SALvation
07-29-2003, 05:51 PM
TOKYO (Reuters) - Sony Corp (news - web sites) (6758.T) said on Tuesday its new hand-held PlayStation console would be equipped with a wireless network system which allows users within a close area to play games together and download game characters.
Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE), Sony's game unit, mapped out technical details of the upcoming "PSP" hand-held platform, which will compete head-to-head with Nintendo (news - web sites) Co Ltd's (7974.OS) dominant Game Boy Advance handheld console.
"We will be using some challenging technologies including wireless (news - web sites) LAN," SCE President Ken Kutaragi said at a meeting of game software makers and retailers.
"The PSP is a product with huge potential, following PlayStation and PlayStation 2 (news - web sites). The video game market may change in a big way," he said.
Kutaragi said the PSP, scheduled to debut in the fourth quarter of 2004, would employ "the latest and the most cutting-edge technologies" including two powerful micro-processors and an advanced 3D-effect graphics engine.
The new device will process data ten times faster than the original PlayStation console, SCE said.
Kutaragi also said the PSP would adopt advanced security technology which will help protect the copyright of game developers.
Sony, the dominant force in the $30 billion video game market, took industry watchers by surprise in May by unveiling its plan to launch the PSP, which features a color screen and a new high-capacity optical disc created especially for it.
The move puts Nintendo and its Game Boy hand-held platform directly in its sights, just as in 1995 when Sony first ventured into the game console business.
Sony has not set a price for the PSP, a multi-media unit that also plays movies and music, but analysts expect it to sell for 19,000 to 30,000 yen ($159-$251), well above the 12,500-yen price tag for Game Boy Advance SP, Nintendo's smaller version of its hot-selling device launched in February.
SCE plans to start distributing PC-base software emulator tools to game developers this autumn, followed by the final hardware tool next spring, Kutaragi said.
"We plan to demonstrate our prototype version of the PSP at the E3 trade show in the United States next May, and a software line-up at the Tokyo Game Show, ahead of the worldwide launch in the fourth quarter of 2004," Kutaragi said.
The news came after the Tokyo stock market closed.
Shares in Sony closed up 0.52 percent at 3,840 yen, while the Nikkei average (^N225 - news) index fell 0.06 percent.
Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE), Sony's game unit, mapped out technical details of the upcoming "PSP" hand-held platform, which will compete head-to-head with Nintendo (news - web sites) Co Ltd's (7974.OS) dominant Game Boy Advance handheld console.
"We will be using some challenging technologies including wireless (news - web sites) LAN," SCE President Ken Kutaragi said at a meeting of game software makers and retailers.
"The PSP is a product with huge potential, following PlayStation and PlayStation 2 (news - web sites). The video game market may change in a big way," he said.
Kutaragi said the PSP, scheduled to debut in the fourth quarter of 2004, would employ "the latest and the most cutting-edge technologies" including two powerful micro-processors and an advanced 3D-effect graphics engine.
The new device will process data ten times faster than the original PlayStation console, SCE said.
Kutaragi also said the PSP would adopt advanced security technology which will help protect the copyright of game developers.
Sony, the dominant force in the $30 billion video game market, took industry watchers by surprise in May by unveiling its plan to launch the PSP, which features a color screen and a new high-capacity optical disc created especially for it.
The move puts Nintendo and its Game Boy hand-held platform directly in its sights, just as in 1995 when Sony first ventured into the game console business.
Sony has not set a price for the PSP, a multi-media unit that also plays movies and music, but analysts expect it to sell for 19,000 to 30,000 yen ($159-$251), well above the 12,500-yen price tag for Game Boy Advance SP, Nintendo's smaller version of its hot-selling device launched in February.
SCE plans to start distributing PC-base software emulator tools to game developers this autumn, followed by the final hardware tool next spring, Kutaragi said.
"We plan to demonstrate our prototype version of the PSP at the E3 trade show in the United States next May, and a software line-up at the Tokyo Game Show, ahead of the worldwide launch in the fourth quarter of 2004," Kutaragi said.
The news came after the Tokyo stock market closed.
Shares in Sony closed up 0.52 percent at 3,840 yen, while the Nikkei average (^N225 - news) index fell 0.06 percent.