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Sony Sees 10-Year Life for PlayStation 2 Console
Thu Mar 25, 8:11 PM ET Add Technology - Reuters to My Yahoo!
By Ben Berkowitz
SAN JOSE, Calif. (Reuters) - Sony Corp (NYSE:SNE - news) (news - web sites). believes that its market-leading PlayStation 2 (news - web sites) video game console can continue to sell until 2010, twice as long as most in the industry had assumed was possible, an executive of Sony's U.S. video game unit said on Thursday.
In a keynote address at the Game Developers Conference in San Jose, California, Andrew House, executive vice president of Sony Computer Entertainment of America, said the success of the original PlayStation, nearing its 10th anniversary, had convinced the company that two-thirds of its potential PS2 sales were yet to come.
The PlayStation 2 was released in 2000 in the United States and game industry observers have expected Sony and rival Microsoft Corp to shift their marketing efforts to next-generation game machines in 2005 or 2006.
"There are some huge potential gains for us later in the life cycle," House told a packed auditorium.
But with the lengthening of the sales window for PS2, he said, Sony and the industry will also have to consider the advancing age of the people who own and buy the hardware.
"We have to think very carefully about the type of audience we're reaching with our games," he said.
House also sought to quash speculation that Sony might accelerate development on its next console, the PS3, to keep up with Microsoft Corp., which many in the industry have speculated is preparing the successor to its Xbox (news - web sites) console for 2005.
"Competitive movement will not be a factor in determining our launch release plans," he said.
But what drew the closest attention from the developers on hand was the few words House said about the PSP, a portable system expected to rival the PS2 in power and capabilities.
The device will have a wide-screen format, wireless Internet connectivity and a proprietary storage device, the UMD, with three times the capacity of a CD-ROM.
House was joined on stage by a team from Backbone Entertainment, which showed a brief demo of its game "Death Jr." running on a PC with PSP emulation software. The game drew heavy applause from the crowd, with those who saw the demo admiring the platform's graphics capabilities.
While "Death Jr." was popular, though, the star of the keynote was an unlikely American pop hero -- William Hung, who gained fame as a talent-show contestant with limited talent on the TV series "American Idol."
Hung, who has devoted legions of fans and a record deal, sang and danced to the song "YMCA" with Sony's EyeToy, a device that connects to the PS2 and translates the player's motion into on-screen action. He was using "EyeToy: Groove," an upcoming game for the system.
Sony Sees 10-Year Life for PlayStation 2 Console
Thu Mar 25, 8:11 PM ET Add Technology - Reuters to My Yahoo!
By Ben Berkowitz
SAN JOSE, Calif. (Reuters) - Sony Corp (NYSE:SNE - news) (news - web sites). believes that its market-leading PlayStation 2 (news - web sites) video game console can continue to sell until 2010, twice as long as most in the industry had assumed was possible, an executive of Sony's U.S. video game unit said on Thursday.
In a keynote address at the Game Developers Conference in San Jose, California, Andrew House, executive vice president of Sony Computer Entertainment of America, said the success of the original PlayStation, nearing its 10th anniversary, had convinced the company that two-thirds of its potential PS2 sales were yet to come.
The PlayStation 2 was released in 2000 in the United States and game industry observers have expected Sony and rival Microsoft Corp to shift their marketing efforts to next-generation game machines in 2005 or 2006.
"There are some huge potential gains for us later in the life cycle," House told a packed auditorium.
But with the lengthening of the sales window for PS2, he said, Sony and the industry will also have to consider the advancing age of the people who own and buy the hardware.
"We have to think very carefully about the type of audience we're reaching with our games," he said.
House also sought to quash speculation that Sony might accelerate development on its next console, the PS3, to keep up with Microsoft Corp., which many in the industry have speculated is preparing the successor to its Xbox (news - web sites) console for 2005.
"Competitive movement will not be a factor in determining our launch release plans," he said.
But what drew the closest attention from the developers on hand was the few words House said about the PSP, a portable system expected to rival the PS2 in power and capabilities.
The device will have a wide-screen format, wireless Internet connectivity and a proprietary storage device, the UMD, with three times the capacity of a CD-ROM.
House was joined on stage by a team from Backbone Entertainment, which showed a brief demo of its game "Death Jr." running on a PC with PSP emulation software. The game drew heavy applause from the crowd, with those who saw the demo admiring the platform's graphics capabilities.
While "Death Jr." was popular, though, the star of the keynote was an unlikely American pop hero -- William Hung, who gained fame as a talent-show contestant with limited talent on the TV series "American Idol."
Hung, who has devoted legions of fans and a record deal, sang and danced to the song "YMCA" with Sony's EyeToy, a device that connects to the PS2 and translates the player's motion into on-screen action. He was using "EyeToy: Groove," an upcoming game for the system.