New controller for Playstation 3
(Reuters)
Updated: 2006-05-10 10:23
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| New controller
for Playstation 3 | Sony
Corp.said on Monday it would begin selling its PlayStation 3 video game console
in November for $499 in North America, challenging Microsoft Corp.'s early
dominance in the market for next-generation machines.
Sony won the previous generation battle as its PS2 outsold the original Xbox,
but Microsoft is expected to capitalize on a head start to at least gain ground
this time with its Xbox 360 console in a global gaming industry expected to
generate about $30 billion in revenue this year.
Sony's standard PS3 will have a 20-gigabyte hard drive and debut on November
11 in Japan and November 17 in most of the rest of the world. The unit will
retail for 59,800 yen ($536) in Japan and 499 euros ($634) in Europe.
The Japanese electronics giant also showed off a motion-sensitive wireless
controller, a feature similar to the controllers being offered by Nintendo Co.
Ltd. in its upcoming Wii game machine.
Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter said the price was competitive and the
controller would be reason enough for many gamers to wait for the PS3 rather
than buy Microsoft's Xbox 360, which was launched late last year.
"I think they are going to kick Microsoft's butt," he said after Sony showed
off the controller in a news conference ahead of the Electronic Entertainment
Expo, the largest video game show in the world which begins later this week.
Video game fans have been waiting to see what Sony would
offer, and especially at what price, in order to decide whether to wait for the
PS3 or buy an Xbox 360 now.
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