Kotaku 
Jan 24, 2007 6:40 AM
0
Sony and Bandai Namco have announced a joint venture to develop new content for the Cell chip including games for the PS3 and content for mobile phones and personal computers, Bloomberg reports.
The two companies are investing about $821,000 to form Cellius, a company that will be headed up by Ken Kutaragi, the father of the Playstation. The company will be formed on March 6 and will 51 percent owned by Bandi Namco and 49 percent by Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Bandai Namco's president and another exec, as well as a second senior Sony exec will also on the newly formed company's board.
The news comes months after Kutaragi was promoted out of daily operations of Playstation 3 decisions. It will be interesting to see what sort of insight Kutaragi brings to the game development side of things.
Hit the jump for the full Bloomberg story.
Sony Corp., the world's largest maker of game consoles, said its PlayStation unit will develop games with Namco Bandai Holdings Inc. to help take share from Microsoft Corp. and Nintendo Co.
Namco Bandai will own 51 percent of the venture, named Cellius Inc., with Sony holding the rest, Sony said in a faxed release today. The venture will begin operations on March 6.
Cellius will use Sony's Cell chip, which powers PlayStation 3, to create games for the console and content for mobile phones and personal computers, Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. spokesman Satoshi Fukuoka said today. He would not give earnings forecasts or other details.
The alliance may help Sony recoup the 200 billion yen ($1.65 billion) it spent developing the Cell with International Business Machines Corp. and Toshiba Corp. Sony is expecting the chip, which makes the PS3 about 35 times faster than the PS2, to attract gamers with sharper graphics and more complex play.
The Cell chip is also part of Sony's strategy to beat Microsoft and Apple Computer Inc. in controlling the digital home, a future network linking televisions, music players, game consoles and other appliances to the Internet.
Sony, Namco Bandai Ally to Jointly Make Games for PlayStation 3 [Bloomberg]
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