Sony 1999 Annual Report Download - page 21

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19
page
PlayStation home-use game console
A WEALTH OF CAPTIVATING TITLES
A wide range of game software developers in Japan and other countries produced a steady
stream of hit titles in each region during the year. In Japan, Final Fantasy VIII from
SQUARE CO., LTD. was a huge success, selling more than three million units. Additionally,
SCE’s XI [sái] and Crash Bandicoot 3: WARPED both surpassed one million units. In North
America and Europe, Tomb Raider III from the U.K.’s Eidos Interactive Limited was a big hit
during the year. SCE’s Gran Turismo, which was extremely popular in Japan, proved to be
just as successful in North America and Europe. Cumulative worldwide sales of this title
topped the six million unit mark.
THE NEXT GENERATION PLAYSTATION
The next generation PlayStation aims to open up a whole new world of expressiveness,
such as delicate facial expressions and the fluttering of clothing in the wind, all on a
real-time basis. This will permit the rendering of subtle nuances such as the unique char-
acteristics and emotions of individual characters. Offering backward compatibility with
the current system, the next generation PlayStation will enable users to enjoy all 3,000
PlayStation software titles that have been released thus far worldwide. SCE plans to launch
the new system in Japan prior to the end of the fiscal year ending March 31, 2000.
Two key semiconductors will be at the heart of the next generation PlayStation game
console: the Emotion Engine 128-bit CPU and a massively parallel rendering engine called
the Graphics Synthesizer. SCE plans to invest a total of ¥120 billion in production facili-
ties for these chips. To fabricate the Emotion Engine, SCE and Toshiba Corporation intend
to form a new joint venture and to build new production lines at Toshiba’s facilities in
Oita, Japan. These lines will employ next generation 0.18-0.15 micron process technology.
Also, for the Graphics Synthesizer, SCE is founding a wholly owned subsidiary and is cur-
rently constructing a plant at Sony Nagasaki Corporation, which will be equipped with
0.18 micron embedded process technology.