Someone mentioned this at another board I frequent, figured I'd pass it along here:
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Sony's next gen console gets delayed six months
The Japanese newspaper Japanese newspaper Nihon Keizai Shimbun has reported that Sony will delay the launch of PlayStation 3 until November of 2006. The North American launch date is still up in the air.
According to the report, issues surrounding copy protection for Blu-ray discs is the reason for the delay. If the reports are true (given the source, they probably are), Sony could miss the key holiday rush in the United States. Official word from Sony is expected tomorrow
Somewhere in Redmond, Bill Gates is grinning from ear to ear.
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Internet and Wall Street rumblings are pointing to a report in a Japanese newspaper which states the PlayStation 3 launch has been delayed until early November.
While nothing has been confirmed as of yet, The Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported today that the delay is due to Blu-ray copyright protection technology which has yet to be finalized, according to Dow Jones.
As The Nihon Keizai Shimbun is a Japanese publication, the speculated release date presumably refers to the Japan launch. If the report is in fact true, it could mean that the U.S. won't see the PS3 until 2007, giving the Xbox 360 two holiday seasons without competition from Sony, although Nintendo is expected to launch its Revolution before year-end.
The unconfirmed news comes one day ahead of a PS3 briefing in Tokyo, during which Sony is expected to reveal details about the console's pricing and launch date.
I'd recommend clicking the link to the first article. The picture they included was hilarious. 
Should be interesting to see what Sony says tomorrow. I've been hearing rumors about this for a while, with Sony denying at least some of them if I remember right, so it's interesting that they could turn out to be true. And nice for me at least, since I'm rooting for the Xbox 360. 
*flees from angry mob of Sony fans*
I wonder how this will effect sales in Japan assuming that the Rev will launch there before PS3 and at a much cheaper price and also assumingly catering to a non-traditonal gaming market like their phenominal success with the DS over their.
Now all I need to find is a picture of Satoru Iwata doing the same thing ^^
Who's the guy in that picture?
If Sony is really going to delay the PS3 over copyprotection, then they're stupider(or is that more stupid?) then I thought. Why do companies even bother with copy protection? I mean it is only a matter of time before it gets cracked, and all the work that went into the copy protection is made worthless.
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Who's the guy in that picture?
Are you kidding me?
Who's the guy in that picture?
Dude, you just spent like three paragraphs rampaging about how evil Microsoft is in the other thread and you don't even recognize Bill Gates? I mean the raging anti-Microsoft hysteria is annoying enough, but seriously, know thine enemy.
I think he was being sarcastic.
If not, that's incredibly sad.
I saw this at IGN earlier tonight. I bet this is going to get the fanboys at the Nsiders Forums overjoyed with them predicting the downfall of Sony/the PS name and the Revolution destroying all other competetion. As far as I'm concerned though, if this is true, I don't think this will bode well for the PS3, but then again, what do I know.
Actually I don't know any famous people by their face. I likewise wouldn't recognize Shigeru Miyamoto, Yuji Naka, or Linus Torvalds if I saw their picture.
It's now official, the PS3 has been delayed until Nov. 2006. What's interesting though, is that they are planning for a worldwide launch, which if successful, negates the claims that the US and Europe probably wouldn't get it until 2007.
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It's Official: PS3 launching worldwide November 2006
Weeks of rumors verified as electronics giant confirms that its next-gen unit will miss original spring 2006 launch window.
TOKYO--Today at the 2006 PlayStation Business Briefing in Tokyo, Sony Computer Entertainment president made it official--the PlayStation 3 has been delayed. The news confirmed widely circulated Japanese newspaper reports, which said that the delay was due to copyright-protection problems with the next-generation console's Blu-ray drive.
Kutaragi told the crowd at the event that the PS3 would now launch in November 2006 worldwide. That dispelled fears that the console would make it to Japan in time by the fall, but would miss the all-important holiday shopping season in the US and Europe. In fact Kutaragi explicitly told the crow of game retailers and journalists present that the PS3 would arrive before Thanksgiving in all territories.
Last month, a Merrill Lynch report predicted a six- to 12-month delay for the PS3. Earlier this month, a note from Friedman Billings Ramsey said that the system may not come out in the US until 2007. The Merrill Lynch report cited the company's decision to go with new technologies in the Cell processor and its Blu-ray drive as main reasons for the delay, with heat issues and a lack of software that would be ready for a spring launch sealing the deal. The FBR note didn't cite a reason, but readers could infer it from its sources: supply chain data combined with news from the firm's semiconductor research team.
Investor anticipation of a PS3 delay had shares of Sony trading down as much as 2 percent in Japan before the press conference, according to a New York Times report.
PS3 Summary from Sony conference:
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PS3:
- GLOBAL RELEASE NOVEMBER 11th
- 60GB HDD 2.5" with pre-installed Linux OS will be included?
- Dev kit specs fix as of today
- Final PS3 development kits will be sent to developers in June
- 10.000.000 BD-ROMS manufacturing capability per month @ cost around same as 2-layer DVD
- Every PS3 game will be on a Blu Ray Disc, in an attempt to prevent piracy
- Price will not be less than 50.000YEN (~$425USD)
- PS3 will have HDMI support from launch
- Sony plans to produce 1 million PS3s a month; 6 million PS3s for FY2006 (by the end of March 07)
- basic" online service free, no details yet (could be XBLS for PS3)
- Full backwards compatibility, hi-res and texture filtering for all titles (akin to what the Xbox 360 does to Halo)
- The online service will be working off of GameSpy technology
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Price will not be less than 50.000YEN (~$425USD)
Is that the final price?
More like an estimation.
Worldwide launch? Sony, you diabolical... but wait. There's no way in hell Sony's going to be able to avoid the inevitable shortages that permeate a new console launch, and at this magnitude that problem's going to be multiplied by a factor of 3 (JPN, NA & UK).
No no, nothing about this adds up at all!
Worldwide launch? Sony, you diabolical... but wait. There's no way in hell Sony's going to be able to avoid the inevitable shortages that permeate a new console launch, and at this magnitude that problem's going to be multiplied by a factor of 3 (JPN, NA & UK).
Microsoft managed. Sure, there were problems at first, but everyone had their 360 by January. Nintendo is planning to do the same with the Revolution. In fact, you might say that in releasing the 360 in all regions simultaneously, Microsoft broke a sad and all-too-common trend in the game industry. It's not very often that you see Microsoft leading and others following.
All I have to say is: I told you so.
After getting flamed it became very obvious that the rumor of about PS3's delay was very true I knew it the whole time that it would be delayed because of high development costs.
Oh and for those who think that Sony will launch PS3 simultaneously in Japan,U.S. and U.K. this is unlikely, it will get released in Japan this fall but will not see light of day in the U.S. and U.K. until 2007.
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After getting flamed it became very obvious that the rumor of about PS3's delay was very true I knew it the whole time that it would be delayed because of high development costs.
The only reason you were criticized (that I saw, anyway) was because you said that Sony had actually confirmed the delays at the time, which they hadn't until now. I didn't disagree that a delay was likely, but no proof was available at the time.
Anyway, as for a failure to meet their intended global launch, it'll be interesting to see what happens. It could be that this delay will give them time to prepare, but then again, Sony has been known to make exaggerated claims before.
EDIT: Looks like Gamespot has updated the article I posted earlier with more info:
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It's Official: PS3 launching worldwide November 2006
[UPDATE] Sony confirms delay for next-gen console, says it will support an Xbox Live-like online gaming service; console will require a 60GB Linux HDD--but will it be sold separately?
TOKYO--Today at the 2006 PlayStation Business Briefing in Tokyo, Sony Computer Entertainment president Ken Kutagari made it official--the PlayStation 3 has been delayed. The news confirmed widely circulated Japanese newspaper reports, which said that the delay was due to copyright-protection problems with the next-generation console's Blu-ray drive. For his part, Kutaragi would say only that the delay was due to "Blu-ray spec finalization."
Kutaragi told the crowd at the event that the PS3 would now launch in November 2006 worldwide. That dispelled fears that the console would make it to Japan by the fall but would miss the all-important holiday shopping season in the US and Europe. In fact, Kutaragi explicitly told the crowd of game retailers and journalists present that the PS3 would arrive before Thanksgiving in all territories.
Besides announcing the delay, Kutaragi made official another widely reported aspect of the PS3. He said that Sony is indeed preparing an Xbox Live-like online gaming service for the console, which would be called the "PlayStation Network Platform." Though he was short on specifics, the executive did say that currently Sony planned the "basic service"--which will allow online gameplay--will be "free." He also went on to outline the service in a fair amount of detail.
While the simultaneous tri-territory PS3 scheme may sound much like Microsoft's international launch of the Xbox 360, Sony plans to avoid the shortages that befell its competitor. Kutaragi said that the company plans on producing at least 1 million units of the console each month in order to keep the supply channel full. He said the goal was to ship 6 million PS3s worldwide by March 2007.
[UPDATE] The SCE president also told the crowd that the PS3 would use a 60GB 2.5-inch hard disc drive (HDD). A slide show during the presentation said the HDD would be loaded with the Linux operating system instead of Microsoft's Windows OS. The show also said it could be used as a "home server," could be directly connected to the Internet, and would be fully "upgradable."
Kutaragi also made it clear that the hard drive will be necessary to play games--Sony is telling developers to make games assuming every PS3 has a hard drive installed. "We view the hard drive to be mandatory for the PS3," he said. "Rather than have developers create games for the PS3 with or without the HDD, we will be asking them to develop games as though all PS3s have the HDD installed."
However, Kutaragi revealed that Sony had not decided whether or not the PlayStation 3 would come with the hard-drive preinstalled. "We might end up installing it in all PS3s, though that depends on the market," he said. This raises the possibility that the PS3 could be sold without a piece of hardware needed to play PS3 games--in effect forcing consumers to buy a peripheral for basic functionality.
Kutaragi also said that PS3 games would be released only on Blu-ray discs, as DVDs have become too easy for software pirates to duplicate. The high-capacity format is capable of storing around 50GB on a single disc. Sony reps confirmed the PS3 will still play DVDs and CDs, as well as PS2 and PS discs, as previously announced.
The info about the hard drive stuck out to me. They are actually considering making the hard drive a required accessory, and then telling people to buy it separately? They've got to be kidding. I can't imagine what possible logical reason there could be for doing that, besides an attempt at making the PS3 not look so expensive.
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Oh and for those who think that Sony will launch PS3 simultaneously in Japan,U.S. and U.K. this is unlikely, it will get released in Japan this fall but will not see light of day in the U.S. and U.K. until 2007.
I see someone didn't read the whole damn topic before posting. You know, seeing the posts that confirms the official announcements of the 2006 GLOBAL RELEASE from Sony's press conference.
Note: this was before Zero edit his post above mine and the posts above that still confirmed the 2006 Worldwide release.
...Ow. My crotch.
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All I have to say is: I told you so.
After getting flamed it became very obvious that the rumor of about PS3's delay was very true I knew it the whole time that it would be delayed because of high development costs.
No... Pat, the reason you got flamed was because of your "Sega will reenter the market...AND TAKE OVER THE WORLD!!" comment... A rumor is just that...a rumor. Until you've heard from the company itself, you can't be sure.
Heh, heh, when I saw this topic last night, I was wondering how long it would be until Pat made a comment on this. I guess I have my answer.
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Delayed? Good. It'll give me more time to earn the money to actually afford one.
