"PlayStation 3 delay --a good thing?"

[Geo]

From CNNMoney:

http://money.cnn.com/2006/03/15/commentary/game_over/column_gaming/

I'm having trouble imagining why this is a good thing. Unless they have nearly unlimited supply when they do launch? Is that a reasonable expectation? It seems more likely to me that even if they do somewhat better than MS on initial supply, that they are likely to have some shortages during Xmas season and those sales are going to go elsewhere. . .

Edit: And, to me anyway, November smacks of "how late can we go and not miss Christmas entirely?". If you were after maximizing your Christmas sales on a complex mass market item you'd think you be aiming more for late September to get the channel well and truly saturated before the seasonal crush hits in earnest. . .which suggests they likely won't have great availability (tho still, as noted, possibly better than MS did).

 

[Phil]

I suppose one could tackle this question from a few perspectives. To get started, I think I'll use my own perspective - one coming from a PlayStation consumer:

The november delay is a good thing to me. Being more than just satisfied with PS2 and its upcoming games this year, I'm more than happy to wait for PS3 a little longer. On the other hand, the delay isn't that much of an issue, since it would have been either Spring launch in Japan and fall 06 in America / Europe. Now, all they did was offset, presumably, the Japanese launch to fall 06 and will target launching in America and Europe as well. This makes perfect sense if the delay is really due to Blu-Ray finalizations. It also makes sense if their production rate stays equal and they'd be out with the same amounts of unit anyway. I suppose this will hold true if they have already started with the production of already finalized/crucial parts.

The delay IMO isn't a problem. I'm more worried in how well it is executed come November 06. Until then, I'm happy to keep playing my PS2 and wait to get the product as good as it was ment to be, rather than getting it on time but missing features.

 

[gokickrocks]

its a good thing for those that bought a xbox360 and plan on buying a ps3 as well...it spreads the hit on their wallet

 

[pipo]

its a good thing for those that bought a xbox360 and plan on buying a revolution as well...it spreads the hit on their wallet

Fixed that for you.

 

[Gubbi]

Can't see this as a good thing.

Being a consumer in Europe, it doesn't mean a whole lot since we'd be last in line anyway. But the japanese will have to wait another 6 months before getting their paws on the PS3. The alternative is to get a, *gasp*, X360.

From a developer/publisher POV, assuming they were gunning for a late spring launch, the delay is disastrous. Another 6 months before revenue start to come in. Another 6 months to have other games (360) steal the thunder/novelty (similar to what Far Cry did to HL2 on PC). I hope (and think) Sony told publishers a while ago that a delay was coming.

From an investor POV, absolute disaster. Huge investments and now a big delay for your primary future revenue stream, all the while your worst competitor gets to fortify their position as market leader in next gen. Sony needs to pick up on execution.

Cheers

 

[pipo]

But the japanese will have to wait another 6 months before getting their paws on the PS3. The alternative is to get a, *gasp*, X360.

The least of Sony's worries.

I hope (and think) Sony told publishers a while ago that a delay was coming.

Yeah, the delay is bad for them, but I've read Sony did that.

 

[rabidrabbit]

Is the delay bad for publishers?
It's expensive going into new generation and new consoles, is two new consoles that come close to one another a good thing if you're a publisher or developer, or is it better if the releases are spread further apart?
I would think they're relieved PS3 is not coming this spring, gives them time to recover from the xbox360 launch and associated costs.

 

[pipo]

Is the delay bad for publishers?

http://www.next-gen.biz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2493&Itemid=2

An optimistic tie-ratio of three would create a calendar 2006 market worth about 3 million games, shared out among eight to ten products. A 300,000 selling-game (highly optimistic) is a worthy goal, but in this environment it's no money-spinner. Put it this way; in terms of unit-sales, it'll place a game outside the top 40 sellers for the year. This leads us to believe that a significant proportion of launch titles will be multi-format releases, somewhat dampening the excitement.

In order to make money from PS3 in the early months, third parties would need to spread costs across platforms, create a genuine must-buy product, or create games that will still be selling in decent quantities six months or a year after launch. The brightest outlook comes from the extra $10 next generation games will command - a price point which increasingly looks essential, as opposed to merely desirable.

For much of the game industry, this delay is effectively the absence of a major console for the best part of as year.

 

[Colourless]

It can be bad because a delay can mean more competition since there might be a larger amount of title available. It can mean a title that was ready for the spring launch that is 'average' becomes completely forgotten when November comes because there are other games out there too.

 

[nintenho]

It can be bad because a delay can mean more competition since there might be a larger amount of title available. It can mean a title that was ready for the spring launch that is 'average' becomes completely forgotten when November comes because there are other games out there too.

If it's a launch game, you would think the developer cares enough not to make it average.

 

[pipo]

Indeed. It can be even worse if you're a working on a PS3 only title.

On the bright side, you can never have enough dev-time...

If it's a launch game, you would think the developer cares enough not to make it average.

Reality: if it's a launch game, there's not much you can do about it.

 

[liolio]

if i was MS i would pay Nintendo to be ready for chrismass 06 in Japan.
In fact, delay is not that bad as state lot of times except for Japanese, and a win for Aussies and europeans.
But thing can be a lot less fun for Sony if Nintendo unveil rev launch at say E3 in the same time as PS3 launch (japan only speculation )

 

[pipo]

if i was MS i would pay Nintendo to be ready for chrismass 06 in Japan.

Nintendo already confirmed they will launch this year.

In an interview featured in today's edition of Japanese newspaper Sankei Shinbun, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata stated, "We can't disclose the Revolution's release period yet, but we have no plans to miss out on the year-end sales battle. As for North America, we need to release it by Thanksgiving, or otherwise we won't receive support from the retail industry. So the Revolution will be released prior to that period."

http://www.gamespot.com/news/6142572.html

 

[liolio]

Nintendo already confirmed they will launch this year.



http://www.gamespot.com/news/6142572.html

i've completly miss this... as i'm more and more interested in online gaming and thus ps3 or xbox360

So delay is not a good thing in Japan.
Even in america will have to face to cheaper products... not that important for early adopters but both challenger (bigN and MS) are likely do reach their goal : a better market share.

 

[Titanio]

Being a consumer in Europe, it doesn't mean a whole lot since we'd be last in line anyway. But the japanese will have to wait another 6 months before getting their paws on the PS3. The alternative is to get a, *gasp*, X360.

As a European consumer, did you really expect it in Nov? I'm in europe myself, and I was fairly resigned to a 07 launch, as were most here I think, reading some local boards. This news has been really well recieved here.

As for the delay in Japan, it sucks for Japanese publishers who were hoping to get games out in Spring/Summer, but Japan is Sony's strongest territory, and if there's any place it can "lean on", it's Japan. I really don't think this will help 360 at all there.

From a developer/publisher POV, assuming they were gunning for a late spring launch, the delay is disastrous.

I think this mostly affects Japanese publishers, but even then, many seemed to expect the delay before it was made official. Western pubs have been saying late 06 for a very long time now, it was obvious this was their expectation for US launch all along at least, and probably later still for Europe. It's worth noting that most of the big western publishers' shares are up on this news.

From an investor POV, absolute disaster. Huge investments and now a big delay for your primary future revenue stream

Amongst market analyst the news has been mostly greeted as positve, also, and some have even upgraded ratings on publishers. Sony itself was even up in NY yesterday, even if it fell nearly 2% on the Japanese markets just previously.

On a more general note, IMHO Sony will have problems with supply at launch, but if they even get reasonably within their targets, supply should improve quickly, or a lot quickly than it did in 360's situation. My only real concern regarding this news is initial supply.

 

[liolio]

Your somewhat right, but delay is welcome by investisors because they now know what going on, and they have started to expect the worst as us (japan fall 06, NA the same or early 07, fall winter europe).

 

[Titanio]

I think that's true, I think they're happy just to have a more specific roadmap now. As I think we all are.

 

[DarkRage]

I think that's true, I think they're happy just to have a more specific roadmap now. As I think we all are.

Slightly more specific.

From "Spring 2006" to "November 2006 worldwide" is more specific.

Not as much as I would like. First of all, PS3 delay is supposed to be because of delays on specifications. But I still see specifications to be closed for PS3. I am specially corcerned about the new HDMI, which I don't think it is necessary and it has got a target date of June for closing specifications. June is too close for finishing specifications.

Sony broke their roadmap to Spring 2006. They can do it again. It would be suicidal to miss 2006, but they are focused on the Blu-Ray, gaming considerations are low priority.

 

[dantruon]

I think is a good thing for Europe and Australia because it come early than expected, only the Japanese consumer who virtually guaranteed a Spring Launch when Ken K announce it at E3 have the right to be unhappy about it.

 

[Geo]

From an investor POV, absolute disaster. Huge investments and now a big delay for your primary future revenue stream, all the while your worst competitor gets to fortify their position as market leader in next gen. Sony needs to pick up on execution.

Maybe I have an exalted view of Sony's size, so let me check. . .what % of their gross revenues is Playstation? And how is PS2 unit/games sales doing these days?