Sony's Kaz Hirai claims PlayStation Phone could confuse consumers

It could be that SCE president and CEO Kaz Hirai is playing a clever game of keeping the press guessing.

Or, on the other hand, it could be that the jibes that suggest one half of Sony never knows what the other half is up to really have a modicum of truth to them.

Either way, Hirai's assertion that any form of PlayStation Phone could confuse consumers and muddle the appeal of PSP is interesting given that official confirmation aside it seems especially likely that that's exactly what Sony Ericsson will unveil early next year.

The PlayStation problem

Speaking to the New York Times, Hirai talked about the various problems that might arise should a PlayStation Phone appear on the scene the most prominent one being the prospect of such a device hurting PSP sales.

"We don't want gamers to be asking, what’s the difference between that and a PSP," Hirai told the paper.

"We have to come up with a message that users will understand. It would have to be a product that keeps the PlayStation's strengths intact."

Of course, it could well be that such concerns have already been acknowledged and addressed by Sony internally something Hirai would no doubt be aware of, but perhaps not adverse to using to put the press off the scent, if only temporarily.

Not so smartphone

However, in regards to mobile more generally, while Hirai wasn't exactly awash with praise for smartphones, he did suggest Sony might well employ similar features in any PSP2 including a touchscreen.

"The games being played on Android and Apple platforms are fundamentally different from the world of immersive games that Sony Computer Entertainment, and PlayStation, aims for," he said.

Of PSP2, he added, "Depending on the game, there are ones where you can play perfectly well with a touch panel. But you can definitely play immersive games better with physical buttons and pads.

"I think there could be games where you’re able to use both in combination."

[source: Apple Insider]