Following up their Namco-made system 11 and 12 boards, Sony dive into coin-op industry

Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. announced today in Japan that they plan to sell their PlayStation2 technology to makers of arcade games to fully integrate their powerful 128bit engine across the coin-op landscape.

Obviously, SCE have a lot of competition, with Sega, Namco, Capcom, Taito, SNK, Konami and a slew of other powerful traditional arcade companies already entrenched in the arcade landscape. But, according to Nihon Keizai Shimbun, arcade manufacturers have been begging for more powerful arcade technology without having to pay the exorbitant prices that companies like Sega have been charging per machine. While the arcades are still relatively strong in Japan, they are all but dead in the US. The PlayStation2 boards promise the possibility of cross-platform games, as well as cheaper production costs and lower economies of scale.

In strict gamer speak, you will soon see PlayStation2-quality games in the arcades, and you may see the games appearing first in the arcades and then on PS2, and vice versa, depending on the company.

The Nihon Keizai Shimbun didn't report which companies would initially take advantage of Sony's new strategy, but don't look too surprised when you see big names pop up.

Courtesy of IGN.com