Sony will showcase a final version of its PlayStation 3 (PS3) at the annual Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) to be held in Los Angeles.
Sony's new console is slated for an early November release, setting the stage for a three-way showdown with Microsoft's already-released Xbox 360 and Nintendo's upcoming Wii.
Sony is counting on robust sales of PlayStation 3 for boosting output and reducing production cost of Cell microchips, co-developed with Toshiba and IBM Corp to drive advanced digital electronics.
In a statement, Takao Yuhara, senior vice president, Sony, said that they would supply microchips and other key devices in large quantities for the PS3 so that the impact would be felt on all of Sony s core businesses.
Meanwhile the brand loyalty that Sony commands, especially in Japan, is expected to drive demand if the hardware does ship in November. The company is planning a global launch of 1 million PS3 units and has said that it will produce 6 million units by the end of the fiscal year ending March 2007.
It is being said that PS3 is more than just a game machine for Sony, as it is their attempt to define connection between entertainment and technology in the 21st century. Moreover, in addition to helping gamers play, the device is expected to include all the circuitry necessary to pull movies and music off the Internet and play them on a TV or stereo instead.
PlayStation 3 is the third version of the World's best-selling video game console, which for more than a decade has dominated the $25-billion annual global games market. Sony says that since 1995, it has shipped more than 223 million PlayStations.
PS3 will also boast superior computing, graphics, audio, and processing capabilities, and not to mention an internal Blu-ray Disk player, a high-definition DVD technology that the Xbox 360 lacks.
Yuhara further stated that their movie division is betting high hopes on Blu-ray. PS3's success is a concern for the Sony group as a whole.
Although Sony hasn't put a price on its PS3 yet, it is estimated that the incorporation of Blu-ray could boost the price of the PS3 to as much as $500 which is $100 more than the top-level Xbox 360. As a result, the fate of the console wars might well be decided by the fate of the parallel format wars assuming, of course, that people would not be willing to pay such a high premium - if Blu-ray doesn't indeed emerge the winner...
Sony to Showcase PS3 at E3
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