PlayStation TV to hit US in October
PlayStation TV home entertainment system is set to hit North America on October 14 as Sony seeks to improve its financial footing with games, films and music.
The small, stand-alone PS TV box will be priced at $99 in the United States and 99 euros in Europe, where it will debut a month later.
A bundle containing a wireless video-game style controller, a memory card and a "LEGO: The Movie" video game from Warner Brothers Interactive Entertainment will sell for $140.
Sony Computer Entertainment America vice president of marketing John Koller said in a blog post that 700 games will be available at launch in the US and Canada.
Titles will include offerings from hit franchises such as Killzone, Metal Gear Solid, God of War, Borderlands and Final Fantasy, according to Koller.
"Our library will continue to expand, with other fan favorites like Minecraft and more," Koller said.
"We're proud to bring such a broad array of content from multiple PlayStation platforms to PS TV."
PS TV is designed as a platform for games, films, television shows, music and even original programming streamed from the Internet or PlayStation consoles.
The first PS TV original series, titled "Powers," is based on a graphic novel of the same name.
The story revolves around two homicide detectives who specialize in investigating suspicious deaths of people with superpowers.
"If a super hero falls dead from the sky or a notorious super villain is found dead in a gutter, that is their case," writer Brian Michael Bendis said at a major E3 video game show in June.
"It is also about what a world with superheroes might really look like; how it would affect our culture."
PS TV will synch with a Sony online store for digital content.
The system has proven popular since it was released in Japan and other parts of Asia in November as PlayStation Vita TV.
PlayStation has been a bright spot for Japanese entertainment and consumer electronics colossus Sony, which earlier this month warned of a $2.14 billion annual loss linked to its struggling mobile phone unit.
Sony has issued a string of downward earnings revisions over the past two years.
Sony chief executive Kaz Hirai, who took over in 2012, said Sony would continue to focus on the more profitable areas of its vast business, which ranges from televisions and portable music to movies and insurance.
© 2014 AFP
