Sony delay PS3 until November

[Pozer]

I Knew Spring was out the question, but I was expecting September at the latest. Noember launches are ugly for xmas availabilty. I think I'll be playing some 2nd gen 360 games this xmas and get me a ps3 in Febuary 07.

This is good for the 360 because it will have an install base publishers can't ignore. Expect most nextgen games (due to cost) to be cross platform and ps3 boys to sound like xbox1 boys ala "the 360 ports are killiling gfx for ps3 games"

 

[speng]

Blu-Ray has now turned into a huge gamble for Sony. They've traded Blu-Ray for cost equality and time to market.

It not a huge gamble for the console division, it's a good bet, large storage capacity will allow better games in the future.

Now, when you look at the whole Sony company, it's not a huge gamble again either, they have a consortium behind blu-ray. A lot of support, if it fails it's a loss, but that is unlikely for the next 2 years until a winner is announced. Sony will not be abandoning blu-ray any time soon.

Speng.

 

[RobertR1]

No, it does not. There are 3 regions:

Region 1...North America, Japan, and Asia (not including China)

Region 2...Europe and Africa

Region 3...Russia and China ('pirate countries' as the consortium so aptly named them)

Not so ironically, I believe PS3 will come out in the numerical order of these regions.

Thanks for the info! I'm sick of region codes and I thank the manufacturers who makes their DVD players (LG) very easy to make region free. Sony is worst at that also. You need to jump through hoops to get their DVD player to be region free.

 

[Carl B]

If Sony indeed delays until November, what will be interesting to see is if Microsoft starts gaining any traction in Japan. Probably the PS3 delay alone wouldn't do it, but nevertheless...

North America in a way doesn't even really matter, since we can kind of assume Microsoft will continue more or less to sell out of the 360 in the NA territory for the rest of the year regardless of PS3's presence on the market.

Europe may be another market where it'll be interesting to see where consumer behavior goes.

 

[ROG27]

Thanks for the info! I'm sick of region codes and I thank the manufacturers who makes their DVD players (LG) very easy to make region free. Sony is worst at that also. You need to jump through hoops to get their DVD player to be region free.

That may very well only apply to Bluray movies, though. Rumor has it that games will not be region coded.

 

[RobertR1]

If Sony indeed delays until November, what will be interesting to see is if Microsoft starts gaining any traction in Japan. Probably the PS3 delay alone wouldn't do it, but nevertheless...

North America in a way doesn't even really matter, since we can kind of assume Microsoft will continue more or less to sell out of the 360 in the NA territory for the rest of the year regardless of PS3's presence on the market.

Europe may be another market where it'll be interesting to see where consumer behavior goes.

The Japanese are overly loyal to their own. Don't expect miracles there. It might pick up slightly but they'll support "their" products regardless.

 

[ROG27]

If Sony indeed delays until November, what will be interesting to see is if Microsoft starts gaining any traction in Japan. Probably the PS3 delay alone wouldn't do it, but nevertheless...

North America in a way doesn't even really matter, since we can kind of assume Microsoft will continue more or less to sell out of the 360 in the NA territory for the rest of the year regardless of PS3's presence on the market.

Europe may be another market where it'll be interesting to see where consumer behavior goes.

Xbox360 will never really gain a strong following in Japan. If the Japanese weren't going to hold out for the PS3, they will hold out for the Nintendo Revolution. Nintendo is all the noise over in Japan right now. I think the Japanese don't really give a hoot about flashy graphics, as long as the games they are getting appeal to their unique tastes.

 

[expletive]

If Sony indeed delays until November, what will be interesting to see is if Microsoft starts gaining any traction in Japan. Probably the PS3 delay alone wouldn't do it, but nevertheless...

North America in a way doesn't even really matter, since we can kind of assume Microsoft will continue more or less to sell out of the 360 in the NA territory for the rest of the year regardless of PS3's presence on the market.

Europe may be another market where it'll be interesting to see where consumer behavior goes.

I dont think the indifference to 360 in Japan is becuase of the LACK of Sony. They just dont dig the games or the brand or whatever. Its going to take a sustained portfolio of very strong titles that appeal to the Japanese audience, and that may not even cut it.

However, it does make the revised analyst estimates of 10-12 million globally by 2007 more plausible.

 

[Robert.L]

March 14, 2006 - Though Sony has been steadfast in sticking with its "Spring 2006" launch timeframe for the PlayStation 3, the morning edition of Japanese business paper Nihon Keizai Shimbun is reporting that the system will see its release pushed back until early November of this year.



Citing problems with finalizing the copy protection scheme for Blu-ray, which the PlayStation 3 will employ as its removable media, Nihon Keizai Shimbun believes that the system will hit store shelves some six months later than expected. According to the paper, the Blu-ray copy protection problem is the only thing holding back the release of the console as its other core parts, including the cutting edge Cell processor, are all on schedule.

IGN contacted Sony US representatives who unsurprisingly told us, "Sony Computer Entertainment does not comment on speculation stories."

Stay tuned for more information, which may be sooner than later as the PlayStation Business Briefing 2006 is set to begin in Japan at roughly midnight PST tonight.



http://ps3.ign.com/articles/695/695693p1.html

now i'am really confused so this is not official or what

 

[Carl B]

now i'am really confused so this is not official or what

No, it's not official yet. I guess you were confused!

Plus I just don't buy into that whole 'Japanese nationalism' as the root of all purchasing decisions. They buy what they like, no more, no less. Same with you or me. If US companies offer stuff that culturally doesn't fly in their country, well obviously it will do poorly. But for example Apple's iPod does just fine in Japan. If the country doesn't like FPS, well what are you going to do? Blue Dragon et al will be the 360's best shot at it.

 

[pipo]

Are you being serious, or sarcastic here?

I think he was serious.

Sony can't afford to miss NA this year. And I would be very surprised if they did.

 

[Carl B]

I dont think the indifference to 360 in Japan is becuase of the LACK of Sony. They just dont dig the games or the brand or whatever. Its going to take a sustained portfolio of very strong titles that appeal to the Japanese audience, and that may not even cut it.

However, it does make the revised analyst estimates of 10-12 million globally by 2007 more plausible.

Well, I don't really see Japan going 360 - don't get me wrong - but at the same time maybe some Japanese gamers will opt for 360 + JRPG in the June time window where they may have opted for PS3 and whatever JRPG before... even if they knew Blue Dragon was 'better,' simply because they knew PS3 would have the lineup later on.

Hey, I'm not saying anything 'big' for MS here, just that some Japanese consumers might think about it in a void of alternatives.

@Rog: You're right though, Rev is a serious player in the market. Still, the RPG crowd is a little different from the DS/Rev crowd. It's really them that I'm wondering about.

Guys I'm just posting to throw angles out there, not trying to defend the notion of an MS Japan takeover.

 

[expletive]

Plus I just don't buy into that whole 'Japanese nationalism' as the root of all purchasing decisions. They buy what they like, no more, no less. Same with you or me. If US companies offer stuff that culturally doesn't fly in their country, well obviously it will do poorly. But for example Apple's iPod does just fine in Japan. If the country doesn't like FPS, well what are you going to do? Blue Dragon et al will be the 360's best shot at it.

Yeah i'm not sure its a nationalism thing just intense brand loyalty more than anything. Its like a 3rd Cola beverage trying to take the lead in the USA over Coke (Sony) and Pepsi (Nintendo). I dont htink americans care that theyre american companies but can you imagine a new cola trying to take #1?

 

[j^aws]

Does anyone think there is a chance they will launch in the US first, since it seems to be the most crucial territory?...

If they mention that tomorrow at the press conference, the interweb will implode... but you never know!

 

[Carl B]

Yeah i'm not sure its a nationalism thing just intense brand loyalty more than anything. Its like a 3rd Cola beverage trying to take the lead in the USA over Coke (Sony) and Pepsi (Nintendo). I dont htink americans care that theyre american companies but can you imagine a new cola trying to take #1?

LOL, wow that's a pretty good analogy! And in fact, it makes me long for the Crystal Pepsi attempt, stemming from one of the 'majors' though it was.

 

[dukmahsik]

revolution and ps3 duke it out!

 

[Gremmie]

If they mention that tomorrow at the press conference, the interweb will implode... but you never know!

heh....I agree that if it happens there will be implosions. I just think it is highly unlikely that blu-ray alone could push the Japanese launch to November. To me, it seems more likely that the PS3 will get delayed more heavily in Japan to get it out in the US first.

 

[expletive]

LOL, wow that's a pretty good analogy! And in fact, it makes me long for the Crystal Pepsi attempt, stemming from one of the 'majors' though it was.

What would be interesting is if Sony did come to NA first (as Jaws pondered), would Japan would react to that at all. Would they feel cheated? Would they defect to RC Cola?!?

 

[wco81]

Checking over at AVSforum it appears that this is still an AACS issue and likely to also impact the HD-DVD launch. I swear the studios and IT companies really can't get their crap together in terms of the AACS crap!!!

Yeah the suspicion is that they are wrangling over managed copies. Studios may not particularly care for MC while companies like MS are seeing it as future business models, you know crap like portable media center or UMPC playing ripped movies.

Remember the rumors about how MS told some studio person we don't really care about optical disc that much unless we get our way?

Maybe what they wanted, besides VC-1 and iHD, was to screw up the PS3 schedule since they are a central player within AACS. Here they were blaming Blu-Ray for using BD+ to defeat MC and it turns out even AACS may not have MC sorted out.

How convenient that this delay in AACS messes up the PS3. Even if it messes up the HD-DVD, it will be totally worth it.

Oh and Blu-Ray players and movies were suppose to be out in May but now, there are stories that Toshiba will only ship 10k players and there may not be any HD-DVD movies available when the players come out, supposedly on the 28th of March, just two weeks from now.

 

[Titanio]

What would be interesting is if Sony did come to NA first (as Jaws pondered), would Japan would react to that at all. Would they feel cheated? Would they defect to RC Cola?!?

There's precedent here in the DS, and Japan seems to like it

Anyway, I wouldn't get too caught up in the possibility.