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Meet the PSX
By D.F. Smith May 28, 2003
Sony will release a new PlayStation 2-based console with TV recording and DVD burning capabilities within the coming fiscal year, the company announced at a strategic meeting today. Sony Computer Entertainment president Ken Kutaragi introduced the device as part of a broader strategy for SCE in Sony's ongoing reorganization. Dubbed the "PSX," it will combine the PS2's existing game-playing capabilities with a TV tuner, 120 gigabytes of hard drive space, a DVD-RW drive, and broadband Internet connection hardware to create a more well-rounded and capable media playing device.
The name "PSX" refers to the "crossover" nature of the system, combining the functions of as many as three or more devices into one. The PSX will be able to play games, play DVD movies, record television programs, download media from the Internet, record content to homemade CDs and DVDs, access photos and other data via a Memory Stick slot, and attach other peripherals through built-in USB 2.0 ports.
Early prototypes of the system, not representing the final design, are much larger than the regular PS2 console, with a simpler shape more reminiscent of stereo componentry. The back side of the device continues the home theater motif -- the prototype has two sets of RCA and S-Video outputs and a D-terminal output for high-definition video, along with the inputs and outputs already seen on the PS2. In a stylistic shift away from both game consoles and DVD players, though, the PSX features a slot-in DVD drive, rather than the linear-skate drive employed in the PS2.
The PSX does retain the PS2's ability to sit horizontally or vertically, resting either on a wide bottom or, curiously, on a pair of feet mounted on the back of the system. A vertically-oriented PSX appears to sit with its drive facing up and its outputs facing down, which would seem to be unworkable -- there wouldn't be enough clearance to keep the power, video, and controller cords from bumping into whatever surface the system rested on. It's possible that those feet raise the system high enough, however, or that such practical issues will be resolved in the final design
A bigger concern that many might have regarding the PSX is its potential as a tool for video and audio piracy. However, Sony plans to implement the latest in digital rights management protections in order to prevent copyright violation by its users. Kutaragi stated that Sony may use the PSX to take steps ahead of the market when it comes to DRM, introducing provisional specifications in areas where an industry standard has not been set.
Kutaragi refrained from revealing the system's final design and price, leaving that news for later this year. It will have to come soon, though, since Sony plans to roll out the PSX worldwide within fiscal 2003 -- in Japan by the end of the third quarter, and in the US and Europe by the end of the fourth quarter.
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