NOW CONFIRMED: PS3 delayed until November

PS3 News | Says Japanese newspaper.

News just in, folks: The Wednesday morning edition of the Nihon Keizai Shimbun is reporting that Sony's forthcoming PlayStation 3 platform is to be delayed in Japan until "early November", apparently as the copy protection technology for the Blu-ray Disc format is yet to be finalised. And while this isn't official word from Sony - the source for the story is unclear and Sony have not yet commented on the validity of the article - the delay is certainly not an unrealistic claim either. If it is true, then a 2007 PAL release is almost absolutely certain.

It appears that development of Blu-ray copy protection has fallen behind in comparison with other core components of the PS3, with the article mentioning that the much-vaunted Cell processor has been "developed on schedule". Of course, we'll know a lot more about the authenticity of this particular story in around eight hours, when Sony will be hosting a press conference in Tokyo at 3pm (local time). It's there that we're expected to see launch line-up details, as well as - just maybe - a possible price and launch date.

More as soon as we get it.

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10 Comments

k1dcharm

7 years ago

Japanese Newspaper has been wrong before, so I won't rely on that news

realitybites

7 years ago

Well I guess we won't really find out until E3 or beyond.

Sony won't be bothered as the Xbox 360 is not selling in Japan at all.

The recent announcements from partners Compaq, IBM and Nvidia I can't see it getting mainstream before years end either.

Methinks Sony has tried to make this next battle too complicated but time will tell.

Chris-Leigh

7 years ago

realitybites wrote

Sony won't be bothered as the Xbox 360 is not selling in Japan at all.

Maybe they won't be overly fussed about Japan, but what about the West? Of all the major regions, the Xbox brand is strongest in the US, and if the 360 has yet another 12 months (presuming the PS3 launches Stateside in early 2007) to establish a userbase there, just how far ahead can the 360 get? And what of Europe and other PAL regions? Again, it could quite conceivably be 12 more months before we see the PS3 here. Can Sony really afford to give Microsoft such a headstart?

And before I leave it at that, found an interesting opinion on a comments thread over at Kotaku, from a user called Kamalot (so credit goes to him/her):

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'The game industry is an industry that is being used to trojan horse the movie industry's interests into homes.

Bluray does nothing for gamers.

Let me ask you, was Sony's decision to utilize UMD as the delivery format for games on the PSP a good move for gamers? Do the advantages of extra space really outweigh the advantages of shorter load times, longer battery life, smaller media format?

Bluray has no benefit to gamers. It only benefits Sony. In fact, if Sony is telling the truth that the reason for the PS3's delay is due to Bluray, then Bluray is downright BAD for gamers, as it means the PS3 won't be here in the USA till this time next year.

Sony didn't have to invest in a new optical media format. If they invested too much in an untested format that is slow to launch to the public, whose fault is that? If other companies can make game machines without the need to support movie / music divisions, whose fault is that?'

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Anyone any thoughts on this perspective? Is the games industry really being 'used as a trojan horse to get the movie industry's interests into homes'? I thought it was an interesting view anyway...

ObsoletE

7 years ago

i agree somewhat with his assessment that Blu-Ray isn't required right now, neither is HD-DVD, if multiple CDs were acceptable during the last generation, why aren't multiple DVDs acceptable in this next one?

besides that, how many games this generation actually use the entire capacity of a DVD? and how much of that space used is uncompressed cutscene?

i do understand that Sony is pushing their own format for their own profits, but given how fast we're breezing through generations, i don't see why Blu-Ray couldn't have been held off until the PS4.

k1dcharm

7 years ago

True, Blu-Ray & HD-DVD are not required for gaming so far, we also cannot deny the fact that a lot of people are eagerly waiting for Blu-Ray.

Even though I won't be getting PS3 or XBox360 yet, I do hope for Sony to release PS3 soon. Without PS3, there won't be any competition with XBox360, without competition means high price for games, which also means bad for gamers.

Qbert

7 years ago

That was a really clever post, I never really though about it from that point of view before.

plufim

7 years ago

You know, if the xbox360 has two US christmasses over the PS3 in america, it could totally win the territory this gen.

And I gotta agree, I see no point in bluray. HD DVD is cheaper in every respect, and the difference is not worth it.

theory

7 years ago

It's official: the PlayStation 3 will be launching in early November worldwide for the North American, Asian, and European territories.

Once released, Sony will unleash one million units per month with a total of six million units in 2006 alone.

from IGN: http://ps3.ign.com/articles/696/696054p1.html

Capoeira

7 years ago

2006 for Japan. 2007 for everwhere else. That's how I see it happening. That's bad.

Slapper

7 years ago

I've just been browsing a few websites and it says that the Playstation 3 will be simultaneously released in November in the US, Japan and Europe.

source eurogamer.net

Is this the big announcement?
If it is then i'd better start saving for this console as only god knows how much it's going to cost.

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