PS3 Fanboy

Maintaining 1080p and 60fps is no easy feat. In fact, many games in this generation can barely pump out 720p graphics, as seen by upscaling tricks used by titles like Haze, Halo 3 and Grand Theft Auto IV. However, WipEout HD is one of the few games that maintains 1080p at a silky smooth 60fps. How were they able to do that?

Inside the Digital Foundry once again examined the pure pixel count of WipEout HD. What they found is interesting. The game does, for the most part, run in full 1080p. However, when the action becomes too intense, the game will downscale the resolution. It appears the PS3 figures out exactly what resolution the game needs to run at frame-by-frame to ensure the game's 60fps count is never broken. "Rather than introduce dropped frames, slow down or other unsavoury effects, the number of pixels being rendered drops and the PS3's horizontal hardware scaler is invoked to make up the difference. It's an intriguing solution that works with limited impact on the overall look of the game"

It appears the lowest resolution WipEout can render in is 1280x1080, which is still a 50% increase over 720p. The end result is something gamers, regardless of their AV tech knowledge, can truly appreciate.

[Thanks, kzin!]

Welcome to Ask PS3 Fanboy: Volume 2: The bad news edition! Today I disappoint people on a variety of topics, including Eight Days and 720p game upscaling. Read on to have your hopes crushed! And as always, you can e-mail me with your questions and comments, and I'll do my best to answer your questions during next week's column.

Q: I've read in the manual for PS3 that EDY viewer is only available on PS3 systems sold in Japan. Is their any way of using this system on American PS3 units?
A: No, unfortunately the EDY integration is something that's limited to only Japanese systems right now. And since the EDY system is purely a Japanese service, it's unlikely that this will change any time soon. If the service is ever rolled out to Europe and America, like originally planned, than maybe we'll see our PS3s updated -- but thats a pretty big if.

Q: What is going on with Eight Days?
A: Eight Days was one of the most impressive titles shown at last year's Sony E3 event, but has completely fallen off the radar since then. Earlier this year there was rumor swirling around that it was going to be turned into an episodic game, with each day consisting of one episode, but it turned out this was just a case of mistaken identity. The rumor actually applied to a point-and-click adventure title for the PC, called 8 Days. Overall, I'm pretty skeptical of the game actually coming out though. The complete lack of information for over a year is never good and the trailer was pretty clearly a mock-up. Info may come out at next month's E3 -- but if it doesn't, there's a very strong possibility that this game DOA.

Hit the jump for the last e-mail!

If you're already impressed by the PS3's upscaling of older PlayStation games and DVD movies, wait until you see what Sony engineers have in store for future updates. SCE chief technology officer Kawanishi and AV manager Kanehide were talking about the future of the PS3's firmware updates when a very interesting claim was made. "We have gotten feedback from critics regarding several failure patters for upconverting, but we are getting closer to the goal. I think we can improve another 30 to 40%," said Kawanishi. He is talking about the upscaling performance, as in, 30 - 40% better than what was given during firmware 1.80. The dynamic duo also believe they can give this performance boost without additional fan noise, further believing in a future, fanless PS3 console. Very cool indeed.

[Update: We had previously, failed to source Next-Gen Biz for the original story. The links have slightly changes, but all sourcing is cited correctly. Apologies all around.]

[Via CVG]

Have we got a treat for you today! We've gone ahead and compiled whatever screen captures we could find of some before and after pictures of the new upscaling capability of the PS3 and how they change the PS2 titles everyone cares about. These are exciting rollover images, so what you see below are the before upscaling. Toss your mouse pointer onto them and wham! Instantly, you're seeing the upscaled image. Ready to have some fun?

Sony has officially unveiled plans for PS3 firmware 1.80. This update looks to be the most significant yet. Here's a breakdown of what to expect:

• Full 1080p upscaling for DVDs, PS2 and PS1 games. With upscaling, there's no need to throw away your old DVDs and PlayStation 2 games. The content will be converted to resolutions as high as 1080p, and will breathe new visual life into your old discs. DVD movies can only be upconverted using an HDMI connection.
  
• PSP Remote Play via internet. Although this feature was supposedly included in a previous update, many were unable to have it properly run. This hopefully corrected feature will allow PSP users to watch and listen to content stored on the PS3 from any wi-fi connection in the world. PSP firmware 3.50 will be required.
  
• DLNA media center connectivity. Media content stored on DLNA-enabled PCs and laptops can be shared and viewed on PS3 systems.
• Print photos with Epson printers. Images stored on the PS3 hard drive can be printed using compatible printers.
• Transfer PS1/2 save files from PS3 using Memory Card Adaptor. Previously, users could only transfer save files to the PS3. Now, gamers will be able to transfer data to and from the PS3.

This update hits European PS3s on May 24th. A worldwide release should arrive on or near that date.
[Update: SCEA has contacted us with confirmation that the update will also hit American PS3s on May 24th as well. See past the break to see pictures of the newest firmware update in action.]