It used to do more: Sony's flip-flopping PS3 history

[Ironman273]

It used to do more: Sony's flip-flopping PS3 history

By Andrew Webster

The news that Sony is being sued after removing support for Linux from the PlayStation 3 serves as a reminder that the console has changed quite a bit since its release. While we have a new, slimmer version of the PS3, many of these changes have come as a result of Sony removing features that were once heralded as selling points for the console. Sony doesn't seem to be able to make up its mind about what is important and what can go. Here's a look at how the company's stance has changed as features have been dropped.

Rumble

When Sony originally unveiled the Sixaxis?the original PS3 controller, which supported motion support but not rumble?Phil Harrison, former head of SCE worldwide studios dismissed the importance of rumble, saying:

"I believe that the Sixaxis controller offers game designers and developers far more opportunity for future innovation than rumble ever did. Now, rumble I think was the last generation feature; it's not the next-generation feature. I think motion sensitivity is. And we don't see the need to do that. Having said that, there will be specific game function controllers, potentially like steering wheels that do include vibration or feedback function?not from us but from third parties."

But when Sony settled its lawsuit with Immersion and released the Dual Shock 3, its stance on rumble was much different, as the company released a statement saying "The new controller will also benefit PS3 content creators, by giving them the ability to further expand their creative imagination."

This flip-flop was even acknowledged by Sony. Phil Harrison played politics to try to downplay Sony's old stance about rumble. "As to previous statements that I made; we were in a lawsuit?what do you expect me to say? We were in a lawsuit. We were in litigation. Of course I have to defend our view. And actually, I still truly believe that having the Sixaxis controller the way it is is the best way to control games. And I think that we're looking forward to working with Immersion going forward, and who knows where that is leading us."

Backwards compatibility

The PS3's predecessor was an enormous success, and it boasted one of the largest libraries of any game console. So the ability to play all those games on the new PS3 was a big selling point. "PSone runs on the PlayStation 2 through emulation rather than actual hardware. PlayStation 3 will offer the same compatibility for PS2 software and the format will continue forever," Ken Kutaragi said back in 2003. Backwards compatibility has long been touted as a major selling point of PlayStation hardware, allowing gamers to enjoy their existing catalog of games.

"Backwards compatibility, as you know from PlayStation One and PlayStation 2, is a core value of what we believe we should offer," Phil Harrison said in 2006. "And access to the library of content people have created, bought for themselves, and accumulated over the years is necessary to create a format. PlayStation is a format, meaning that it transcends many devices?PSOne, PS2, and now PS3."

When the feature was dropped from new models starting in 2007, SCEA president Jack Tretton said "backward compatibility is a nice secondary consideration, but it's far from the number-one priority."

And there appears to be little possibility that it will return, as Sony's John Koller told Ars. "It's not coming back, so let me put that on the table. But it's all people ever talk about! It's not as big as a purchase intent driver as you may be hearing. We've got such a substantial lineup of titles on the PS3; most people are buying the PS3 for PS3 games. They've buying it for PS3 games and Blu-ray movies. That won't be returning."

Linux

Which brings us to the removal of Linux. While not necessarily a huge selling point, on several occasions Sony did boast about the feature. In 2006, Harrison said that combining Linux support with the PS3's other features essentially made the PC obsolete.

"We believe that the PS3 will be the place where our users play games, watch films, browse the Web, and use other computer functions. The PlayStation 3 is a computer. We do not need the PC."

That stance was repeated multiple times. Phil Harrison stated "One of the most powerful things about the PS3 is the 'Install Other OS' option." Sony engineer Geoffrey Levand wrote to a PS3 mailing list in August 2009, "Please be assured that SCE is committed to continue to support for previously sold models that have the 'Install Other OS' feature and that this feature will not be disabled in future firmware releases."

But once the PS3 was subject to "security concerns," presumably related to the console being hacked, Sony wasted no time in removing the feature.

"This feature enabled users to install an operating system, but due to security concerns, Sony Computer Entertainment will remove the functionality through the 3.21 system software update," the company stated. "In addition, disabling the 'Other OS' feature will help ensure that PS3 owners will continue to have access to the broad range of gaming and entertainment content from SCE and its content partners on a more secure system."

What's next?

What is most concerning about Sony's constantly changing stance is that it could be setting a dangerous precedent: features that once may have sold you on a console could no longer be available once you actually purchase it. Sony's history of making flat, declarative statements only to directly contradict themselves is troubling, and should be remembered. The PlayStation 3 has gained and lost many features, but the take-away is that all statements made by the company should be looked at critically, with the past flip-flops kept in the front of your mind.

Source: Ars Technica

[NeoTrunks]

The biggest concern I have is over the PS2 compatibility. I am still buying PS2 games that I never got the chance to play back then. My 60GB PS3 is definitely out of warranty, so, if I do need to get it replaced, I'll be losing out on a big chunk of my games. And yes, I know I could just hook up my PS2. But that's really not the point. I'd be losing out on upscaling, the wireless controllers, and more shelf space.

[Hedon]

the console has changed quite a bit since its release

2 less USB ports and no media card readers either. Then again, we have a $299 PS3 now instead of a $599 PS3.

[etempest]

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2 less USB ports and no media card readers either. Then again, we have a $299 PS3 now instead of a $599 PS3.

Price drops are due to lower cost of blu-ray lens and shrinking of the cpu/gpu chips.

CEO told investor's that the removal of PS2 BC / other components was not dramatically reducing cost, it was to push ps3 game sales.

http://kotaku.com/gaming/spin/jack-tretton-says-dropping-bc-wasnt-for-cost-measures-312628.php

(Taken from Wall Street Journal)

According to the Wall Street Journal's paraphrasing of SCEA boss Jack

Tretton, the removal of PS2 backward compatibility and other components

isn't "dramatically reducing Sony's cost of manufacturing" on Sony's

behemoth console.

Instead, the handicapping of the PS3 was part of an effort to

"encourage buyers of the entry-level PlayStation 3 to purchase more

games designed specifically for the new system."

[Southern Patriot]

2 less USB ports and no media card readers either. Then again, we have a $299 PS3 now instead of a $599 PS3.

Fortunately, Nyko makes this sweet little device, and its fairly cheap: http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=ps3+media+hub+nyko&rls=com.microsoft:en-us:IE-SearchBox&oe=&um=1&ie=UTF-8&cid=15688574755476544022&ei=diXoS_2JH5CutgOe2LTcCA&sa=X&oi=product_catalog_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CCoQ8wIwAg#ps-sellers

It gets you those other two USB ports back, and at least the most important parts of the media reader (SD and MS readers). It plugs into the lefthand USB port on a fat PS3, leaving the righthand port open (for a total of 4 ports). Not sure if it works on the slim models though.

[Joshie]

They can say whatever they want about why backwards compatibility was removed, but I'm pretty sure most people suspect it's to keep selling all of those PS2 slims. It's not like the PS3 game library has done jack to pull people away from their PS2s completely. If anything, the PS3 is still a completely and utterly useless waste of money for RPG fans, who'd be better off picking up an XBox 360 at this point. Oh look, another war sim. Oh look, another movie game. Oh look, another war sim. It's like the whole industry is made up of platform/Thief/shooter gameplay.

Sony isn't even being very clever about selling the PS2 separately. They could totally do something cute ala Sega CD and make it so the PS2 and PS3 can be stacked or docked onto each other and not just look like two glaringly different body designs taking up space around the TV.

[Hedon]

Price drops are due to lower cost of blu-ray lens and shrinking of the cpu/gpu chips.

True, but I do think that removing the media card readers and USB ports was to help lower the cost of producing PS3s, and offering less sku confusion.

Fortunately, Nyko makes this sweet little device, and its fairly cheap:It gets you those other two USB ports back, and at least the most important parts of the media reader (SD and MS readers). It plugs into the lefthand USB port on a fat PS3, leaving the righthand port open (for a total of 4 ports). Not sure if it works on the slim models though.

Not something I want or need, but a great option for those who do. Thanks for posting.

[Southern Patriot]

Not something I want or need, but a great option for those who do. Thanks for posting.

No problem. When I had my PS3, I had one and it was a life saver. I always had a bunch of things plugged in, so it was either that or a separate USB hub. At least the Nyko unit blends in almost seamlessly with the console and doesn't require extra cables, etc. If they had made it just a touch narrower, you could actually have plugged in two of them for a total of 6 USB ports and two card readers!

[+Audioboxer Subscriber²]

And all the stuff they've added since firmware 1.0?

[Ironman273]

And all the stuff they've added since firmware 1.0?

What if you take your car in for service and they say "we took out the air conditioning but added rain-sensing windshield wipers." When you bought it you might've made the decision based on what the item your buying included. Yes, it's nice to have new things but you can't expect someone to purchase something based on what they may or may not add or remove.

[+Audioboxer Subscriber²]

What if you take your car in for service and they say "we took out the air conditioning but added rain-sensing windshield wipers." When you bought it you might've made the decision based on what the item your buying included. Yes, it's nice to have new things but you can't expect someone to purchase something based on what they may or may not add or remove.

Current shoppers?

Not all of us purchased a PS3 when it was $600 and very basic on the OS side.

[Growled Member]

I'll stick with my PS2, thank you very much. I refuse to buy a PS3 until they are backward compatible.

[Fish]

As an owner of a slim, and with no need for Linux, I don't feel I'm missing out on anything.

features that once may have sold you on a console could no longer be available once you actually purchase it

Like what? Taking into account that I (and many like me) neither had, nor want these features, what else is there that Sony could remove. I bought a cheaper, lighter games console and Blu Ray player with some multi-media functions. Arguably, what has been removed was superfluous anyway.

[Emn1ty]

Been saying this since they removed B/C. It was literally the biggest blow to the console in terms of games. How do you push PS3 game sales when no one has your system to play the games? Backwards compatibility gets the console in their hands. It serves as a replacement for the old one and justifies a tradein towards the new system. Removing a feature that would push sales of the actual hardware in favor of software sales makes no sense to me.

And all the stuff they've added since firmware 1.0?

Adding software doesn't make up for the removal of major hardware based features. Second, it is also incredibly stupid to alienate your users by removing features that have been present for years. Linux is backwards compatibility being removed from previously sold consoles in essence.

[+Audioboxer Subscriber²]

As an owner of a slim, and with no need for Linux, I don't feel I'm missing out on anything.

Like what? Taking into account that I (and many like me) neither had, nor want these features, what else is there that Sony could remove. I bought a cheaper, lighter games console and Blu Ray player with some multi-media functions. Arguably, what has been removed was superfluous anyway.

Haven't you heard, Blu Ray disc support is next, and soon you won't even be able to eject discs

The only things the PS3 was good for was spending $600 to play your PS2 games and running the worlds most popular OS, Linux

[rajputwarrior]

i wish the slim was backwards compatible :( i still haven't played snake eater (worst MGS fan ever...) and ff12

[Southern Patriot]

what else is there that Sony could remove. I bought a cheaper, lighter games console and Blu Ray player with some multi-media functions.

OK, so what happens when someone figures out a way to crack the system via a flaw in the media or Blu-Ray playback functions? How reluctant do you think Sony will be to disable media playback? They've already shown that it only takes the THREAT of hacking for them to yank features that have been included since the beginning. And before you say "they can't disable Blu-Ray playback because the games are on Blu-Ray", remember that for the games, Blu-Ray Discs are simply a storage medium. Blu-Ray movie playback is a totally separate "feature" that could be disabled just as quickly and easily as OtherOS was.

[DrunknMunky Veteran]

lol the title photo is awesome

*right click, saves*

Also +1 to post #10

[Hedon]

+1 to post 10 as well. Good analogy.

[Solid Knight]

OK, so what happens when someone figures out a way to crack the system via a flaw in the media or Blu-Ray playback functions? How reluctant do you think Sony will be to disable media playback? They've already shown that it only takes the THREAT of hacking for them to yank features that have been included since the beginning. And before you say "they can't disable Blu-Ray playback because the games are on Blu-Ray", remember that for the games, Blu-Ray Discs are simply a storage medium. Blu-Ray movie playback is a totally separate "feature" that could be disabled just as quickly and easily as OtherOS was.

Removing Blu-Ray Playback would land them in some pretty hot water. Other OS is a feature that goes widely unused. You might as well be complaining about the removal of twenty-four hour clock display mode or yyyy/mm/dd date format.

[+Audioboxer Subscriber²]

Removing Blu-Ray Playback would land them in some pretty hot water. Other OS is a feature that goes widely unused. You might as well be complaining about the removal of twenty-four hour clock display mode or yyyy/mm/dd date format.

No one is removing Blu Ray playback, don't even get involved in such stupid posts.

[Emn1ty]

Removing Blu-Ray Playback would land them in some pretty hot water. Other OS is a feature that goes widely unused. You might as well be complaining about the removal of twenty-four hour clock display mode or yyyy/mm/dd date format.

Wireless goes widely unused. The browser is probably minimal as well. Same for media streaming from the PC. So it shouldn't matter if any of these things are removed from a gaming machine, right? Hell, they removed features they were promoting already (backwards compatibility) so what makes you think they won't remove anything else that they used to sell the console in the past?

[jerzdawg]

No one is removing Blu Ray playback, don't even get involved in such stupid posts.

People probably said the same thing about removing Backwards Compatibility....

and yes, I am aware Sony would never remove Bluray playback

[Emn1ty]

People probably said the same thing about removing Backwards Compatibility....

That's what I thought, seeing as Sony STARTED it!

[Hedon]

Removing Blu-Ray Playback would land them in some pretty hot water. Other OS is a feature that goes widely unused.

Doesn't matter. That feature IS used, and that feature IS advertised and IS in my owner manual.