Sony Announces a Super Playstation 2, the "PSX"

Doctor_No writes "Sony has announced a souped-up Playstation 2 in Japan. The machine, named the "PSX", comes with 120GB hard drive and a DVD+/-RW for recording videos and DVR features much like Sony's Cocoon. The machine will be released sometime in 2003, and come with a service that offers multimedia content such as video and music through internet connectivity. If you live in Japan, it will also come with a BS tuner; which is a Japanese Satellite Broadcast tuner. The new machine also boasts a real-time OS, USB 2.0, Memorystick slot, and a connection with Sony's Portable handheld, the "PSP". UBS Warburg has an article here, but these two Japanese sites offer better information (albeit in Japanese); Watch Impress, ZDnet Japan. Here is a rather large PDF presentation."

Comments

RIAA/MPAA Nightmare

[sweeney37]

Anyone foresee this problem?

120GB HDD + DVD-R/RW + Mod Chip = a PS2 that will make copies of it's games for you.

If you add into the equation the multimedia via internet connectivity, it sounds like you've got a multi-purpose piracy machine.

Mike

Re:RIAA/MPAA Nightmare

[Soporific]

All they need to do is bundle Kazaa with it.

~S

Re:RIAA/MPAA Nightmare

[AKnightCowboy]

Anyone foresee this problem?

Unless Japan suddenly becomes the 51st state of the USA, no. RIAA/MPAA are American organizations. Other countries should tell them to buzz off.

Re:RIAA/MPAA Nightmare

[jandrese]

Strangely though, many of the companies on the RIAA and MPAA are Japanese companies.

Re:RIAA/MPAA Nightmare

[apetime]

I think the RIAA and MPAA have nothing to worry about. In the Japanese article, they make clear that DRM is a main part of the design of this machine.

Quick translation from the Watch Impress article:
"Although the types of inputs and outputs on the PSX have not been made clear, they explained that copyright protection would be a main concern. They stated that such protection is very important, but they are aware that users want to use the machine freely, and the newest DRM technologies would be incorporated. 'We are considering including a signal in the analog output that would prevent copying.' They went on to explain that, since a consensus had yet to be reached regarding digital transmissions, that they would make it compatible with a tentative standard."

Re:RIAA/MPAA Nightmare

[questionlp]

Japan has their own version of the RIAA called JASRAC, who has been actively encouraging Japanese labels and distributors to use copy protection on their crippled unCD releases.

I'm not sure if or what Japan's version of the MPAA is.

BS tuner

[bobba22]

In my line of work, I wish I had one of those.

Some excellent quality pics of the PSX

[Dot.Com.CEO]

Here.

Beautiful...

Guesstimated timeline:

[xYoni69x]

1. PSX, the Playstation 2 with 120GB HD, DVD+/-RW, USB 2.0 and more, is released.
2. A modchip is released.
3. Linux is installed on it.
4. Everyone slowly realizes it's really a computer. YOU GUYS!!!

Re:Guesstimated timeline:

[Anonymous Coward]

Consoles aren't computers. Consoles are better than computers. With a console I don't have to go out and buy a brand new $300 video card every six months to be able to play the latest games.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go out and buy the newest $500 console so I can play the latest games.

gulp

[boogy nightmare]

Time for a cold shower...

i have never seen anything inhuman that sexy (in fact sexier then some females.. trust me)

Good naming strategy

[worst_name_ever]

First Playstation: PSX
Second Playstation: PS2
Third Playstation: PSX

I can't wait to try out the new "PS2" when it's released in 2005!

Anyone notice this?

[Dot.Com.CEO]

There is a port in the back that seems to be a normal monitor port. If it really is, and if you really can connect a normal monitor there, then the PSX will be a truly great home PC. With a respectable and professionaly supported Sony Linux distribution (that already exists), killer looks and EXCELLENT capabilities for being a one-stop do-it-all machine, this will be the Amiga of this decade. As long as it costs less than 1000 euros, it has a place in my living room.

Microsoft have been outdone by far. Well done Sony.

Memory Stick

[Strepsil]

It's about time they put a Memory Stick slot on those things. Sony put them on everything else they make.

I hope they move to using Memory Sticks for saved game storage, instead of having to buy another special card for the next console. It never made sense to me that on one hand, they're pushing these things as your personal magic solution to portable storage, then not use them on one of their biggest products.

apt-get PSX also announced

[Debian Troll]

Huzzah for Sony! If you scroll right down to the bottom of their press release page, there is a small paragraph about the inclusion of apt-get for PSX being included in this new PlayStation machine. Basically this will allow you to easily install the latest GNU-games on your PSX. I have it on good authority that at least 3 titles are being prepared for distribution in the apt-get PSX format.

Bruce Peren's Splinter Cell
Cast out by his former employers, long-time Debian zealot Bruce Perens must adopt covert tactics and GNU/skill to get back into HP headquarters and retrieve his beloved Debian coffee mug. Untold dangers await the player as they stealthily guide rogue agent Perens back through the corridors of his seedy past. Special end of level Carly Fiorina shoot-out scenes!

Resident Evil 3: Will the Last Debian User Turn Out the Lights?
A suspense zombie thriller. The player creeps around a deserted town, awaiting the foretold coming of the next stable release of Debian. Years of empty lonely gameplay awaits!!

Medal of Honor: Installation Assault
World War II themed shooter, based around the hard-fought text installation of Woody and 'automated' hardware detection routines. Play as either the Allies or Nazis, as you try and install Debian on a Panzer IV tank, a Mustang fighter, or the gas chamber control panel at Auschwitz!

But what I wanna know is...

[mjtiernan]

does it play games?

Odd decision

[rkischuk]

The articles state that the PSX would probably come out in the US in 2004. Given that the next generation of consoles is slated to arrive in 2004-2005, it seems strange that they would spend extra money on a redesign of the PS2 instead of putting their resources into the PS3.

The possibilities seem to be 1) This machine is a test bed for many of the technologies they plan to put in the PS3, and they want to use the PSX as a dry run, 2) They plan to come to market late with the PS3, and this is a stopgap measure, or 3) They're morons, and are spending all of this money to release a dated gaming system (with nifty bells and whistles) just as consumers have started salivating over the next generation.

Re:Odd decision

[pmz]

The articles state that the PSX would probably come out in the US in 2004. Given that the next generation of consoles is slated to arrive in 2004-2005, it seems strange that they would spend extra money on a redesign of the PS2 instead of putting their resources into the PS3.

Doesn't the Japan market tend to lead the U.S. market--but not always in predictable ways? Don't forget the Japan is a large country, where Sony can sell the PSX to them only. The U.S. doesn't have to get every toy. The article is really just speculation.

The PSX could be a test in the Japanese market to see how a more capable game console would sell. Don't be suprised if the U.S. doesn't see anything until the PS3, complete with the "Cell" stuff, 320GB hard drive, DVD-RW, monitor output, etc. etc.

Imagine a PS3 with a Linux distribution, OpenOffice.org, and Mozilla. Given that games are no longer an issue (it's a PlayStation, duh), Sony would have a compelling no-Microsoft utility PC in its product line-up. PlayStations could even become inexpensive "thin clients" along the lines of X Terminals or Sun Rays. As long as the Linux isn't tainted (god help us, GPL), the PS3 would literally be disposable at only a few hundred dollars. It would even have point-of-sale applications. Not necessarily a bad day at Sony's marketing department. Not bad at all.

Wrong

[Duds]

Very creative, but utterly wrong.

It's abbreviated to PSX because the Playstation is desended from the failed Super NES CD.

Alongside the SNES add-on, Sony were going to launch their own "SNES CD" without a cart slot which would be called "Playstation X". The product name stuck right up until the launch of the 32-bit box of tricks we now know when the X was dropped.

But the apprev stuck.

Re:English Translation...

[xmutex]

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