Sony Keeps Things Simple for PS3 Launch

Company streamlines console launch in the wake of disgust over Microsoft's splitting of its audience.

When Microsoft launches Xbox 360 at the end of the year, buyers will have to choose between two packages that offer very different experiences. Sony's Phil Harrison thinks that this is a bad move that will only serve to confuse customers and has given assurances that Sony will not do likewise.

Speaking at the Game Developers Conference Europe in London on Wednesday, as reported by GamesIndustry.biz, Harrison said it was "unlikely" that Sony would launch with more than one model of the PlayStation 3, which is due sometime next year.

"This is my personal view, not my corporate view, but when I look at [the Xbox 360] formats, I think it just confuses the audience," Harrison said. "They don't know which one to buy, developers don't know which one to create for, and retailers don't know which one to stock."

"So I think we wouldn't take that strategy. We wouldn't create confusion."

The biggest difference between the two Xbox 360 versions is the hard drive, which is missing in the cheaper core system bundle. Sony has stated in the past that it has not decided whether a hard drive would be included with PlayStation 3, and Harrison's comments suggest that all of them could ship without one.

This is, however, not as much of an issue for Sony as it is for Microsoft.

A Sony representative hinted to Kikizo earlier this year that the PlayStation 3 would be able to use any 2.5-inch hard drive, unlike Xbox 360, which uses a Microsoft-branded 20 GB hard drive that will sell for £99.

Harrison refused to speculate on the price of the PlayStation 3, which Sony's Ken Kutaragi has warned on several occasions will be more expensive than people are used to.

Sony is expected to reveal more information about the PlayStation 3 at this month's Tokyo Game Show, which runs from 16-18 September.

Alex Wollenschlaeger
Editor, Kikizo Games