Articles about PlayStation

UPDATED It was midnight madness at consumer electronics retailers throughout the United States early Thursday morning, as thousands of gamers lined up to get their hands on Sony's PlayStation Portable (PSP). Citing deep consumer interest, Sony estimates that over one million units will be sold within days of the release.

The PSP is a multipurpose entertainment device that plays 3D games, movies and music. A single PSP, including stereo headphones, 32MB Memory Stick Duo, battery and charger, wrist strap, soft carrying case, and the Spider-Man 2 movie will retail for $249.99 USD.

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Sony announced Thursday that 800,000 PlayStation Portable units have been sold in Japan since its launch last month. The PSP, priced at 20,000 yen ($190 USD), is slightly more expensive than Nintendo's DS unit, which costs 15,000 yen ($145 USD). Both companies have reported strong sales of their respective units.

"I must admit (sales) are not big enough yet," Sony Computer Entertainment president and chief executive Ken Kutaragi told reporters during a news conference. "But demand is so strong that we already do not have enough supply." Sony plans to boost PSP production to 1 million units per month in order to meet demand.

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Sony Computer Entertainment is set to unveil a smaller version of the PlayStation 2 on October 26, according to industry reports. Dubbed "PStwo," the new console will be 30 percent smaller, but retail for the same price. Sony reinvigorated sales of the original PlayStation by making a smiliar move with the smaller PSone console. Sony refused to comment on the rumors, but the company is holding a strategy briefing in Tokyo next week where an official announcement is expected.

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Reuters UK is reporting that Sony will showcase a playable demo of its PlayStation 3 game console at next year's E3 trade show. Sony, the market leader of the gaming space, is cooperating with Toshiba and IBM to design a new microprocessor code-named Cell that is often referred to as a "supercomputer on a chip." Cell will be seated at the heart of the PlayStation 3 and is expected to significantly outperform conventional desktop processors.

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UPDATED Sony today announced plans to release the first supported version of its "Linux (for PlayStation 2)," dubbed Release 1.0. A beta Linux kit was made available in Japan last July in response to requests by the Japanese Linux society. After an overwhelming positive response from the community, Sony decided to publicly release and support the development kit. Release 1.0 will go on sale beginning in May for Japanese customers and debut in June for the United States and Europe.

The Linux (for PlayStation 2) kit will retail for $199 USD ($215 in Europe) and include a 40GB hard disk, 100 Base T Ethernet interface, Linux Kernel 2.2.1, XFree86 3.3.6, USB keyboard and mouse, and a computer monitor adaptor. The kit will only work when connected to a monitor - not a television.

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Sony has announced that it is working to integrate Java capabilities into the PlayStation 2, which will enable existing Java-based Web applications to work with the entertainment system in the near future. Sony is aiming to release the technology by the end of 2001, hopefully indicating plans to also have broadband network capability for the PS2 on par for that date.

Sony will be collaborating with Sun Microsystems to implement the necessary support to run Java applications. Sun recently released a beta of version 1.4 Standard Edition software for the Java 2 platform.

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Gamespot reports today that Sony has already begun discussing possibilities and hopes for its next console venture, the PlayStation 3. According to the report, Sony Senior Vice President of R&D Shinichi Okomoto touted during a keynote recently that the company has already begun research on the console, shooting for a system 1,000 times more powerful than its predecessor, the PlayStation 2.

Ken Kutaragi, CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment, told reporters that he already has specific plans to develop new advanced graphics processors for the console.

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Sony has confirmed that unfortunately 200,000 Brits will be without the extremely popular console this Christmas. Originally set to ship 365,000 units, Sony now says that they will only be able to deliver 165,000 units to the English due to teething problems during production and the extremely high demand in Japan and the United States for the console. ZDNet UK has the full story if you are interested.

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At midnight last night, gamers in the United States finally got their hands on the much anticipated and awaited PlayStation2, well, some of them did anyways. US rollout was half what was originally planned by Sony, due to factory shortfalls and other problems, but it is for sure that those who were able to get one, are loving it. Now analysts are speculating that it may not be the shortage that hurts Sony (now reporting that 3.52 million units have been shipped), but the competition, as focus now shifts to Microsofts attempt at the console market, the X-Box, which is set to launch next year. Keep your eye out, and enjoy your games!

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3D GameForce has written up an editorial about the PlayStation2 that all you gaming lovers out there may find interesting. The article takes a look at 5 reasons why the console will succeed, and 10 possible reasons why the console may fail in the gaming market. Legitimately, one reason it could fail is that the upcoming consoles, the Nintendo Game Cube and the Microsoft X-Box have an ease of development like none other in the gaming world. Only time will tell, as the X-Box isn't due for another year, and the Game Cube won't be seen this year either. Read the rest of the article at 3D GameForce if you are interested.

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ZDNet wrote a nice little piece for those gaming enthusiasts out there about the PlayStation2 and where you may be able to find it on its October 26th launch date. But like the Star Wars Episode 1 movie tickets, you may want to line up outside the door of your local retailer for at least a few days in order to get your crack at getting one.

If you get there more than an hour after opening, you can probably forget it. Sony just announced last week that its original number of 1 million consoles for the US has been cut in half for the launch date. Of course, retailers are scrambling because their hugely successful pre-order campaigns have them scratching for extra consoles, which isn't likely to happen. For more information just check out the piece on ZDNet and good luck on your quest to get one.

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Beginning on October 26th of this year, American consumers will be able to purchase the much anticipated and talked about gaming console, the PlayStation2. The new unit boasts a barrage of new features including DVD playing abilities as well as super-enhanced graphics capabilities over its predecessor. The only problem is that only half the number of those original users who wanted one will be able to get their hands on one. According to a Reuters report, PlayStation2 production is more than a month behind schedule, leaving only 500,000 units to be initially sold in the states, or half what was originally expected. This will be a major problem for gamers and parents who wanted the unit in time for the holiday season, and there is no word on when Sony will pick up production and catch up to its original mark.

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Apparently due to an overwhelming demand, several major retailers have stopped PlayStation2 preordering for consumers in the United States. The next-generation gaming console is expected to hit the US market on October 26th, and take the gaming world by storm. From previews of the games at the E3 gaming convention, PlayStation2 will offer users an experience like none other in the console gaming world. It's strongest competitor appears to be the X-Box, Microsoft's baby that will hopefully launch next year.

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Sony announced today, plans to release a portable version of their older PlayStation console. Dubbed PSone, the new unit will be able to connect to mobile phones, allowing games, programs and other data to be exchanged. The miniature PSX has a price tag of about $142, and is about one-third the size of the conventional PlayStation. One minor drawback with the new unit is it requires an electrical power source, unlike other handheld players, such as Nintendo's Game Boy.

Sony plans to release the PSone in Japan starting July 7, continued with a release in the US and Europe by fall. The company anticipates that the new portable unit will eventually phase out the older, larger, Playstation.

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Next year Sony will begin licensing PlayStation2 technology to various corporations who desire to build the technology into existing technologies such as cable boxes and computer parts. This move suggests that Sony wants to begin pushing itself into the market for Internet connectivity, possibly making the PlayStation2 the number on entertainment device used to connect to the Internet. Visit Sony PlaySation Web site for more information about the PlaySation2 and their latest announcement.

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