Sony said yesterday that PlayStation 3 game machine sales had totaled 1.2 million in North America during the holiday season, boosting the strength of the company's Blu-ray video format because the console also works as a Blu-ray player.
Competition is intense among the latest video game machines -- pitting Sony Corp against Nintendo Co and Microsoft Corp. Competition is also fierce between two of the latest video formats -- Blu-ray and HD DVD.
Although both formats deliver better image quality than the DVDs more common today, one format is expected to emerge the winner and attracting movie studios to the format is critical for making the format widespread.
Sony can hope to gain more sales in its core electronics products, including Blu-ray recorders and high-definition flat-panel TVs, if consumers choose Blu-ray.
That could also aid it in its struggle against the popularity of the Wii machine from Nintendo, which went on sale about the same time as the PS3, attracting newcomers with easy-to-play games that use a wandlike remote-controller.
"The PlayStation brand ended the year in a very strong position and clearly indicates more positive momentum going into 2008," said Jack Tretton, president and chief executive of Sony Computer Entertainment America.
"The strong PS3 sales also further establish Blu-ray's dominant position as the high-definition medium of choice for games and movies," he said in a statement.
The rival HD DVD movie disc format, backed by Japanese electronics maker Toshiba Corp, was dealt a potentially fatal blow by the weekend defection of Warner Bros Entertainment to Blu-ray.
Just two major US studios now support only HD DVD -- Viacom's Paramount Pictures, which also owns DreamWorks SKG, and Universal Pictures, a unit of General Electric.
Sony Computer Entertainment, the Japanese electronics and entertainment company's game unit, also said yesterday that sales of the PlayStation Portable handheld reached 1.4 million in North America during the Nov. 23 to Dec. 31 holiday shopping period.
Including sales of 1.3 million for PlayStation 2, PS3's predecessor, retail sales of the three PlayStation machines combined reached more than 3.9 million in North America, Tokyo-based Sony said.
Nintendo spokesman Yasuhiro Minagawa said Wii sales numbers weren't available for the same period in the US. Wii was one of the hottest holiday gifts and its North American sales are likely to have been booming.
Nintendo said previously it had shipped 13.2 million units worldwide of the Wii by October. It expects to sell a cumulative 23 million Wiis by March 31.
In a tie-up that could help sales, Sony said yesterday that PlayStation Portable users worldwide would be able to make calls through the popular Internet-based phone service, eBay Inc's Skype, starting later this month.
The PSP must be the latest model released in September and download of special software and a microphone would be needed. Users would also have to sign up for the Skype service, which provides free calls to other Skype users.
ALL-IN-ONE: A company in Tainan and another in New Taipei City offer tours to China during which Taiwanese can apply for a Chinese ID card, the source said The National Immigration Agency and national security authorities have identified at least five companies that help Taiwanese apply for Chinese identification cards while traveling in China, a source said yesterday. The issue has garnered attention in the past few months after YouTuber “Pa Chiung” (八炯) said that there are companies in Taiwan that help Taiwanese apply for Chinese documents. Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) last week said that three to five public relations firms in southern and northern Taiwan have allegedly assisted Taiwanese in applying for Chinese ID cards and were under investigation for potential contraventions of the Act Governing
‘INVESTMENT’: Rubio and Arevalo said they discussed the value of democracy, and Rubio thanked the president for Guatemala’s strong diplomatic relationship with Taiwan Guatemalan President Bernardo Arevalo met with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Guatemala City on Wednesday where they signed a deal for Guatemala to accept migrants deported from the US, while Rubio commended Guatemala for its support for Taiwan and said the US would do all it can to facilitate greater Taiwanese investment in Guatemala. Under the migrant agreement announced by Arevalo, the deportees would be returned to their home countries at US expense. It is the second deportation deal that Rubio has reached during a Central America trip that has been focused mainly on immigration. Arevalo said his
‘SOVEREIGN AI’: As of Nov. 19 last year, Taiwan was globally ranked No. 11 for having computing power of 103 petaflops. The governments wants to achieve 1,200 by 2029 The government would intensify efforts to bolster its “Sovereign Artificial Intelligence [AI]” program by setting a goal of elevating the nation’s collective computing power in the public and private sectors to 1,200 peta floating points per second (petaflops) by 2029, the Executive Yuan said yesterday. The goal was set to fulfill President William Lai’s (賴清德) vision of turning Taiwan into an “AI island.” Sovereign AI refers to a nation’s capabilities to produce AI using its own infrastructure, data, workforce and business networks. One petaflop allows 1 trillion calculations per second. As of Nov. 19 last year, Taiwan was globally ranked No. 11 for
STAY WARM: Sixty-three nontraumatic incidents of OHCA were reported on Feb. 1, the most for a single day this year, the National Fire Agency said A total of 415 cases of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) occurred this month as of Saturday, data from the National Fire Agency showed as doctors advised people to stay warm amid cold weather, particularly people with cardiovascular disease. The Central Weather Administration yesterday issued a low temperature warning nationwide except for Penghu County, anticipating sustained lows of 10°C or a dip to below 6°C in Nantou, Yilan, Hualien and Taitung counties, as well as areas north of Yunlin County. The coldest temperature recorded in flat areas of Taiwan proper yesterday morning was 6.4°C in New Taipei City’s Shiding District (石碇). Sixty-three nontraumatic OHCA