Is A PlayStation 3.5 In Our Future?

There has been some talk recently concerning the PlayStation 4; early whispers have begun to permeate the far corners of the Internet. But in looking at the evidence, we've started to wonder if something a little different isn't headed our way...

Since the inception of the PlayStation 3, Sony has said they expect the machine to have a 10-year lifespan. Given the amount of time and money they've dumped into that machine in the past, we have no doubt they'll be loyal to the console for quite a while. This is why a we believe true-blue PlayStation 4 is still a long ways off, but what about the possibility of a PlayStation 3.5? You know, an updated, moderately overhauled, cheaper, slimmer, PS3? Some will simply argue that Sony has been quietly producing something along those lines with all the different models they've released over the past couple of years, and that's legitimate. But if they keep it up and the newer PS3s begin to make the old models look archaic in comparison, Sony might do something intriguing. Say they're four years or so into the PS3's lifespan, and things are nice and steady. But a lot of the hype has died down and they're kinda just coasting along.

Then, something happens that many analysts believe may happen: Microsoft releases a new Xbox right at that time, long before Sony is prepared to issue a new PlayStation. Well, considering the rumors that Sony is planning to use the PS3's Cell processor as the foundation for their next machine, how hard would it be to hold a launch for a "new" system? The hype would return, developers would be happy to know the same basic architecture is there, and the machine would be even more effective overall. It'd be cheaper for consumers, drain less electricity (the PS3 is still a beast in that respect), and might help to further the empire. Of course, this might annoy everyone who already owns a PS3, but not if the PS3.5 is essentially the same deal...it's just a marketing ploy - for all intents and purposes - that re-cultivates consumer interest.

Of course, this is just a theory, but what about cool new names for such a machine? Obviously, PlayStation 3.5 is no good, so how about the PlayStation Revolution? Or the PlayStation Millenium? PlayStation Infinity? Who knows? But to compete with a new system launch from Microsoft and to keep the momentum, especially given all the continual changes Sony makes to their machine, it's not entirely illogical.

10/5/2008 Ben Dutka

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Comments (Beta)

Daedusian
Sunday, October 05, 2008 @ 10:49:12 PM
Reply

I like "Playstation Revolution," it's pretty catchy. Yeah this story definitely makes more sense when we're talking about a PS3.5 rather than a PS4. I was getting all worked up b4 when we were discussing how Sony is looking so quickly into the future lol. It does sound very plausible tho that Sony might have to do this soon. They've done it with the PS2, why not with the PS3? Especially when M$ is considering a new console for 2010 or whatever.

Last edited by Daedusian on 10/5/2008 10:50:57 PM

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Ghostfather
Sunday, October 05, 2008 @ 11:08:16 PM

I agree except I seem to remember the 360 at one point(pre-launch) was supposed to be called the revolution...although I could also be wrong.

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HUSO
Sunday, October 05, 2008 @ 11:34:35 PM

no it was the Nintendo Revolution which magically turned into Wii. I believe the WII's naming also has something to do with it's success :)

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Ghostfather
Monday, October 06, 2008 @ 1:10:09 AM

Yes you are right, I remember that now that you mention it.

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ffrulez
Monday, October 06, 2008 @ 2:09:40 AM

yes, it was the Nintendo Revolution

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Fabi
Sunday, October 05, 2008 @ 11:17:52 PM
Reply

How many devs would jump on board to make a game for MS new system? Not many. If games are already taking 3 years to be made, and millions of dollars, I can't imagine how many resources will be needed for the next gen.

Who's gonna wanna make a game for a console that doesn't have a large install base? By then, the PS3 will be in full swing, and devs will want to keep developing on the more familiar PS3.

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HUSO
Sunday, October 05, 2008 @ 11:33:15 PM
Reply

hehe Playstation Competition would be more like it :D

IMO when it comes to gaming success, past trends may not be the best method to predict the future outcome.

Sony should just forget the re-engineered PS3 release and start a vigorous ad campaign to counter the release of the next iteration of XBOX. although less power hungry PS3 does sound good.

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Cuetes
Sunday, October 05, 2008 @ 11:42:32 PM
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"Playstation Evolution" would be cool, it keeps to the whole change but still the same concept.

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W_Deathstriker
Sunday, October 05, 2008 @ 11:49:55 PM
Reply

How about Playstation Deception?? thats kinda catchy lol even tho i kinda got the idea from a friend of mine playing mortal combat lol...it just hit me a sec ago...and he was playing the old arcade version but yea playstation 3.5 would be beyond the next gen. I don't know if yall was around when like PSX was giving us the low down on how 3rd party game makers where pissed cause of the arch. and if freaking microdick had a two year contract with epic then if only be the main main carry on games that go and gears3 would be on the ps3 hell next thing we know its kinda like xbox is linux and ps3 is pc...there both good just linux is a bit more harder to make games for so they would be like screw that...lol im following fabi on that on <3 <3 <3 and if your a guy no im not gay

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AntDC
Monday, October 06, 2008 @ 12:13:25 PM

Lol people would think they've been "deceived" into buying it :P

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ceedot
Sunday, October 05, 2008 @ 11:51:50 PM
Reply

PlaystationThree, or Playstation 3 Slim.

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ffrulez
Monday, October 06, 2008 @ 2:10:18 AM

thatd be real strange having a slimline. itd overheat quickly due to ps3's oct-core processor.

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Qubex
Monday, October 06, 2008 @ 12:02:58 AM
Reply

The question is, will a Playstation 3.5 machine really define "next gen". Whilst I do enjoy my PS3 tremendously, I still feel that, if cost were not so much of a factor and the Wii never came out, a more powerful version of the PS3 would have been better at the start.

Ultimately what I would have liked for the "next gen" definition is a games console that does not sweat at pumping out 1080p games at 60 frame per second. As things stand, devs who really know the machine can produce 1080p games to a certain level, but you can feel there is a little bit of struggle... you need a good dev to really get the best from the machine at a stretch, it shouldn't be so... it should only be a stretch if you wanted to have a COD type game running in 1080p with twice the number of polys!

I am hoping PS4 will give us that... so far though, GT5, MGS4, BigPlanet, Resistance, KZ2 etc show us what can be done... how much further can the machine be pushed?

Q!

"aLL RoAds LeAd ToO hOme"

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MetalHead08
Monday, October 06, 2008 @ 12:37:59 PM

i was saying that throughout the ps2's life, woh how much more can possibly be done and every time i asked that we got a metal gear solid 3 or a gran tourismo 4. i expect 5 years from now we will still be asking that question about the ps3 and five years from now we will still be steadily blown away by what can be done.

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Qubex
Tuesday, October 07, 2008 @ 3:56:30 AM

You are probably right MetalHead08!

Q!

"aLL RoAds LeAd ToO HoMe"

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orangpelupa
Monday, October 06, 2008 @ 1:16:26 AM
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it will be Playstation Three :)

just like PS One and PS Two :p

just slimmer, cheaper, PS3 :)

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LightShow
Monday, October 06, 2008 @ 1:43:39 AM
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*sigh* i really cant keep up with all this...

financially, that is. Everything is getting more expensive.

Drat, I might have to get a job...

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cegmp
Monday, October 06, 2008 @ 1:47:03 AM
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As you said. It's just a theory. A speculation. I'll wait and see. No harm imagining though.

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Advent Child
Monday, October 06, 2008 @ 1:48:27 AM
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I bet by the time this comes out it will have to render higher than 1080p. Computer monitors already do it, I wouldn't be surprised if tvs kept making higher resolutions

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ThePoetRazel
Monday, October 06, 2008 @ 2:25:13 AM
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Personally, i'd call it more of an hypothesis than a theory. But still an interesting idea.

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Ultimadream
Monday, October 06, 2008 @ 3:01:58 AM
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How about they keep it less complicated & just leave it at the PS3, then the PS4. i dont want future consoles to be like PS4v.1.5,2.7,7,8 and so on, keep it simple.

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Strifewind
Monday, October 06, 2008 @ 5:34:36 AM
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Of course they will make a smaller, more efficient PS3, and they will name it PSThree, just like the PSOne and PSTwo before it. And it will be released about a year before the announcement of the PS4... all you have to do to determine this is look at history. :-P

it does, indeed, repeat itself.

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ffrulez
Monday, October 06, 2008 @ 5:55:23 AM

But this gen is different. PS1= first console to sell 100 million. PS2= best selling console to date. But PS3= least selling console of 7th gen.
PS1= alright technology. PS2= alright technology. PS3= a heck of a lot of technology.

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Qubex
Monday, October 06, 2008 @ 7:37:57 AM

The technology is good, but a little hobbled, the restriction of memory is also a problem... in 1080p we could have blinding looking games if we had a gig to play with for textures... hires textures :)

Q!

"aLL RoAdS LeAd ToO HoMe"

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legendarytales
Monday, October 06, 2008 @ 10:01:08 AM
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How about the Playstation 3 slim with sexyness that even brings the wii to shame = D

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legendarytales
Monday, October 06, 2008 @ 10:01:20 AM
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How about the Playstation 3 slim with sexyness that even brings the wii to shame = D

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orangpelupa
Monday, October 06, 2008 @ 11:49:12 AM
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@Q
yeah, the PS3 memory is really limiting.
the low-res textures in many ps3 games really hurt the overall image quality.

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Qubex
Tuesday, October 07, 2008 @ 3:57:36 AM

Absolutely... you walk up close to some of those textures in CODIV, they can look aweful!

Q!

"aLL RoAds LeAd ToO HomE"

Last edited by Qubex on 10/7/2008 3:57:45 AM

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m2tbo
Monday, October 06, 2008 @ 11:54:39 AM
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They are already releasing new models every year with smaller chips and bigger hard drives. I probably wouldn't buy a whole new system for PS3.5 games when they will still be making ps3 games. Heck the ps2 isn't even obsolete. If they want to make a lighter faster ps3, I'm all for it. Beyond that they should stick to their 10 year plan and I'll wait for ps4.

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AntDC
Monday, October 06, 2008 @ 12:22:47 PM
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What about a completely stripped down version of the PS3 that has only a few functions like to play PS3 games and maybe Blu-Ray DVDs? Get rid of everything else and Sony could save alot of money producing it. Don't even have an XMB menu, have a really basic one like the PS2 one. They could sell it for a cheaper price. That way it'll appeal to the "casual" gamer and those with a tight budget. It would sell like granny cakes. And it would be called... wait for it... The PlayStation 2.95 lol.

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www_dot_com
Monday, October 06, 2008 @ 1:46:33 PM

lol indeed!

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www_dot_com
Monday, October 06, 2008 @ 1:50:32 PM
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So eeemmm can't a date be set for the next consoles to come out,i don't get the situation where others need to release quickly just because someone is ready to release his.

Should we have a president for the games industry who does this? so dat nobody waits n copies the other n adds more functions n later releases, to kill the other one.

Last edited by www_dot_com on 10/6/2008 1:51:35 PM

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Wage SLAVES
Monday, October 06, 2008 @ 2:16:09 PM
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Anyone Notice that Literally 1 revolution=360! Thats outta the question...

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sharpiro
Monday, October 06, 2008 @ 2:51:15 PM
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I like "Playstation Revolution," as well all the playstations. it's pretty tight. Yeah this story definitely makes more sense when we're talking about a PS3.and hopefully rather to have a PS4.

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WorldEndsWithMe
Monday, October 06, 2008 @ 3:05:48 PM
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It'll be the "Playstation 3: Sexy" lol, interesting speculation Ben and we may just see something along these lines. I certainly hope it isn't lost on them that M$ is always sneaking around like Gollum trying to get a one-up. However depending on when they release their 720 I'm a bit skeptical about its success. History shows that if devs aren't quite ready for the next gen yet, the release of a system fails. Dreamcast rarely got any use out of its power because it was forced to release multi-plat games that were still optimized for 32 bit systems. I think we could see something like that with a new Box. I can't even begin to speculate about Sony's plans, they are often incomprehensible.

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Dingodial
Monday, October 06, 2008 @ 6:42:39 PM
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How about "PS3 super-slim"? Or "PS3 superior"?

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AceTatsujin
Monday, October 06, 2008 @ 7:03:21 PM
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That'd be cool. I'm buying another PS3 next year for my brother.

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Dingodial
Monday, October 06, 2008 @ 7:13:27 PM

Your brother better thank you big time when you get that 2nd PS3.

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jor_anbu
Monday, October 06, 2008 @ 10:47:57 PM
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I think the only limiting factor for the ps3 right now is the ram.

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Dingodial
Tuesday, October 07, 2008 @ 6:26:23 AM

probably so because it only has 256mb. RAM but xbox 360 and the wii have like over 500mb. RAM

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Qubex
Tuesday, October 07, 2008 @ 9:04:43 AM

Exactly right... if we had a gig there would have been a difference already... the only way around this would be "streaming" hires textures off bluray disk... an in/out idea!

Q!

"aLL RoAds LeAd ToO hOme"

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AntDC
Wednesday, October 08, 2008 @ 3:01:57 PM

Thats not true. MB of XDR Main RAM @ 3.2GHz and 256MB of GDDR3 VRAM @ 700MHz, meaning a total of 512MB for the entire system. The RSX graphics chip can actually use all 512MB of system RAM; it is not limited to the 256MB of GDDR3 RAM.

And before someone says that both types of RAM do different jobs, the PS3 is built to use its RAM in combination when needed. They are not exclusive.

But I agree with you guys though, the RAM is what's holding the system back performance wise. But this is no excuse for developers to not get more juice out of the system.

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jera_truhart
Friday, October 10, 2008 @ 1:51:45 AM
Reply

Why not PSXtreme? ^_~ j/k guys

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