PVR planned for early 2008 release

by Andrew Yoon { Aug 24th 2007 at 6:30PM }

Announced at Leipzig, the incredible new HD PVR accessory for the PS3 looks to hit retailers some time in the beginning of 2008, after the holiday rush. In an interview with GI.biz, SCEE head David Reeves revealed the difficulties of bringing the PVR system to PS3. "The PVR - it looks simple, but within it there's a lot of licences that you have to obtain. Sometimes you're just not sure if you're going to get that licence ... you know what Europe is like - we have to get safety compliance on a thing like a black box from, I don't know, fifteen or sixteen independent bodies."

Because of the difficulties facing licensing, Sony wasn't sure if building a system for PS3 was even possible. With all the pieces in place, it appears Sony will release the PVR in Europe early next year, after focusing on their key games this holiday. "We'd build up the installed base to Christmas, and then we'd put it out in January-February, which is what we're going to do, and people would then be able to buy it."

Tags: davidreeves, pvr, scee

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Chris Nakagaki @ Nov 19th 2007 2:26PM

The only thing I would be concerned with about this PVR is if you can still play games while it records a show.

meh @ Aug 24th 2007 6:48PM

oh, that's good then. I was getting bored of being bored of waiting for GAMES to come out on PS3. Now I can look forward to 2008, when I can start to be interested in looking forward to being bored about PVR being available eventually.

If that doesn't happen in time for the apocalypse, I'm sure I can get excited about how much POTENTIAL the system has for unannounced announcements for stuff that is promised to be delayed in the future.

Hunter X @ Aug 24th 2007 6:53PM

...right so how come you guys dont ask when all this Go! stuff and this PVR is coming to US? and other territories

secret @ Aug 24th 2007 7:32PM

Excellent...smithers...excellent....

secret @ Aug 24th 2007 7:50PM

meh, i suggest you go buy an xbox360. You'll be happy with it.

I'm just playing Ninja Gaiden Sigma and GRAW2 (from my list of NGS, GRAW2, Motorstorm, Virtua Fighter 5, Fight Night 3, Call of Duty 3, and Marvel Ultimate Alliance) and watching bluray movies (Hellboy, Bridge to Terabithia, Casino Royale) and savoring them one by one like fine wine. Let it sift and mull and roll over in my tongue, enjoying it carefully and nice and slowly -- while I wait for MGS4, COD4, and maybe Grand Turismo 5 along with the Harry Potter movies, Spiderman 3, and The Chronicles of Narnia (and I think Star Wars will eventually be on Bluray through Fox.)

Truthfully, it would be nice to have them trickle down slowly. Otherwise, I might not be enjoying my current list of games as I am now, at my leisure. I'd be rushing to beat it and then move onto the next. And that would be costly in terms of time, money, and enjoyment. But that's how I am.

Quite frankly, my dear, Ninja Gaiden Sigma is enough. I've played and beaten that game on normal difficulty almost four to five times and I'm still not bored with it yet, since I get better each time in play and learning the new weapons. I haven't even practiced the long red stick yet (whatever it's name is). I'm barely starting the "hard" stage and getting surprised at how it's a totally different game with different enemy clothing, numbers, behaviors, and just additional enemies thrown in here and there. I'm not even done savoring this game that I think is soooo good that I don't even need Ninja Gaiden 2. But then they toss in GRAW2 just a moment ago, and I'm baffled at how good this game is. My experience with the PS3 has been pampering at the very least. I love it. And now they're going to allow me to record my favorite shows, which is something I've been missing on.

It's also nice to watch Stars Wars on DVD again. Because the PS3's picture output looks better than any DVD player I've owned. And I have one of the best - Panasonic DVD-S97.

All this in one beautifully packed rock solid machine. And it's so inexpensive because of it.

Some people won't buy that million dollar mansion on the hilltop of Beverly Hills with the magnificent hillside view and beautiful SPA and Swimming pool with six or more bedrooms and six or more baths.

Instead, they want to save some money and buy a home in the ghetto with two bedrooms, one bath, no pool, no spas, no scenery that's located right across from the freeway or a busy street. But that house costs them $990,000. They say that if they ever need the fresh air, gorgeous view, spa, swimming pool, extra rooms, extra baths, they'd buy it. But it's not worth the exta price. They way that the'll consider the million dollar mansion once it drops to $990,000. And then, one day, when they're sitting out back looking at the cars passing by on the freeway, they say to themselves, maybe we do need a swimming pool and another bedroom. So they hire a contractor and before you know it, they're cramped up and spending more money. The swimming pool and extra bedroom reduced their yard space so that their kids have no place to run and play. And then before you know it, they're charged a service and product fee of another $50,000. How much is the total now? And what do you get in return for all that time and energy and money spent while those in the beverly hills mansion soak up the sun in bliss?

Nick @ Aug 24th 2007 7:55PM

I don't understand why we aren't getting a release in the US. Sure, most Americans are not getting their channel lineups via OTA transmission, but I don't understand why you couldn't basically set it up for the US like a TIVO.

You should be able to run your cable line into the Sony Black Box or connect your Cable/Sat box into the Sony Black Box and then that connects to the PS3 and a firmware update gives you the power to see your channel lineup in a PVR menu on the XMB. I actually think the thing would be less complicated to bring to the US if it was setup like a TIVO.

ZRX @ Aug 24th 2007 9:00PM

How about letting a Location Free box record to the HDD of the PS3 ? Doesn't sound too complicated to me..........

railven @ Aug 24th 2007 9:19PM

I think the strong grip the cables company have in the US are a factor.

In my area the bloody wars between Comcast and verizon rage on. It's at the point where we can't get digital signal from a standard line. (I tried, my digital tuner doesn't get a singal from the cable line.) We need to pay extra for the digital box so that it can decrypt their signal into a viewable digital signal.

smokey @ Aug 25th 2007 6:51AM

just found this

http://uk.ps3.ign.com/articles/710/710286p1.html

check out the date on it, this has been a long time coming,

think these new features announced and the ones recently added ie media server, the ps3 is finally worth the money i didnt think it was, and thats from a ps 1,2, psp and a sony ericsson owner!!

think that when people can take full advantage of all the features, sony will move up a gear.

now to start saving for a bravia..... ;-)

Zozzi @ Aug 25th 2007 10:36AM

just one question .. how is this PVR going to be connected to PS3?

I thought about USB 2.0, but probably it will be some kind of IP network streaming - either using ethernet or wifi .

what do you think?