Kids Web Japan

The PSX (Sony Marketing (Japan) Inc.)

Today video games are almost perfect in terms of their processing capabilities. What, then, will happen to video games from now on?

First, as broadband Internet networks that enable high-speed data transfer become more and more widespread, online gaming will become a standard feature of video game consoles. Already, games in which people can compete with other players online, like Hot Shots Golf on the PlayStation 2, are popular. Also, taking advantage of the Internet connectivity of these consoles, it will become possible to surf the Internet and use e-mail on them. Moreover, the further refinement of individual components will lead to smaller casings.

Finally, video game consoles are expected to become smaller and much more multifunctional. The boundary between games consoles and other electronics products is already becoming blurred, with some game consoles already capable of playing DVDs and CDs and some home electronic devices allowing users to play games on them. In December 2003, for example, Sony came out with PSX, a hard-disk drive DVD recorder equipped with the gaming functions of the PlayStation 2.