Sony Busts Out With Playstation 2 News

Sony Computer Entertainment announced the completion of its research and development to design the successor to the Playstation originally introduced in Japan in 1994. With more than 50 million units shipped to date, the original Playstation game console radically changed the landscape of the console industry. The next generation Playstation uses a new "graphics synthesizer," which will offer what Sony calls "massive floating-point processing power." Sony claims Playstation 2 will deliver performance that will enable the hair and clothing of a character to be affected by a digital wind calculated and processed in real time. Other effects will include the dynamic simulation of real-world physical attributes such as gravity, friction, mass, and the accurate simulation of different materials such as water, wood, metal, and gas. Sony is also introducing its concept of "emotion synthesis,'' which will allow the system to simulate not just how the images look, but how the characters and objects in a game think, act, and behave. The next generation Playstation system is a significant part of Sony Computer Entertainment's mission to create a new form of entertainment beyond games. As such, the impetus behind these initial announcements seems to indicate a desire by Sony to take the power out of the PC gaming market. On paper, it looks good. Next Generation Playstation Features: CPU: