Kutaragi: PS3 Not a Game Console

Despite looking, smelling and (we presume) tasting like a game machine, SCEI boss says it just isn't so. Price rumours inside too!

If you're reading this then there's a high probability that you're a gamer, and as such you already have preconceptions of Sony's next-gen console, the PlayStation 3. But Ken Kutaragi, president of Sony Computer Entertainment International, doesn't want people calling his new baby simply a video game console.

"The PlayStation [3] is not a game machine," Kutaragi said in an interview with Impress PC Watch, as reported by GameSpot. "We've never once called it a game machine."

Instead Kutaragi wants you to remember all the other things PlayStation consoles have been able to do, like playing CDs (PlayStation) or DVDs (PlayStation 2), and as such they should better be called entertainment machines.

This idea is being taken to the extreme with PlayStation 3, which will support the new Blu-Ray disc format and, using the power of the Cell processor, wriggle its way into every facet of your digital lifestyle.

"We haven't been creating our [past] PlayStations for the sake of games," said Kutaragi. "Our belief, and the motivation behind running our company, has been to [explore ways of] applying the power of computers to entertainment and enjoyment."

And if current rumours are to be believed, you'll be getting all this high-power technology for a steal.

Sony representatives in Japan have hinted to Impress PC Watch that the PlayStation 3 would come in at under ¥40,000 (£205) when it launches next year. This would put it at around the same price as the previous PlayStations, which both launched at ¥39,800 in Japan.

Alex Wollenschlaeger
Editor, Kikizo Games