SCEI CTO Discusses PlayStation 3 Specs

Masayuki Chatani, chief technical officer of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc., spoke to Weekly Famitsu on the recent unveiling of the PlayStation 3 at E3 2005, offering some clarifications to questions raised during the system's debut, according to reports translated online by sources including consumer website GameSpot. Chatani revealed exactly how many ports the system will have, and what each one's use will be. It can theoretically support up to thirteen controllers, since the system can handle up to 7 wireless Bluetooth controllers at once and additional controllers can be plugged into any of the PS3's six USB slots. It will also have ports for a Memory Stick and compact flash card, as well as an SD card slot. One noticeably missing port is a slot for the existing PlayStation memory cards, and Chatani did not elaborate on how players would transfer existing data when making use of the PS3's backwards compatibility. Some areas of the system have yet to be finalized, notably the system's RSX graphics chip. Chatani said that it's possible the final graphics processor would be even more powerful than the hardware running the PS3 demos at the show, which has been seconded by Nvidia CFO Marv Burkett. The system's controller, too, may see some revisions before the final design, though Chatani said that the appearance of the controller would likely be the same boomerang-shaped device already shown. One of the most important non-final specs, however, is the question of the system's hard disk drive. While the PlayStation 3 will support a removable HDD, it's not yet certain whether the drive will be a standard feature shipping with every system. More information on that aspect may come out by this fall's Tokyo Game Show, where the first playable PS3 software may debut. The system is currently scheduled for a spring 2006 launch in the U.S.