Slashdot Mirror
PSX Production Stops, Development Issues Rumored?
Thanks to GameScience for translating the news that Sony's PlayStation 2/DVR combination, the PSX, has temporarily ceased production in Japan, apparently "since the start of April." According to Sony representatives, the company is "in the middle of deciding when production will start again, based on the current stock levels, as well as the shift in demand for the unit", but the Japanese article claims "a development problem", suggesting "...both SCE's game unit and Sony's Blu-ray team are involved in the project, and apparently things haven't been running smoothly, resulting in some of PSX's functionality being mismatched" - is this partly referencing the PSX's initial feature downgrade? However, the PSX is "still on track for launch in Europe and North America in the second half of 2004."
PSX was an acronym used mainly by the videogame press. Sony of America's press releases (like this one) use "PlayStation", "PS" and "PS one" to refer to the original Playstation. They've been doing that at least since 2001.
AFAIK, after Nintendo dropped Sony's contract to create a SNES console with CD capabilities (which was referred as the Playstation), Sony decided to create its own console using the Playstation as its base, and this project was baptized as Playstation X. When the console was marketed the 'X' was dropped fron its official name, but the press still used the X in the acronym. Dunno why... maybe because it sounded cool?
I agree that Playstation X may sound unoriginal, but since Sony of Japan never used the name in a released product in that market I don't see much trouble. I think it fits - after all the PSX is more than a PS2, but it is not a new Playstation console. Of course, they might run a bit of a problem when they try to market a PS3 with added functionality... will it be known as PSX2? Or a PS3X, maybe?