In this column: Why the coming battle of the video game boxes has ramifications for all computer usersWho has the edge
Plus: An outpouring of reader reaction on the problem of "wall warts"
In this column: Why the coming battle of the video game boxes has ramifications for all computer users
Who has the edge
Plus: An outpouring of reader reaction on the problem of "wall warts"
War has broken out in your living room. Sony and Microsoft are the first two combatants in a contest for control of your television.
Like the German invasion of Poland in 1939, it started with a blitzkrieg and will be followed by months of a "phony war." But by the time the war is over, there'll be a "computer" in your living room, although you might not call it that -- one that will easily connect to the Internet and use your TV screen for display.
Whose brand name will be on that computer? Only the coming battles will tell.
| VIDEO |
 CNN clip on PlayStation 2's release in Tokyo. Requires RealPlayer software (free download) |
Not to be outdone, Microsoft announced its long-rumored X-Box game machine for a scheduled delivery in the fall of 2001. If it does ship, the X-Box will be the first game console from Microsoft but not its first foray into the realm of TV-Internet connections. Microsoft currently markets WebTV, a device for surfing the Web from your TV.
Now, I don't play computer games. If these machines could only play games, I'd be taking a Rhett Butler attitude (click to hear Rhett's famous quote). But these boxes are a true amalgam of computer and entertainment device -- convergence machines meant to bring the Internet to your TV screen and e-commerce into the home of the average citizen.
Others may join the fray, but for now, the big guns belong to Sony, and Microsoft is constrained, for now, to saber-rattling.
After that, the action will come to a screeching halt -- for a short time.
During WWII, the time between Hitler's conquest of Poland and the battle of France was called the "phony war," months when soldiers on both sides manned fortifications, but did little else.
That's the situation we'll see here because Sony won't actually have the additional equipment needed to give PlayStation 2 its Internet access until 2001. Let's estimate that will be at least six months after PlayStation 2's introduction in North America. But it would still be several months before the scheduled arrival in stores of Microsoft's X-Box.
In other words, if you're in the market for a DVD/CD player, this unit is worth a look. As for the computer side, It's got 32 megabytes of memory. It's got a PCMCIA III port into which you can plug a mini-disk drive like those used with laptop computers, a modem or other devices. Its two USB ports (Universal Serial Bus) could interface with additional devices and would be an easy way to attach a keyboard and mouse. I saved the best for last. PlayStation 2 also includes a high-speed IEEE 1394 port -- Sony calls it i.Link -- that allows you to connect the unit to a high-speed disk drive or to transmit a digital DVD movie to a digital TV. The advantage here is an improved video image because the signal stays in the digital domain. By 2001, Sony will have an add-on module with a standard disk drive and a high-speed modem for Internet access through your cable TV connection. The bottom line here? Sony's PlayStation 2 is both a great game machine and a great multi-media player for the money, with relatively easy Internet connectivity to boot. If PlayStation 2 sells over here for the same price as it's being sold in Japan, it'll be available for under $400 in the U.S. That's why I'm interested. I'd love to get Internet access, a DVD/CD player with digital connections and the capability to connect to a digital TV monitor for under $400. Advantage: Sony
Just what is it that makes PlayStation 2 such an interesting device for someone like me who doesn't play games but spends a great deal of time on the Internet? Simple: capabilities and price.
In one box, you get a DVD player for movies that will also play audio CDs. It has standard connections to both your TV and sound system and a digital-optical interface if you've got one of the fancy new digital surround-sound audio systems.Gate(s)-Crasher
Why does Microsoft want in on this market? Because industry analysts predict that by 2002, there will be more "Internet appliances" than PCs. In other words, simple devices like the X-Box, PlayStation and others will dwarf the PC market in only two years. Microsoft, king of what goes into PCs, wants part of the action -- or all of it -- in the next step of the evolution of the computer.
Microsoft has announced some general specs for the X-Box, but, since it's still a year and a half from introduction, you have to assume that those specs aren't carved in stone, or even silicon. For now, we can say that Microsoft promises a game machine that's twice as fast as the PlayStation 2 and many times faster than any PC you could buy now. All this speed will be generated with new graphics chips from NVIDIA and a 600-megahertz Pentium III processor from Intel.
It'll also be a marketing challenge for Microsoft.
Will consumers skip PlayStation 2 and wait for the promise of a better, faster machine? Or will they suspect that Microsoft is merely trying to create doubt and fear in the market until the X-Box hits the streets? And one other thing to factor into the equation -- Microsoft isn't exactly known for meeting its shipping deadlines (is it a cheap shot to mention that Microsoft's upgrade to Windows 98 is called "Millennium," which gives them 1,000 years for a shipping window?).
Meanwhile, another game manufacturer, Sega, sells the Dreamcast game machine with a standard, 56K phone-line modem. Dreamcast was actually the first game box to offer Internet connectivity, but it's only equipped with a CD-ROM, not DVD, and phone modems are slow compared to high-speed cable or DSL modems.There is only one thing I'd like added to either the PlayStation 2 or X-Box -- a receiver for wireless, in-home networking so I could access the Internet connection in my office, as well as the computers there, from the device in my living room.
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