Kazuo Hirai,
President
And Group
CEO Of Sony
Computer
Entertainment,
Outlines
Plans For
PlayStation
Business At
Tokyo Game
Show 2007
Keynote
Speech
Tokyo, 20
September,
2007 – At
Tokyo Game
Show 2007,
Kazuo Hirai,
President
and Group
CEO, Sony
Computer
Entertainment
Inc. (SCEI),
today made a
keynote
speech that
demonstrated
the strength
and new
plans of the
PlayStation®
business.
- Further
Expansion of
the
PlayStation®2
business
In the 8th
year from
launch,
PlayStation
2 still sees
steady
demands
particularly
in North
America and
Europe.
Reaching the
remarkable
milestone of
the 120
millionth
shipment in
the 7th year
from launch,
PlayStation
2 will have
longer-tail
business
compared to
its
predecessor,
the original
PlayStation.
Targeting at
further
expanding
the business
into the
emerging
markets,
SCEI will
continue to
vigorously
promote
PlayStation
2, by
introducing
more and
more
exciting new
games.
- PSP® (PlayStation®Portable),
a Key
Driving
Force for
the Growth
Strategy for
Overall
PlayStation®
Business
Strong
support from
users
worldwide as
well as
abundant
exciting
software
line-up
including
million
seller
titles from
publishers
around the
world, have
resulted in
PSP hardware
shipment
exceeding 26
million
units
worldwide by
June, 2007.
SCEI will
further
enhance its
portability
and
convenience
for users
along with
continuous
cost
reduction
measures to
boost the
expansion of
the PSP
platform.
➢ Introduce
color
variations
and popular
software
bundled
products to
meet the
needs of
variety of
users around
the world.
➢ Offer
users new
entertainment
experiences
that are
only
possible on
PSP, by
enriching
network
content and
services in
addition to
introducing
unique
peripherals
such as
camera, GPS,
and “1Seg”
TV tuner.
➢ Deploy
market
oriented
strategies
in each
region.
With PSP,
equipped
with an
overwhelmingly
powerful CPU
and a high
resolution
large LCD
screen for a
handheld
device, SCEI
will further
extend the
boundaries
of game
experiences
by fully
utilizing
“Remote
Play”. The
combination
of PS3 and
PSP Remote
Play will
offer PSP
users more
exciting and
new ways to
enjoy rich
interactive
entertainment
content
especially
of sports,
RPG, and
shooting.
-
Strengthening
Software
Development
Environment
for
PLAYSTATION®3
(PS3®) along
with the
Introduction
of More
Software
Titles and
Unique
Peripherals
SCEI will be
even more
supportive
of third
party
developers
by way of
following
measures.
➢ Share
assets and
know-how
built up
within Sony
Computer
Entertainment
Worldwide
Studios (SCE
WWS).
➢ Hold
advisory
board in
periodical
basis to get
feedback
from
publishers.
➢ Implement
various
strategies
and sharing
of
information
to enhance
efficiency
in games
development.
➢ Share SN
Systems tool
chain.
In a
strategic
move to
secure
excellence
in games
development
for current
and future
PlayStation
platforms,
SCEI have
acquired
leading game
developer
Evolution
Studios Ltd.
and its
subsidiary
Bigbig
studios
Ltd., to
further
expand its
games
development
capability
as part of
SCE WWS.
Continuous
cost
reduction
efforts
including
shrinking
the chip
size and
reducing the
number of
components.
Cost
reduction of
hardware is
one of the
most
important
challenges
for our
business and
SCEI will
further
accelerate
this effort.
SCEI will
continue R&D
efforts to
accommodate
to users’
demand. As
part of such
efforts,
SCEI today
announced
DUALSHOCK®3
Wireless
Controller,
a new
controller
for PS3
incorporating
a rumble
feature, to
become
available in
Japan in
November as
a separately
sold
accessory.
It inherits
the basic
design and
functionality
of the
popular
PlayStation
controller,
while
keeping the
motion
sensitive
six-axis
sensing
system.
Introduction
to North
American and
European
markets is
expected in
spring 2008.
- Creation
of New
Business
Opportunities
Suitable for
the Network
Era
More than
2.7 million
users
worldwide
have gone
on-line with
PS3. The
number of
users that
are on-line
is steadily
increasing,
enjoying the
latest PS3
network
games as
well as
exchanging
messages and
video
chatting
on-line.
➢ Gran
Turismo™5
Prologue
will be
available
both on
Blu-ray Disc
and as a
downloadable
content from
PLAYSTATION®Network
on December
13th in the
Japanese
market. Gran
Turismo™5
Prologue
presents a
new life
style beyond
traditional
game
experiences
such as
on-line car
dealers and
“GT.TV”, an
in-game
service for
the
distribution
of car
programs.
➢PLAYSTATION®Home
PLAYSTATION
Home, a 3D
on-line user
community
service, is
currently
under
development
to be
launched in
spring 2008.
➢
PLAYSTATION®Store
in Japan
offers more
than 500
entertainment
content
including
more than 30
of
downloadable
new games
and demos,
more than
300 of
add-on game
content,
more than
100 “Game
Archives”
titles for
PSP/PS3 and
about 90
movie
trailers.
➢ SCEI today
opened
PLAYSTATION®Store
on PC in
Japan which
enables PSP
users to
download a
wide variety
of digital
entertainment
content
available on
PLAYSTATION
Network via
their PC.
- Future
Possibility
for PS3
With the
participation
of PS3
incorporating
super
computer-like
powerful
Cell
Broadband
Engine™
(Cell/B.E.)–
and what
will be even
more
powerful
when
connected to
the network
– , Stanford
University’s
Folding@home™
program
achieved a
total
computing
power of 1
petaflop at
a single
moment, of
which 80%
calculation
was
contributed
by PS3
users.
With PS3,
equipped
with this
powerful
Cell/B.E. as
well as
other
state-of-the-art
technology
such as full
HD
capability
and Blu-ray,
SCEI will
continue to
expand a new
world of
interactive
entertainment.
About Sony
Computer
Entertainment
Inc.
Recognized
as the
global
leader and
company
responsible
for the
progression
of
consumer-based
computer
entertainment,
Sony
Computer
Entertainment
Inc. (SCEI)
manufacturers,
distributes
and markets
the
PlayStation®
game
console, the
PlayStation®2
computer
entertainment
system, the
PSP® (PlayStation®Portable)
handheld
entertainment
system and
the
PLAYSTATION®3
(PS3®)
system.
PlayStation
has
revolutionized
home
entertainment
by
introducing
advanced 3D
graphic
processing,
and
PlayStation
2 further
enhances the
PlayStation
legacy as
the core of
home
networked
entertainment.
PSP is a new
handheld
entertainment
system that
allows users
to enjoy 3D
games, with
high-quality
full-motion
video, and
high-fidelity
stereo
audio. PS3
is an
advanced
computer
system,
incorporating
the
state-of-the-art
Cell
processor
with super
computer
like power.
SCEI, along
with its
subsidiary
divisions
Sony
Computer
Entertainment
America
Inc., Sony
Computer
Entertainment
Europe Ltd.,
and Sony
Computer
Entertainment
Korea Inc.
develops,
publishes,
markets and
distributes
software,
and manages
the third
party
licensing
programs for
these
platforms in
the
respective
markets
worldwide.
Headquartered
in Tokyo,
Japan, Sony
Computer
Entertainment
Inc. is an
independent
business
unit of the
Sony Group.
PlayStation,
PLAYSTATION,
PS3, PSP and
DUALSHOCK
are
registered
trademarks
and SIXAXIS
and Cell
Broadband
Engine are
Sony
Computer
Entertainment
Inc.
All other
trademarks
are property
of their
respective
owners.