Ken Kutaragi sez: I "promise" an AV-centric PS3

This just in from our Tokyo bureau: according to an interview conducted by Japan's Impress, Sony's Ken Kutaragi has gone on record with a "promise" for what he's calling an AV-centric PS3. In other words, audio and video capabilities first, gaming second (if at all), in a device built around the Cell-processor platform. Ken says that the device would certainly be more expensive, reflecting the prices and margins expected on high-end consumer electronic devices such as TVs, Blu-ray personal video recorders, etc. -- not the relatively cheap, but powerful gaming rigs sold at a loss under Sony's Computer Entertainment division. Impress speculates that the device could cost as much as ¥300,000 or about $2,500. The new Sony-branded living room box would, in Ken's (translated) words, "be a standard AV component sized box with a more powerful, power supply unit, anti-shake insulator, twice the main memory, and 2x HDMI to split sound and video output." More Cell-processor devices in the living room? We say bring it, Sony.

[Via Engadget Japan]

[Taz @ Dec 20th 2006 4:20AM]

Meh! I'll stick with my $99 modded Xbox 1, with Xbox Media Center installed... it already does everything I want, for 1/250th of the price :)

[Matthew @ Dec 20th 2006 5:27AM]

*Cough* 1/25th *Cough*

[tiuk @ Dec 20th 2006 4:21AM]

Weren't they saying before the the PS3 would "do everything"?

[Onesolo @ Dec 20th 2006 4:22AM]

Bah, and I say, cut the crap and bring the PS3 to Europe...

[bdarma @ Dec 20th 2006 4:23AM]

well, just wait and see what Sony can bring now ...

[eddyk @ Dec 20th 2006 4:51AM]

Is SONY resigning from video games ? so the Playstation 3 is no longer the ultimate gaming platform but just an overexpensive media center like what my first XBOX is now but for a lot lot cheaper ?
Yes, my xbox can't display HD, but still.
It seems that SONY is turning around with no real goal for the PS3.

[luke @ Dec 20th 2006 5:59AM]

xbox 1 can do HD, always has been able to, you just need the HD component cable and to enable it through the MS dashboard

[akijikan @ Dec 20th 2006 5:00AM]

You mean like one of these?

http://www.ps3land.com/psx.php

[Isaac @ Dec 20th 2006 11:01AM]

Heeeey, WTF?! I don't remember ever seeing anything about these! Does that mean they never came to the US? :( I'd love one of these, even now, while I work a 3rd and 4th job and scrimp and save for a PS3. :-P

[Ben @ Dec 20th 2006 9:39AM]

That is true that the Xbox 1 can output in HD however it doesn't have the power to playback HD video. The processor just isn't fast enough. And before you think I'm just talking out of my ass, I own a modded xbox 1 with the 128mb ram upgrade and it still won't play HD video (and yes I have it hooked up with component cables running Xbox Media Center at 720p).

[Ben Hobbs @ Dec 20th 2006 6:35AM]

So the $600 PS3 is actually the tardpack... Sony are shooting themselves in the foot here, even suggesting that an even more powerful PS3 is on its way at a bargain price of $2,500. For what, a bit more memory, New Power Supply and another HDMI socket. Or are they gonna be using an IR receiver on the new PS3 so people can actually use it in a home theatre system.

[drewh @ Dec 20th 2006 6:53AM]

Ok, so if a new AV centered PS3 is coming, why do I need an expensive Blu-ray in my actual PS3 for games that can fit on a DVD ? I would prefer a DVD based PS3 but less expensive, instead of having to pay more for a blu-ray crap that I will not use to play movies (maybe one time to test, and that's all).
And, like "tiuk" said, wasn't the PS3 supposed to do all that already ??
I think I'll stop waiting for a PS3 and just buy an Xbox360 with GOW for christmas instead of waiting for the february launch here in Europe.

[Kevin @ Dec 20th 2006 7:42AM]

March! and I stopped waiting about a month ago and haven't looked back.

[Peter Sills @ Dec 20th 2006 7:08AM]

How about, before we go ahead and make the "stupidly expensive PS3" why don't we make the current one work first? How about that? I mean, add the UPnP and DLNA features which were promised - fix the scaling feature for games and video - add the proper support for resolution (different for games and movies) - stop the lockups - properly play PS2 games - etc. etc. etc.

You don't get to do a new one until you fix the first one!

[David @ Dec 20th 2006 7:21AM]

Uhhh from the sounds of it this is going to be PSX2, PSX on crack with updated technology. There's no mention of this coming to the states....

[Robert @ Dec 20th 2006 8:48AM]

Oh, is that like the "2 HDMI ports" that we were supposed to get on the PS3? (Google: Sony's lies)

[mattie @ Dec 20th 2006 11:15AM]

i still dont' understand why we need 2 HDMI ports... one for audio? you mean TOSlink isnt' good enough anymore?

[Matt @ Dec 20th 2006 8:53AM]

$2500 and the damn thing still won't include an HDMI cable!

[Frankenstein Black @ Dec 20th 2006 9:23AM]

YEAAA! Finally! PS9 is on the way, and only for 2.9k. Early too. He must be, um, "using" PS9 fairy dust. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2DlgcpR2nA

Hey Ken stop stimulating those adrenal glands with the powder from the PS9 and focus or go away will ya? Work on getting the PS3 out the door first, in mass and globally! After all, I need more people to kill on RFOM ;^)...

[Jiffylush @ Dec 20th 2006 9:30AM]

Anyone else out there think that they already bought an A/V centric PS3?

They were promising a digital media center for your living room, and that is what made it worth the $600, because it sure as hell wasn't the launch titles.

So does that mean the March update won't make my PS3 work as well with media as an original xbox?

[chris @ Dec 20th 2006 9:32AM]

Man I really wanted and was holding out for a PS3 but it's just nothing but negative reviews and dissapointment. I played the MotorStorm demo and it sucks even compared to the 360's demo over a year ago of COD. I like the fact that the PS3 has an internal power supply, runs quiet, and has built in wi fi but that is it. The 360 has a better controller, less expensive, better online service, and the rumble feature. I guess I'll wait for the 360's cooler processor to come out and then compare the 2 systems to see if the PS3 has improved to justify the expensive price (no, i don't give a crap about blu-ray or hd-dvd.

[aj @ Dec 27th 2006 4:57PM]

I just want to point out a few things to you Xbox fan boys. Xbox does not have a less expensive online system than Sony....Sony's online is FREE!!!! (that's why it sucks in comparision). As for most of the older gamers like my self who have jobs. We all have a Big screen HD Tv. Sony knows their consumers well and have made the PS3 for us. The PS3 will make the most of our HD tvs. (I didn't buy a 1080p only to watch 720p) Blue-Ray is better than HD-DVD. Who cares if the format is a little overkill and has Unessary Gigabyte space...I like over kill hell my home computer has way more harddrive space than I needed or even wanted..The only thing I don't like about PS3 is the controler...cry...I want my rumble back...but then again that's what 3rd prtys are for. Finaly xbox at launch couldn't even play the Kong game with out even freezing or crashing. If your gona compair xbox games w/ PS3 games do so with xbox360 launch games which were horible!! To date the only good game on xbox is "Halo" that's it!! Why by an xbox to play only 3 or 4 good games???

[Oddmanout @ Dec 20th 2006 9:34AM]

My thoughts exactly 'David'. Gettin' a real PSX vibe from this post. Was Sony actually not paying attention when they tried this approach before and it...uh...didn't work ?

HD fiends...just chill. Do not purchase this device (assuming it ever comes out). Do not purchase a PS3 or an Xbox 360 purely for their media capabilities. Pick your poison for the next year or two...Blu-ray, HDDVD. Build yourself a quiet media center PC around such a drive for maybe $1200(more than half of that of course going into the optical drive itself). When the OTHER HD standard drive drops to $99, pick it up and slap it into your media PC. Dual format player, infinitely upgradeable, puts the internet and all your digital pics on your phat TV w/out having to burn discs, and will still probably allow light gaming and video enabled VOIP on said phat TV. With the option of later adding NAS, and thus terabytes of standard or hi-def video w/out even having to get up off your ever widening @$$.

Do you REALLY need Sony at this point ?

[JC @ Dec 20th 2006 9:45AM]

If they keep on trying to crap stuff into that thing, it WILL end up being that big.

[mike @ Dec 20th 2006 10:46AM]

and it will still be a 100% closed ecosystem that no one wants. Sony is an amazing company with lots of incredible technology, unfortuately they have no idea how to market it.

[Jebby Deringer @ Dec 20th 2006 2:46PM]

I can't understand what he is talking about. He's speaking jibberish again.

[Krzyleo @ Dec 20th 2006 11:40AM]

I just don't get it. How in the hell are you going to talk about or even fathom and more AV-centric PS3, when you can't even provide enough of the current PS3 models? Sony is all about hype and empty promises. Less talk, more action.

[Joshua @ Dec 20th 2006 11:42AM]

This is basically what happened with the PSP. The gaming lineup contains a scarce amount of desirable titles compared to the competitor, and they keep pushing the media functions and the new proprietary movie format on a more expensive machine.

[Rick Lyon @ Dec 20th 2006 11:51AM]

This is dumb. I mean a month after you release the PS3 to supply issues, scaling issues, price issues, you tout a bigger and better one for $2500? Who is going to buy it? I mean seriously? Any HT enthusiast already has a BRD player and a PS3. Why do they need a third BRD player or second game console? Ridiculous. Sony is going down hard, I just hope they release a ton of PS3 games for me before they croak.

[andy @ Dec 20th 2006 12:25PM]

What is this, opposite day?

1. Engadget posts an article praising Sony; and
2. All of the comments are from people who actually own PS3's venting about problems with said PS3?

[The Jeremy @ Dec 20th 2006 12:31PM]

I think it is easy to see what would justify the more expensive media-centric PS3 (perhaps an entire line of them?). Here's some of the options:

*Blu-Ray burner.

*DVR functionality (with or without official TiVo software since Sony is a TiVo IP licensee).

*Much larger capacity hard drive(s).

*Location-free "broadcasting" abilities.

*802.11n support.

*Multiple Cell processors, or Cell processors with more than 8 cores in order to better handle the other multimedia functions.

*Larger physical memory.

*Firewire 800.

*ExpressCard expansion slot(s).

*CableCard slot(s).

*Customized OS X license, or media-centric Sony Linux distribution.

I still would like to see a Sony/Apple partnership on spreading iTunes throughout the Sony product line instead of Sony continuing to prop up the failure known as "Sony Connect".

[walk2k @ Dec 24th 2006 1:22PM]

Exactly. This isn't just a more expensive PS3, so stfu with all this "OLLO SONY IS TEH DOOOMED" fanboi crap.

This would be much much more than a PS3, heck it might not even play PS3 games (though, it probably would). It would be more like a Tivo and whole-home media server, with large NAS HDD(s), multiple inputs & outputs, maybe even a 200-disc Bluray changer.

Sony already sells something like this (only w/o Bluray) for $2000. Hell, there are rack-mount type AUDIO ONLY servers that go for that much. Something like this would be more for the high-end home theater crowd, not for little Johnny Gamerzoid who saves all his allowance to buy used N64 games...

[The Jeremy @ Dec 20th 2006 12:45PM]

In other rumblings, I wonder when we'll see a Cell powered Toshiba HD DVD deck, since Toshiba is one of the Cell processor partners.

Then again, since Toshiba is a Microsoft proxy, I can also see them abandoning the Cell processor in order to use the Microsoft IP owned version of the PowerPC chip (currently manufactured by IBM) found in the Xbox360. I would lay money on Microsoft contracting with Toshiba to produce that chip for them once the IBM contract expires.

[v_dogg @ Dec 20th 2006 12:56PM]

will someone please make a better ps3 photo to use? That one at the top is really crappy

[Johan S @ Dec 20th 2006 1:06PM]

Just integrate the PS3 with HD DVR and PC link for AV content exchange/web connectivity (via WiFi) capabilities with an HDTV .. is that so hard? Make it super high quality so the PS3 price can be inclusive. Sony is lucky that the Microsoft isn't licensing the Xbox360 with WiFi to HDTV manufacturers to integrate into their sets. I think M$FT wont do it until someone else does.

Basically the HDTV should be able to select, accept, and/or purchase stuff online seamlessly/intuiotively. And the content purchased either on the HDTV or on the PC or other devices (such as iPods or PDAs) should be made available for the HDTV (and vice versa).

[Ray-- @ Dec 20th 2006 1:58PM]

"the ps3 is future proof" - Ken Kutaragi

[kaztm @ Dec 20th 2006 2:18PM]

"the ps3 is future proof" - Ken Kutaragi

You mean the translator...or did Kutaragi literally use those words?

[Tyler @ Dec 20th 2006 2:40PM]

I don't understand what everyone is talking about. I've owned my PS3 for a month and I've had exactly *0* problems thus far. Why anyone would want to spend 3x the money for any form of bloated PS3 is beyond me. The only reason I could justify spending that much, is if it had every feature 'The Jeremy' listed above.

I've also owned a 360, yes XBox Live is better, yes they have rumblin'-bumblin'-stumblin' controller, yes its less expensive. However, to someone saying the MotorStorm demo looks bad compared to 360 demo's from a year ago, I have a 46" Sharp LCD that says otherwise.

I'm not a fanboy either way, but I will admit, $600 isn't that much if you really consider what it is (and what it can do so far). I'm anxious to see what its capable of a year from now, etc.

[andy @ Dec 20th 2006 4:10PM]

Why a year from now? It's already been released, and a $150 modded xbox 1 already does all of these things.

So, it's not like it can't be done, Sony just isn't following through on the promises, and now they're promising more? Please.

[willyboy @ Dec 20th 2006 3:25PM]

Is he really that small... That thing is huge... It looks like a dell PC

[Zorque @ Dec 20th 2006 3:59PM]

Kutaragi has been an arrogant ass for as long as I can remember. Anyone remember his comments on the PSP screen cracks?

[Deejay Knight @ Dec 20th 2006 4:11PM]

Wouldn’t announcing a better version of a product that was released less than a month ago be a bad idea?

I just don’t understand the reasoning behind announcing such a device, especially when the PS3 has yet to really walk on it’s own two feet. What are you thinking, Ken?!

[Porsche 911 @ Dec 20th 2006 4:18PM]

ARE YOU GAMERS THAT ILLITERATE, OR DO YOU GUYS LIKE TO KISS M$’S ASS. THIS WOULD BE JUST LIKE THE ORIGINAL PS3, BUT WITH A BLU-RAY BURNER (if taken the PSX route), DVR FUNCTIONALITY, LARGER HDD CAPACITY, AND BETTER SOUND QUALITY OPTIONS. IF YOU DO NOT WANT ONE THEN DO NOT BITCH ABOUT IT. NEVERTHELESS, THIS IS JUST LIKE THE ORIGINAL PS3 BUT WITH BETTER MEDIA MANAGEMENT/RECORDING OPTIONS. THE ORIGINAL PS3 IS FINE, THIS ONE HAS MORE OPTIONS. I DO NOT KNOW WHY YOU GUYS ARE WINING LIKE LITTLE KIDS. THE BOTTOM LINE IS, IF YOU WANT THE ORIGINAL PS3 THEN GET THAT ONE, IF YOU WANT THE NEW ONE THEN GET THE NEW ONE, AND IF YOU DO NOT WANT ANY TYPE OF PS3 THEN DO NOT WORRY ABOUT IT, THIS DOES NOT EFFECT YOU SO DO NOT BITCH.

[Sean Pelletier @ Dec 20th 2006 4:49PM]

Let's not forget that we have Linux in our back pocket here folks. Have faith in the homebrew crowd that they can "unlock" a few key items and give us the device we thought we were getting when we spent $600 large on the PS3.

[dgsr @ Dec 21st 2006 12:52AM]

porsche 911

the caps lock key is to the left of the "A" button, right above "shift", and right below "tab"...make sure said button is off before posting again..sheesh