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Does PlayStation Challenge PCs?

Mainstream or not, major PC vendors aren't running scared--not from this release, anyway.

"We don't see it replacing the PC," says Brian Zucker, Dimension engineering manager at Dell. The PlayStation 2 complements the home PC, he says.

A game console, even as powerful as PlayStation 2, just can't compete with the flexibility of a PC, Zucker says. Even if PlayStation 2 adds limited Web access, it won't offer even basic PC functions out of the box. To achieve that, you'll have to buy a hard drive and keyboard, he says.

Mark Vena, director of consumer desktop marketing at Compaq, says next-generation consoles aren't a threat to PCs because the two devices appeal to very different crowds, even among gamers. Consoles are for people who want simple, mainstream games, while PCs appeal to game players who want more interaction and sophistication.

And if somebody's looking for Internet access, they'll buy an inexpensive PC that's designed for that task, not a pricey gaming console that offers Web access as an add-on feature, Vena says. "It's very unclear about the cross-over capabilities of traditional consoles into the traditional PC market," he adds.

Then again, the PlayStation 2 could be following an ancient battle strategy, suggests Keith Diefendorff, editor-in-chief of Microprocessor Report. Sony may sneak its digital Trojan horse into homes as a simple gaming console, and then beef it up so it can nudge the PC out of the home stable.

"Sony is out there plotting," Diefendorff says.

Luring the Reluctant

Roughly half of U.S. households have PCs, and the rest are even more resistant to buying a PC than the first half, Diefendorff says.

They aren't as likely to resist a simple game console, and that's where PlayStation 2 could gain a toehold as a PC alternative, Diefendorff says.

The Web interests many people who don't want to learn to use a PC, he adds. For some, "the PC is just scary; for some reason a game console is not," he says. Then, Sony can easily offer add-ons with service and functions that will let PlayStation 2 perform PC-like functions, he contends.

The Web is making it easier, too. You don't need a hard drive to store Web-based e-mail or to browse.

Dreamcast is shipping in the U.S. with a Web browser and e-mail support. Sony will ship the PlayStation 2 with basic Web browser and e-mail functions, likely from a third-party developer, says Rob Enderle, vice president of desktop and mobile technologies for Giga Information Group.