playstation portible news

**KingKman** · 05-27-2003, 12:50 AM

this was from the offical playstation site

Latest News

Sony to Enter Portable Gaming Arena! (Kinda)
By Ravi Hiranand January 14, 2003

In a shocking development, Sony has announced that it is to enter the handheld gaming business... but they're not wading in with a Sony-branded GBA competitor. They're not even trying to fight Nintendo. Instead, the Nikkei Business Daily reports that Sony wants to reposition their Airboard device as a mobile online game terminal for the older gamer, catering to those in the over-40 crowd.
The Airboard is an interesting Sony product that was released over two years ago. It's effectively a "smart" portable LCD that connects to your home entertainment system via Wi-Fi to allow you to watch TV or DVDs in other parts of the house. It also connects to the Internet to allow users to check email, though don't mistake the device for one of Microsoft's shiny new Tablet PCs, as surfing the web with it is more akin to a slicker, portable WebTV. It's all part of Sony's master plan to make the TV the centre of your digital life (of which PS2 is a major part, of course).

The Airboard is apparently something of a hit among the over-40 set, who comprise 70% of the user base, and it's with them in mind that Sony are releasing online board games such as Othello and Go (an ancient Japanese strategic board game) in March. The games ship on Memory Sticks and carry a steep list price of 10,000 yen, or $84 -- ouch! That price and the low userbase of the Airboard (only 5,000 are produced each month) mean that Sony's little handheld gaming venture will remain just that for the foreseeable future.

Still, it does create an interesting question: Will the Japanese videogame industry's most celebrated and infamous Go master buy it and play online, or does former Nintendo chairman Hiroshi Yamauchi still harbour too big a grudge against old partner Sony?