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Sony dropping PlayStation 3 chip
Sony Corp. is removing a chip from the European version of its new PlayStation 3 (PS3) game console
This move will cut production costs, but users will not be able to play some of their old games. Sony shares rose nearly 3 percent after the news, which is expected to expedite efforts by the Tokyo-based electronics and entertainment conglomerate to turn its PS3 operations profitable -- a focus for investors. Sony, locked in a three-way battle with Microsoft Corp. and Nintendo Co. Ltd. for dominance of the $30 billion video game industry, now makes a loss for each PS3 it sells.
Both Nintendo's Wii and Microsoft's Xbox 360 are cheaper than Sony's latest PlayStation and have been outselling it, although the Xbox 360 has been on the market longer. The PS3 is to go on sale in Europe on March 23, following its North American and Japanese launches late last year. Unlike the PS3 being sold in the United States and Japan, the European version will not carry a Sony-made microchip that offers graphic- and data-processing functions for PS2 games, cutting production costs, said a spokesman for game unit Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE). The console will still be equipped with a different chip that processes graphics for PS2 games, but the backward compatibility of the machine will be lessened, the spokesman said.
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