120w ago - Today Social Media Manager Jeff Rubenstein has shared a video interview with Kaz Hirai on the NGP - Next Generation Portable from Sony.

To quote: The day we announced the Next Generation Portable, or NGP, was quite an eventful one.

You might have followed the live blog, read the message on the Blog from SCEA CEO Jack Tretton, seen the topics trending on Twitter (6 out of 10 worldwide at one point!), or read the hands-on impressions.

At the very end of the day, I had a chance to catch up with Kazuo Hirai, President and Group CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment, Inc.





While I knew I'd be unable to gather any more details than what was announced earlier in the day, I was curious about the broader aspects of the news: Why announce NGP now? Where does it fit into the PlayStation console life cycle philosophy?

How did publishing partners like Epic Games and Activision get involved in the announcement? I hope you enjoy hearing these answers in detail directly from Mr. Hirai.

126w ago - Today, in an interview with the New York Times Sony Computer Entertainment president and group CEO Kaz Hirai dropped some tantalizing hints about the PSP2.

When asked about what kind of controls the next PSP might have, Hirai gave the following answer, to quote:

"Depending on the game, there are ones where you can play perfectly well with a touch panel, but you can definitely play immersive games better with physical buttons and pads. I think there could be games where you're able to use both in combination."

Hirai was also asked about reports of Sony Ericsson's PSP Go-like gaming phone, which may -or may not- be PlayStation branded.

"We don't want gamers to be asking, what's the difference between that and a PSP," said Hirai, without confirming the device's existence. "We have to come up with a message that users will understand. It would have to be a product that keeps the PlayStation's strengths intact."

Finally, Hirai expressed his belief that the increased interest in casual games will actually benefit Sony, traditionally a maker of more hardcore games. "We're seeing people who never had an interest in games join the gaming population," he explained....

195w ago - PlayStation president Kaz Hirai has confirmed that the new PS3 Motion Controller technology dubbed 'the magic wand' is slated for a spring 2010 launch.

Speaking at Gamescom in Cologne last week, Hirai said that Sony required some "great software" in order for a successful launch.

To quote: "We are slating it for spring of next year," he told The Times.

"One of the things is that we just don't want to put out the controller. We need a great software that supports the controller at launch.

It's something that we've been working on for the longest time."

196w ago - At GamesCom today, Sony's Kaz Hirai has confirmed the PS3 is getting a new model. That's right, the PS3 Slim! It will be available in stores during the first week of September and include the same features and functionality.

A 120GB hard drive is also included, and it will be 33 percent smaller and 36 percent lighter than the original PS3 console.

The cost? It will be 299. That's $299, 299 euros and 29980 yen. That will also be the price for the current PS3 starting tomorrow.

The PS3 Slim (below) looks like the leaked box model rumored from several months ago.

Finally, a release date for the PS3 Slim will vary by region but it will be available everywhere by September 1, 2009.

256w ago - During Sony's mid-term strategy meeting, PlayStation president Kaz Hirai pointed to Metal Gear Solid 4 as an example of the PlayStation 3's full abilities - noting that it shipped 3 million units worldwide within two weeks of launch, as Famitsu reported yesterday.

Hirai said MGS 4 is "the first title to fully utilize the capacity of dual layer Blu-ray disc.... Metal Gear Solid 4has created a world of gaming entertainment that can only be realized by PS3."

He also said MGS 4 drove console sales. "In the first week of the release of Metal Gear Solid 4, sales of PS3 in the Japanese market grew significantly, [an] eight times increase as compared to the week before, proving that Metal Gear Solid 4is a platform driver for PS3."