Sony Offers Peek at Future PlayStation

SAN JOSE--Ever more realistic games, with faster and more detailed graphics, plus broadband support for multiuser online games are in the near future of Sony's PlayStation, says Shin'ichi Okamoto, Sony Computer Entertainment senior vice president, giving a hint of things to come.

And after that? Maybe up close and personal computer gaming biotechnology--but that's for PlayStation 6 or 7, he told attendees at the Game Developers Conference here this week.

For the more immediate next-generation console, Okamoto spoke of processing power multiplied 1000 times over that of the PlayStation 2, Internet capabilities, and other networking functions--courtesy of Linux. With heavy competition from Microsoft's Xbox and Nintendo's GameCube, Sony is eager to keep developers writing for its PlayStation line and consumers intrigued by its capabilities.

With Speed, Realism

A future 1000X-power PS2 would let game developers add more elements of real-time processing to games. To illustrate that potential, Okamoto demonstrated a simulation showing a young girl sitting on a small island, with fish swimming in the sea beneath her and gulls circling above. Each time a fish struck the surface it transformed into a gull and vice versa.

"Not only the image but the behavior is transferred at the surface," he said. A close-up of the girl's face showed swirls of changing emotion. Some of the shifts were manually controlled, but others were automatic, part of the programming that made up the girl's personality.

Moore's Law is too slow for PlayStation development, Okamoto said, referring to Intel Chairman Emeritus Gordon Moore's forecast for the pace of ever-increasing processing power. He estimates it could take nearly 20 years to reach the goal of 1000 times current processing power through traditional increases. After all, the PS2 only jumped 300 times over the original PlayStation, he said.

Rather, research into distributed computing could be applied to the PS3, Okamoto said. Using a network-based processor and sharing various tasks over a network, distributed computing could bring that 1000X power by 2003 or 2004 instead of 2020, he said.

"We'll disclose more details later," he added cryptically.

Next: Networking

Okamoto noted that Sony has an ambitious PlayStation research and development policy: "The future is not to be forecast but created," a quote from science fiction author Arthur C. Clarke. The Sony executive further likened the company's R and D efforts to navigating a jumbo jet down a 100-foot diameter pipe.

"It's a crazy job," he said.

Sony also plans to soon add Internet capabilities to the current PlayStation 2, Okamoto said. It already has four channels: DVD movies, CD audio, PlayStation 1 games, and PS2 games. "This year, you will see the fifth channel in broadband capability," he said.

This broadband access will include a Dynamic Network Authentication System (DNAS). This can be used to authenticate hardware and software, similar to implementing Windows XP on a game system. But it's not Windows that's being incorporated into the PS2. That's one place where Sony is investigating Linux options.

Sony demonstrated one way to connect the PS2 to a network, through a $199 Linux Kit that converts the console into a PC-like device. Scheduled to ship in May, the kit will include a 40GB hard drive, an Ethernet adapter, a monitor adapter, a USB keyboard and mouse, and the software. The kit snaps into the back of the PS2, completely enclosed.

Using Linux lets Sony evaluate, both internally and externally, how a general purpose operating system can be used in a distributed computing environment, Okamoto said.