Sony Computer Entertainment recently announced its intentions to license the PlayStation 2 technology for devices that are traditionally not video-game related. Today the company spoke further about its plans to introduce the PlayStation 2 technology to the broad mainstream.

　　"With this investment, we will enter into a new business phase," said Ken Kutaragi, president of Sony Computer Entertainment. "We will be able to provide customers with powerful and flexible processor functions. In the future, PlayStation 2 may be absorbed into TV sets and the game console may disappear."

　　"There will be enormous data traffic on the broadband network," he continued. "Servers and routers should have an enormous processing capability. That's another possibility for Playstation 2 chips."

　　"The gaming market is huge," added Nobuyuki Idei, president and CEO of Sony Corp. "There are no other consumer electronics products that sell two million units in 80 days as the Playstation 2 did. If the console remained just a Sony platform, there would be limits to its market penetration."

　　There may be an entirely new paradigm on the horizon for the video game console market. New competitors with deep pockets such as Microsoft and a slowdown in sales in the Japanese market may have prompted Sony to reconsider its business strategy. Don't expect sweeping changes in the short term, but as Kutaragi's comments suggest, the company may be interested in building software sales and licensing into its two primary revenue vehicles. The standardization of PlayStation 2 technology over a broad range of electronic devices from different manufacturers could make that possible. Stay tuned to GameSpot for the latest details.