PS3 Systems to be “Updated Every Year” Says SCE President

Ken Kutaragi, president and CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment, has granted an interview to PCWatch Japan‘s Hiroshige Goto and this time they talked about PS3’s future evolution because it’s more of a computer and the first titles for the PS3 that was showed on E3, among many other things. Here is an excerpt of the first segment in this new interview series.

Hiroshige Goto: SCEI have always been saying PLAYSTATION 3 (PS3) is not a game console but a computer. In that sense, I’d thought that it’s the important point for PS3 to become a computer whether it comes with HDD standard. But it had not been made clear for a while about the standard HDD. It seems it finally reached the standard HDD through all twists and turns since 2005.

Ken Kutaragi: In my heart it was decided that we want to include HDD as the standard. However, there were various problems such as economic reasons, and we might have not been able to secure enough 2.5inch drives. An HDD-less version might have been planned. In that case it completely becomes a game console, but we want to do a computer. With these matters, we needed resolution even though we decided to include HDD.

HG: For a game console HDD is an economic pressure. Unlike semiconductor chips HDD cost doesn’t decrease. So it becomes 40-50$ cost-up through a life cycle of a game console. Though in the case of a game console its price is lowerd to $100-$200, it becomes difficult with HDD as the standard. Does it mean PS3 doesn’t take a price model like a game console?

KK: After all, we don’t say it’s a game console (laugh) PS3 is clearly a computer unlike PSs of so far…Obviously we have to make it a mature hardware to a certain degree to reduce the cost when we look at it as a game console. As the methodology, we have been doing cost reduction such as chip integration and power-supply reduction. Naturally we’ll do the same thing for PS3.

However, as PS3 is a computer, (not only reducing the cost) but also wants to evolve. We’ll want to upgrade the HDD size very soon, if new standards appear in PC we will want to support them. We may want the BD drive to write. Well, BD may not become like that though.

Since Mr. Kutaragi has been emphasizing that the PS3 is like a PC, he also mentioned that the PS3 systems may be updated every year just like any PC. Here is the translated statement about that:

HG: Is it planned that it extends its spec every year like PC?

KK: I think it’s okay to release a (extended) configuration every year (laugh). Though I say it like a joke, Dell will do it and Apple will do it too. In PC, if you fix (the spec) for 2 years you’ll be caught up (by competitors). Computers should be changing, right? It’s inevitable that 60GB (HDD) will become short, memory may become short too. There are many possibilities.

There has been no word on how the possible updates would be done and if it is gonna cost extra for future PS3 owners. But this just goes to show what a powerful machine the PS3 is, and without a doubt, the SCE people are going to maximize all its potentials and all its capabilities. With that, let us just wait for the next segment of the interview series.

To read the full first segment interview, click on the ‘Read’ link.

Ken Kutaragi, president and CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment, has granted an interview to PCWatch Japan‘s Hiroshige Goto and this time they talked about PS3’s future evolution because it’s more of a computer and the first titles for the PS3 that was showed on E3, among many other things. Here is an excerpt of the first segment in this new interview series.

Hiroshige Goto: SCEI have always been saying PLAYSTATION 3 (PS3) is not a game console but a computer. In that sense, I’d thought that it’s the important point for PS3 to become a computer whether it comes with HDD standard. But it had not been made clear for a while about the standard HDD. It seems it finally reached the standard HDD through all twists and turns since 2005.

Ken Kutaragi: In my heart it was decided that we want to include HDD as the standard. However, there were various problems such as economic reasons, and we might have not been able to secure enough 2.5inch drives. An HDD-less version might have been planned. In that case it completely becomes a game console, but we want to do a computer. With these matters, we needed resolution even though we decided to include HDD.

HG: For a game console HDD is an economic pressure. Unlike semiconductor chips HDD cost doesn’t decrease. So it becomes 40-50$ cost-up through a life cycle of a game console. Though in the case of a game console its price is lowerd to $100-$200, it becomes difficult with HDD as the standard. Does it mean PS3 doesn’t take a price model like a game console?

KK: After all, we don’t say it’s a game console (laugh) PS3 is clearly a computer unlike PSs of so far…Obviously we have to make it a mature hardware to a certain degree to reduce the cost when we look at it as a game console. As the methodology, we have been doing cost reduction such as chip integration and power-supply reduction. Naturally we’ll do the same thing for PS3.

However, as PS3 is a computer, (not only reducing the cost) but also wants to evolve. We’ll want to upgrade the HDD size very soon, if new standards appear in PC we will want to support them. We may want the BD drive to write. Well, BD may not become like that though.

Since Mr. Kutaragi has been emphasizing that the PS3 is like a PC, he also mentioned that the PS3 systems may be updated every year just like any PC. Here is the translated statement about that:

HG: Is it planned that it extends its spec every year like PC?

KK: I think it’s okay to release a (extended) configuration every year (laugh). Though I say it like a joke, Dell will do it and Apple will do it too. In PC, if you fix (the spec) for 2 years you’ll be caught up (by competitors). Computers should be changing, right? It’s inevitable that 60GB (HDD) will become short, memory may become short too. There are many possibilities.

There has been no word on how the possible updates would be done and if it is gonna cost extra for future PS3 owners. But this just goes to show what a powerful machine the PS3 is, and without a doubt, the SCE people are going to maximize all its potentials and all its capabilities. With that, let us just wait for the next segment of the interview series.

To read the full first segment interview, click on the ‘Read’ link.