PSX Production Stops, Development Issues Rumored?

Thanks to GameScience for translating the news that Sony's PlayStation 2/DVR combination, the PSX, has temporarily ceased production in Japan, apparently "since the start of April." According to Sony representatives, the company is "in the middle of deciding when production will start again, based on the current stock levels, as well as the shift in demand for the unit", but the Japanese article claims "a development problem", suggesting "...both SCE's game unit and Sony's Blu-ray team are involved in the project, and apparently things haven't been running smoothly, resulting in some of PSX's functionality being mismatched" - is this partly referencing the PSX's initial feature downgrade? However, the PSX is "still on track for launch in Europe and North America in the second half of 2004."

Why PSX, Why?

[hambonewilkins]

Why did they name it PSX? Am I the only person that knows the Playstation by the name PSX? Even if Sony didn't call it that (and called it what, PS?), they should have come up with a new name. Has all originality left Sony?

Also, I think the chances of success in America are nil. As people will point out, its success is linked to limited space in Japan and the popularity of all-in-one units. At its price-point and with far more space in America, I don't see this selling well. Especially to those who ha

Re:Why PSX, Why?

[Carlos Rodriguez]

PSX was an acronym used mainly by the videogame press. Sony of America's press releases (like this one [playstation.com]) use "PlayStation", "PS" and "PS one" to refer to the original Playstation. They've been doing that at least since 2001.

AFAIK, after Nintendo dropped Sony's contract to create a SNES console with CD capabilities (which was referred as the Playstation [retrofaction.com]), Sony decided to create its own console using the Playstation as its base, and this project was baptized as Playstation X. When the console was marketed the 'X' was dropped fron its official name, but the press still used the X in the acronym. Dunno why... maybe because it sounded cool?

I agree that Playstation X may sound unoriginal, but since Sony of Japan never used the name in a released product in that market I don't see much trouble. I think it fits - after all the PSX is more than a PS2, but it is not a new Playstation console. Of course, they might run a bit of a problem when they try to market a PS3 with added functionality... will it be known as PSX2? Or a PS3X, maybe?

Re:Why PSX, Why?

[I_Love_Pocky!]

I suggest the POS as an apt title for the device instead.

Re:Why PSX, Why?

[hambonewilkins]

Thanks mods! Considering I was the first post (to my knowledge) I'm glad to see I am redundant. How exactly... I don't know.

Re:Why PSX, Why?

[bugbread]

Carlos answered well, but a bit of an addendum. Not only was the PS never known formally as the PSX, in Japan, it was never even nicknamed the "PSX". The confusion exists in the foreign market, but in Japan, the only place where the PSX is on sale, there is no confusion.

hmmm...who believes Sony?

[Anonymous Coward]

I suspect that the real cause for stopping production is low sales, duh. I was in japan when the PSX launched - for the first week or so, you had to pre-order them, but after that, you could just walk into a store and buy one. Within about a month of launch, stores were giving 500-1,000 yen discounts (less than $10, but still).

With the pace of change in the hardware market, the PSX is steadily losing its feature edge. It's getting stale fast - I wonder if we'll really see it launch here in the U.S.

DEAD!

[chrismcdirty]

Sony must be dying! They have to be, or else why would they stop production on the machine? I mean, when Nintendo stopped production on GCN, everyone and they're mom said they were dying. So it only follows that Sony will go out of business soon after Nintendo.

[/sarcasm]

Re:DEAD!

[NIN1385]

I understand all of that, and I find it humorous that you people write big long posts just to tell me something I already knew. I posted that post because I am tired of everyone always slamming Sony on a /. post. I mean, we should all know how shitty Microsoft is, so what is the problem with people on here buying/supporting Xbox? I sure hope everyone here is smart enough to put together that since MS blows, Xbox does as well. I honestly couldn't care less of your opinions, I will never meet any of you i

Re:DEAD!

[chrismcdirty]

And if you would have had some sense while reading my original post, you would have seen that I made not one single reference to Microsoft or Xbox.

I don't own an Xbox because I couldn't justify the purchase of it for maybe one or two games. The only system I own is Gamecube, because it was the first system I bought this generation, and nothing on PS2 has made me want to buy the system.

That said, I don't know why you feel the need to blast Xbox in a post where it was not mentioned, other than your need to

PS * X / 2log3 = ?

[Vodak]

When I heard about the PSX project I thought it was cool as hell. But I never knew who the hell Sony believed would buy this unit. I mean maybe if Sony had released it during the beginning of the Xbox and Game cube launch people would have bought it up in mass numbers it would be great. But the Sony Playstation2 is showing its age as a console system. Everyone who wants a PS2 owns it already. So who the hell where they marketing this too.

Games are what matters

[Anonymous Coward]

It's unfortunate they did not pursue this route right from the get go. They could have marketed the PSX as the "deluxe" version of the PS2, and the PS2 as the low-end unit. As someone else posted here, it's now a bit late in the PS2 architecture's lifespan to be introducing a "deluxe" device like this. Most people who would want to purchase a PSX are probably holding back, knowing full well the PS3 is around the corner.

~RB

--------------------
play games online: www.LilGames.com

Add these features and it'll take off!

[felonious]

Since this is another "swiss army" knife device that claims to do it all well then I have one more feature suggestion. Seeing as the N-Gage was such a phenominal hit how about adding phone functionality to the PSX? It's probably easier to use than an N-Gage, phone wise, and although it doesn't resemble a taco you could say it's more akin to a block of cheese in the looks department.

It could be used as a portable device as long as you can strap it to your back and roll around a gas generator on a hand truck to power the thing.

Why did they miss all of these great ideas????? :D

The actual problem is the price.

[AzraelKans]

The psx is a great system (hmm yes I still associate that acronym with the ps but lets skip that) just the dvd recorder is enough for anyone to consider the purchase add to that the fact that is also a full ps2 and you have a deal, unfortunately the price is definetily a problem ($700 bucks) with a price like that lets just face it, everybody who was able to buy it, has already bought one.

Besides a real tech savy guy only needs to do the math, they can upgrade their computer to have a video-in card ($50) a half decent dvd-recorder($150) and buy a brand new ps2 ($150) all for ($350) half the price, and enjoy the same features of the psx in the living room. (not under the same case though).

Why this doesnt look like (and actually isn't) terrible news for sony? well for starters they are heading the "console wars" for what? 20 million sales? also the PSX is just a "bundle product" not their main console? and the ps2 is selling at almost the same rate? AND they are also a huge company who gets money from just about everywhere (movies,tv,electronics,evercrack addicts)? I mean seriously feelings aside at what point Nintendo was in the same position when they had to stop producing the cube? we were worried for nintendo back then. (fortunately we now realize they have never been in trouble since they are actually getting a profit for each console, contrary to other companies. So they will still be around for a while. thankfully for their fans)

However back at the PSX maybe sony should consider a price drop. I will definetily pick one up, if they put it around $350 or $300. I will ran to the mall if its on $250 Hell would be unleashed if its $200-$150 (but thats daydreaming).

psx- not a ps2 on steroids

[blipmusic]

i live in tokyo and have a psx. and it rocks. but the way to think about it is not as a souped up ps2. its a HDD recorder with a whole bunch of extra stuff, including a 24x DVD writer, ps2, optical audio out, built in electronic tv guide, etc chucked in to sweeten the deal. When i first heard of them i thought the same as you guys, 80 000 yen for a ps2 with some extra stuff - bullshit !

but when i checked out the price of HDD video recorders with DVD burner built in, they were all 40-60 000 yen more. so i bought it, hooked it up to cable, set it up, went to Hong Kong for a holiday and it recorded the entire series of classic 007 films while i was away, from Dr No thru to Live & Let Die. pretty cool.

the GUI also rocks. super simple. one button record. edit. burn to dvd at 24x. plug in a usb keyboard for naming all of those movies. all good.

obviously when it was released it was still in development and pushed out the door for christmas. The second upgrade for it has just come out. includes things like ability to burn DVD-+R/RW, supports some more music playback functions etc but still doesnt include what i'd like - DIVX support and the ability to network it via the ethernet port.

This is the one thing i really want- so that i can network it with my macs and upload movies into it. That is the one "feature" that Sony will not implement but i expect to appear at latest 2 weeks after it appears on the US market, no doubt via /. It won't appear here because seems like japanese just aren't much of a hacker nation.

you can of course transfer DIVX's in the old-skool way by playing them in via line in.. but once this thing can be networked it will totally kick ass..