Sony Seeks Cheaper Broadband For PS3

Cheaper broadband means more people buying PlayStation 3. Sony says the American broadband market needs to grow.

For the next generation of game consoles to reach their full potential, the American broadband market needs to grow, Sony Computer Entertainment America president Kaz Hirai said in a recent presentation to the Congressional Internet Caucus.

High-speed Internet access, Hirai explained, will be a critical component in future game consoles, especially Sony’s next PlayStation. “For the next generation console,” he said, “online is going to be like air conditioning in a car. You’re going to need it.”

As such, broadband needs to get cheaper before both entertainment companies and ordinary consumers can take full advantage of it, Hirai said. Broadband service in North America costs about $40 a month on average, he said, with added content like online gaming costing an extra fee on top of that.

Hirai’s presentation reflected earlier comments from Sony that point towards a more complex content strategy for its next game console. The successor to the PlayStation 2, as SCE chief technology officer Masa Chatani explained at this year’s E3, is to serve as a terminal not only for games, online and otherwise, but the broadband delivery of many different kinds of entertainment media.

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