a look at the future from 1998...

I just found an old magazine from march 1998... it contained an article to consoles yet to come



translating from italian

dural
64 bit console
hitachi processor SH-4 at 200 mhz (surprisingly true )
graphic chip VR2 (true)
Yamaha Audio chip ARM7 (TRUE!)
8mb system ram (actually 16)
8mb video ram (True)
12x cd-rom reader (speed is true, but uses GD-Roms)
video output 640*240 (more or less true)
able to move 1.5 m of textured polys (seems it was actually 3)

Playstation2
128 bit console
motorola processor at 300 mhz (almost true )
graphic chip from sony
sony Audio chip
16 mb system ram (actually 32)
8mb video ram
20x dvd-rom reader (i think that would make a 2x dvd player?)
video output 640*480 (Variable from 256x224 up to theoretical 1280x1024 pixels)
able to move 3 m of textured polys (seems it is actually between 4 and 7)

i have to say that those infos were quite accurate for the time let's discuss

 

So that pics of Dural someone posted on this forum sometime ago are real?

 

they are in my article too and look like real pictures, not renderers

 

I wish they'd have kept the name Dural or even Katana instead of the fruitilicious "Dreamcast".

 

Wowzers, quite neat, is that a proposed shot of what they thought the ps2 would look like?



Ryan

 

I remember that PS2 design quite well, as I actualy fully believed that it was going to be the final version up until launch (the black box just looked too stupid to be the real thing by comparison). Oposit goes for dreamcast, as I liked the final name much more then the code names.

edit:

Dreamcast:
"video output 640*240 (more or less true)" actualy 640x480. How many games had a different res (not many i'd imagin)?

Playstation2:
"20x dvd-rom reader (i think that would make a 2x dvd player?)" Player/reader mean different things?

 

Any info on the Blackbelt in any magazines? (dural=whitebelt as we all know of course!)

 

I remember them, from some old PSone magazine. I do agree that old PS2 looks really different but I don't think it's better, seems to obscure in its shape.

 

looks very plastic compared to the final boxy design, which I oddly liked at the time , even more than the DC

 

i think no cases of that one where ever made, probably it was just a concept (too bad the took out lcd panel and the 2 extra game ports)

 

for playing you have to read somehow i was just inconsistent in chosing words

in old times 1x dvd players where those supposed to be barely enough for streaming d1 resolution video or something like that, i haven't a clear mind right now

goodnight, karsten

 

Actually 4mb of VRAM.

Interesting find, anyway. Would have been interesting to see what they did with the LCD pannel.

 

That PS2 concept is really neat looking. I wish that's what the final design would have been.

 

I remember these models, they were all over the place in european mags back then. I also recall an small blue colored concept that looked a lot like the Playdia.

They were all mock-ups from the internet and gaming mags, none of them was an official release.

 

That old PS2 design sort of reminds me of the Wondermega.