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.
