But users can add some of these functions

Sony announced at the E3 show in Los Angeles, the launch of its PlayStation 3 game console on 17 November next in Europe, in two versions, one at 499 euros and the other at 599. Masaru Kato, Chief Financial Officer of Sony Computer Entertainment, back to these announcements.

The high price of the PlayStation 3 and the fact that the basic version offers not common features such as Wi - Fi, attracted criticism...

These are two products for a same offer. The PlayStation 3 is a machine designed to entertainment with a base design, like a computer. Then, each version has some features. The base is not USB, Wi - Fi connection, or HDMI output port. But users can add some of these functions. Buyers being inveterate players, we will sell more Premium consoles in November than Basic Console.

How much money are you losing on each machine

Since we launched on the market of video games consoles, we always lost money in a launch. The PlayStation 3 is no exception to this rule. We have provided an operating loss of 872 million over fiscal year 2006-2007. Then, when the price of the components drop though production will increase, there will be a return to profits. Now, I can't tell you when this will happen. Many components of the machine keys are produced internally by Sony, such as the optical drive DVD drive high-definition Blu - ray. As a vertically integrated company, we can reduce our costs of production quickly. This is not the case of Microsoft, which is making its Xbox 360 by third companies and who must negotiate with them of price declines. We, all the reductions in production costs are automatically reflected. We do our business family.

Will you receive money as soon as a manufacturer to market a DVD Blu - ray player Do you win the war against HD-DVD formats

There is a pooling of patents held by several companies on the Blu - ray technology, including those of Sony. We will therefore reach of royalties whenever a constructor will launch a Blu - ray player. Concerning the war of the standards, it is the consumer who will decide. But we have announced that at the end of March 2007, 6 million of PlayStation 3 have been sold. So far, no other console is sold as fast four months after its launch. Our machine is therefore very important for the Blu - ray Disc standard. It will be the least expensive drive the market.

On the PlayStation portable UMD video disc are a failure. Do you abandon this format for movies

Many editors expressed skeptical. But you need to know that a film in UMD in the Japan format is worth $ 40: it is much more expensive than a DVD. This explains the difficulties of this format for. Then publishers should increase their marketing efforts. Finally, it should not only think of two hours, but also in the television series Hollywood films and the shorter formats. We will not abandon the video UMD for the PlayStation portable. It allows to store lots of data, and it is also very safe. I see a lot of copies of CD on the market, but I have not seen copies of UMD.