Sony unveils PlayStation 3

LOS ANGELES - Sony Corp. unveiled its new PlayStation 3 video game console to a cheering crowd of thousands Monday, promising that its speed and high-definition graphics will carry it to victory in the next round of the console wars.

“PS3 truly is the system to be placed in the center of living rooms in homes around the world,” Ken Kutaragi, the head of Sony’s game unit, said Monday.

Those living rooms and homes will have to wait until spring of 2006, however. Kaz Hirai, chief executive of Sony Computer Entertainment America, dismissed suggestions that this would put the PS3 at a significant disadvantage to the Xbox 360, which Microsoft announced last week would arrive around Thanksgiving of this year.

“Really, a half year difference is not that big of a deal," said Hirai. "We plan on continuing to lead.”

Nintendo said Monday that its next-generation console, codenamed "Revolution," will also not hit the market until 2006.

(MSNBC is a Microsoft - NBC joint venture.)

Sony officials touted the new technology inside the PS3, particularly the custom-designed "Cell" chip, which will enable fast performance of movie-quality games and high-definition video .

The console will also support Blu-ray, a high-definition and high-capacity format for the next generation of DVDs that is backed by Sony. It will feature a built-in Ethernet port for high-speed Internet access, a removable hard drive and support for two different types of wireless networking.

The box itself is about the same size as the most recent version of the PlayStation 2, but with one side more rounded. The PS3 will come in three colors: black, silver and white. The new console will be able to run the thousands of games available for the older PS2 and PS1, officials said.

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