/ 4 May 2002

Sony to build third-generation games machine

JAPANESE electronics giant Sony has started developing a successor to its

popular PlayStation 2 game console which it aims to complete by 2005, a

report said on Sunday.

The third-generation PlayStation will feature a powerful micro processing

unit (MPU) that will be roughly 200 times faster than those currently used

for video game consoles and personal computers, the Kyodo News agency said.

Sony Computer Entertainment, in partnership with a unit of Sony, Toshiba and

International Business Machines (IBM) plan to spend $400-million on

developing the MPU, it quoted Sony sources as saying.

The new console is designed for online use on high-speed fibre-optic

networks, making it likely that it will be free of memory devices such as

discs, it said. – Sapa-AFP