THESE guys say something quite different: Ubisoft, French gaming giant, have provided us with a diagram of when each console will launch. The info is from their current financial report. It shows a timeline split into territories, US and Europe are mentioned.
* PlayStation3 is listed as launching Q3 2006 in the US, but is not listed for Europe (meaning Europe will see the PS3 sometime 2007).
* Revolution is listed as launching Q4 2006 in Europe, but is not listed for the US.
If Ubisoft´s information is correct, the PS3 would be first in the US. But Revolution would be first in Europe. I never really thought anyone would consider launching in Europe before launching in the States. Ubisoft is an extremely credible source. But that would imply Gamestop got it all wrong. Very wrong. I had sent sent them an email about the alleged launch date. No reply so far, though.
EDIT Replies are posted as comments.
4 comments:
GameStop (and any other retailer, for that matter) is guessing at dates for the Revolution. It's not going to be available on March 1st, I can guarantee that. I'd be surprised if it was released in the first half of next year. I think most likely we are looking at Christmas 2006 for both Revolution & PS3 stateside. (Though I think the Revolution will probably launch in the US either simultaneously with Japan, or before it. It's also possible that we will see a fall [Octoberish] PS3 release, but anything before that is pushing it given Sony's lackluster history of being able to launch products on time and in an orderly fashion.)
I wouldn't make anything of Revolution not being listed for the US - the US is still the world's biggest video game market, and a Japanese company launching a system will either launch in Japan or the US first. Europe almost always comes later, along with Australia. Revolution will not launch in Europe first, though Nintendo may try a simultaneous launch in all three territories. After all they pulled off a two region DS launch with no notable problems.
Ubisoft's dates are more informed and I would definitely trust them more at this point.
(FYI I work for GameStop.)
Thanks for your comments, Tubedogg. Since you know Gamestop from the inside, they probably DID just take a blind guess.
I agree with you that Ubisoft should know better. But they do state clearly that Revolution will launch in Europe before launching in the US (and before the PS3 launches in Europe). I know it makes little sense.
The only reasonable explanation is this: Ubisoft have been given only the Revolution´s European launch date. Aftert all, they care about this territory most of all. Nintendo did not tell them about the expected US launch date, so it´s simply not on the timeline. If that is so, then the Revolution would naturally launch at the same time or earlier in the States. That is most likely - and pretty good news if you consider it.
Got an answer from Gamestop. They realised how much people were reading into the date they showed. The mail reads:
Dear Gamestop Customer,
We apologize for the inconvenience however at this time, the information we have is limited. Please check www.gamestop.com for further information as it comes available to us.
Sincerly,
Your Gamestop Customer Service Agent
Additionally, they have added ´ETA´ (estimated time of arrival) to every Revolution game´s release date and the following note to each page:
NOTE: Content based on the best available information. Price, release date, content and title are subject to change and/or cancellation by vendor.
After the above reply (which was a bit vague), I pressed Gamestop on their source for the date. Here´s the new reply:
Dear Gamestop customer,
We have not received any official information at this time. We do apologize.
Sincerly,
Your Customer Service Agent
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