Wednesday, March 15, 2006
It's Official: PlayStation 3 Delayed Until November
Posted by Jeremy Charette in "NEWS" @ 08:45 AM
"Sony will put off the release of its much awaited PlayStation 3 machine until November from its planned spring debut because of delays in finalizing its next-generation disk technology, the company said Wednesday. Ken Kutaragi, the head Sony’s video game division, made the announcement at a hastily called news conference after reports of the delay surfaced in the business daily Nihon Keizai Shimbun and other papers...Kutaragi said the company is still trying to finalize the copyright protection technology for the Blu-ray disc, the format for PlayStation 3 and next-generation video for the company’s electronics gadgets in the works. The new timeline means that the PlayStation 3 will still hit store shelves in Japan and North America in time for Christmas."
This was hinted at by Sony CEO Howard Stringer in an interview with Variety a couple of weeks ago, but this announcement by Kutaragi makes it official. I would not be surprised if the system is delayed even further, or if the launch in North America is delayed until early 2007. Critics have lauded Microsoft for choosing a DVD drive over HD-DVD or Blu-Ray for the Xbox 360, but that decision may turn out to be a critical advantage. By not having to wait for the technology to mature, Microsoft has gotten their next-gen console to market before their competitors, and not just by months, but at least an entire year. That sort of deficit is going to be hard for Sony to make up, not just in consumer's minds, but also in terms of product maturity. Microsoft's first and third party titles will really be pushing the limits of the hardware by the time the PS3 hits the market, whereas Sony's developers will just be getting started. I doubt the PS3 launch titles will impress, and the real gems won't come out until 2007 or 2008. Having Blu-Ray isn't going to be enough for the PS3, because it won't make for a better gaming experience. Developers aren't pushing the limits of the DVD-9 format's storage limits, and load times aren't going to be any faster. I hope for Sony's sake that they are working on a killer app for the PS3, they're going to need it.
This was hinted at by Sony CEO Howard Stringer in an interview with Variety a couple of weeks ago, but this announcement by Kutaragi makes it official. I would not be surprised if the system is delayed even further, or if the launch in North America is delayed until early 2007. Critics have lauded Microsoft for choosing a DVD drive over HD-DVD or Blu-Ray for the Xbox 360, but that decision may turn out to be a critical advantage. By not having to wait for the technology to mature, Microsoft has gotten their next-gen console to market before their competitors, and not just by months, but at least an entire year. That sort of deficit is going to be hard for Sony to make up, not just in consumer's minds, but also in terms of product maturity. Microsoft's first and third party titles will really be pushing the limits of the hardware by the time the PS3 hits the market, whereas Sony's developers will just be getting started. I doubt the PS3 launch titles will impress, and the real gems won't come out until 2007 or 2008. Having Blu-Ray isn't going to be enough for the PS3, because it won't make for a better gaming experience. Developers aren't pushing the limits of the DVD-9 format's storage limits, and load times aren't going to be any faster. I hope for Sony's sake that they are working on a killer app for the PS3, they're going to need it.
