Sony Admits PS3 Delay Possible
Next Generation reports that Sony has admitted there may be a delay in getting the PS3 to market. From the article: "Sony has told the media that the launch of the console will be delayed due to difficulties in finalizing the Blu-ray drive's specs. An unnamed spokesperson for Sony Computer Entertainment in Japan admitted that PlayStation 3 launch could be delayed. SCE said that if final specs were not finalised with the Blu-ray Disc development consortium, the launch of the console could be delayed." I would have rather they come out and admitted this last month, when everyone realized this was the case, instead of denying it and looking unrealistic.
Why would they make a statement at all unless the delay was a sure thing?
I have been saying 2007 in the US for the longest time, every day I am closer to being correct. Come on M$ show sony where they can put their Rootkit.
In my time working in the videogame industry I've just learned to accept that there is always truth in rumors in this field. There are a lot of loose cannon's and always snubbed workers who tend to divulge info with minimal, if any, arm twisting.
Just from today's news you can plainly see that a decent compiler is just in the beginning stages by IBM for the Cell processor, and that delays are the truth... so a high price tag as was claimed can't be far off either. Both Sony and MS have dug themselves into pretty nice sized holes trying to outdo each other. Wars of attrition have no real winners.
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If I were in Sony's shoes, I would just go ahead and release the console with a partially-functional Blu-Ray drive (i.e., able to read the game discs and regular DVDs), and once the specs are finalized, update the drive with new firmware. They'd have to slap a sticker on saying that it will not play Blu-Ray out-of-the-box until new software is available (and if they were kind, they'd do it free of charge either by mailing out discs or downloading it via their online thingamabober). Sure, it'd be a minor inconvenience, but then again, how many Blu-Ray titles are expected by the end of the year?
--- At my sig, unleash hell.
With the estimated costs at $900 to manufacture, the PS3 is a non-launch.
First, they screw up by trying to use the Cell processor for the GPU, and having to backtrack and go with a standard NVidia GPU instead (1-2 year delay), and now they're screwing up by trying to use Blu-Ray (another 1 year delay).
Sorry Sony, this product isn't going to launch anywhere this year. Microsoft wins. By the time PS3 launches at the end of 2007, Microsoft will probably be on their second generation of Xbox360 hardware, at a lower price point, with big A List titles to go with it.
WE R NOT (red) E.
I'm getting dizzy.
DN
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September PS3 Launch, Online Service
On February 15th, 2006
PlayStation 3 Delayed, Over $800?
On February 18th, 2006
Sony Denies PS3 Delay
On February 20th, 2006
PlayStation 3 Not So Much Delayed?
On February 24th, 2006
Sony Admits PS3 Delay Possible
On February 27th, 2006
Everyday you are one day closer to the release.
They called me mad, and I called them mad, and damn them, they outvoted me. -Nathaniel Lee
The DVD player part for the origional PS2 required a driver loaded off the memory card. How would this be any different?
Unless that isn't the real problem they are having and it just makes a convenient scape-goat.
Either way, from what I've seen (and I believe), the US launch date is unchanged (probably November) and if anything gets pushed back it is the Japanese launch date (the problem would be straightened out by the time the console was supposed to get to us in the US).
Comment forecast: Bits of genius surrounded by a sea of mediocrity.
Not to be bitter, but I put this story in on Tuesday, when the news release was announced.
I found this admision by Sony pretty ironic, seeing as how it came on the exact same day that Sony denied that the PS3 would be delayed. Deny in the morning, admit in the afternoon. I wonder if left hand knows what right hand is doing.
The world moves for love. It kneels before it in awe.
Nonsense! It will launch on-time, have supercomputer calculation capabilites for home entertainment, and will instill discipline in our children and adults alike. Everyone will know discipline! To get a PS3, we will work more hours to buy one.
We must be careful, though, lest skynet become self-aware. If processors of high performance and wide bandwidth like the Cell were linked together without sufficient security, a worldwide system crash could occur with one attack!
Seriously though, the day I got home and found out my PS2 games looked worse than my Dreamcast games (after waiting all night in the rain to get one, no less) was bitter indeed. Don't believe a single thing Sony says about their hardware. It's all lies.
Even Jesus hates listening to Creed.
Comments like that make the case for a (-1, Groan) mod point...
I've always hated it when companies miss Christmas. Final Fantasy X is the biggest example (Came out like a week after Christmas as I recall in a surprise release) I can think of, but I think there were other situations too. I know they are working there hardest to get this thing out ASAP, but Christmas launch seasons are perhaps the most important time, considering for anyone under 13 (without a part-time job), that is the only way they will get one (although current prices could effect that trend). Other then loosing time to the XBox 360 though, perhaps this will benefit them, by allowing them to have a fully-polished (publicly tested) and price-reduced console ready for Christmas 07 once it has been out for half a year.... No overheating power bricks.... No ability to run pirated stuff using a glitch.... Not having to tip it upside-down in it's old age to get it to work....
In undeveloped countries, the consumer controls the market. In capitalist America, the market controls you.
This will defintely affect the Japanese launch date. I'd be surprised if this affected the US date, though. The gap between the two is large enough that it seems to me that the latter wouldn't be impacted.
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"Fly, Plaything, fly... you're not ready!" >:D
Circumcision is child abuse.
This thread is going to be filled with astroturfing, so be ready for it. Take comments with a grain of salt.
My perspective? Nintendo will come out and smack everyone. Ive got tons of "hardcore gamer" friends and none of them have an xbox360. Minimal interest in the xbox360 and ps3. Both are just rehashes of older consoles. Nothing really new. The same games weve been playing for 5 years, just shinier.
Nintendo is offering something totally new. Its a risky play, but based on how well the DS is doing these days? I'd say the revolution w/ its new interface is a sure thing. The nintendo emulation abilities will cinch it for a lot of people who have been "out of" videogames for a while. So, with it being both the cheapest and offering games that are actually new, unique, and original.. as well as all of their consistently good classics on one console, will bring nintendo back into the headline.
Sure, sony and MS will still be around, Sony carried by squaresoft and final fantasy, and MS by halo, but nintendo will probably dominate this next round. But that domination will be heavily played down.
Ive also heard a rumor that the Rev controller will have a mic on it.
So clearly the PS3 is going to win the next-gen console wars. Stolen alien time travel technology will allow them to release the console two years ahead of schedule, an endorsement campaign by Elvis will make the PS3 into the most recognized product on the planet, and the world will end when Jesus returns on March 20 2006-- coincidentally the day Oblivion comes out, which means the XBox 360's first great title will never even get a chance to be released. Cogito ergo sum, QED.
This has to be good news for Nintendo. With the low sales (due either to low demand, low supply, or both) of the XBox 360, Nintendo's main competition in this year's console release war is the PS3. With Sony delaying it, this give's Nintendo some breathing room. We know that the console will be cheaper than either the PS3 or the 360, so they already have that in the bag. With the weight of the PS3 release off of Nintendo's shoulders, they can give whatever AAA launch titles they have planned some more polish time if need be, and have them come out a week or two after the Revolution does.
Of course, this is assuming that the NRV and PS3 were scheduled for about the same time; if the PS3 was scheduled for an early summer launch, and the NRV for a mid-fall, this delay may push the PS3 into the same release week as the NRV, which actually puts more pressure on Nintendo.
Still, I'm sure that the Nintendo execs are smiling a bit.
This is sort of the obvious, useless delay. I don't think anyone expected the console to arrive in April or May. However, the article mentions a "U.S. delay until 2007" which is sourced from an analyst, not a Sony source. So this doesn't mean it's delayed for the U.S. at all, since we never expected to get it until fall anyway.
And it's NOT going to cost $800.
Small potatoes make the steak look bigger.
After all, how would you like to make a game where you're not even sure of the finalized specs of the media you're intended to store it on?
"I'm a leaf on the wind. Watch how I soar."
-Hoban Washburn
It seems more likely to me they're talking about the U.S. only-- a spring launch for the PS3 is actually realistic in Japan, but it isn't realistic in America and never was. Sony's Japanese third parties are closer to be ready to launch than in America; Japanese consumers are more willing to put up with bleeding edge hardware and a paltry launch library from Sony; Japan requires less manufacturing runup than the U.S. will. Launching in spring in America, though? Rediculous, and Sony should never have promised that.
I think when GDC comes next month, Sony will announce a late spring launch for the PS3 in Japan, a fall launch for America, and a early 2007 launch for Europe. This would more or less exactly match the launch calendar they used for the PSP...
And then adding it later on, like what Microsoft did with HD-DVD on the Xbox360.
I mean, I would be pissed off if I bought a game console that was supposed to support some feature, it was excluded so that it could be shotgunned to the stores before Christmas full of flaws, and then 6 - 12 months later the company comes out with a revised game console that not only includes the system with the new feature for a cheaper price but also fixes a slew of problems they found in the system. Oh, if you want that new feature not only did you pay too much to get the console in the first place but you actually have to pay extra for the expansion hardware to support the new feature.
Anyways, I would rather Sony wait until they finalized blu-ray spec's before releasing the PS3. I don't want to buy a beta game console like what every current Xbox360 owner has.
I haven't thought of anything clever to put here, but then again most of you haven't either.
As Microsoft has alluded Halo 3 will come out at the same time as the PS3, I hope Sony delays the PS3 as long as possible. Maybe then Bungie will have enough development time to deliver a completed storyline in this game.
It is kind of amusing that most people here hate M$ SO much in the world ofthe computer, however in the relm of the console's, everyone is backing the giant evil.
have you seen my sig? there are many others like it but none that are the same
Okay, how in god's name did the parent get modded up? All his points were proven to be false in previous article's comments on slashdot.
7 53299
His first point was proven false by myself and a few others. The ps3 does not cost $900 to manufacture. I'd rather not repeat what's been said so many times so here's a link as to why:
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=177857&cid=14
In addition to whats in that link, IBM has recently stated that they've gotten costs of fabbing the Cell for ps3 down to $75 per chip (the ML article estimated a cost of $250 per chip). It should get cheaper over time. The rest of the hardware information and manufacturing is talked about in the link.
Third, I'm not sure how the nvidia chip was in anyway an afterthought. The very first mention of the ps3 that I know of as a full hardware unit included the nvidia chip. They learned that they had no choice but to have a separate graphics chip during the design of the ps2.
The one thing most of us did not doubt was the delay in japan. Most industry insiders felt that the console would probably be delayed 2-3 months. Or as some developer mentioned, a "very hot spring." Signfying that it would be closer to a summer date then the spring date sony has been touting.
The U.S. release will be in November which will be perfect for the thanksgiving -> Christmas buying season.
Hmmm... Pie...
PS3 or World of Warcraft: Burning Crusade????
I hate to be hilarious here, but a PS3 release date delay is just what my graduate student pocketbook needed. Thanks Sony!
You watch, they'll pull an Apple and announce before launch that they've 'just realised' they can upgrade the CPU speed for no extra cost and thus make the machine more powerful, leaving that Microsoft thing in the dust... ;)
You must think in Russian.
Rumors on the internet: "Sony will delay PS3."
Sony: "No, PS3 will launch in spring 2006."
Merril Lynch: "Sony will delay PS3."
Sony: "No, PS3 will launch in spring 2006."
More internet sources: "Sony will delay PS3."
Sony: "No, PS3 will launch in spring 2006."
Everyone else: "JUST ADMIT IT!!!"
Sony: "We will delay launching the PS3."
Wowee, what a surprise!
I concur. Dreamcast was a great system, with great games. Virtua tennis is still one of my favorite tennis games. House of the dead 2, awesome.
have you seen my sig? there are many others like it but none that are the same
The capsule would contain a record of comments and predictions on the next generation games consoles from slashdot users. This capsule will be sealed, buried in the ground and then only dug up and opened on four specific dates:
1) and 2) Launch of the PS3/Revolution. Then we can see if our predictions of Sony and Nintendo's prices and launch features were correct.
3) The announcement of the next "next-gen" consoles. Our comments will tell our future selves and future slashdotters not to repeat the mistakes of our past by believing (or disbelieving) the marketing hype.
4) The end of the 360/PS3/Revolution generation. Only on this date will we know whether our predictions were correct or not.
If this plan were to be carried out then maybe we could all stop guessing about the next gen and actually enjoy the lower prices and good games of this current generation.
"Almost nobody dances sober, unless they happen to be insane." - H.P. Lovecraft
As somewhat of a PS fanboy, I hope that they are able to pull it all together and release a good product in some reasonable amount of time... but I wouldn't want to be in their shoes.
"This thing does science so hard, you say, 'I've never seen that much science.'" -Sam
It is quite clear to me at this point that Slashdotters don't actually think in terms of good, or evil, or ethical, or unethical, or whether or not someone is having a positive or negative impact on the world around them.
All slashdotters think about is who they hate.
If the slashdotter hates Microsoft more than Apple, and we're talking about Apple, why, then Apple is good and Microsoft is evil.
But if the slashdotter hates Sony more than Microsoft, and we're talking about Sony, why, then Microsoft is good and Sony is evil.
This is a quite unfortunate way to look at the world; it means not only that the slashdotter consistently makes value judgements which do not benefit them in the long run, but also that the slashdotter is very easy to manipulate. If you are a company like Microsoft, and you find that there is a negative perception of you on Slashdot, all you have to do to change this is make slashdotters hate you less than somebody else. This is a goal you can achieve without having to change any of your business practices. All you have to do is perform acts the slashdotters love (for example, subsidising their video games to the tune of $4 billion), or call attention to some other company they hate more (for example, by months of PR hyping up a big confrontation with Sony). It won't matter if the things you're doing are toward good ends, or if you're any better of a corporate citizen than you were before, it won't even matter the details of the confrontation you've staged or who the confrontation is against. There is, for the moment, someone that slashdot hates more than you, and so suddenly you are "good" and they are "evil". It is as simple as that.
Unfortunately.
I know this doesn't make a whole lot of sense but I thought it'd be interesting if some in the consortium behind blu-ray are arguing and forcing the blu-ray back because they don't like how Sony's planning to sell an early drive (the PS3) for such a low price. Of course, this would be dumb financially because it would hurt them, too, but some people can just be spiteful and when hurt want to hurt back (even if it will hurt them, too).
Maybe is just me, but I think a possible reason is also the competition (xbox 360) Think about it, if the PS3 was released in spring at around $600-$700 bucks and just some launch titles (not even MGS4 AFAIK) while the xbox 360 is sitting in the shelf at $300-$400 (half the price) even devoted fans could start to consider the cheap alternative, MS is also aparently holding their Killer titles for that exact moment (Halo 3, gears of war, 99 nights, Enchant arm, blue dragon, lost planet, dead rising) those could do a nice dent even in Japan.
You also have to consider the PS3 right now is totally over hyped, some people still expect the console games to look like Killzone 2 or motorstorm they are set to be completely dissapointed with the actual games (that look A LOT like xbox 360 titles specially those from EA, SEGA and Ubisoft) They need to "de-hype" fans, show them what the games actually look like and convince them they are still cool and worth the cash nonetheless. (thats going to take time and franchise use)
Go ahead MOD my day!
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