PS3 press conference: it begins... [UPDATE 10]

Posted Mar 15th 2006 1:43AM by Dan Choi
Filed under: Sony PlayStation 2, Sony PlayStation 3, Sony PSP, Online, Business
PS press briefingIt looks like the PS3 press conference is just getting started.

IGN reports Ken Kutaragi's opening statement as follows: "It is my aim to clear things up about the PlayStation 3 today. The PS2, the PS3, the network, and Future Cell Network, this will all be addressed."

More as we get it...

[Thanks, bv]

Update 1: IGN further reports that Sony will "continue selling [the PS2] at its current price of $149 for some time," killing any chances for a current-gen price drop in the near future. Thanks again, bv!

Update 2: 1UP is reporting on "a major new PSP update this spring," including "the ability to hook up a camera to the PSP" and "use the system for GPS location." Also listed at 10:42 PST: "There will be a web browser upgrade shortly, but it still won't have Flash support."

Update 3: IGN comes back with a few more details concerning the PSP, including its lopsidedly male user base (sitting at 96% male), a silver PSP EyeToy attachment via the USB port in September, video and voice-over-IP in October, RSS functionality in the fall, and Macromedia Flash support in a spring Network update. Thanks, bv and untitled!

Updates 4 & 5: IGN confirms PS3 worldwide launch in November for "the North American, Asian, and European territories." In addition, Sony will release "one million units per month [after launch; sorry for any confusion this may have caused] with a total of six million units in 2006 alone. Production numbers are higher for PS1 and PS2 in their initial years."

Update 6: IGN fills us in on the PSP's "E-Distribution" features, which mean that portable owners will be able to boot directly from Memory Sticks without the use of hacks and "download classic PlayStation titles and play them on your PSP." Thanks, bv!

Update 7: IGN says a $199 PSP "base unit" to mirror the original Japanese release will hit U.S. shelves by the end of March. Europe will be similarly fitted with a 199 Euro package on March 22nd, while Japan will get "a new white PSP SKU... starting April 15th... for 19800 Yen (~$168 US)." Thanks, bv and Jake!

Update 8: IGN reports that the PS3 will be "100% backwards compatible," and that "all legacy titles played on the system will be displayed at high-definition resolutions," similar to the Xbox 360's BC upscaling (but hopefully without the profile downloading). "[F]ull Blu-ray support" and "the latest HDMI connection" were also touted. Thanks, bv!

Update 9: Kutaragi proclaims that the PS3 will require a hard drive, but not whether all systems will come bundled with one or not. What he does say is that the HDD "will be 60GB big, be completely upgradeable, and support Linux OS. Additionally, the peripheral will act as a home server and allow users to store various forms of media to be pulled up elsewhere." Thanks, RobR and sullyj!

Update 10: Ken says that "all PlayStation 3 games will ship on Blu-ray [only!] to help prevent piracy," and that "initial BD-ROM production [is expected] to reach 2.5 million in Japan and Europe and 5 million in the US." Thanks, RobR and bv!

Sony Postpones PlayStation 3 Release
By YURI KAGEYAMA, Associated Press Writer

TOKYO - Sony will put off the release of its much awaited PlayStation 3 console until November from its planned spring debut because of delays in finalizing its next-generation optical disc technology, the company said Wednesday.
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Ken Kutaragi, the head Sony's video games division, made the announcement at a hastily called news conference after reports of the delay surfaced in the business daily Nihon Keizai Shimbun and other papers.

The PlayStation 3 is critical for Sony Corp profits and brand image, so the delay is a major setback for the Japanese electronics and entertainment company as it struggles to mount a recovery after several years of poor earnings.

The reports sent Sony's stock tumbling 1.8 percent to 5,470 yen ($46) Wednesday. Kutaragi announced the decision after the close of the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

The new timeline means that the PlayStation 3 will still hit store shelves simultaneously in Japan, North America and Europe, just in time for Christmas.

Kutaragi said Sony is still trying to finalize the copyright protection technology and other standards for the Blu-ray DVD disc, the format for PlayStation 3, and next-generation video for the company's electronics gadgets in the works.

"I'd like to apologize for the delay," Kutaragi said at a Tokyo hotel. "I have been cautious because many people in various areas are banking on the potential of the next-generation DVD."

Blu-ray preparations were initially to have been completed by last September, but now won't be finalized until next month, he said.

The delay comes at a time when competition in next-generation game consoles is heating up with U.S. software maker Microsoft Corp. already putting the
Xbox 360 on sale last year. Nintendo Co., the Japanese manufacture of Game Boy machines and Pokemon and Super Mario game software, is also planning its version called Revolution later this year.

The PlayStation series is now the dominant brand for home consoles, helping support Sony's bottom line in recent years, and controlling about 60 percent of the global market, according to Kutaragi. Sony has shipped nearly 204 million machines worldwide when combining shipments for the original PlayStation and its upgrade
PlayStation 2.

Toshiaki Nishimura, analyst for Yasuda Asset Management Co., said the delay is likely to hurt game revenue for Sony, but the announcement wasn't a big surprise for the market, which had anticipated a delay. Speculation about a possible delay had been growing in the last few months.

But further delays that could force Sony to miss Christmas entirely would be detrimental, he said.

"Sony is merely at the starting point of a race," Nishimura said, adding that more time is needed to assess PlayStation 3 and the advanced gadgets that will run on the same computer chip called "cell" that Sony is developing with Toshiba Corp. and IBM Corp.

"We are even a bit relieved that Sony has definitely said it's coming out with the PS3 because that's so critical for its cell business," he said.

The PlayStation 3 console can be used as a Blu-ray DVD player, but will also read previously released PlayStation and PlayStation 2 games, Kutaragi said. It will also have a hard disk drive, broadband and wireless Internet connections, and support high-definition televisions.

The company is expecting monthly production of 1 million machines, and targeting production of 6 million units for the fiscal year through March 2007, Kutaragi said.

Any setback in the PlayStation business could deal a big blow to Sony, which had just announced in January that it will post a profit of 70 billion yen ($592 million) for the fiscal year through March, instead of sinking into a 10 billion yen ($85 million) loss, as projected earlier.

For decades, Sony symbolized Japan's manufacturing power exemplified by the original Walkman. But in recent years, the company, which also has movie and music businesses, was battered by declining electronics prices.

Sony's core electronics division has lost money for two straight fiscal years. Since Welsh-born Howard Stringer took over last year as the first foreigner to head the company, Sony has been trying to achieve a turnaround.

It's only been in recent months Sony has made a comeback in flat-panel TVs using liquid crystal displays manufactured in a joint venture with South Korean rival Samsung Electronics Co. It has also come out with Walkman MP3 digital music players to catch up with the hit iPod from Apple Computer Inc.