The beasts behind the games

Friday 12 May 2006
Having seen the games in action and the sleek and sophisticated casing that PS3 will finally appear in, we were keen to get a look behind the scenes at the machine developers have to work with now, just six months before the next-gen console's launch facelift.

While every E3 is a battle for headlines, it is also a struggle for hearts and minds. Each and every developer wants you to remember its stand, its software, its name, but having the best games, the most babes and the biggest logo isn't simple enough, everything also has to go smoothly because any trickery or failed technology will be leapt on.

For every announcement is met with counter argument, every show-reel is spun, every presentation is scripted, every interview is rehearsed. No one wants to provide munitions for the opposition; no one wants to give the fanboys a forum.

Above: The PS3 development kit - laid bare for all to see

Which is probably the reason Sony is so keen to display the fact that all of its PS3 demo pods are being run from PS3 development kits. For if you can remember all the way back to last year's E3 we discovered that all of the playable Xbox 360 games were in fact being run on pairs of Apple Mac G5s.

Well, Sony obviously does because, instead of concealing all of its kit behind curtains, it has made a point of sticking its machines in glass cases so that everyone can get a good look at the beasts inside. And we did. So why not click the image tag above for even more saucy pics of PS3 with all their ports all naked.