5 years ago: Sony says PlayStations to overtake PCs

16.11.99: Sony's PlayStation 2 will become a serious alternative to the PC, says company CEO Nobuyuki Idei at the Comdex trade show in Las Vegas

The Sony chief claimed this would come true because as the internet changes the computer industry, the devices used will change as well.

Kazuo Hirai, president of Sony Computer Entertainment America, agreed, saying the PlayStation 2 will overtake the PC as the most popular means of accessing the web.

One factor that will aid the PS2, according to Hirai, is that it is built for broadband while PCs are held back by focussing on dial-up connections.

16.11.04: While the PlayStation 2 has proved a popular game console, it has hardly lived up to Sony's expectation of replacing the PC.

Online gaming via broadband did come into its own on the PlayStation and Microsoft's Xbox. At the same time, though, PCs took advantage of fat pipes and stopped relying on dial-up connections.

PlayStations will continue to push the envelope in communications. In the future Sony says they'll to allow gamers to interact with the console using hand gestures, eye movements and even emotions.