Sony Corp.'s game unit said on Thursday it planned to cut jobs in the United States and was eyeing restructuring steps in Japan as it struggles to keep up with industry rival Nintendo Co. Ltd.

　　Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE) announced plans in April to cut up to 160 jobs in Europe， or 8.4 percent of its workforce there， and has said it would look at streamlining its operations in the U.S. and Japan.

　　Sony's game division posted an operating loss of 232 billion yen ($1.91 billion) in the year ended March 31 due to hefty start-up costs for the PlayStation 3， a new high-tech game console that has been losing out to Nintendo's wildly popular Wii.

　　A spokeswoman at SCE said the job cuts in the U.S. would be part of a larger effort to cut costs there. The timing and the size of the cuts have not yet been decided， she said.

　　SCE is also looking at ways to make its Japan operations more efficient， though no concrete plans have been drawn up.

　　索尼游戲部門周二表示，為了進一步進行重組，以追趕主要競爭對手任天堂，該公司計劃在美國裁員。

　　索尼計算機娛樂部門4月曾宣布，會在歐洲地區裁員160人，相當于當地員工人數的8.4%。同時表示這一計劃將主要在美國和日本實施。

　　在截至今年3月31日的這個財年里，由于PS3游戲機的啟動成本巨大，索尼游戲部門的虧損達2320億日元（合19.1億美元）。但是PS3仍然落敗于任天堂生產的暢銷游戲機WII。

　　索尼游戲部門一位女發言人稱，公司在美國的裁員計劃是節省開支的重要組成部分，但裁員的具體時間和數量還沒有決定。

　　雖然還沒有制定具體計劃，但索尼游戲部門正在尋找可以提高日本公司效益的辦法。