Wanon and GristyMcFisty both reported to us
that Sony has released the PSX, a
revision of the PlayStation 2 console with a built-in DVD recorder, hard
disk and a digital video recorder, in Japan. But, because Sony recently
decided to scale back on the specifications of the PSX, analysts are disappointed.
Luckily though, according to The Register the deprecated features will be
restored later via a software upgrade:
Okasan Securities described the system as a "publicity stunt" and predicted that it would "sell well for a month or two, but the momentum isn't likely to hold up after that". His sentiments were echoed by Kazuya Yamamoto of UFJ Tsubasa, who claimed that "lowering the specifications of the PSX hurt Sony's image", and stated the belief that the system has failed to deliver on its promise to be a "superior machine as a DVD recorder". Strong words indeed, but it's not entirely clear where the hostility towards Sony's new system arises from. Even without the features deprecated (which include MP3 playback, display of certain image file formats and the ability to read CD-R and certain rewriteable DVD formats), Sony's PSX offering is still more feature-rich than any rival DVD recorder - and crucially, is also significantly cheaper. To top it off, it's now emerged that many of the features which have been removed from the specification will be added to the system using software updates over the Internet in the coming months - with MP3 playback and support for all the image formats, among other things, expected to be reinstated shortly, while other features which weren't even in the original specification may appear over time. Comments from other divisions of Sony have indicated that by the time the PSX arrives in territories outside Japan, the full original spec will have been restored. Given the attractive design, comprehensive feature set and low price of the Sony system, it's hard to believe that the buying public in Japan - who were apparently so taken with the PSX at its public unveiling this autumn - will be entirely put off by the temporary removal of some minor functions. |
It will be interesting to see if the PSX will sell
well. Only time will tell I guess. Would you buy a PSX console with all these
extra features? It depends on the price mostly I think. Previous reports indicated a price of around
US$ 600 (160GB hard disk) to US$ 750 (250GB hard
disk).
Source: The Register
