Sony Europe launches new website for PS3

With just over two months to go until the launch of the PlayStation 3, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe has launched a new online campaign to promote the console.

The new website, which has been developed in co-operation with ad agency TBWA, features the slogan 'This is Living' and six 'PS3 stories' - short films designed to reveal more about various aspects of Sony's new machine.

The first film to be released focuses on the theme of real-time. The other films, which cover blu-ray, high definition, cell processing, tilt sensitive control and cinematic production, will follow at two week intervals.

The website also features a new specs page which confirms that, as predicted, the PS3 will not come with a HDMI cable as standard. As previously announced, the console will weigh in at 5kg, feature four USB ports and will be compatible with third-party 2.5 inch serial ATA hard drives.

According a statement issued by Sony, the new 'This is Living' campaign "moves away from conventional 'cryptic' pre-launch campaigns" - such as the 'Third Place' campaign which was used to launch PlayStation 2, complete with a surreal television advert from David Lynch.

"This audience is hungry and savvy - it wants to be inspired and informed, not teased and frustrated," said TBWA's Robert Hardwood-Mathews.

Sony product manager Luke Southern added: "PlayStation 3’s primary audiences are entertainment enthusiasts who spend a lot of time online.

"We want these stories to become the property of the Internet commons - shared, remixed, hosted on YouTube, linked, blogged about - so that they gain their own momentum and inspire the online communities. We want to create a campaign as dynamic as the PS3 itself."

The films, which are said to have been inspired by Phil Harrison's demo of the PS3 at E3, each feature the tagline: "Where the old rules don't apply... PS3." They will also be shown on TV and in cinemas, and the campaign will run across Europe, Australia and New Zealand "until at least November 2006", according to Sony.