Sony has taken a big risk by choosing to use advanced technologies in the PlayStation 3 that are either unproven or not ready for mass market mass production. Sony Computer Entertainment boss Ken Kuturagi has now admitted that the PS3 will be expensive -- and he still hasn't announced a ship date. According to a GameSpot.com report on CNet, Kuturagi said:
"We're looking at a life cycle of 10 years with the PlayStation 3. We're currently shifting from standard TVs to HD TVs," said Kutaragi. "But in the next couple of years, most flat-panel TVs will be full HD. We're releasing the PS3 with full HD features from the start so that consumers won't have to buy another version of the console in the future. For the same reason, we're using Blu-ray as the PS3's disc format."
"I'm aware that with all these technologies, the PS3 can't be offered at a price that's targeted towards households. I think everyone can still buy it if they wanted to," said Kutaragi to a mostly Japanese crowd. "But we're aiming for consumers throughout the world. So we're going to have to do our best (in containing the price)."
Then Kutaragi issued a somewhat ominous warning. "I'm not going to reveal its price today. I'm going to only say that it'll be expensive," he stated.
Comment: The idea that the PS3 is going to last 10 years as a front-line machine is wishful thinking: it's never going to happen. However, you can see the problem of trying to develop a PS4 when it's not clear if the Cell chip in the PS3 has a future, or whether it will go the way of the Inmos Transputer....
