Koei's Kenji Matsuhara has been an outspoken voice on Online console gaming over in Japan, going so far as to list, prior to E3, some features that he'd like to see in Sony's PlayStation 3 Online service. So now that Sony has unveiled new details on its console, what does the Koei executive think? Japan's Impress Watch game site quizzed Matsuhara at E3.

Matsuhara seems to be pleased with some of the steps Sony has taken for the PS3. He pointed out to Impress that, back during February's Asian Online Game Conference, he'd requested two things of Sony's Online platform: the common functionality required for Online games, including a billing system, and a quick adoption rate. We also recall Matsuhara expressing the hope that Sony would include a hard disk out of the box.

The hard disk, of course, ended up being included with the system, so we're sure Matsuhara doesn't have any complaints in this area. Regarding the Online functionality, he said to Impress, "This seems to be okay." At E3, Sony announced a set of standard features for the PS3 service, without getting into details, but perhaps Matsuhara has the inside scoop.

As for the quick adoption rate, Matsuhara said, "This will be based on the response by the market." Impress asked if he feels the PS3 price to be too high, to which he responded in the negative, stating that the price is to be expected at the start of the system's life. He did express the desire for DVR-style recording functions, though.

Koei already has Dynasty Warriors BB in the works for the PS3, with Matsuhara stating that further Online support for the system is a strong possibility.

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