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Playstation 3 Delay Official
Aleman writes "In this interview with Variety magazine, Sony CEO Howard Stringer confirms that the Playstation 3 will be released during the holiday 2006 season." Not very surprising given the available information.
But wasn't Q4 '06 the original expectation for the US release?
-Rick
"Most people in the U.S. wouldn't know they live in a tyrannical state if it walked up and grabbed their junk." - MyFirs
Sony is fine with waiting given the poor execution of the 360. Ironically, if MS had given itself a few more months it may have put more pressure on Sony. However, given the numbers I am seeing on the components even another nine months may not be enough for the PS3 to come in at a reasonable amount for Sony . Sony will not price it above $400 USD retail. But losing $500 on each console sold cannot be an attractive proposition for Sony higher-ups.
what have we come to that Slashdot has to source breaking news from the Hollywood trade rag?
The delay was confirmed by Sony on February 27.
That being said, it's nice to have a firm launch window, instead of the perpetual "coming soon" or "sometime in 2006".
If PS3 "delivers what everyone thinks it will, the game is up" Stringer boasts.
Common sense is not so common
As far as I am concerned, this will have serious consequences on the adoption of Blu-ray, given that Toshiba's HD DVD drive is coming out in three weeks at less than $500. Sony wants to turn video (movie) technology into a war not unlike the video game console wars. Unfortunately, they are going to lose this one, because the 360 is already out, HD DVD is coming very soon, and Sony is already taking a huge risk/loss on the PS3.
I can't say I feel sorry for them, being proprietary is inherently consumer unfriendly, so they have an uphill marketing battle ahead of them. (I realize that HD DVD is pretty proprietary, too, but it is first and less expensive and that will make a huge marketing difference)
Laboratree - Scientific collaboration based on OpenSocial.
When can I pre-order one?
Given the trouble I had getting an Xbox 360 (still don't have it) and a PS2 (I had to write a script to crawl amazon.com and make an alarm go off when it found "add to cart"), I'd like to just plain pre-order one this time, and save all the hassle.
Michael C. Hollinger
Also, will they be able to offer it at a more reasonable price than was stated in earlier articles (assuming that the other figures were for if it was released earlier)?
And, most importantly, will it run Linux?
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Smart move I guess. I doubt this will affect US Release, But what I'm really interested to know is what Xbox360 features are they going to include in the system with this delay. I'm sure the released specs are going to change just as they change their minds about a central PS-Online system.
Ah and by holidays, BD drives should be less expensive and the 900 bucks to manifacture projection will fall apart.
www.variety.com is getting too much traffic at this moment to read the article, are there any mirrors?
I wish Slashdot would stop running all these unsubstaniated rumours about the PS3 dela... Oh wait!
P.s. Variety went down quick!
Did you get that thing I sent ya?
It's always the ones that come out a little later that get the advantage. Nintendo has been doing this for years...
Atari: 7800!
Nintendo: NES!
Sega: Genesis!
Nintendo: SNES!
Sony: Playstation!
Nintendo: N64!
Sony: Playstation 2!
Nintendo: Game Cube!
I think a little bit of delay will let them make some technology upgrades, develop more games, spur up some hype, and give them the upper hand over X-Box 360. Not to mention whetting people's appetites
Its a well known phrase: "anticipating something is almost as good as having it".
Capitalism: When it uses the carrot, it's called democracy. When it uses the stick, it's called fascism.
First off, this article is really more focused on Sony's various troubles and not on the PS3 in particular, so after wading through the stuff on Sony's failing entertainment businesses (with no mention of "root kit" or "copy protection"...), I was hoping to see something on the projected price.
Nope.
Instead, we get: "If PS3 'delivers what everyone thinks it will, the game is up,' Stringer boasts."
"If?!" So, in other words, the PS3 won't be delivering what everyone thinks it will. Which, ironically enough, I think everyone already knew. Essentially it sounds like the entire game-plan for the PS3 is to sneak Blu-ray into a consumer market that otherwise doesn't want it, to hell with games. Really encouraging.
From the article: "Sony's new PlayStation 3 was widely expected to be introduced this spring, but will be delayed as the company fine-tunes the chips that are crucial to the success of the console's Blu-ray function."
"Fine-tunes", huh? So, in other words, the rumors of an almost $1000 price tag for the system weren't too far off, and Sony has to delay until they can get the cost down to something that people might actually pay for. But he can't actually say that, of course.
Ultimately it sounds like the PS3 is Sony trying to abuse a monopoly it doesn't have to force Blu-ray into the market place. Yeah, that might work.
"Sony will roll out the PS3 by year end, in time for the holidays." This means "Sony will roll out the PS3 no later than year end, in time for the holidays."
The article doesn't say that Stringer said that. They just throw the holiday release date out there as if it was fact. I am sick of stupid rumors and horrible summaries.
From a sales perspective, wouldn't the holiday season be a good time to release a product like this?
English is easier said than done.
I'll be picking up an Xbox 360. The more I read about Sony't PS3, the less and less I want one. Sony is now showing a lot of confidence these days and I'm jumping ship. I cen't believe how nice my friend's Xbox 360 is and I want in on the action NOW!
See you on Live.
Now Sony can release the PS3 bundled with Nude Dukem Forever.
because when the PS3 finally comes out, whatever time of year, it will likely be in limited supply, not well supported by 3rd party software, and expensive as hell. This makes it an early adopters "must have" and not much else until price goes down and support goes up.
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According to Next Generation, Stringer did not confirm a holiday launch. The Variety server seems to be on fire already, so I haven't had a chance to look at what exactly they claim.
e nt&task=view&id=2411&Itemid=2
http://www.next-gen.biz/index.php?option=com_cont
The PS3, delay not really official?
I mean seriously, out of every 5 articles posted here, 2 are ps3 delayed! ps3 not delayed? ps3 might be delayed? is there even a ps3?
Is holiday '06 for Japan or the US? We already have known from prior interviews that the Japan release will be first (and probably have many more consoles for sale). This could push the U.S. release of the PS3 into the realm of March '07.
Market analysts (non M$) are predicting 5.5 million Xbox360's sold by June and around 12-15 million by the end of the year. Certain PS3 fanboys will buy a PS3 no matter when it is released, but why will the average family buy a PS3 when they have a 360 and a solid collection of games?.
With Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter and Elder Scrolls:Oblivion coming out this month, along with more and more consoles hitting the shelves, Microsoft is looking absolutely golden.
but got no responses... so I ask again:
This is a real question, and there might be a perfectly good answer to it, but I haven't been able to figure it out...
Aside from the projected cost to manufacture and the willingness of console manufacturers to "eat" costs for the first months of production, how is Sony going to get away with charging signifigantly less then the $1000 the first dedicated Blu-Ray players are going to cost? If, like Samsung, I were making a Blu-Ray player that cost that much, and then Sony comes in and charges half that for the PS3, I'd be royally pissed. Sure, cost to manufacture would drop eventually, and perhaps the PS3 won't be seen until Christmas, but still, no one's going to buy something that only plays movies when there's another device out there that costs less or close to what I'm selling my device for.
Again, price for dedicated players may drop dramatically over the coming months, but is this a potential contributing factor in any delay? Am I overlooking something? When the PS2 came out, how much did DVD players go for? Where are my pants?
Anyway, this is my #1 question about the PS3. Anyone care to shed some light?
It's a rather long-winded article about many Sony topics, here's an extract of the text that addresses the PS3's "delay" and Blu-Ray:
Sony's new PlayStation 3 was widely expected to be introduced this spring, but will be delayed as the company fine-tunes the chips that are crucial to the success of the console's Blu-ray function.
The PlayStation 3 --- which is being called "the poor man's Blue-ray" --- is vital to Sony's plans because it plays Blu-ray discs as well as videogames.
Sony will roll out the PS3 by year end, in time for the holidays. If PS3 "delivers what everyone thinks it will, the game is up," Stringer boasts.
Blu-ray is the system developed by Sony to view next-generation high-definition DVDs. Rival format HD DVD is championed by Toshiba. Microsoft recently joined the HD DVD camp, a move that came as its Xbox 360 videogame console is trying to grab market share from PlayStation, the industry leader.
Software makers, electronics firms and Hollywood studios have lined up behind one or the other, or both.
For Sony, the stakes of the rivalry are colossal. The new discs are seen as a way to energize flattening DVD sales. Both the systems also make movies harder to pirate.
Some believe Stringer is betting the company on Blu-ray. The technology is more advanced than HD DVD and would allow the players to incorporate interactive features and others still to be developed. But HD DVD is easier to manufacture and the boxes will be cheaper.
Stringer, and just about every other media exec, studio chief and retailer, fears a Betamax-VHS redux -- a format war that would irritate and confuse consumers. After all, if folks don't know which player to buy, they might walk out empty-handed. "If that happens," one top entertainment exec quips, "I think someone from Wal-Mart is going to take a gun and shoot one of them."
"Once Microsoft picked sides it was clear we were going to be in a battle royale," Stringer says, vowing to protect his turf. "We won't be stampeded" by Microsoft into rushing decisions "that are there forever."
One strange twist in the battle is that Toshiba is working with Sony and IMB to produce the cell chip that's the foundation of Blu-ray -- a topsy-turvy scenario that only serves to underscore the contortions Stringer finds himself performing these days. "One day my enemy is my enemy," he says. "The next day the enemy is my friend."
Halo has historically been released in November...perhaps old Billy didn't misspeak...
Hmm, Sony not being accurate with their predications.... Thats Odd..
Did he happen to mention if it will be able to render Toy Story in real time??
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shucks, by the time the Rev and PS3 come out, the Xbox 2 will be old news. Maybe that's Sony's plan.
Considering the fact that they've basically showed almost nothing about the PS3. They havent even shown it in its final form. Instead showing empty boxes and demos running on giant development kits. Hopefully E3 can shed some light on what their status is.
#####Free and Open Source Game Directory#####
The thing that I think really hurt the XBOX 360 is the lack of a big launch game. The original XBOX had Halo. XBOX 360 had no one "big" game at launch, and still doesn't have that "big" game. This doesn't mean that Perfect Dark Zero or Call of Duty 2, or any of the launch titles are bad, they're just not the caliber of Halo that the original XBOX launched with. I think that once Microsoft releases that one game, Halo 3 perhaps, that the XBOX 360 will start doing better. It may start doing better this month when more of the 360 games come out such as Ghost Recon 3.
To sum it up, I think the 360 has what's needed to be a good, true next gen system. Microsoft and the game developers just need to get the new games out, that are truly next gen rather than modified-for-360 games.
What's the matter, James? No glib remark? No pithy comeback?
Note that, in fact, they will be in the stores before Halloween (the important Thanksgiving to Christmas season), but they're delaying them to allow for any needed tech fixes to Blu-Ray hardware. They are releasing the Blu-Ray discs for music and movies first, working out the bugs, and then will ship the PS3 with any hardware glitches fixed.
...
From the article: "Now, electronics and games can take center stage, although major questions loom at those divisions as well.
Sony's new PlayStation 3 was widely expected to be introduced this spring, but will be delayed as the company fine-tunes the chips that are crucial to the success of the console's Blu-ray function.
The PlayStation 3 --- which is being called "the poor man's Blue-ray" --- is vital to Sony's plans because it plays Blu-ray discs as well as videogames.
Sony will roll out the PS3 by year end, in time for the holidays. If PS3 "delivers what everyone thinks it will, the game is up," Stringer boasts."
Now, to be frank, I wish MSFT would have had a longer burn-in when they did xBox. Anyone have any opinions on any problems with the xBox360? How stable is it? I haven't heard any complaints, so I'm guessing there are fewer glitches than when the xBox came out
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The average console gamer does NOT love high def fps games. The average PC gamer DOES. Halo sold generally well on the Xbox (about 5 million per title) but it (and most fps'es) have been grossly outsold by the Marios, Maddens, Grand Theft Autos, etc.
Where's the announcement? Where's the quote from Stringer?
Because I sure don't see either in TFA.
"Nine times out of ten, starting a fire is not the best way to solve the problem." - my wife
I've had mine since mid December and it's run without a hitch.
The delay,if there is one, isnt a bad thing for me. It will give me time to apply for the home loan I will need to buy it.
So everyone in the industry knows what has gone down:
Sony was going to release PS3 in Japan in Spring and Summer in US. They are delaying it obviously, but not telling people about it until the last minute to try to create more and more hype. They will say something like "Summer Release! Stay tuned for where!" at GDC, even though they could come out with the truth any time they want to.
So expect PS3 to come out in VERY SMALL QUANTITIES in the US sometime beore the end of the year. They will be lucky if they have a million units - actually, the only way for them to have a million units in the US is probably to take them from the Japanese launch, which is going to make many a Japanese otaku pissed off this holiday.
What Sony is looking for is hype and a huge FUD (Fear Uncertainty and Doubt) campaign to try to do as much damage to the Xbox 360 momentum which is as strong as any video game system has ever been in history of video game systems.
Microsoft is on track to break the magic 10 million system mark by the end of the year, so Sony is scared s***tless. Microsoft has the mindshare right now and they are also growing the biggest and best lineup of new and exciting franchises (Too Human, Mass Effect, etc), unlike Sony who has a Halo wannabe(Killzone), and a game with dragons by a flailing Factor 5 (Lair), some 1st party games that nobody even remembers anymore (Warhawk), then some multi-platform games which will have better online play through Xbox 360. Big whoop de doo, on the games side of things Sony is looking very weak. They have hype only, ONLY to carry them along.
They will do drastic measures to make sure they can hype their system up and try to take away even just some marginal attention away from the Xbox. They simply won't have enough games ready and MS is coming out swinging with second gen titles like Gears of War. I fully expect Sony to:
1) Release at $399 in US sometime around late Nov or early Dec, but $500 in Japan. They know they have their work cut out for them in the US.
2) Release with some sort of free but basic online service and claim they have free online versus paid Xbox online (MS already countered this one with the free Silver live memberships).
3) Say that Blu Ray is the best, blah blah we have new DVD format please switch thanks for ordering please pull to the window so we can make money and get out of debt.
This is the year of the Xbox 360 - nothing can take away from that at this point and not even Sony is going to stop the momentum. Since Xbox 360 will sell record amounts this year Sony is pretty much screwed to 2nd place, even if they win in Japan they will lose in the rest of the world and be "that system with a bunch of anime and role playing games on it".