Downloadable media is becoming a big thing these days, with downloadable films and music slowly gaining over their physical media counterparts.

As such, Sony has begun to adopt a new strategy. With the next PSP rumored to have a strictly downloadable game library, Sony is now talking about next step for the PS3, PSN and Sony hardware altogether. The idea, according to Sony Chairman Howard Stringer, is to centralize all Sony hardware with the inclusion of the XMB interface into the non-gaming products, such as DVD players.

“We’ve adopted a slightly different approach now, and are evolving the PS3 into a platform for web services,” he says. “Next we will be expanding the PlayStation Network to hardware other than the PS3, because the number of PS3 units sold puts a limit on the scale of the network possible.”

What this means for the gaming industry and game development itself is unknown, but digital media seems to be the logical stepping stone, especially now that most standard systems come equipped with a suitable hard drive (get with the times, Nintendo. Seriously.).

[Source]