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Sony has unveiled the next generation of its best-selling PlayStation hardware, promising a piece of kit far more powerful than Microsoft's recently unveiled Xbox 360. Although the ultimate proof will be in the software, the systems' specs are impressive. The PlayStation 3 -- slated for a Spring 2006 release in the U.S. -- runs on the highly-vaunted CELL chip. The PS3's CELL consists of a 64-bit PowerPC core running at 3.2 GHz and enhanced by eight 32-bit "synergistic processing units," capable of performing 216 gigaflops. NVIDIA is providing the 550 MHz GPU, which is rated at 1.8 teraflops.

The PS3 hardware features several forms of connectivity, including 1000BASE-T Ethernet and 802.11 b/g Wi-Fi (the same standard used by the PSP), as well as USB 2.0 and a variety of flash memory inputs such as Sony's proprietary Memory Stick. The oddly-shaped wireless controllers will connect to the system via Bluetooth. The machine will support TVs running in 1080p progressive scan mode, meaning Sony will be tagging along for Microsoft's bold foray into the "HD era."

The PS3 will run games from 54GB Blu-Ray DVDs but is backwards-compatible with PlayStation and PS2 games. Looking forward, a wide array of developers and publishers have pledged their support for the machine: Electronic Arts, Konami and Namco, among others.

Games revealed at the PS3 press conference include a new chapter in the Killzone series, Warhawk, Capcom's Devil May Cry 4, M.S. Gundam, a new Tekken, a sequel to Rockstar's Red Dead Revolver, Formula 1 from SCEE, Insomniac's upcoming WWII-meets-Starship Troopers first-person shooter I-8, a game called Ni-Oh by Koei (which was distinctly Kessen-esque in style), Fifth Phantom Saga from Sega, Heavenly Sword from SCEI, Eyedentify, Killing Day (from Ubisoft), and finally a game called MotorStorm. (Click any of the games listed above for screenshots.)

We'll continue updating information on this breaking news as it becomes available. Please check back for the latest news on Sony's new system.

The system's complete specs are as follows:

CPU:
Cell Processor -- PowerPC-base Core @3.2GHz
1 VMX vector unit per core
512KB L2 cache
7 x SPE @3.2GHz
7 x 128b 128 SIMD GPRs
7 x 256KB SRAM for SPE
* 1 of 8 SPEs reserved for redundancy
Total floating point performance: 218 GFLOPS

GPU:
RSX @550MHz
1.8 TFLOPS floating point performance
Full HD (up to 1080p) x 2 channels
Multi-way programmable parallel floating point shader pipelines

Sound:
Dolby 5.1ch, DTS, LPCM, etc. (Cell-base processing)

Memory:
256MB XDR Main RAM @3.2GHz
256MB GDDR3 VRAM @700MHz

System Bandwidth:
Main RAM: 25.6GB/s
VRAM: 22.4GB/s
RSX: 20GB/s (write) + 15GB/s (read)
SB: 2.5GB/s (write) +
2.5GB/s (read)

System Floating Point Performance:
2 TFLOPS

Storage:
HDD: Detachable 2.5" HDD slot x 1

I/O:
USB: Front x 4, Rear x 2 (USB2.0)
Memory Stick: Standard/Duo, PRO x 1
SD: standard/mini x 1
CompactFlash (Type I, II) x 1

Communication:
Ethernet: (10BASE-T, 100BASE-TX, 1000BASE-T) x 3 (input x 1 + output x 2)
Wi-Fi: IEEE 802.11 b/g
Bluetooth
Bluetooth 2.0 (EDR)

Controller:
Bluetooth (up to 7)
USB2.0 (wired)
Wi-Fi (PSP(R))
Network (over IP)

AV Output:
Screen size: 480i, 480p, 720p, 1080i, 1080p
HDMI: HDMI out x 2
Analog: AV MULTI OUT x 1
Digital audio: DIGITAL OUT (OPTICAL) x 1

Disc media (read only):
CD: PlayStation(R) CD-ROM; PlayStation(R)2 CD-ROM
CD-DA: CD-DA (ROM); CD-R; CD-RW
SACD: SACD Hybrid (CD layer); SACD HD
DualDisc: DualDisc (audio side); DualDisc (DVD side)
DVD: PlayStation(R)2 DVD-ROM; PLAYSTATION(R)3 DVD-ROM
DVD-Video: DVD-ROM; DVD-R; DVD-RW; DVD+R; DVD+RW
Blu-ray Disc: PLAYSTATION(R)3 BD-ROM
BD-Video: BD-ROM; BD-R ;BD-RE