Sony has revealed that its next-generation games console will use the Blu-Ray disc format, which is an evolution of the current DVD system that is designed to hold five times as much data on a similarly sized disc. A meeting in Tokyo yesterday saw the creation of a working group to draw up final specifications of a read-only Blu-Ray system, including representatives from many of the world"s largest electronics companies such as Sony, Dell and Matsushita (Panasonic).
Until now, Blu-Ray discs, which are similar to standard DVDs but use more accurate blue laser light rather than the normal red laser light to read and write data, have been both readable and writeable. Sony officials confirmed that the next iteration of the PlayStation home console will be equipped with a Blu-Ray disc drive, allowing it to play back high definition movies (as movies are gradually expected to move from DVD to Blu-Ray in the coming years) as well as providing more space for game developers on the discs.