@BEGIN_FILE_ID.DIZ***C.G.M.*Brings*Ya********************* ** S O N Y P L A Y S T A T I O N ** ** F A Q v 1 . 0 1 ** **************************************** @END_FILE_ID.DIZ =============================================================================== THE COMPLETELY UNOFFICIAL AND COMPLETELY UNBIASED (SORT-OF) SONY PLAYSTATION (SONY PS-X) FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS Version 1.01 (sorry, no spectacular ascii art :( =============================================================================== * MAiNTAiNED, CONCEiVED, AND PRODUCED by: WiLL McBEE mcbeew@ucsuc.colorado.edu =============================================================================== -CONTENTS- * What is the Sony Playstation (aka Sony PS-X)? * What is the history of the Sony Playstation? -> yes, it DOES have a history!?! * Who is supporting the Sony Playstation? * Where/when will it be available? * How much will the hardware and software cost? * What titles will be released for the Sony Playstation? * Will the American, European, and Japanese Playstation be compatible? * Which machines can/will be compared to the Playstation? * RUMORS!!! * Acknowledgements... * Other Stuff... * Other Announcements... =============================================================================== What is the Sony Playstation!? The Sony Playstation, aka PS-X, is the initial video gaming console by electronics giant, the Sony Corporation of Japan. The Sony Playstation has been admittedly been in development for the last 2 or 2.5 years - remember the SNES CD!? Development included both working with LSI Technologies and creating a video game/electronic media department, known as the Sony Computer Entertainment of Japan (SCE) The Playstation is the initial hardware entry by the Sony Corp. into the video gaming arena. Anticipation of the Playstation is high, as well as its expected retail success; although selling the projected 3 million in the first year is quite optimistic though ;) The Playstation is set to compete against the 'next generation' of consoles, which include: 3DO; 3DO M2; Sega 32X; Sega Saturn; Atari Jaguar; Atari Jaguar II (whenever it DOES arrive); Atari Jaguar CD; Nintedo Ultra 64; and the rumored Amiga PA-RISC system. Technically, the Playstation is a 32-bit RISC, CD-ROM/XA2 based video game console. The Playstation is capable of spectacular graphic effects that include: high volume of texture-mapped polygons, incredible sprite renditions, hardware tri-axial rotation, gorraurd shading, among others. Although 3D is seemingly stressed in the majority of the scheduled games, and in the RendorMorphics graphical libraries, there is a built-in 2D background and sprite engine Also, instead of having on board RAM for saving game positions and games; Sony Corp. opted for a 'Neo-Geoish' option, they are utilizing memory cards =============================================================================== What is the history behind the Playstation!? The Sony Playstation actually has a history... a quite controversial one at that. The Playstation is the product of the un-consummated relationship between the Sony Corp. and Nintendo of Japan. The Playstation was the name and designation of the SNES CD-ROM. NOJ and the Sony Corp. briefly combined in a joint effort in order to create a CD-ROM peripheral for the SNES; for the purpose of competing with the Sega-CD. However, NOJ suddenly defaulted on the agreement and re-announced the SNES CD, to be developed by Phillips Electronics; an European corporation. This version of the SNES CD never came to fruition, and the Sony Corp. was stuck with a working model of the SNES CD; known as the Playstation. During the time that the Sony Corp. did work with Nintendo of Japan, which was stated to be only a month, but in all actuality was longer than that (how long, I really do not know); but the Sony Corp. did have three variations of the Playstation up and running: one was the add-on, or SNES CD, one was a 'stand-alone' version, and another was a chipset that could be re-manufactured by anybody that licensed it. These versions had a NEC V800 chip, not the RISC R3000A chip in the released version of the Sony Playstation. What to do!? Well, the Sony Corp. enhanced it, combined with LSI Logic for chip design(s), and are ready to finally release it into competition with the 'next generation' consoles; with its sights set primarily upon the Nintendo Ultra 64, 3DO, and Sega Saturn. =============================================================================== Who is supporting the Sony Playstation!? Supporting the Sony Plastation are a number quality software developers. This list includes: Konami, Capcom, Technosoft, Namco, Taito, Time Warner Interactive, SunSoft, Virgin, UBI Soft, and Takara. Also included on this list is the newly formed Sony Computer Entertainment of Japan (SCE); expect some great titles from these guys (Europe and Japan). See 'Rumors' for other developers. =============================================================================== Where/when will it be available? And for how much!? The Playstation will be available in Japan December 3rd. It will cost 39800 Yen, or roughly $410 US. That is roughly 5000 Yen, or roughly $50 US, cheaper than the 3DO and Sega Saturn (in Japan). And in typical Japanese form, it will undoubtedly be discounted upon arrival; a discount of anywhere from 3000 Yen to 5000 Yen will be implemented, but that is, as of now, speculation. The software for the Playatation will run anywhere from 5400 Yen to 7800 Yen, or even up to 8800 Yen, with the most expensive being A.IV Evolution Special, which includes the mouse and the memory card at 12800; putting the games roughly in the range from $54 US to $80 US, or in the case of A.IV Evolution, $130 US. Concerning the release date(s) for the American and European release, no EXACT date has been set; however, September 1995 is readily accepted. The American and European versions of the Playstation are to come in at, or around $299 to $350 US. =============================================================================== - Hardware Specifications - CPU R3000A 32bit RISC chip @ 33.8mhz Clearing capacity: 30 MIPS Bus bandwidth: 132 Mb/sec CD-ROM -CD-ROM/XA2 -double speed CD-ROM 3D Geometry Engine (High speed matrix calculator) -called the GTE (Geometric Transfer Engine) Clearing capacity: 66 MIPS 1.5 million flat-shaded polygons/sec 500,000 texture-mapped and light-sourced polygons/sec Data Engine -called the MDEC Clearing capacity: 80 MIPS CPU, direct bus connection Compatible with JPEG, MPEG1, H.261 files Graphics processing unit -called the GPU Sound ADPCM, 24 channels Sampling frequency: 44.1 Khz Graphics 16.7 million colours Resolution: 256x224 - 640x480 (max) Resolution: 256x224 - 740x480 (max 1,677k colors) Sprite/BG drawing Adjustable frame buffer No line restriction Unlimited CLUTs (Color Look-Up Tables) 4,000 8x8 pixel sprites with individual scaling and rotation Simultaneous backgrounds 360,000 polygons/sec Memory main RAM: 16Mbits VRAM: 8Mbits (despite controversy, it does have 1 megabyte of VRAM) sounds RAM: 4Mbits CD-ROM buffer: 256K Operating System ROM: 4Mbits RAM cards for data save - RAM cards are 128kbyte flash-memory cards =============================================================================== - Release Sheet (Japanese) - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- December 1994 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NAME MAKER PRICE CATEGORY ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Nekketu Oyako TECHNO SOFT (?) Fighting(Action) PachiSlot hunter FORUM(?) (?) PachiSlot* Heaven Parodius Konami (?) Shooting(Action) deluxe pack Twin Goddess Polygram (?) Fighting(Action) Ridge Racer Namco (?) Race(Action) PHILOSOMA SCE (?) Shooting(Action) Motor Toon SCE (?) Race(Action) Grand Prix Crime Crackers SCE (?) RPG Jikkyou Powerful Konami (?) Baseball(Sports) Professional Baseball'95 Twinbee Taisen Konami (?) Puzzle Puzzle Dama KING'S FIELD FROM SOFTWARE (?) RPG Metal Jacket Pony Canyon (?) Shooting(Action) Houma Hunter Lime Asmic (?) ADV(?) TAMA TWI (?) Puzzle & Action Falkata GUST (?) RPG/SIM Mahjong Station Sun Soft (?) Mahjong VICTORY ZONE SCE (?) Pachinco Mahjong Goku Shanoar(?) (?) Mahjong Tenjiku Ganbare Morikawakun SCE (?) Puzzle 2 gou A-train IV Artdink (?) SIM Cosmic Race Neolex(?) (?) Race Kakigi(?) Shougi ASCII (?) Shougi HAMLET Panther(?)Soft (?) ADV Virtua PachiSlot Map Japan (?) PatchiSlot Raiden(1,2?) SEIBU (?) Shooting(Action) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- After January 1995 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PSX-BOXING NEW (?) Boxing(Sports) Hyper Mahjong ASK (?) Mahjong Game no tatsujin Sun Soft (?) (?) Taikyoku Shougi LOG (?) Shougi Kiwame Hyperion TAITO (?) Shooting IGO PS-X ASCII (?) Igo Shichu-Suimei Datum Polystar 6800yen Fortune telling Pita-Graph Hissatu Pachinco SunSoft (?) Pachinco Collection Formation Soccer Human (?) Soccer Star Flight Fantasy TAITO (?) (?) Tokyo Shadow TAITO (?) (?) BLACK OUT TOEI SYSTEM (?) (?) Hyper IGO ASK (?) Igo Poporo Crois Story SCE (?) Adventure Red Plasm SCE (?) Action Fujimaru Gigoku Hen SCE (?) RPG Ark the Rad SCE (?) RPG 1950 American SCE (?) Board Game Dreams Gensou Suiko-Den Konami (?) (?) Virtual Reality Nichibutsu (?) Mahjong Mahjong Dead Heat Road Nichibutsu (?) (?) Super301 S.Q. Nichibutsu (?) (?) Princess Maker 3 Gainax (?) Sim Holidays of Artdink (?) (?) Aqua-note Kanaderu Success (?) (?) Sofel Fantasia Sofel (?) (?) TOKYO 2020 Rainbow Japan (?) (?) Virtua Mahjong Map Japan (?) (?) * Vampire Capcom (?) Fighting (known as Darkstalkers in the US :) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Uncertain release date... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Blue Forest Story Right Staff (?) (?) The 11th Hour- Virgin Game (?) Adv. The 7th Guest 2 BLOXX Technos Japan (?) (?) Dirby Starion PS-X ASCII (?) Sim Takano's How to Insider (?) Data Base? read world map Demolition Man Virgin Game (?) (?) Indycar Racing Virgin Game (?) Drive Sim Cyber Sled Namco (?) Action Star Blade Alpha Namco (?) Shooting PS-X Pachio kun Coconuts Japan (?) Pachinco PachiSlot Coconuts Japan (?) PachiSlot Cyber War Coconuts Japan (?) Sim(?) Casino Special Coconuts Japan (?) Table Games(?) Soccer Special Coconuts Japan (?) Soccer Live Remix Pro Fire (?) (?) Gundam Bandai (?) Action Zero Devide Zoom (?) Action Motocross Coconuts Japan (?) Sports Toushinden Takara (?) Fighting Race Drivin' TWI (?) Drive Sim Kireak the Blood SME (?) RPG The Rayman UBI Soft (?) Action =============================================================================== Will the American, Japanese, and European Playstation be compatible!? Unfortunately, the answer to this question is no... Sony, and Sega, announced that there will be territorial lock-outs implemented on the Sony Playstation (and Sega Saturn). However, it is unknown whether or not this lock-out will be hardware or software... but, rumors that the Sony Corp. has yet to answer specify that the lock-out announcement was/is just a ploy to stop, or at least slow down, importing... =============================================================================== Which 32-bit, or more, video gaming console is better!? In order NOT to start a silly flame-war, the only thing that I WILL say is that the Playstation will undoubtedly be compared to (in NO particular order): -3DO FZ-1 -3DO FZ-10 (flip-top 3DO with reduced chipset) -3DO M2 (upcoming upgrade to 3DO; utilizing PowerPC chip(s) -Sega Saturn (dual SH2 Hitachi chips) -Sega 32X (dual SH2 Hitachi chips, attachment to Genesis) -Nintendo Ultra 64 (MIPS design R4200 and SGI based Reality Immersion Graphics) -Atari Jaguar (with upcoming Jaguar CD) -Atari Jaguar II (WHENEVER it comes) -Amiga PA-RISC (??) =============================================================================== - RUMORS - However, the Sony Corp. has a *partner* of sorts... it seems that Namco has *joined* forces with Sony in order to extend the competition between Namco and Sega, which is ferocious in the arcade world; however, Namco WILL be supporting the Sega Saturn, which seems to be a conflict of interests. I can only guess that Namco just wishes to make the most money possible. Namco will release for the Playstation, or what has been solicited thus far, (of course) Ridge Racer, Galaxian 3, Solvalou, Cybersled Enhanced, Rave War (a texture mapped Virtua Fighter killer!), Starblade Alpha, Ridge Racer 2 (?), Ace Driver (?), and Attack of Zolgear (??), before December 1995/end of January 1996... and maybe slightly beyond. But, how many of these games depends on the success of the Playstation. Other RUMORS include (stuff that is TOO good not to share, but it may, or may not be true. Regard as you wish :) * Sony and Sega are going to share software. * Sony will be introduced in the States and Europe with over 100 titles in tow! * The Playstation will come network-ready (just for games like Metal Jacket and the such) * Sony is anti-Nintendo; don't blame them. * Sony is preparing the Sony Playstation II. * Sony handed out the Playstation development systems about 18 to 15 months ago to MANY developers. * EA WILL be making games for the Playstation... along with NovaLogic, Spectrum Holobyte, Id Software, among others... * There is an expansion port on the back of the Playstation (PSX II?) =============================================================================== - ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS - Thanks to (in almost no particular order): -Maximillian Simonds (the BIG Kahuna!) -Eunjoon Lee (thanks for the questions) -LSI Logic (thank you for correcting me) -Sony Computer Entertainment of Japan (for making the Playstation) -Gordon Craick (BIG thanks!- If you ever have the chance, check out Frontier Magazine, written by Gordon Craick) -and all of the others that *helped* along the way... -and ME, WiLL McBEE (mcbeew@ucsuc.colorado.edu) ^^ ^^^^ ^^^^^ =============================================================================== - Other Stuff - This is version 1.01 of the Playstation FAQ, only a slight variation of version 1.00. There will be a newer version out soon... I am aiming within a week, if time permits... I am still quite new to making a FAQ; therefore, I could have seemingly left out information that could and would be considered important information - if so, it was done unintentionally and will be corrected in the future versions of the FAQ(s). ANY and ALL input is welcome... Comments and/or criticisms are also welcomed! =============================================================================== - Announcements - The following came too late to be included into the body of the version 1.01 Playstation FAQ; but here it is... * The Playstation CD's are a matte black on the bottom, instead of the silver that we are all accustomed to... I wonder what metal they are using... -The Playstation will have, for attachments and/or outputs: * RGB cable * SVHS cable * network cable - sort of look like a Mac ethernet port * Audio/Video left/right * RF output * Mouse * memory cards * Negi-Con; analog controller by Namco that 'twists' in the middle and will be on sale December 16, 1994 in Japan. * An expansion port accesible by removing a screw... hmmmm... ==============================================================================