At his Tokyo Game Show 2007 keynote, Kazuo Hirai, President and Group CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment revealed a number of major new announcements, including a PlayStation 3 Dual Shock controller, Sony's Home service delayed until Spring 2008, the acquisition of UK studios Evolution and BigBig, and more.
Gamasutra is printing highlights from the full press release from Sony's Tokyo event below, as follows, ahead of a more detailed on-site report:
Dual Shock For PlayStation 3 Confirmed
"SCEI will continue R&D efforts to accommodate to users' demand. As part of such efforts, SCEI today announced DUALSHOCK(R)3 Wireless Controller, a new controller for PS3 incorporating a rumble feature, to become available in Japan in November as a separately sold accessory. It inherits the basic design and functionality of the popular PlayStation controller, while keeping the motion sensitive six-axis sensing system. Introduction to North American and European markets is expected in spring 2008."
Sony Acquires UK-based Evolution, Bigbig
"In a strategic move to secure excellence in games development for current and future PlayStation platforms, SCEI have acquired leading game developer Evolution Studios Ltd. [
MotorStorm] and its subsidiary Bigbig studios Ltd., to further expand its games development capability as part of SCE WWS."
GT5 Prologue Details Confirmed
"Gran Turismo(TM)5 Prologue will be available both on Blu-ray Disc and as a downloadable content from PLAYSTATION(R)Network on December 13th in the Japanese market. Gran Turismo(TM)5 Prologue presents a new life style beyond traditional game experiences such as on-line car dealers and "GT.TV", an in-game service for the distribution of car programs."
PlayStation Home Delayed Until Spring 2008
"PLAYSTATION Home, a 3D on-line user community service, is currently under development to be launched in spring 2008."
PlayStation Store On PC Debuts In Japan
"SCEI today opened PLAYSTATION(R)Store on PC in Japan which enables PSP users to download a wide variety of digital entertainment content available on PLAYSTATION Network via their PC."
[email protected] Reaches 1 Petaflop
"With the participation of PS3 incorporating super computer-like powerful Cell Broadband Engine(TM) (Cell/B.E.) -- and what will be even more powerful when connected to the network -- , Stanford University's
[email protected](TM) program achieved a total computing power of 1 petaflop at a single moment, of which 80% calculation was contributed by PS3 users."
PSP Sales Figures, Peripherals Discussed
"Strong support from users worldwide as well as abundant exciting software line-up including million seller titles from publishers around the world, have resulted in PSP hardware shipment exceeding 26 million units worldwide by June, 2007. SCEI will... offer users new entertainment experiences that are only possible on PSP, by enriching network content and services in addition to introducing unique peripherals such as camera, GPS, and "1 Seg" TV tuner."
PSP Remote Play Titles Enhanced
"With PSP, equipped with an overwhelmingly powerful CPU and a high resolution large LCD screen for a handheld device, SCEI will further extend the boundaries of game experiences by fully utilizing "Remote Play". The combination of PS3 and PSP Remote Play will offer PSP users more exciting and new ways to enjoy rich interactive entertainment content especially of sports, RPG, and shooting."
