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To: unclewest who wrote (16876)	3/2/1999 6:47:00 AM
From: Gary Wisdom	Respond to of 93625

Uncle, I have every appendage on my body crossed that the market doesn't yawn on this huge news. And they'll stay crossed until the close today. <ggg>

To: unclewest who wrote (16876)	3/2/1999 7:45:00 AM
From: REH	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 93625

Sony set to launch souped up PlayStation TOKYO, March 2 (Reuters) - Sony Computer Entertainment, the videogames unit of Sony Corp, said on Tuesday it had developed a successor to its popular PlayStation game terminal. Sony officials touting the capabilities of a new chip designed for the next PlayStation said the machine would be available to Japanese games players in late 1999 or early 2000. U.S. and European fans will have access to the machine sometime in the second half of 2000. ''The new PlayStation aims to be a new form of computer entertainment that incorporates music and movies,'' said Ken Kutaragi, executive vice president of Sony Computer Entertainment. Executives said Sony and Toshiba Corp had invested about 20 billion yen ($166 million) in developing a pair of chips for the new machine. Employing 128-bit technology, the second-generation PlayStation will be capable of speedy manipulation of digital information allowing for more realistic graphics, the company said. In a press release, Sony said the machine would employ a newly designed Graphics Synthesizer that enabled detailed imagery, even allowing the hair and clothes of the virtual characters to be affected by the computer environment. ''This will change the future of computer entertainment forever,'' the release said. Sony, a relative latecomer to the videogames industry, has successfully challenged -- and humbled -- industry leaders Nintendo and Sega Enterprises. Nintendo sells a 64-bit machine, while Sega launched a 128-bit player in November. ''With the new PlayStation, we cannot be optimistic about the outlook for Sega's Dreamcast,'' said Yukihiko Shimada, a senior analyst at Credit Lyonnais Securities. He said the PlayStation will be much more ''powerful'' than any existing game machines, and that the impact would not be limited only to the videogame market. Analysts said when Sega introduced its new game console last November that the fate of Dreamcast hinged on when and how its bigger rival Sony released a new version of PlayStation. Sega's chances of winning rest on the extent to which it can take advantage of being the front-runner by seeking support from powerful software manufacturers, they said. ($1=120 yen)