Ken Kutaragi Talks About Everything Except The PlayStation 3 Launch Date

Ken Kutaragi, chief of Sony's game business, gave a speech Monday in San Francisco on the future of computing entertainment, but he failed to answer the question on everyone's mind: the timing for the release of when will Sony's PlayStation 3 game console debut?

Video game fans are in serious waiting mode, and they face some perplexing questions about when they should buy their next-generation game consoles. And as a result, the multibillion dollar video game industry could be in for a tough 2006.

Another game console, Microsoft's Xbox 360, launched in North America in November but has been in short supply. The PlayStation 3 was set to launch this spring, and millions of video game fans are waiting for it. Now most observers think the PlayStation won't show up in North America until the fourth quarter of 2006.


Game fans' pent-up demand for a new generation of game consoles was whetted in November when Microsoft debuted its long-awaited Xbox 360. But others have been waiting for the PlayStation 3.

In May, 2005, Sony said it would launch in "spring 2006.'' But it didn't say what territories it would launch in or define what it meant by spring. Sony is expected to tell more in May at the annual
Electronic Entertainment Expo.

Last week, Larry Probst, chief executive of Electronic Arts, the largest independent maker of video game software, said in a conference call he didn't expect the PlayStation 3 to show up in North America until the fourth quarter of 2006. That assessment is partly based on the fact that his own company is still working on games for the PlayStation 3 and is not prepared to launch any this spring. The waiting game is in part responsible for EA's lackluster earnings announced last
week.

Some analysts think that the extended wait will hurt overall video game sales in 2006. For gamers, it means the period of uncertainty will last a long time.

In the mean time, Microsoft has said that it will increase production of Xbox 360 consoles and sell up to 5.5 million worldwide by June 30.

Sony says that its system is more powerful than the Xbox 360. In fact, Kutaragi said that the heart of the PlayStation 3, the Cell microprocessor, will be used in a wide range of supercomputing applications.

Beyond creating realistic virtual worlds in the PlayStation 3, he said that Cell chips would be used in "real-time computing'' applications that demand an enormous amount of simultaneous computation.
Those devices include security systems, stock market computers, jet fighters, medical imaging systems, and even Formula 1 race car diagnostic systems.

That vision is no doubt meant to be tempting for gamers and could inspire them to hold off on purchasing Microsoft's machine. But it isn't clear yet whether the PlayStation 3 will cost a lot more than the Xbox 360, which has two versions retailing for $299 and $399. The PlayStation 3 has
more expensive components on it, such as high-definition storage disks dubbed "Blu�
Ray'' drives.

At the time that the PS 3 does debut, Microsoft is expected to lower the prices on the Xbox 360. If Sony runs any later, then Microsoft will likely be able to take more of the market. But the consequences for overall game sales will still be tough.

"It may be the holidays of 2007 before sales really get interesting,'' said P.J. McNealy,
an analyst at American Technology Research.


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