Sorry Folks, not the article about the future of visuals as promised, although there has been some talk about Cevat Yerli's comments i could expand upon, but i really had to get this PS3 slim talk of my chest and offer my thoughts.

This was initially a forum post but it got too long and may come across as an overractive rant to some i may have targeted so i just decided to keep it as a personal blog...

A price drop was the most important thing i was looking for in the PS3, i like the simplicity of it, but i would have to admit... and many would agree that it doesnt have the flair that the original ps3 had with the sleek gloss/metallic combination.

but unfortnately you can't expect a significant drop in price without some sacrifices, just judging by the images, the cutbacks are immediately apparent.

Glossy finishes... as sexy as they look (guilty as charged!) they require complex molding practices & extra tooling to make sure mold marks & surface imperfections dont occur once a component gets taken out of the mold. the slightest imperfection can be visible with a gloss finished surface, matte surfaces on the other hand can easily hide surface imperfections and allow for quick 1 step molding, thus skipping slow mold cooling processes & surface treatment that glossy surfaces require. Molds to create gloss components also require constant maintenance and replacement to keep them in shape after a couple of uses in comparison to matte component molds.

Regarding the top PS3 logo, judging from the pictures, it was most likely laser etched into the top mold without plating of another material, thats 2 birds with the one stone, thus skipping another manufacturing process. There are probably other cutbacks, but i would need to get my hands on one to provide some more diagnosis on the changes.

What nobody has mentioned or care about is the Sustainability improvements that this PS3 slim offers and as a self confessed greenie i would give this a big fat stamp of approval.

• It offers reduction of material use (less use of crude oil),
• Compact size (more units to transport per freight, which means less transport cycles),
• Loses some composite material components that allows for pure recyling without preprocessing. eg, having the plated playstation logo at the top requires crushing splitting if it was to be recylced.
• What looks like a change to a simple 2 part mold (judging by the shadowlines in the images)
• Smaller size most likely means smaller .nm, reducing energy consumption.
• Edit: Got the official word that it is lighter, hence better Fuel efficiency during freight transportation cycles

and thats probably just scratching the surface, im sure they have improved upon energy management in more ways than one.

This issue of people being more concerned about a look of a console worries me dearly, all i know is, if i had a PS3, i dont really care what the console looks like, I would probably be more focused on shooting someone in the groin in COD4 or whatever gaming mischiefs i could get up to, because I play games not the console, all I ask from a gaming console are the 3 abilities... reliability, durability & sustainability.

I can understand some are too young to understand or be concearned about the concept of sustainability, but it is a fast growing issue and really needs to be addressed or placed at a higher priority with regards to products & technology, we're a young growing generation, it is not only our future, but it is our childrens future as well.

As for me a 22 year old who works part time (whom could be made redundant any time in this econonic crisis), has University fees, Rent and game spending habits to maintain (lol), a puchase of just ONE ps3 was out of the question... until now.

This PS3 slim came with great timing, i was looking forward to next year and the lineup for the end of this year, plus i have a feasible amount of income to purchase the console as well as support it with some games every now and then. To end this blog, i hope i have provided some of the undermined positive outcomes of this PS3 slim even if you are diappointed with what it looks like, i am looking forward to get my hands on one and hopefully join in on some online gaming buzz.

Cheers

Okay 6 months in on this gamespot thing (although ive been using this as a source of info for quite awhile) and i think people on the boards recognize me now, so i figured i'll kick off my gamespot blog.

I should first start off with an introductory of myself what i might be posting on here in the future,

Currently in relation to gaming i am an Industrial Design student, whom is a guru that deals with anything from manufacturing methods, part modelling, user interface, product design, implementation of next gen technology, ergonomics, product sustainability and product conceptualising. I am also an enthusiast 3D and animation modeller/renderer that finds joy in creating 3d models and applying animation as a hobby.

This blog is not here to yap on about what I do as a hobby and my future career plans & ventures, but for you gamers out there, i thought i should share my knowledge and vision from what i have learnt through these practices of which could be applied to the future of video games. As for myself, i also need to repair some lost passion for what i do at university and prepare for my final year which is the main reason why i decided to start this blog.

I will also post the usual gaming blogs, shananigains and mambo jumbo here and there too to fill some space.

For my 1st article (hopefully fortnightly), i will cover "Rendering" in games and will approach this by outining how far pre-rendered 3D visuals have come and how far behind gaming is in utilising the finer points of graphical technology thats currently available out there.

I will aim to do this next week, but for now as a small taste I'll leave you with a few 3D rendered images that showcase what technology is capable of producing today, so be patient and i'll keep you posted.

3d modelled rendering using Indirect Illumination from sunlight shows how light really works.

This 3d rendered image probably contains all the tricks in the book not yet implemented in Gaming.

3D modelling & renderings like these are likely the source of the ps3 slim hoaxes