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PlayStation 3 Delay Official
An anonymous reader writes "It's official! PS3 has been delayed until November in Japan. Apparently, it's because of copy protection technology issues associated with Blu-ray." From the article: "Today, Sony officially conceded defeat to the recent flurry of rumors and speculation, with Japanese newspaper Nihon Keizai Shimbun reporting the machine has been pushed back until November. There aren't many details out right now, but Sony says issues over the finalization of copy protection technology related to their Blu-ray disc drive is the cause of the delay. As the news is coming out of Japan, that creates a worrisome scenario for America and Europe."
You have to wonder if it is realy worth it..
all they are doing is waiting to precect the way they can screw their customers, and making them wait for it.
i realy hope no one buys a PS3, something needs to teach them a lessson
'...if only "Jumping to a Conclusion" was an event in the Olympics.'
I hope they pay the price for their copy protection scheme. They're most likely going to miss Christmas in the US where presumably Nintendo will have a new console and Microsoft will have a fully stocked lineup of 360s ready to roll.
I'll be honest, I'm not one for bandwagons, but I'm starting to get genuinely scared enough by all this SONY/DRM talk. If the delays are truly because they can't figure out a way to keep their media from becoming copied, or somesuch, then we're really in trouble. I was going to wait for a price war for getting either an 360 or PS3, and now the answer is clear. While 360 has its share of problems, to be sure, I'm definitely not waiting around for a DRM/copy-protection scheme that is half-baked, so Sony can make their delayed launch date, including all sorts of potential privacy problems.
I used to consider all y'all who said SONY="privacy killa" luddites and conspiracy theorists... now I'm not so sure. PS3 just moved from "definitely an option" to "needs a killer-app to even consider".
When the ps2 launched in November there was a shittun of info and games shown to the public (not random tech videos) in March of that year. The ps3 has almost nadda, i have gut feeling sony is just putting the blame on the blu-ray but i have a gut feeling they're having trouble in more places then one.
Hmmm... Pie...
Microsoft must be clapping with glee over the delay of the PS3. I don't think it will make much difference though unless they get their shit together and start actually making enough 360s. It's my opinion the shortage situation has really hurt sales of the 360. There was a while there where it seemed supply had picked up as my local Best Buy looked to be getting a few a week. After humming and hawing I decided to get one and I've been trying to find one for about two weeks now. I've just given up for the time being. Maybe it's better to wait as Microsoft is sure to drop the price eventually, perhaps when the PS3 is actually released.
The first is that of a huge, monolith corporation stumbling under its own weight. I think a fair comparison would be a giant Hydra where all heads have to be happy in order to take one step forward. Of course, many Slashdotter-types have seen this coming, the time when the corporations comprising the media cartels will be driven to paralysis by issues like DRM, and this is only the beginning.
The other is the disruptive force of Microsoft on the gaming industry. When I say "disruptive", I mean it neutrally (although my opinions on MS and gaming are definitely not neutral). MS decided to release a year (or three) early, and it's forced Nintendo and Sony to scramble a bit. Unfortunately for Sony, these two issues have compounded in a way that has the possibility of being not so good for their gaming business.
On the other hand, the PS2 had lots of problems launching. Limited stock, few games (especially in Japan). The problems I raise here will definitely affect Sony, but I think it's still too early to guage how much.
Isn't the copy protection in blu-ray (just like in hd-dvd) upgradeable? So why does the copy protection need to be done before launch? They could patch it later. This smells to me like there's some other, real reason for the delay, and they're just using the copy protection as a cover, an excuse.
Oh well. At least this way there will be some actual games ready by the time the PS3 itself is done, and maybe they'll even have the time to make enough units to meet demand. We won't see a repeat of the XBox 360 launch.
The only real upshot to this is that all PS3 games will essentially get a few more months of dev time to polish their titles, which may result in an unusually strong launch lineup.
The downsides to this are numerous, though. Many people may discount Nintendo, but even with their declined marketshare, Nintendo is not the sort of company you want to give a chance to play catchup in any sort of way. This will also give Microsoft a bit more rope. Whether Microsoft uses that extra rope to hang its self or to help build some momentem for the 360 is another question entirely.
Another problem is that the PS2 is already in decline, due to hype over the next generation of consoles. I am damn sure that while Sony would love to wring every last penny from that cash cow, that they dont want to let their best available retail offering to be the underdog against the 360 or Revolution for very long.
Between a handfull of articles about a bunch of weak 'me too' potential features for the PS3, and the way that Nintendo is steadily edging out the PSP due to the PSP not having any high profile killer apps, Sony is looking alot weaker right now then I would have expected. And if history has proven anything in the game industry, even giants can fall.
END COMMUNICATION
what's to say they're not delaying to make the copy protection scheme less intrusive and more practical for end users?
Logic? Past experience?
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Nintendo is in a different market than 360 and psx3. With sub $200 price point, i think most people will end just buying one but it won't replace HDTV eye candy that psx3 and 360 market.
Have you ever been to a turkish prison?
Extra time might mean more time for bug testing and a stronger launch lineup, but thats about it. The most important parts of the hardware are already finalized. There is already an enormous investment in money behind production facilities to produce the current hardware. A PS3 released in November will perform pretty much the same as a PS3 released in April because its too late in the development cycle for Sony to make changes to the core system.
I don't believe the console is really all that far behind schedule. Well at least not from Sony's internal point of view. I've always assumed that this was going to happen. The whole 2006 target was simply a marketing ploy to divert attention from the 360 and encourage customers to wait it out. I believe they did the exact same thing for the ps2 launch, with the same bullshit tech videos etc, for the exact same reason. The sad part is how many people don't see it for what it is... sort of like the liberation of Iraq ;).
Do you call Germany "Bundesrepublik Deutschland"?
No, but from time to time I call it "Deutschland"...
Refusing to integrate foreign language terms when talking about foreign stuff is just another way of propagating ignorance.
It's pretty simple. If you translate "Nihon Keizai Shinbun" you've complicated the process of identifying the citation. If you don't leave that redundant "newspaper" qualifier in there, then the people who don't know any Japanese won't know what kind of publication it is. Is that so complicated?
---GEC
I'm but the humble pupil, seeking to snatch the scratchbuilt pebble from the master's fully articulated hand
all they are doing is waiting to precect the way they can screw their customers, and making them wait for it
Sony is now officially admitting that they will miss the Christmas season completely--even in Japan (if your shipments haven't reached retail customers by the end of October you have "missed Christmas"). No manufacturer in their right mind would voluntarily miss Christmas with a new product--especially in North America. If it involved a company's flagship product, it would mean certain death for that company. The PS3 is not "the" flagship product for Sony but it'll still be a huge setback.
Big, established companies don't need to wait to "predict the way they they can screw their customers" because they already know how. The best time to release a new, overhyped product is in the fall: You must get the first shipments out the factory door by the end of October so they can be on US store shelves in time for Thanksgiving long weekend. It helps to take pre-orders and manufacture jsut enough to fill those orders, plus a few more: you need to get enough units out to establish a market position but create enough of a shortage so that you can keep prices elevated (and in the videogame console market that often means minimise losses).
Don't worry, Sony will learn its lesson...it's missing Christmas this year..that means MS will enjoy another solid XBox360 Christmas without serios Sony competition. It also means that Nintendo could debut its Revolution without competition from Sony as well. All in all it means 2007 will likely be a real hurtin' year for Sony.
Of course, seeing as you have an 'existing Xbox library,' I'm guessing you have an existing Xbox, meaning the benefit you'd get from the 360 would only be two fun games plus whatever you sell your Xbox for, plus the warm fuzzy feeling all /.ers get when they give MS large chunks of cash (and really, if it makes you feel good, then what else matters?).
Although the moon is smaller than the earth, it is farther away.
As a resident in Japan, I can tell you that reaction to this delay will be subdued and probably non-existent. In fact, I argue that sony picked the best time to announce this - one day before the relase of arguably the biggest game on the Japanese calendar - Final Fantasy XII. People here dont seem to care about the graphics or new specs as much - hence why the Xbox 360 has done so utterly poorly after its release here. Some slashdotters write about not being able to find an Xbox 360, I could walk into almost any electronics store in Tokyo and find one neglected on a back shelf. The Japanese will contently wait for the PS3, just like they have waited for Final Fantasy XII. Its not all about graphics to them, and they have enough games like FFX12 coming out on the PS2 to tide them over until November.
They haven't shown a single playable game, ever.
They haven't shown working hardware.
They haven't even shown the non-terrible controller.
And now they say that copyprotection is the reason for the delay?
I'm not quite sure which emperical evidence to believe, but they were nowhere near hitting their ship for Spring. Without hardware, software, or even finalized images, what were they going to sell? The letters "3" "S" and "P" printed on little cards?
They weren't ready, plain and simple. They probably held out announcing it for a little while in order to choke off X360 sales, but it has been clear for some time now. They just weren't ready.
The ______ Agenda
"[...] the time when the corporations comprising the media cartels will be driven to paralysis by issues like DRM, and this is only the beginning."
I'd also point out that history is repeating itself.
One of the things that hurt Sony in developing a digital music player was the issue of DRM. "Oh, we can't sell a digital music player because people will have to rip their CDs and then they could share them with their friends over the Internet. The last thing we want to do is legitimize people ripping music from CDs. So until we can come up with a way to force the consumer to have to rebuy all their music to play it on a digital player, we'll just ignore the whole thing." Apple went and developed the iPod and shipped it about a year-and-a-half before developing a music store to sell DRMed music. Now Sony is left sucking wind releasing Walkman NW-2367s and Walkman Beans and trying to figure out why nobody cares about Sony's products.
By the time Sony gets their heads out of their hindquarters, gets everything all synched up between all their divisions so that they get "maximum synergy," and releases the PlayStation 3, consumers will have all moved on to Xbox Home Entertainment Systems or Revolutions or something else. Once again, Sony will be left holding the bag and saying, "Pay attention to me! I'm relevant!"
Those who do not learn from the past are doomed to repeat it.
Quote : "that creates a worrisome scenario for America and Europe.".
No. Worrisome is when you have an unexpected tissue growth under your skin. Worrisome is when your state/country begins to write law about censorship and reducing free speech like they print bank notes. Worrisome is when your neighbour country (or nearly) starts showing the finger to everybody and go on a cruisade to develop nuclear weapon. That is the definition of worrisome. The PS3 delaying for USA and EU by a few months is at best annoying or even disappointing, but if it make you build up worry you really need a better life.
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