Sony offered up a few fresh details this week about its forthcoming video game console, the PlayStation 3, but the company remained quiet about what hard-core gamers really want to know: how much the device will cost and what games will be available to play on it.

Sony disclosed that it would start a free online service to pit players in head-to-head matches when the new PlayStation makes its scheduled debut in November. PlayStation 3 also will feature voice and video conferencing capabilities, Sony’s chief of game studios, Phil Harrison, told the Game Developers Conference, an annual industry trade show.

Like Microsoft’s Xbox 360, the new console will come with an online shopping world in which players will be able to download fresh game content, such as new tracks for a Formula One racing game the company is developing.