PlayStation2, the advanced version of the world's most popular video game console, goes on sale today amid growing expectations that the new machine will serve as a powerful tool connecting homes to cyberspace in the near future.

Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. has priced the new console at 39,800 yen for the domestic market. Its predecessor has sold more than 71 million units worldwide since its debut in Japan in December 1994.

"Core game users in their late teens and early 20s first bought PlayStation, and it later spread to other age groups. We hope that PlayStation2, equipped with a DVD player, will similarly attract new pockets of customers (beyond core game enthusiasts)," said Yuko Takano, a spokeswoman for SCE.

SCE accounted for 40 percent of the profits for the entire Sony group in the April-September period of 1999.

PlayStation2 is equipped with a DVD player in addition to the audio CD playback capability of its predecessor. The game console has also been upgraded by incorporating a 128-bit central processing unit jointly developed by SCE and Toshiba Corp. and a graphics engine to enable smooth 3-D visuals.

SCE plans to ship 1 million units in the first week. Although Takano declined to comment on the sales target for the new game machine, some market analysts predict its worldwide sales could reach 100 million units. It will debut in North American and European markets in the fall.

In introducing PlayStation2, SCE started direct marketing via the Internet, establishing an online sales subsidiary, PlayStation.com (Japan) Inc., last month. SCE will sell PlayStation2 as well as related devices and software online in a partnership with Seven-Eleven Japan Co., the nation's largest convenience store chain.

The introduction of the new game machine comes at a time when the country's major electronics makers and industry experts are looking at video game consoles as an effective tool for transmitting digital information to homes via the Internet.

In November, Sony Corp. President Nobuyuki Idei said PlayStation2, along with Sony's digital TVs and mobile computing devices, has the potential to become a digital information medium in the coming broadband network era.

Starting next year, SCE will start distributing game software over the Internet using broadband cable TV networks, which can transmit a much larger volume of information than telephone lines.

Under the planned service, cable TV subscribers can download and store game software and possibly movie, music and concert ticket information using PlayStation2 and related devices.

Analysts say the advantage of PlayStation2 is its low price, considering its huge potential.

"PlayStation2 has drawn attention as a product that can spread among general consumers in a short time. We think the product has the potential to become a portal to carry digital information to homes in the network era," said Akiko Yamaguchi, a Sony Corp. spokeswoman.

Takashi Oya, a senior analyst at Deutsche Securities, said the value added by its ability to be connected to cable TV is one of the reasons for his forecast that sales of PlayStation2 could top 100 million units.

"PlayStation2 can handle high-speed Internet connections. In the United States, cable TV is an emerging player in the Internet connection business, and Japan will follow suit. PlayStation2 is a machine designed with a two- or three-year forward-looking view," Oya said.

The introduction of PlayStation2 may put rival game console makers Nintendo Co. and Sega Enterprises Ltd. in difficult positions.

Sega is suffering from weak domestic sales of its Dreamcast video game console, launched in late 1998, and the firm predicts a net loss of 44.9 billion yen in the fiscal year that ends on March 31.

Sega President Shoichiro Irimajiri tried to play down the impact of PlayStation2 on its Dreamcast business, saying that SCE's new console will not have a revolutionary impact on the game machine market.

Nintendo is currently developing its next-generation video game console with DVD playing capability by teaming up with Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. in hopes of introducing the product as early as next winter.

But Oya pointed out that the introduction of PlayStation2 may significantly cut into Dreamcast sales in overseas markets, while it will be an uphill battle for Nintendo's new machine to make up for lost time behind PlayStation2.