppose.

[MoJoBehaumat]

Plus if you dont read the manual, what the hell would you do if the game caused you to go into convulsions??
Just plug it in and play again I suppose ;)

[Sl1pstream]

Are there even going to be stores that will sell these things? Don't stores only make a profit on software? Without a way to get any kind of profit out of these things, why would any store sell digital distribution-only consoles?

[NeoSuplex]

The PS3's not even out and already they are making it obsolete. Too funny.

Somebody should start a list like the Chuck Norris'isms for the PS4 on what it can do. It would be funny. I just can't think of anything yet.

You really shouldn't have said that...


To Sl1p: Your thinking of the Console Makers. They loose money on every console they sell. Retailers make money as long as they can move the product, whatever it is.

[blackzc]

You don't need a box or a disc. Stop clinging to those archaic values.

Will box art enhance your enjoyment of the GAME? No.

Archaic?..dude really, cmon....man to man here. lol

Like i said, im a collector. Do you throw away your DVDs after you watch them 10 times, do you throw away your comics after you read them?

What you buy on a DL service will be gone after your HD crashes or the system becomes obsolete, UNLESS, they have a backup system in place for you to re-DL everything you lost in your crash or your upgrade to the new system, Which we all know will not happen, there is to much money to be made there.

[Kefkataran]

What you buy on a DL service will be gone after your HD crashes or the system becomes obsolete, UNLESS, they have a backup system in place for you to re-DL everything you lost in your crash or your upgrade to the new system, Which we all know will not happen, there is to much money to be made there.

??? Every download service so far that's been big (mainly Steam and Xbox Live) provide the simple back-up of having games tied to your account. I don't see that much reason to worry, to be honest.

[easi]

Why hell yea :D
Plus I love being able to take my game wherever I go, weither it be friends house, or to go trade in.
You are going to to loose all flexablility that comes with that great box art :)

You can burn your Steam games to disc. As far as trade-in, why do you want to do that if you're a collector??

[blackzc]

??? Every download service so far that's been big (mainly Steam and Xbox Live) provide the simple back-up of having games tied to your account. I don't see that much reason to worry, to be honest.


Your right. But when a console has run its course you wont be transfreing your old games to the next one. That would kill the re-release market.

Also what if (when) steam goes out of buisness? Companies will go out of buisness. There really is no way to keep your games after that.

Im not anti DL but i do need a hard copy of a game i buy most of the time.