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In addition to Sony’s previously reported theft of Nintendo’s Wii controller idea (specifically the gyroscopic sensor system), we’ve learned some interesting additional information concerning Sony’s Dual SKU sales model (attentive gamers will recall Sony’s criticism of Microsoft’s dual-SKU model, on which Sony President Phil Harrison said “it just confuses the audience…They don’t know which one to buy, developers don’t know
which one to create for, and retailers don’t know which one to stock” and will scoff at said hypocrisy accordingly). If all you heard was Harrison, Kutaragi and Hirai talking up the two PS3 versions in the press conference, you’d think that the only difference between the PS3 Core and PS3 premium was the size of the
hard drive. Turns out, nothing could be further from the truth. Let’s take a look at the facts, and we’ll use Sony’s press release to do it.

Let’s start with the obligatory table to help highlight differences between the two systems. In fact, let’s go one better and also compare the specs against the PS3 of yesteryear, circa E3 2005. The E3 2005
edition of PS3’s specs is taken from Sony’s E3 2005 press announcement, the specs for the actual PS3’s are taken from Sony’s E3 2006 press announcement (located here) and from their post-Press Conference announcement (located here), released surreptitiously hours after the press event itself.

Playstation 3’s assorted flavors
E3 2005 Version	2006 Core Pack	2006 Premium Pack	CHANGE
Cell CPU 3.2Ghz	Cell CPU, speeds omitted	Cell CPU, speeds omitted	Speeds curiously no longer listed
RSX GPU 550Mhz	RSX GPU, speeds omitted	RSX GPU, speeds omitted	Speeds curiously no longer listed
BluRay drive	Bluray drive (listed as 2X yet conflictingly stated to read at 48Mbps, which is actually 1.33X BluRay)	Bluray drive (listed as 2X yet conflictingly stated to read at 48Mbps, which is actually 1.33X BluRay)	Bluray drive claims contradicted within Sony’s own documentation. E3 2005 unspecified, so no change is registered.
256MB XDR System memory	256MB XDR System memory	256MB XDR System memory	No change.
256MB DDR3 GPU memory	256MB DDR3 GPU memory	256MB DDR3 GPU memory	No change.
3x GB Ethernet	1x GB Ethernet	1x GB Ethernet	Lost 2 ethernet ports
802.11b/g Wifi	No Wifi	802.11b/g Wifi	No Wifi for Core PS3
1x integrated Wifi Router	No router	No router	Lost router
6x USB 2.0 Ports	4x USB 2.0 Ports	4x USB 2.0 ports	Lost 2 USB 2.0 ports
Memory stick/Compact Flash/ SD Readers	No readers	Memory stick/Compact Flash/ SD Readers	Only $600 Premium pack comes with the card readers
2.5” upgradeable Hard Drive Slot	20GB Drive	60GB Drive	Hard drives now standard but different sized. Also, it’s unclear if the drive can be upgraded.
2X HDMI 1080p output	NO HDMI output, NO 1080p movie playback	1X HDMI output	Loss of both HDMI ports on Core model resulting in NO 1080p movie output. Premium lost 1 HDMI output. Loss of HDMI port MAY mean no BluRay movie playback for HDCP protected movies on Core System.
Controller unannounced except as Bluetooth mockup	Bluetooth Controller with tilt sensitivity announced in Dual Shock form factor	Bluetooth Controller with tilt sensitivity announced in Dual Shock form factor	Dual shock styled controller with tilt sensitivity reminiscent of Nintendo’s Wii system, though not nearly as robust. The new controller also does NOT have rumble functionality.

The chart above tells us a great deal about the Playstation 3 in its final configuration, but more importantly it tells us a great deal about Sony Computer Entertainment. A quick look over the specs tells us first and foremost that Sony has removed or reduced numerous of their previously claimed “standard” features, and in some cases has stripped them so thoroughly out of the system that they now offer a Core system and a Premium system. One notes the conspicuous absence of those details in the actual press conference, however, as Sony carefully omits the damning details of what should soon be lovingly referred to as “The PS3 ‘Tard pack” by gamers everywhere.

Unlike the Xbox 360 Core/Premium setup, in which the core is fully upgradeable to the capabilities of the Premium, the Core PS3 setup can never be the complete unit that the Premium PS3 is. To start with, the lack of HDMI ports on the Core system is something a user simply cannot update on their own. Additionally the internal Wifi capability cannot be added on, nor can the Memory Card readers that exist on the Premium system. While insufficient information is available at the time of this writing, it appears that the Core
system will not support any kind of writeable media for game saves, indicating either the capability to save to the internal hard drive or a complete inability to save (the former seems more likely than the latter).

Looking at the published specs, Sony’s press release itself contains a significant contradiction concerning their storage medium. In the release they list PS3 as containing a 2X Bluray drive, yet in the same release
they list PS3 repeatedly as being capable of streaming data at 48Mbps. For the uninitiated, 48Mbps isn’t 2X

Bluray, it’s 1.33x. According to the Bluray spec, 1x=36Mbps, therefore 2x=72Mbps. Movie playback requires 54Mbps—which is 1.5x Bluray, a small but significant amount faster than the PS3’s listed drive reading capabilities. Whether this is simply a typo or PS3 is unable to play Bluray movies isn’t at all obvious. It may be that the Core pack uses a slightly slower, cheaper Bluray drive than the Premium, but that simply isn’t clear. What IS clear is that the PS3 core system will never be able to output Bluray movies in 1080p, since that requires an HDMI output due to bandwidth needs, to say nothing of HDCP compliance. We’ll do some additional question-asking during E3, assuming we can find someone on theshow floor who’s willing to answer questions.

Another strange item on Sony’s PS3 list is that the new controller, while featuring tilt sensitivity, lacks any rumble functionality. This is undoubtedly a direct result of Sony’s loss to Immersion corporation for

$90,000,000+ for patent infringement with the Dual Shock 2 controller and likely has little or nothing to do with the controller’s tilt sensitivity, particularly given that Nintendo’s Wii controller includes the rumble feature (note that Nintendo owns stock in Immersion Corp and has never had legal troubles with the company) without mention of problems with the tilt sensors.

It’s perhaps not telling, but it is interesting to note that Sony’s specs no longer list CPU speeds for the Cell or RSX processors. While RSX’s speed was never unbelievable, Cell’s seemed suspect when one considers that IBM’s consistently shown off 2.4Ghz flavors of Cell in its blade server but never a 3.2Ghz flavor. Rumors of problems with Cell yields may eventually reveal a drop in the clock speed of PS3’s Cell, or perhaps even a PSP-like scenario in which the processor runs at a slower speed by default but can be overclocked 50% or so when needed by a specific piece of software (for reference, PSP runs at 222Mhz, not 333Mhz as the box states, unless specific games require the additional speed). While this is merely speculation on my part, Sony’s recent history should certainly give any potential PS3 customer pause before they lay down their money.

The first day of press releases for E3 2006 has turned out to be quite interesting indeed, with all indications being that Sony has seriously dropped the ball—and certainly the features—of Playstation 3 to a significant degree. How this will ultimately pan out is anyone’s guess, but if the forums across the ‘net are any indicator, gamers everywhere are fuming at the screwing Sony appears to be trying to pawn off on the market, and more than a little resentment over Sony’s insult to our intelligence is certainly brewing.