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."

Comments

Dang!!

[rlp]

I was sooo looking forward to getting copy protection sooner than that.

Revolutionary DRM

[RealErmine]

After all, isn't never launching the console really the best copy protection of all? This ultimate protection of Sony copyright will certainly be a gold mine!

Copy Protection is the cause for the delay?

[DorkusMasterus]

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".

Re:I hope they pay the price.

[DorkusMasterus]

They (Microsoft, Nintendo) do use copy-protection. However, since they (SONY) are trying to move their proprietary format of discs (BLU-RAY), they are in their own trap. So, yes, their digital rights are what screwed them up, and they're paying the price for being overly greedy. I also agree that they've set themselves up for this issue, and that they deserve whatever loss of market share occurs. I'm all for higher-capacity discs and a good working standard. However, if you're the company that MAKES THE DISCS AND THE PLAYERS, and you STILL can't make your stuff work the way you designed it to, then that's your own damn fault. YMMV.

Re:Subversive thought

[Z0mb1eman]

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?

This is not a dupe at all.

[Silent sound]

The link you give is to an entirely different article. That article is about a Howard Stinger interview from several weeks ago. This article is about an article written in a Japanese newspaper this morning.

Moreover, the "dupe" you give is wrong. The article slashdot posts there claims the announcement is "official", but the "official announcement" there is nothing but a misquote. The article took a quote from Variety Magazine saying the PS3 would be out "before the holidays", attributed Variety's commentary to Howard Stinger, and made it sound like PS3 would not be out until "the holidays".

This honestly makes me a little suspicious about this article (today's article, the new article you think for some reason is a dupe), to be honest. We've already had one case where Variety implied a November release for the PS3, a video game blog misquoted it as a Sony statement, and Slashdot reprinted the misquote as an "official" announcement. What if we have a case now where a Japanese newspaper implied a November release for the PS3, a video game blog misquoted it as a Sony statement, and Slashdot reprinted the misquote as an "official" announcement? Can we get a corroborating source besides just 1UP, or an actual quote from Sony about this somehow?

Maybe not "flagship," but maybe "most important"

[MojoStan]

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.

I'm not sure how we should define "flagship product," but if operating income is the most important defining factor, then Playstation probably IS Sony's flagship product (at least to investors). Just look at the breakup of Sony's sales and operating income from 2003-2005:

Sony Global - Financial Highlights

My summary of operating income from the link above:

2003 Operating Income (Yen in billions)

Electronics: 65.9
Game: 112.7
Music: -28.3
Pictures: 59.0
Financial Services: 22.8
Other: -28.3

2004 Operating Income (Yen in billions)

Electronics: -6.8
Game: 67.6
Music: -6.0
Pictures: 35.2
Financial Services: 55.2
Other: -12.1

2005 Operating Income (Yen in billions):

Electronics: -34.3
Game: 43.2
Music: 8.8
Pictures: 63.9
Financial Services: 55.5
Other: -4.1

Of course, Electronics (which doesn't include Playstation) has the largest portion of sales (66.5% in 2005). But Games (includes consoles) brought in the most operating income in 2003 and 2004. In 2005, Games income dropped below Pictures (movies, tv) and Financial Services, but maybe that's because the PS2 is becoming a stale platform.