Sony on Monday revealed key details of its PlayStation 3 video-game console, saying that two million of the next-generation game machines would hit stores in Japan on November 11 and in the United States, Europe and Australia on November 17.
Calling the product the most advanced computer entertainment system in the world, Kaz Hirai, president of Sony Computer Entertainment America, also showed a meeting of journalists and video-game developers the first working demos of the machine.
The PS3 was expected to mount a major challenge to Microsoft’s Xbox 360, which launched late last year to rave reviews and strong sales.
Hirai also unveiled a new type of game controller. The device uses an internal gyroscope to respond to movement through space rather than just button and joystick commands, similar to a controller announced previously by rival Nintendo.
Sony’s machine features a cell microprocessor technology that the company said is more powerful than the chips used in the Xbox 360 and Nintendo’s next console, the Wii.
Unlike Microsoft’s game console, the PS3 comes with a built-in hard drive of 20 gigabytes (GB) or 60 gigabytes and also features Sony’s Blu-Ray high-definition DVD format. The 20GB version is to cost about $500 while the 60GB machine is to cost about $600, Hirai said.
Both Sony and Microsoft are aiming for their machines to become the digital hub of the living room, controlling all a household’s digital media.
“The PlayStation 3 is designed for games and to manage a myriad of entertainment content and network services,” Hirai said.
“PlayStation 3 is the most ambitious project we’ve ever undertaken.”
Hirai was speaking two days before the start of the Electronic Entertainment Exposition in Los Angeles, the biggest annual event in the videogame industry. He said that Sony sold more than 100-million consoles of the Playstation 2 and a billion games for the system, making it Sony’s most popular product to date. – AFP