Sony PS3 pre-launch interview with SCE Australia chief Michael Ephraim

Alex Zaharov-Reutt
Thursday, 22 February 2007 12:21

Your IT - Entertainment

Might we ever see a external Blu-ray recorder drive become available to plug into the PS3 so it can record HDTV to the hard drive for transfer to Blu-ray, or direct to Blu-ray disc, making the PS3 an even greater home entertainment device?

Theoretically with firmware upgrades all this is potentially possible but I have no visibility on that at the moment.

Will we ever be able to plug in a video camera (Sony or otherwise) into the PS3 and do basic video editing so it could be uploaded to a Sony video sharing site, or Youtube, or something else? Obviously software to do this could be downloaded from the PS3 online store if Sony wanted to make something like this available.

That kind of apps are in line with the Sony synergy of the products and again, capability wise, the device has all the right plugs, has the power to process the video and can connect on line but I have no visibility on that specific one.

How fierce do you think the fight between you, Microsoft and Nintendo will be, come the Christmas/Holiday season 2007? Surely it’ll be the biggest and most spectacular console battle the world has ever seen?

It sure will. And we’re looking forward to it because we will be fighting this battle on all fronts – the PSP handheld front, the battle for family fun with the PS2 and we’ll be fighting the battle of the high-tech new devices with the PS3 so we’re in serious training for this battle right now – we’re going to be the only playing in all areas in 2007.

Are there parental controls built into the PS3, and if so, does this extend to the browser so parents can ensure their kids can’t surf undesirable sites? This has already been an issue with the Wii’s browser, where it’s been discovered that some kids are doing more than surfing Youtube, much to their parents’ chagrin?

Parental controls are built into the PS3, with up to 30 users able to be set up on the ps3 which the parents can manage for games, movies etc – but [in regards to parental controls for the Internet [and web browsing] I need to come back to you.

I’m assuming we’ll see regular browser and other updates for the PS3 as we have seen for the PSP to keep up with the latest Web 2.0 and other standards?

As you would have seen at today’s demo, the PS3 lets you open up to six browser windows simultaneously, letting you rotate through them [using all the PS3’s graphical capabilities]. [You saw us] demonstrated Youtube with full flash video playback, [and demonstrated] MySpace [among other sites including online banking], and there will be regular updates.

[A great web browsing experience and the PS3s capabilities] are really exciting features bceause the PS3 really puts all the entertainment, information and community aspects of the PS3 [front and center]. You ask yourself – as many people commented today – if I don’t do spreadsheets at home – why do I need a PC? I can download pictures, play music and movies, surf the Internet, do banking, do email and much, much more. When you look at it – you start asking yourself why do I need [to use] a PC at home unless I’m doing business apps?

Is there anything else you’d like to say to iTWire readers in Australia and worldwide and any final thoughts on the future for the PS3?

We’re very excited about what this device offers to the consumer in gaming, but obviously also excited about the consolidation of digital entertainment in one box. We hope they enjoy the product as [much as] we are enjoying launching it!