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Rumours of Playstation 3 in 2003
aosgood writes "PS3 in 2003? Bloomberg's got a story
from some manufactures stating that they are to begin trial runs next month. All I can say is WOW. "Cell" is ready?" I've got my doubts on the veracity of this information - unidentified sources and all. But it does indicate that even if it's not this year, Sony may be rolling the 3 out sooner then previously thought.Update: 03/10 14:50 GMT by H : Yep Sony has begun denying it.
Whilst there is still some murky legal sniping going on around the PlayStation brand, the story you're thinking of (Sony lose rights to Nintendo and must pay silly amounts of money as royalties) was a hoax.
Sony will defend the PlayStation brand to the death - I'd say it's more valuable to them than 'Walkman' was in the '80s. Whilst I don't expect to see a PlayStation 3 in 2003, I do expect the natural successor to the PS2 to have the PlayStation moniker, whenever it comes out. Gamers love brands (think Nintendo, Sega, Final Fantasy, Zelda, Tomb Raider).
But, what will the Third Place be for PS3?
Here is a similar story on CNet.
And, for more on the "cell" technology, check out this Red Herring article from last summer, and this Inquirier.net article that includes a picture from the USPT office.
Given all that, I'd still be surprised if this was in US stores in time for XMas. I just don't think they'll have enough time to hype it sufficiently. On the other hand, if the tech is really almost done, do they want to wait until XMas 2004? Hrm....
Not representing or approved by my company or anybody else.
Also picked up on Bloomberg. I don't have a link to the article, but here is the entire article:
Sony Denies Report That It Will Release PlayStation 3 This Year
2003-03-09 22:29 (New York)
Sony Denies Report That It Will Release PlayStation 3 This Year
Tokyo, March 10 (Bloomberg) -- Sony Corp., the world's
largest maker of video-game consoles, denied a report in Taiwan's
Commercial Times newspaper that it will introduce the successor to
its PlayStation 2 video-game console as earlier as this year.
``The report is wrong,'' said Koichiro Katsurayama, a
spokesman at Tokyo-based Sony Computer Entertainment Inc., Sony's
games unit. ``The timing of the successor machine to PlayStation 2
has not been decided.''
Sony may start selling the PlayStation 3 in Japan as early as
mid-year and overseas by the end of the year, two years ahead of
schedule so Sony can widen its lead over rivals Nintendo Co. and
Microsoft Corp., the Commercial Times said, citing unidentified
people at Taiwanese parts suppliers.
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. of Taiwan, which assembles
the PlayStation 2 for Sony, and other parts suppliers on the
island will start trial production next month, the report said.
Speculation over the timing of Sony's next console comes as
Kyoto-based Nintendo, the company behind the Mario the plumber
game character, prepares a new version of its GameCube machine.
Chip Development
Tokyo-based Sony, in collaboration with International
Business Machines Corp. and Toshiba Corp., is developing a new
processor, called ``Cell,'' which will be capable of handling
sophisticated graphics and sound over the Internet.
Sony and Toshiba, Japan's largest chipmaker, plan to use
``Cell'' in a range of digital consumer products, including TVs,
cellular phones and the successor to the PlayStation 2.
The chip is still in development, Molly Smith, a spokeswoman
with Sony Computer Entertainment America, said on March 4.
Sales of the PlayStation 2 console, which debuted in Japan
three years ago this month, exceeded 50 million units in January.
Sony released the PlayStation 2 four years after the company
introduced the original PlayStation console.
"Time is long and life is short, so begin to live while you still can." -EV
This was listed as a 'news' article in the APRIL edition of PSM. It also stated that ALL games on the PS3 would be cell shaded, and would even convert 'old' games to cell shade technology. The last line refernced that fact that this was an April Fools Joke.
Guess the real joke was on Bloomberg News.
"This must be a Thursday, I never could get the hang of Thursdays."
Nice ripoff there. Next time try not claiming you wrote something many people here have read, and give proper credit where it's due.
The full content of the article, however, is right on track, and coming from a much more authoritative source. I encourage everyone to click and read the real article; you may want to read the rest of the site when you're done, too, if you haven't. Quite funny.
Don't think of it as a flame---it's more like an argument that does 3d6 fire damage