PlayStation 2 Costly?
A bargain at any price?
A recent report has taken a close look at the development costs of Sony's upcoming system, the Next Generation PlayStation. Several "industry analysts" have suggested that the costs of the Emotion Engine and the Graphics Synthesizer, two unique, large, and complex chips on which the new system is centered around, may cost too much for Sony to produce without retailing the new console at a high retail price. Of course, this is exactly what critics said about the original PlayStation, and look what happened - that system was always competitively priced.
For Sony, the enormous size of the chips means that initial Playstation 2 consoles will be downright uneconomical, according to a research report from MicroDesign Resources.
The firm predicts the Emotion Engine and its graphics synthesizer will cost $130 each to make. That would mean Sony will have to spend more than $300, and probably nearer to $400, just to build a Playstation 2, not including the $1 billion Sony will pay to help its partner, Toshiba Corp., build two new chip factories. The original Playstation retailed for $299.
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