Sony recruiting team for PSP, PS2 network

A new job posting on Sony Computer Entertainment's Synthesis careers site indicates that the company has started recruiting a team to build a common network platform for its PlayStation home consoles and the PSP handheld.

The post advertises positions for network engineers and system planners with experience of large-scale projects in both the business to business and business to consumer space, and specifically mentions load distribution skills as being key for planners.

The new network will serve both the PlayStation 2, the PSP handheld and other Sony devices - presumably including the PlayStation 3 - but details of the services it will provide are thin on the ground.

However, it seems likely that the network will be designed to deliver content such as music and movies as well as providing strictly game-related services, as Sony has expressed a strong interest in providing this kind of digital content through its PlayStation platforms.

It also represents the first information in some time to emerge about the company's plans for networking on the PSP, which possesses 802.11b wireless networking abilities which could allow it to connect to other consoles, PCs, or wireless Internet hot spots.

Earlier this year, it emerged that Sony has floated plans to create a unified PSP network access service by unifying providers of Wireless hot spots, allowing PSP owners to pay a single subscription fee to access in any Wireless-equipped location.

However, no further information on this approach has yet emerged, and it's not clear whether Sony is still pursuing it - or even if the initiative will be limited to the Japanese market alone.