Wednesday, September 06, 2006

European PS3 launch delayed until March 2007



The European launch of the PlayStation3 has been delayed a full four months. Here´s the official press release SCEE sent me about three hours ago:
Sony Computer Entertainment Europe Announces New
March 2007 date for European Launch of PLAYSTATION 3

No change in launch date for Japan and North America

London, Wednesday 6 September 2006 – Sony Computer Entertainment
Europe (SCEE) today announced that it would revise the launch date of its
PLAYSTATION® 3 computer entertainment system in the PAL territories of
Europe, Russia, Middle East, Africa and Australasia from 17th November 2006,
as previously announced to March 2007.

Launch dates for Japan and North America will remain the same, which are
November 11th and November 17th respectively.

The revision of the launch date in the SCEE territories is caused by the delay
in the mass production schedule of the blue laser diode within the Sony Group,
thus affecting the timely procurement of key components to be utilised in
PLAYSTATION 3.

The previously announced PLAYSTATION 3 shipment forecast of 6 million
units globally within the fiscal year ending 2007 is not changed.


Now, I believe this is disastrous news for Sony. Nintendo will now be able to launch their console a full four months before the PS3. I have always maintained that Sony has put all their money on the Blu Ray ticket. And this is becoming more visible now than ever before.

So, after Blu Ray takes yet another hit, where can the PS3 go from here? Either the PS3 will save Blu Ray - or Blu Ray will kill off the PS3. As of today, the latter seems much more likely.

EDIT It´s even worse than that for Sony. They will only be able to ship 500.000 units for the November launch in total, shipping 400.000 in North America and 100.000 in Japan, as Joystiq reports. This is, obviously, a ridiculously small amount and will inevitably lead to the PS3 being in third place.

Xbox360 is at around five million consoles sold and, if marketed well, Wii might have sold a similar amount by the time the PS3 becomes widely available. I doubt that will be until summer 2007. Although, Sony has not retracted from their original goal of shipping a total of six million units by March 2007.


Source: Joystiq
Thanks to: Joystiq, ColdBlooder, M-M, Vista

38 comments:

Anonymous said...

You forgot to mention the very low amount of launch units.

100.000 units for japanese launch and 400.000 für the us launch.

(source: http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/09/06/business/AS_FIN_COM_Japan_Sony_PlayStation.php )

dosent look good for sony...

gamehunter101 said...

hmm

Anonymous said...

Please listen to this beat while reading!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEjyJaOUiqw&NR

Yo flaffi du hast keinen peil du hast keinen style meine Intelligenz durchbohrt dich wie ein pfeil,und dann gehts nur noch bergabwärts unzwar steil,ich schmeiss mir nochn teil,manche rufen sieg heil doch sie hängen bald vom seil,sie werden zerhackt durch mein beil,dass ist nicht fake wie bei den x-philes,kein geiz
also reiz mich nicht,du wirst sehn deine homies lassen dich im stich,am ende des tunnels ist kein licht für dich,ich bin total wach nach meiner nacht schicht und bleib dabei stehts schlicht,du siehst alles spricht für mich,bleib du nur n deim microcosmos du wicht,keine ende des rhymes in sicht,guck mal wer da spricht,ist der noch ganz dicht?
ich mach mich jetzt mal wichtig!Ich zieh an meinem strick
Nigga ich bin der irrelevant annoying laughing stock immer hellwach wie spock ich verpass dir nen schock du hast verschissen in meinem block denn du besitzt keinen cock,setz mich gleich mit brooklyn hardrock,ich dock an,und lass dann erstmal einen fahrn,ich dreh dir den hahn zu,und du kannst nix dagegn tun den die rhymes flown raus wie ein schmaus,das bemerkt sogar Santa klaus,bei RTL2 kriegst du applaus doch man merkts dir an der Tittensender macht dir den Gar aus aber halb so schlimm daheim wartet ja Sonja Kraus

Gä Fluffi?!:)



-The Irrelevant Annoying laughing Stock

Anonymous said...

yipikai!

RGB said...

Your name is appropriate.

Falafelkid said...

We have been discussing the news here in the newsroom for some time now (we are even reporting about this in our news roundup) and most of us agree that this really will prove detrimental to Sony. There is no doubt in my mind that they will come in third place until at least the summer, perhaps for good. I am amazed how many media are reporting about this. It´s on radio, television and, needless to say, all over the net (where some funny guys were quick to ridicule the European PS3 slogan.

Anonymous said...

"fiscal year ending 2007" - they're not talking about the Japanese financal year which ends March 31? If so no way will they sell six million - not even for the entire year.

I don't think many game developers are going to be happy. Expect to see lots of game cancellations there is not going to be enough PS3s sold to support even half the games in development.

Falafelkid said...

Hi Mark.

I agree. This really could be the start of a downward spiral of bad news making developers jump off the bandwagon, making for bad media reviews, which in turn cause consumers to look elsewhere, which, again, facilitates bad news.

Anonymous said...

fal dude,do u think nintendo after todays news,could delay the european wii until lets say...january?

RGB said...

http://www.thisiswaiting.com/a5.jpg

Is my favourite one.

BTW the PS3 should print money, it costs an arm and a leg and bosts to do everything.

As for Pitendo; I believe it will not delay Nintendo. And they still need to release on time for the USA and JP market. Europe and Aus I believe will still make the launch not long after easily before Xmas.

I wouldnt worry at all.

I'm getting a JP spec system as I always do and I really hope that I dont have to wait too long to obtain stock.

Falafelkid said...

Hi Pitendo, hi Grandmaster.

fal dude,do u think nintendo after todays news,could delay the european wii until lets say...january?

I totally agree with Grandmaster. No way will Nintendo delay. Why should they? Their launch line-up will be ready by November, the console is apparently not experiencing any production problems. I am pretty sure that Nintendo is on target.

Anonymous said...

Hi there,

How many Wii consoles is Nintendo going to ship, six million worldwide? Or hasn't that been announced yet?

Falafelkid said...

Hi Blauw.

How many Wii consoles is Nintendo going to ship, six million worldwide? Or hasn't that been announced yet?

Here is what Nintendo announced in a financial statement at the end of May:

The company plans to ship 6 million systems to retailers around the world between its launch in the fourth quarter of 2006 and the end of its fiscal year on March 31, 2007.

Jason said...

The only problem that a shortage of supply will do is give Sony more press from the media -

"Get the PS3 while its hot - we only have 3" - then a line forms for 2 blocks to get a chance to even see a PS3 - none the less buy one at $599.

It does look like Sony is screwing up this time but just watch the media's reaction when PS3 launches with very limited supply.

Sony does this every new console. They do not make as many to create hype and media attention then they say, "oh sorry we found 6 trucks full of PS3's here you go".

Falafelkid said...

IALS, not trying to shatter your dreams. But your German lyrics are pretty bad already. Spare me (and the rest of the world) the English versions, please. Just get back on topic or get lost, if you would.

Anonymous said...

@kid


Loved not for who you think I am, but who you want me to be
with no strings attached!


--The Irrelevant Annoying laughing Stock

Falafelkid said...

Hi Jason Alexander.

A valid point. Shortages do generate more hype. But a full-blown delay - and four months especially - should really just cause frustrations. I doubt that Sony will be able to present those extra truckloads. This is a genuine delay, not a PR campaign, I believe.

Anyway, aren´t you working for Nintendo Centrum? Can I just ask you what´s up with Mr. Rebus working for you? Why let someone with such a shady past work for your reliable news site? Please tell me what that´s about.

Anonymous said...

Okay back on topic..

How many units do you think will Sony ship in your microcosm territory if I may ask kid?
How many will fit in there?

;)

LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL
Köstlich


-The Irrelevant Annoying laughing Stock

Metaldave said...

Hate to beat Sony down but they brought this on themselves and brought it hard. They will have to learn from their mistake of making the PS3 a Blue-ray must.

Anonymous said...

bluray will fail the future of media is direct stream and flashcards discs are a dieing entity THAT IS A FACT its years and years tolate for sony to try and make us all umd/bluray zealots disc is comming to and end you admited that ur selfs sony wen talking up ps4

bring on wii a dualshock minus a rumble pak=1996 not 2007 ps3 is a out dated design long loadtimes and 4 gen old control pads is 1996 NOT 2007



wii is next gen that is a fact

Anonymous said...

Actually both HD-DVD and Blu-Ray formats use MPEG-2 compression for their video codec.

As for the 720p and 1080i, this is up to the televisions them selves and not the medium. Blu-Ray and HD-DVD can support 1080p (progressive) the only down side is that not many HD sets support past 720p/1080i. Currently there are no titles that use 1080p resolution.

Anonymous said...

holy shit. i just had an epiphany after reading Lord_Darcia's post.

why, may i ask, is fucking EVERYONE on the internet asking whether or not Wii will play DVDs all of a sudden? Literally, today alone, i've seen over 10 posts ask about it on various websites... also, today, matt cassamassina did a huge blog article about it and also included a question/reply about it in this weeks IGN Wii mailbag. what the hell is going on here?

i'm a conspiracy nut. always have been. shit- i still don't believe that we landed on the moon, or that Oswald shot Kennedy. BUT. this all seems very very sudden, and a little strange, considering nintendo has confirmed multiple times that Wii will have DVD playback, and of course because nintendo's "big events" are coming up in like a week.

something fishy is going on with this DVD shit, and i have a feeling it's got something to do with all the movie industry references and tie-ins, and the bullshit from the broken saints blog, and all the other movie-buzz that encompassed nintendo around e305. i've been wondering what the hell happened to all that talk, and so far all i found was an Animal Crossing movie in japan that nintendo made.

what gives, falafelkid? i have a feeling the megaton will have something to do with the DVD playback. you heard it here first. (and if i'm wrong...)

-"superfan" tactics.

p.s. sony's launch is going to fucking BLOW.

Anonymous said...

360 had same amount (like 100.000 units) in EU as launch =/ but they got more in december..it gives efect that its "omg sold out must be good"..i guess. well couple people did that.

AND! M$ and $ony has screwed the launch!! So Wii will have good launch(?) :) nintendo doesnt usually do these.

AND!! 100.000 is like Lites weekly selling in japan :D

Anonymous said...

tactics,

You're right -- this is quite suspicious to see all this DVD talk pop up all of the sudden. I'll remember that I heard it from you first =)

-FlyingSquirrl (back in the EST time zone)

Anonymous said...

why i got this freakin feeling about wiidelayton for europe..i hope im wrong..

Falafelkid said...

Hi again Pitendo. I am sure there will be no delay for Wii. Main reason being: there being no main reason.

Anonymous said...

On topic, Sony ha, my heart bleeds purple pee it really does. E3 05 i was so looking forward to getting me a PS3. Time passed and the drama unfolded.
So, thanks for shafting your future customer(s). This is no good from a huge multi-national corporation. Ridiculous. Put monkeys in charge.
So i give all my hard earned to Nintendo alone instead. Cool, i can get a shed load of games as well.

Anonymous said...

Hey Fal, look at that!
http://www.joystiq.com/2006/09/07/major-next-gen-console-news-coming-tonight/

Wii anouncements?

Anonymous said...

fal dude maybe to have more units for japan and usa?and still have a 3 months lead in europe..but it would be a terrible mistake to miss christmash

Anonymous said...

Wii Rumble Dead?

http://www.kotaku.com/gaming/nin
tendo/wii-rumble-dead-199057.php

:-(

Blizz419 said...

hey fal, what do you think of this no rumble rumor, also the new info about developers still not having access to the SD bay and this new news coming tonight 12:01 am U.S, eastern time

Anonymous said...

FYI: I squeezed a little info out of Robert Summa, the creator of that Joystiq article. Turns it it most definitely is about Wii. Go to comment #543 on page 11 (convenient link here!)

http://www.joystiq.com/2006/09/07/major-next-gen-console-news-coming-tonight/11#comments

Anonymous said...

wii rumble is not dead. that's the dumbest rumor ever.

-"superfan" tactics.

Anonymous said...

Hey lord_darcia, I am not sure what particular titles or software that you are referring to but HD-DVD and Blu-Ray support MPEG 2 and MPEG 4 as well as VC-1. VC-1 is an open codec used to support interlaced video with out having to convert it to progressive first. The HD-DVD player you are referring to in an earlier post would not have been using the VC-1 codec to display a 720p image. Rather it would be used to display a 1080i image but would not have to go through the process of converting it to 1080p before compressing. This saves on resources and is why it is a mandatory video standard.

You could be right in the fact that some current BLU-Ray titles may not take advantage of VC-1 codec but support is there from both formats. My guess is that since a HD film has yet to fill an entire blue laser disc (or even a single layer for that matter) saving space by alternative compression is not an essential need at the moment. Regardless this should not affect the quality of the video.

On a side note I don’t think it is a matter of codecs that will harm Blu-Ray but rather it’s questionable DRM methods. At least that is what bothers me about Sony’s blue laser medium.

Anonymous said...

well,

obviously i was hoping for bigger news than that... but either way, pretty awesome story. nintendo is ready, willing, able, and prepared. now we play the waiting game (a LITTLE bit FUCKING LONGER) until next week's shows.

god, it is SO ON. i can't waitttttttt...

-"superfan" tactics.

RGB said...

Yeh I know, the way they made it sound was over hyped. And I am not just commenting about what is in the post. They know what Nintendo fans would expect.

All they had to do was say its nothing that will get you excited but relevant to the Wii's launch (and no we arent releasing any release date).

And I think people wouldnt of got so hyped. Joystiq lost some reputation over that.

Blizz419 said...

i think its been longer than 3 weeks carson, they have been shipping since july that over 3 weeks thats a lil over 5 weeks at the very least and about 9.5 weeks at the most and is most likely in the middle some were so my estimate is around the 7 week mark

Anonymous said...

Nothing new in the west , for sony !

Lies :

1. E3 2005 with rendered Videos !

2. Launch Date

3. And now Europe

I mean it is very kind of sony to help nintendo and MS ! Wii60 i'm coming !!!!