PS3 To Become "A Platform For Web Services", PSN Coming To Other Devices

Illustration for article titled PS3 To Become &quot;A Platform For Web Services&quot;, PSN Coming To Other Devices

Looks like Sony's move away from physical media isn't just being confined to the PSP, with Sony boss Sir Howard Stringer indicating that the PlayStation 3 is also moving towards online delivery.


Of course, you can already buy games and other content online via the PlayStation Network - and have been able to do so since the console's launch - but the wording of Stringer's statement suggests that Sony will be going much farther with the whole thing than just offering a few downloadable shelf titles (Warhawk, etc) and the odd artsy game for $10.

"We developed brand new, absolutely incredible technology for the PlayStation 3 (PS3), but the cost was high", Stringer told Nikkei Electronics Asia. "We've adopted a slightly different approach now, and are evolving the PS3 into a platform for web services".

"...Sony has begun the transition from a closed system to an open one", he continues. "Next we will be expanding the PlayStation Network to hardware other than the PS3, because the number of PS3 units sold puts a limit on the scale of the network possible. Sony has a vertical structure for each product line, an organisational structure that resists change, so it will take time to achieve this network growth. However, a large number of employees share my opinion on this".

Potentially big news, that. In recent months, Sony has begun the long, hard task of "centralising" all of their hardware, rolling out features like the XMB user interface and online connectivity across much of Sony's lineup, dvd players to cameras.

How long, I wonder, til we see Bravia televisions coming with a control pad and access to the PSN?


Sony Chairman, CEO Howard Stringer [NEA, via Edge] [image credit]


I can't see downloadable PS3 games working out too well. Most people who have a PS3 have, at most, 80GB of hard drive space. A Blu-Ray disc holds 25GB or 50GB. So, someone with an 80GB system can fit maybe two or three games on their drive at once? That's not counting installs for disc based games, music, videos, etc. Even with the 160GB model, it doesn't allow for more than five games at once.

Not to mention, as already pointed out, what happens when the next PlayStation comes out and now my downloaded games, which I don't own a physical copy of, don't work on the new console?

Steam works well because A) generally computers have a ton of space, closer to 300GB to 500GB; and, B) no matter how much you upgrade a PC, you can usually play your old games.

But, then again, I'm generally against downloading games. Give me a physical copy over a digital any day.