Introducing the PS3 Console

Packed inside the Playstation 3 Console is some pretty fantastic technology. At centre of the PS3 Console is a powerful micro processor, the Cell Broadband Engine. So what does this actually mean? Well, bigger worlds for one thing. Using parallel worlds the Cell Processor Broadband Engine does more of everything at the same time. This creates worlds which are frighteningly real and massive. The Cell Broadband Engine can produces 60 frames per second of high definition graphics with lightening effects and detail like you have never seen before.

But wonderful graphics are only part of making a game life like - you also need an understanding of physics. The way things interact and behave are just as important and the PS3 console is smart enough to make things behave in an amazingly realistic ways.

The Playstation 3 Console can also make your enemies smarter. Parallel processing means foes with better artificial intelligence and a tougher challenge for you. There's another amazing technology inside the PS3 Console - Blu-Ray.

Blu-Ray is a huge leap for Next Generation format. It allows the highest High Definition picture quality and 7.1 channel surround sound. But more importantly Blu-Ray give game developers a greater canvass so they can create games which are bigger, fresher and more fun. A built in hard drive means that your PS3 console has plenty of storage for games, downloads and a lot more.

PS3 console

Specification

The PS3 console provides you with the ultimate in high definition, media storage and compatability. The PS3 console utilises Cell Broadband Technology to offer the ultimate all-rounde game station. The PS3 console, with its in-built Blu-Ray drive, offers great high definition gaming and unbeatable digital media storage. If you are looking for the best of the best, the PS3 Console is the answer. Once you have bought the the PS3 console, you'll wonder how you ever lived without it!

PS3 Console spec

High-definition capabilities: Enjoy HD entertainment, HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface) means you can use your PS3 console with high-definition televisions as well as conventional TVs.

Hard Disk Drive (HDD): PS3 consoles comes with a 160GB hard disk drive (HDD) allowing you to store your music, images and video files as well as content downloaded from Sony’s online service.

System interoperability: The PS3 console and PSP are designed to work together so you can easily exchange media like photos, videos and music from your Play Station 3 system to your PSP. Game developers are also working on innovative and exciting ways of integrating the PSP system into PS3 games.

Backwards compatibility: The PS3 Console is compatible with over 1000, but not all, PSone and PlayStation 2 games as well as audio CDs and DVDs.

Always on: PS3 delivers an "always-on" online experience; offering a world of online possibilities including multiplayer gaming, text and video messaging, voice chatting, downloading content and browsing the internet.

Blu-Ray: The built-in Blu-ray disc player means you can enjoy next-generation high-definition entertainment, including games and movies.

PS3 Console - what's inside?

Powered by the Cell Broadband Engine, the PS3 console's revolutionary microprocessor leapfrogs the performance of existing processors, giving the PS3 consoles supercomputer-like power and performance that until now, game developers have only dreamed about. For example, the Cell Broadband Engine is 40 times faster than the chip that is found inside the PlayStation 2 console.

At the heart of the PlayStation 3 console is the Cell Broadband Engine, which is the very thing that game developers have always dreamt about. Its unique multi-processing unit design represents a tour de force in parallel processing. The ability to do more of everything at the same time means more enemies, more AI, more explosions, and more realistic gameplay. Amazing gameplay elements such as ragdoll physics and keyframe animation, enemy AI behaving unpredictably, glass cracking based on the size of the object that impacted it, and individual flecks of dust in a beam of sunlight are all possible with the PS3 console. The Cell Broadband Engine has the muscle and horsepower to move beyond artificial intelligence.

PS3 Console - Blu-ray:

The built-in Blu-ray disc player means you can enjoy next-generation high-definition entertainment, including games and movies. Just as the DVD offered a technological leap from CDs, Blu-ray is the next leap forward in the advancement of data storage technology and digital entertainment. With Blu-ray, the PlayStation 3 console offers game developers unprecedented power to express their creativity and a larger canvas to produce a level of interaction, sophistication and reality that has never existed in gaming. More than an evolution, Blu-ray is a revolution that frees developers from the constraints of storage space and allows them to dream in Blu-ray.

High-definition: Blu-ray’s vast storage capacity (50 GB BD vs. 5 GB DVD) supports the large data requirements of high-definition games and movies.

Pristine picture quality: Blu-Ray delivers pristine picture quality at 1080p - the highest-definition resolution available today.

Theatre-quality audio: The PlayStation 3 has audio that redefines "life-like" with its 7.1 channel surround sound and true lossless audio. This theatre-quality "uncompressed" audio supports 8 channels of Liner PCM and up to 32 audio streams.

Quality movies in high-definition: Seven of the eight major movie studios have already announced titles for Blu-ray, including Warner, Paramount, Fox, Disney, Sony, MGM and Lionsgate.

Recordable media: Blu-ray offers a recordable format with unsurpassed storage capacity to store your digital world: photographs, home videos, music libraries and data, as well as games and movies.

Maximum bit rate: With the overwhelming computational power of its Cell Broadband Engine processor, the PlayStation 3 is capable of playing back content from Blu-Ray at a bit rate of multiplex 48Mbps, the maximum bit rate defined in Blu-Ray standards.

Industry support: Blu-Ray has the broadest industry support for any disc format ever launched and is supported by more than 170 of the world’s leading consumer electronics, personal computer and media manufacturers including Apple, Dell, Hitachi, Hewlett-Packard, JVC, LG, Mitsubishi, Panasonic, Pioneer, Philips, Samsung, Sharp, Sony, TDK and Thomson.

PS3 Console SIXAXIS wireless controller:

Utilising sensors designed to read when a player angles, tilts, thrusts, or pulls, the SIXAXIS controller was designed to become a natural extension of the player’s body. And with the heritage of the PlayStation system’s basic controller design still intact, gamers are now able to harness the intuitive movements of a multi-axis controller in a design that they are familiar and comfortable with.

Motion sensing system: Thanks to breakthrough technology and a highly sensitive motion sensing system, the controller is a natural extension of the user’s body.
Bluetooth: The PS3 can support up to seven wireless controllers using Bluetooth technology.
Wireless or wired: The SIXAXIS controller can be easily switched from wireless to wired.
Analogue joysticks: The tilting angle of the analogue joysticks has been slightly broadened to enable more delicate and dynamic manipulation.
L2/R2 buttons: The shape of the L2/R2 buttons has been altered, enabling increased travel and precision for more subtle control in games.
USB charging: Plug into a USB cable and automatically charge the controller through the system at any time.

PS3 console - Multimedia support:

The PlayStation 3 provides an endless array of multimedia activities, all without even inserting a game. It gives you unprecedented control, access and enjoyment of a full range of digital media including music, photos, video and internet content.

Music and audio

Play music CDs

Connect to the internet to obtain detailed album information including album title, artist, length of album

Copy CDs directly to your hard disk drive (HDD)

Store and listen to other formats of audio/music files

Movies and videos

Play Blu-ray discs and DVDs

Connect your digital video camera directly to your PlayStation 3 with a USB cable

Store and watch your own videos

Download exclusive video content from the PlayStation Store and the PlayStation 3 Portal

Photos

Store your personal digital photo albums

Use any of the various slideshow options to view stored images

Internet

Surf the internet with the PlayStation 3 Internet Browser and the SIXAXIS wireless controller.