Sony Computer Entertainment

Infobox Company
company_name = Sony Computer Entertainment, Inc.
company_type = Subsidiary of Sony Corporation
company_
foundation = November 16, 1993 by Sony
location = flagicon|JPN Minami-Aoyama, Minato, Tokyo, Japan
key_people = Kazuo Hirai: President & Group CEO, SCEI
Jack Tretton: President & CEO, SCEA
David Reeves: President & CEO, SCEE
Shuhei Yoshida: President, SCE Worldwide Studios
Ken Kutaragi: Honorary Chairman, SCEI
industry = Video game consoles, Video games
products = Pocketstation, PlayStation, PlayStation 2, PSX, PSP, PlayStation 3
owner = Sony Corporation
homepage = [http://www.scei.co.jp/index_e.html scei.co.jp]
footnotes =

nihongo|Sony Computer Entertainment, Incorporated|株式会社ソニー・コンピュータエンタテインメント|Kabushiki Gaisha Sonī Konpyūta Entateinmento (SCEI) is a Japanese video game company specializing in a variety of areas in the video game industry, mostly in video game consoles and is a full subsidiary of Sony that was established on November 16, 1993 in Tokyo, Japan.

SCEI handles the Research & Development, production, and sales of hardware and software for their high-selling PlayStation line of handheld and video game consoles. SCEI is also a developer and publisher of video games for their systems, and is comprised of several subsidiaries covering the company's biggest markets: America, Europe, Oceania and Asia. The Original Soundtracks of its game franchises are produced and distributed by Sony's Japanese distributive unit Aniplex.

The Chairman and CEO of SCEI was Ken Kutaragi who is also known as "The Father of the PlayStation". Kutaragi also served as President of SCEI until November 30, 2006 when the position was replaced by Kaz Hirai. [cite web|url=http://www.scei.co.jp/corporate/release/pdf/061130e.pdf|title=SCE Announces New Management Team|publisher=Sony Computer Entertainment Inc|accessdate=2006-11-30|format=PDF] On April 26, 2007 Sony announced that Kutaragi will retire from his executive position at SCEI effective June 19, 2007. [cite web|url=http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/News/Press/200704/07-0426E/index.html|title=SCEI and Sony announce Executive Management Transition at Sony Computer Entertainment Inc|publisher=Sony Corporation & Sony Computer Entertainment Inc|accessdate=2007-04-27] Kaz Hirai's position, who was President and CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment America, is now held by Jack Tretton. [cite web | author = Yuri Kageyama | title = Sony game unit appoints new president | publisher = MSNBC | date = December 1, 2006 | url = http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15992406]

Currently based in Minami-Aoyama, Minato, Tokyo, Japan, it also has offices around the world such as in in the United States in Foster City, California, USA and a distribution center Hollywood, Los Angeles, California. Also in Canada with offices and in distribution center in Scarborough, Toronto, Ontario. In Australia the offices are in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.

Consoles

PlayStation

Sony's first foray into the video game market, the PlayStation (codenamed PSX during development, currently called PSone), was initially set to be an add-on for Nintendo's Super Nintendo Entertainment System (a.k.a. Super Famicom) video game console as an answer to Sega's Sega CD. When the prospect of releasing the system as an add-on dissolved, Sony transformed it into the PlayStation video game console. The PlayStation was released in Japan on December 3, 1994 and later in North America on September 9, 1995. The system was widely popular and became the best selling home console up until that time.

PlayStation 2

Currently the world's best selling console, Sony's follow-up console, the PlayStation 2 or PS2 or PSX2 was released in Japan on March 4, 2000 and later in North America on October 26, 2000. The PS2 is powered by a proprietary central processing unit, called the Emotion Engine and was the first video game console to have DVD playback functionality. Some game developers complained that the PlayStation 2 was too hard to develop for, and others also claimed that the PS2 was not as powerful as its competitors. Despite these complaints, the PlayStation 2 had widespread support from third party developers and was very successful in the marketplace. It placed first in number of units sold in its generation, with Microsoft's Xbox placing a distant second, Nintendo's GameCube third and Sega's Dreamcast fourth, which had been discontinued.

PSX

In December 2003, Sony upgraded the PlayStation 2 adding DVD burning and a hard drive with video recording functionality. The upgraded system was named the PSX (an acronym also used to represent the original PlayStation). The PSX has extensive media connectivity with the PSP. It is an expensive luxury device (approximately US$700). Due to its unpopularity, it was never released outside of Japan [http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=7006/] .

PlayStation 3

The newest console released in the PlayStation series, as well as Sony's entry in the seventh-generation of consoles, is the PlayStation 3 (also called PS3), which launched in November 2006. It uses a unique processing architecture called the Cell microprocessor, a proprietary technology developed by Sony with the help of Toshiba and IBM. The graphics processing unit, the RSX 'Reality Synthesizer', was co-developed by NVIDIA and Sony. So far, it is behind its competitors, the Xbox 360 and Wii in terms of sales. Several versions of the PS3 have been released including the 20, 40, 60, and 80gb versions. The 20 and 60GB have been discontinued to cut production costs.

Portables

PocketStation

The PocketStation is a miniature game console created by Sony as a peripheral for the PlayStation. Released exclusively in Japan on December 23, 1998, it features an LCD display, sound, a real-time clock, and infrared communication capability. It also serves as a standard PlayStation memory card. The idea of a memory unit boasting an LCD screen was a feature built-in to Sega's Dreamcast memory units.

PlayStation Portable

nihongo|The PlayStation Portable|プレイステーション・ポータブル|Pureisutēshon Pōtaburu (PSP) is a handheld game console released and manufactured by Sony Computer Entertainment, as a foray into the handheld gaming market which was and to this date still is dominated by Nintendo, though the PSP is noted as being the most successful competitor to Nintendo. Its development was first announced during E3 2003, and it was officially unveiled on May 11, 2004 at a Sony press conference before E3 2004. The system was released in Japan on December 12, 2004, in the United States and Canada on March 24, 2005 and in Europe and Australia on September 1, 2005. A Slim & Lite redesign was announced at E3 2007. The new features included a smaller size, more ram and a lighter weight. It was officially available in North America, Europe and Japan on September 2007.

Internal organization

In September 14, 2005 Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide Studios (SCE WWS) was formed, [cite web|url=http://www.scei.co.jp/corporate/release/pdf/050914ae.pdf|title=SCE Establishes SCE Worldwide Studios|publisher=Sony Computer Entertainment Inc|accessdate=2005-09-14|format=PDF] and will be responsible for the global creative, technical and strategic direction setting of development and production of computer entertainment software for the PlayStation family. Shuhei Yoshida was named as president of SCE WWS on 16 May 2008. Yoshida took over from Kazuo Hirai, who was holder of the post after Phil Harrison (a former SCEE VP) left the company in early 2008.

Game franchises

Sony Computer Entertainment owned franchises:

logans

Slogans by Sony Computer Entertainment advertisings campaign:

*"Enos Lives" – PS
*"U R Not e" – PS
*"Do Not Underestimate The Power Of The PlayStation." – PS
*"Wherever, Whenever, Forever" – PSOne
*"The Beginning" - PS2
*"Live In Yurs." – PS2
*"Welcome to the Third Place" – PS2
*"Fun, Anyone?" – PS2
*"WELCOME CHANG3" – PS3
*"This is Living" – PS3
*"PLAY B3YOND" – PS3

Distributed computing applications

Folding@Home

The Folding@Home application connects your PS3 to Stanford University’s Folding@Home distributed computer network. This research may eventually contribute to the creation of vital cures. Folding@Home is supported by Stanford University and volunteers who are making a contribution to society by donating computing power to this project. The Folding@Home client was developed by Sony Computer Entertainment in collaboration with Stanford University.

Linux OS

Linux for PlayStation 2

In 2002, Sony released the first useful operating system for a video game console, after the Net Yaroze experience. The kit turned the PlayStation 2 into a full fledged computer system running Linux.Fact|date=February 2007 The mix of hardware and software cost approximately US$149 at launch.

Linux for PlayStation 3

The PlayStation 3 also supports alternative operating systems. Yellow Dog Linux provides an official distribution, and other distributions such as Fedora, Gentoo and Ubuntu have been run on the console.

Controversial Advertising Campaigns

To commemorate the tenth anniversary of the PlayStation (PS) gaming console in Italy, Sony released an ad depicting a man smiling towards the camera and wearing on his head a crown of thorns with button symbols (".This outraged the Vatican as well as many local Catholics, prompting comments such as "Sony went too far" and "Vatican excommunicates Sony". After the incident, the campaign was quickly discontinued.Fact|date=February 2007

Sony's American division also admitted in late 2005 to hiring graffiti artists to spray paint advertisements for their PlayStation Portable game system in seven major U.S. cities including New York City, Philadelphia, and San Francisco. [ [http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,69741,00.html Sony Draws Ire With PSP Graffiti] ] The mayor of Philadelphia has filed a cease and desist order and may file a criminal complaint. According to Sony, they are paying businesses and building owners for the right to graffiti their walls. [ [http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,69741,00.html Wired News] ] As of early January 2006, Sony has no plans to keep or withdraw them.

In July 2006, Sony released a Dutch advertising campaign featuring a white model dressed entirely in white and a black model garbed in black. The first ad featured the white model clutching the face of the black model. The words "White is coming" headlined one of the ads. The ad has been viewed as racist by critics. [cite news|title=Sony ad causes white riot |url=http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/games/archives/2006/07/05/sony_ad_casues_white_riot.html |publisher=Guardian Unlimited: Gamesblog |date=2006-07-05 |accessdate=2006-07-06] A Sony spokesperson responded that the ad does not have a racist message, saying that it was only trying to depict the contrast between the black PSP model and the new ceramic white PSP. Other pictures of the ad campaign include the black model overpowering the white model. [cite news|title=Sony's racially charged PSP ad |url=http://www.joystiq.com/2006/07/04/ad-critic-sonys-racially-charged-psp-ad/ |publisher=Joystiq.com |date=2006-07-04 |accessdate=2006-07-07]

In November 2006, a marketing company employed by Sony's American division created a website entitled "All I want for Xmas is a PSP", designed to promote the PSP virally. The site contained a blog, which was purportedly written by "Charlie", a teenager attempting to get his friend Jeremy's parents to buy him a PSP, providing a "music video" of either Charlie or Jeremy "rapping" about the PSP. Visitors to the website quickly recognized that the website was registered to a marketing company, exposing the site on sites such as YouTube and digg, and Sony was forced to admit the site's true origin in a post on the blog, stating that they would from then on "stick to making cool products" and that they would use the website for "the facts on the PSP". The site has since been taken down. In an interview with next-gen.biz, Sony admitted that the idea was "poorly executed". [cite news|title=Sony: PSP Viral Campaign 'Poorly Executed' |url=http://www.next-gen.biz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4397&Itemid=2/ |publisher=next-gen.biz/ |date=2006-12-13 |accessdate=2006-13-16]

ee also

*List of video games published by Sony Computer Entertainment

References

External links

* [http://www.scei.co.jp/ Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.]
** [http://www.scei.co.jp/index_e.html English page]
* [http://www.playstation.com/ PlayStation Global website]
** [http://www.jp.playstation.com/ Playstation.com Japan]
** [http://www.us.playstation.com/ Playstation.com America]
** [http://eu.playstation.com/ Playstation.com Europe]
** [http://asia.playstation.com/ Playstation.com Asia]
** [http://www.playstation.co.kr/ Playstation.com Korea]
** [http://www.playstation.ca/ Playstation.com Canada]
* [http://www.scei.co.jp/folding/en/ Folding@Home for PS3]