PlayStation 3 launch due in Japan
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Report from Japan
Sony’s long-awaited PlayStation 3 console goes on sale in Japan on 11 November. Hardcore fans of the game-playing gadget are already queuing outside stores for their chance to snap one of the 100,000 Sony has made available. The PlayStation 3 is the second of the next-generation consoles to launch and comes more than a year after Microsoft’s Xbox 360. The launch is widely seen as a huge gamble for the electronics giant.
Game gear
The PlayStation 3 (PS3) is being sold in two configurations. The most expensive version has a 60GB hard drive and wi-fi on board and costs, in Japan, 60,000 yen (£270). The cheaper version has a 20GB hard drive, lacks the wi-fi and will cost 49,980 yen (£222). European prices are expected to be higher than direct comparisons suggest. Both versions include a wireless controller, a Blu-ray high-definition DVD drive and a port so they can work with a high-definition display. Buying a PS3 also gives owners free access to the online PlayStation Network where they can meet and take on other gamers. Sony expects five games to be available at launch including Ridge Racer 7, Mobile Suit Gundam: Target in Sight, Genji, and Resistance: Fall of Man.
Like other next-generation consoles the PS3 offers gamers much more detailed graphics than ever before. The IBM-developed Cell chip inside the console uses seven separate processing cores which can be used to make the physics in game worlds more realistic and allow computer-controlled enemies to behave with great sophistication. News agencies reported that Japanese PlayStation fans were already starting to queue outside electronics stores to try to be the first to get hold of one of the new consoles. "The image quality is so superb you’d almost think it’s a real movie," gamer Hisafumi Funato said after trying it out at a demonstration event in downtown Tokyo. "I want one, especially if I don’t have to stand in a long line."
Cost crunch
The PlayStation 3 was originally supposed to go on sale in early 2006 but production problems and shortages of key components forced a delay. The European launch of the console has been pushed back to March 2007. This has also meant that there are only 100,000 consoles for gamers in Japan. Sony said 400,000 will be available for the US launch on 17 November. Despite the shortages, Sony said it was confident of shipping six million PS3s by the end of March 2006. Although Sony has dominated home console gaming since the launch of the first PlayStation in 1994 its lead is under greater threat than ever before. Arch-rival Microsoft released its Xbox 360 console in November 2005. By the end of 2006 Microsoft hopes to have sold about 10 million Xbox 360s. Also due to launch in November is Nintendo’s Wii console which is far cheaper than the PlayStation 3 or the Xbox 360. It goes on sale in the US on 19 November. Analysts expect Sony to lose money on every console sold for some time to come. "For all you know, it may take Sony five years to get back the money it’s invested in PS3," said Mitsuhiro Osawa, analyst for Mizuho Investors Securities, "even 10 years if it doesn’t watch out."
