The Times Online had a sit-down with Sony Computer Entertainment boss, Kaz Hirai, after the big Gamescom show last week in Cologne. You remember, the event that saw the official launch of the PS3 Slim. The Q&A is an interesting read in whole, but the answer that stands out comes in response to a question about whether the lower-priced $299 PS3 Slim will be sold at a loss relative to its cost to manufacture. "Yes," was the quick answer from Kaz. That's a surprise for two reasons. First, the PS3 Slim benefits from more efficient 45-nm manufacturing processes used on its smaller, less power-hungry Cell processor. Also, just last month Sony's CFO told investors that manufacturing costs of the PS3 had dropped by "about 70%, roughly speaking" -- that comes to about $240 based on original manufacturing estimates of $800 when the PS3 launched back in 2006. Regardless, a console being sold as a loss-leader is nothing new in the gaming industry and, as Kaz points out, will almost certainly be offset by looking at the PS3 as a platform that includes the hardware, software, peripherals, and services.

[Via GamesIndustry.biz]

According to Next-Gen, PlayStation boss and Kaz Hirai claims that PlayStation 3s have done the same with Cell chips since last holiday season, and that Sony intends to finish the process of shrinking its major chips to 65nm with the RSX graphics processor this fall. Die shrinkage will mean a lot less to PlayStation buyers than it did to 360 owners suffering from the red ring of death on Microsoft's less-reliable 90nm parts, but it still means Sony can save some cash on producing and cooling PS3s -- and you shave a bit off your power bill.

[Via Joystiq]

Kaz Hirai took to a Tokyo stage today to give us a peek at the Playstation's future, and he let slip a couple of interesting tidbits. First, Sony will be launching a new program called "Life with Playstation" that will give users real time news and weather, using a globe metaphor reminiscent of the Wii's News Channel. Of course, since the PS3 has considerably more horsepower under the hood, the globe is a rendered weather satellite image showing cloud patterns, and it also supports geo-tagged photos and other content. Kaz also previewed the video-download service set to launch next month at E3, which will allow you to download or stream video to the PS3 and PSP. The store looks a lot like the current PlayStation Store, and it looks like HD rentals will run around $6 while SD purchases will clock in around $13 when it launches in the States this summer. We'll learn a lot more at E3, presumably, but for now we'll just settle for a decent screen shot of that globe interface.

[Via PS3 Fanboy]

Don't look now, but here we have yet another crop of details on Sony's (still) forthcoming rumbling SIXAXIS. In a recent interview with Kaz Hirai, he mentioned that Sony is currently looking at "a variety of other things [besides rumble] that it can incorporate with the controller," and while he wasn't giving out specifics, he did say that we could look forward to any enticing announcements in due time. He also declared that the controller itself was an "evolving peripheral," and piqued our interest even more by suggesting that the existing model would not be "the final model for a PS3 controller." If nothing else, we're utterly relieved to know that conjuring up a controller for the PlayStation 4 will be a piece of cake -- getting a first-party rumbling version for the PS3, however, still seems to be an issue.

[Via Joystiq]

We got a rare chance to sit down and talk shop with recently-named Sony Computer Entertainment, Inc. President Kaz Hirai, and his US successor, Jack Tretton. These two had a lot to say, and we were more than happy to let them talk about where the PS3's going in terms of hardware, software, and services, why Sony's E3 presence this year is so radically different than last year, even a little bit about how things have been at PlayStation HQ post-Kutaragi -- check it out!

So out of all the three press conferences we've been writing up, we're giving each one a grade based on a new highly scientific Mega Man ranking system. Sony is our last one, but chronologically so we haven't gotten there yet. But this press conference had a much different tone then let's say last year's E3 press conference. How much did you guys look at last year's, how should we say, performance, and decide that you needed to do something different? What kind of decision making process was that?

Jack: Well obviously I was not as intimately involved in planning last year's press conference as I was in this one, but it's funny now that you look at that perspective and you see some of the other press conferences and how people are conducting themselves. I think companies are very proud of their success and they want to tell everybody how successful you are. But what you realize is that everybody already knows that and no one really cares. They want to know how you are going to be successful going forward. And so we've certainly taken our fair share of heat about, you know, the performance of PlayStation 3 in the first six to eight months, and I guess we wanted to focus our message on really telling you why PlayStation 3 is going to be successful going forward.

And its all about content, its about games, and I think going through that experience, you know, the light bulb goes off, and you go oh, wait a minute, its really all about the content and what we're going to do going forward to keep our platforms relevant. Its not about what we did 10 years ago, its not about how many units we've sold here or there. So clearly I think for points of reference and perspective we wanted to point some things out that we really wanted that press conference geared towards why people are going to want to buy games and buy our platforms and that was kind of the theme and the central message. I give Dave [Karraker, Senior Director, Corporate Communications, SCEA] a lot of credit for building off of that theme and coordinating tremendous amounts of presentations and content through the whole thing. But hopefully we've stayed on message and we've gotten the point across.

So why no word about rumble?

Jack: Well, I guess at this point the SIXAXIS controller is something that we're comfortable with and we've certainly settled our differences with Immersion. Is it something that can happen down the road? Absolutely. But the bottom line is we haven't made that decision and we didn't have anything to announce or introduce. Will we down the road? Possibly, but it's unbeknownst to me if we have a rumble controller coming out.

Oh I think you'd know before anyone!

[laughter] Well, you'd be surprised! It's a big company...

We knew it was coming, but we can't help but shed a tear at the retirement of the man who took consoles out of the cartridge era and into the extravagant and multi-billion dollar polygon war currently taking place in our living rooms -- for better or worse. Ken Kutaragi, father of the PlayStation, is calling it quits today at the ripe old age of 56. It was pretty clear he was on the outs when he left his post as president of SCE last year, with Kazuo Hirai taking his place in most operational duties. Ken announced he was leaving his positions as CEO and chairman in April, and now he's making good on his promise, with little more clarity if it's of his own accord or due to internal Sony pressures for a changing of the guard. As previously announced, Kutaragi will be sticking around in an advisory role, but from here on out the expectations of a struggling company and a few million fanboys will rest squarely on Kaz to steer the faithful through this console generation and beyond. And yes, this also means we're retiring the 'shopped PS3 pic to the right of this post. It will be missed most of all.

We're still waiting for the dust to settle here, but it looks like the "Father of the PlayStation," Ken Kutaragi, has been bumped out of his top spot as President of Sony Computer Entertainment, to be replaced by Kaz Hirai, the President of CEO of SCE America. Ken will now be Chairman and Group CEO, while Kaz while take on the role of President and Group COO, effective December 1st. While Ken will have oversight of the PlayStation in his new roles, it sounds like he's been largely been removed from the day-to-day operations to make way for the talented Kaz to do his thing. Speculation is rampant as to whether this is a "promotion" for Kutaragi, in order for him to think "big picture" for his console prodigy, or a demotion in response to the numerous PS3 launch foibles -- we're guessing the latter. What we do know that SCEA will, for the first time, be helmed by an American: Jack Tretton, who we're sure to be seeing plenty of over the next few years.

[Via Joystiq]

Read - SCE Press Release [Warning: PDF file]
Read - SCEA Press Release

It's time again for one of our favorite segments, CE-Oh no he didn't! For this week's episode, we're going to talk a little bit about the PS3. Now, we all know that the new PS3 isn't going bring the rumble to our favorite upcoming Sony gaming console. But what we didn't know was why -- yes, yes there were claims that it had to do with interference of motion sensing, or lawsuits from Immersion, but we hadn't gotten a clear reason straight from the horse's mouth, particularly when surveys suggest fans would be willing to pay for it. However, a recent interview by GameDaily Biz with SCEA prez Kaz Hirai says that it's yet another reason altogether:

"Is it technically feasible? Absolutely. But the balancing act that you need to do, is to be able to present the controller to the consumer at an affordable price."

Affordable? Please. Joystiq points out that a G-Pad Pro for the PS2, which has motion sensing and vibration, costs $30, a whole Lincoln higher than the Dual Shock. C'mon Kaz, can't you at least be straight with us? Now of course, this is from the same folks who said that just a few months ago said that the $500 PS3 was "too cheap," and is well worth the markup compared to the Wii, but backtracked when the company recently dropped the price in Japan. Maybe that means the prices of the controllers are going to come down too?

[Via Joystiq]

With next-gen console news being released at such a fast and furious pace these days, it's starting to feel a little bit like Joystiq around here, so instead of reporting and analyzing every little snippet of new information in separate posts, we've rounded up the latest and greatest PS3 revelations into one tight bit of prose. Since pricing is such an important issue to most consumers, we'll start there -- but unfortunately, the news ain't good. You probably already heard that those lucky gamers in Japan will be able to pick up their 20GB boxes for the equivalent of $428, but despite all the hoping and praying you've been doing, Kaz Hirai has reaffirmed that the recent price cuts apply to Japan only -- though he threw the rest of the world something of a bone when he also announced that everyone will be getting an HDMI port on his/her low-end system. Speaking of high prices, Impress is citing "multiple sources" in predicting that most Japanese PS3 games will cost in the neighborhood of ¥8,800 to ¥9,800, which is between $75 and $85 here in America -- ouch, that's like a whole month's allowance for us, and well above the going rate for 360 games. As long as we're dwelling on the negatives, we should also mention that not only will HDMI cables be absent from the box, both Hirai and Ken Kutaragi are leaning away from even including component action with either package. Now on to the good stuff (sorry, there's not much). First of all, it's been confirmed that all PS3 games will indeed ship region-free (though it's up to the developers to code in multilingual support, and Blu-ray movies will remain region-locked) and secondly, the inclusion of Dolby Digital and Dolby TrueHD (7.1 channels) is a done deal. Finally, and perhaps least importantly after all these downers, is the fact that the Wii-inspired, rumble-free controller has officially been dubbed "SIXAXIS" -- though without the shakin' action, we imagine that many of you could care less what they chose to call it. Anyway, that's all for now from the exciting PS3 frontier, but keep your broswer tuned to this channel, as we'll have just a little more Sony-related amusement for you later today.

Read- No price drop [Via Gamesindustry.biz]
Read- Japanese game speculation [Via IGN]
Read- Region-free, no component [Via PS3 Fanboy]
Read- SIXAXIS
Read- Dolby

Pretty bold move, Hirai, to admit that you're less than three months out from the global launch of what could be one of the most expensive propositions Sony has ever undertaken -- and you haven't even started manufacturing. According to Kaz, who recently spoke with GameSpot, Sony "haven't started manufacturing yet. Some of [their] ops guys were actually just in China, and also in Japan just reviewing the [production] lines and everything else." Oh, great, you've got two million units to whip up and you're still in the review process. That's over 660,000 units a month if they start, um, tomorrow. Look, we're not saying it can't be done, but unless the hefty price tag of the Blu-ray behemoth outstrips consumer interest, it seems like we could be in for some serious shortages come the holiday buying season.

[Via GamesIndustry.biz]

We're quickly learning that the real gold mine of our CE-Oh no he didn't! posts is Sony, home to blustering executives prone to spewing a seemingly never ending stream of pithy, entertaining commentary on the industry as their flagship game and media device lapses further and further into delay. Up on the chopping block today is Hirai-san, SCEA President who told PlayStation Magazine the following:

"Every time we go down a path, we look behind and [Microsoft is] right there - we just can't shake these guys. I wish that they would come up with some strategies of their own, but they seem to be going down the path of everything we do. If you look at their strategy in other business areas as well, they tend to do that."

Really, Sony? Microsoft follows you around? Wait, didn't Sony shun Microsoft's tiered console pricing scheme, only to adopt it in the PS3? And wasn't the PlayStation originally only a response to their failed partnership with Nintendo? And wasn't the PSP merely a response to the hegemonic success of the Game Boy? And what about the new motion controller developers told us was a last minute feature creep to counter Nintendo's Wiimote? And the PS3 online service, slated for introduction long after Xbox Live? Sorry guys, you're not winning any hearts and minds when you try to pull the hype-woven wool over the everybody's eyes.

Besides the disheartening news that the cheaper version of the PlayStation 3 will lack WiFi, a memory card reader, and most significantly, an HDMI port, we've now learned that the $500 PS3 may also be shipping with wired, and not wireless, versions of that rumble-less, Wii-like controller. While adding separate Bluetooth controllers would only set you back a few bucks -- if, in fact, the lower-end model actually ends up shipping with BT functionality -- boosting your console's storage capacity in the future may be a non-starter, as Sony reps supposedly told Games Radar that the 20GB hard drive isn't upgradeable. With so many significant differences between the two configurations (and let's not forget the snazzy metallic lettering you get on the $600 models), it's not clear how many consumers are going to agree with Sony's Kaz Hirai that the "crippled" version of the console is a "good value" for them.

Update: If it wasn't entirely clear, please bear in mind that until confirmed by Sony, the information contained herein concerning the controllers and hard drive falls squarely into the rumor camp.

[Thanks, J and Ameya T.]