PS3 is confirmed for 'Holiday season' @ Gaming Target

Written by John Scalzo on March 06, 2006

News: Sony CEO Howard Stringer drops the official bomb in Variety.

Sony CEO Howard Stringer was interviewed by Variety yesterday on a variety of topics and, naturally, he touched on the PS3.

Stringer didn't beat around the bush, he said the PS3 is not coming out this Spring.

The new release date Sony is looking at is this Holiday season, but they didn't say what region that release date is planned for. If Sony follows the pattern of their previous consoles, the PS3 would ship in Japan late in the year and in America/elsewhere early next year.

Here's the relevant quote from the Variety article:

"Sony's new PlayStation 3 was widely expected to be introduced this spring, but will be delayed as the company fine-tunes the chips that are crucial to the success of the console's Blu-ray function.

The PlayStation 3 --- which is being called "the poor man's Blue-ray" --- is vital to Sony's plans because it plays Blu-ray discs as well as videogames.

Sony will roll out the PS3 by year end, in time for the holidays. If PS3 "delivers what everyone thinks it will, the game is up," Stringer boasts."

So I ask again, is anyone surprised by this news?

UPDATE (3/9): There is a mini-controversy brewing in relation to the "official" nature of the PS3's release date.

Kyle Orland of Video Game Media Watch has commented that the quote used to confirm the PS3 delay is not a quote from Stringer, but a quote from the article written by the author.

While Stringer may not have been officially quoted with "yes it's delayed", the whole article was built off of quotes from him. And why would Variety (an "entertainment rag" that doesn't normally focus on games) deviate from the company line on a game product unless they had a concrete reason to do so?

But now I'll add a few points on why the delay quote makes sense and why I refuse to change the "official" designation in this article.

Spring begins in 11 days and I believe there's no chance in hell Sony can release the PS3 anytime in the next 104 days. And I'm not alone:

A rumor saying the circuit board maker of the PS3 wonСt start production until June or July

The President of Namco-Bandai says a Spring launch is impossible

Sony admits there may be delays because of Blu-Ray certification

Countless "industry analysts" have been saying the PS3 will be delayed for weeks. Just search news articles under SNE at any finance site.

And then look at this:

97 days before the Xbox 360 launched we knew prices of everything.

90 days before the Xbox 360 launched EB and GameStop began official pre-order campaigns.

68 days before the Xbox 360 launched Microsoft revealed the final release date.

47 days before the Xbox 360 launched a full launch lineup could be gathered from publisher statements.

In 13 days Phil Harrison will talk about the PS3 at GDC in his speech "PlayStation 3: Beyond the Box". Maybe things will change on that day but right now, if the PS3 launches in 103 days (assuming a June 20/very last day of Spring release) here's what we know as of today: NOTHING.

Sony (or any other company) has confirmed no launch titles. On top of that, they've removed nearly all traces of the PS3 from their website (including a list of games that are in development that was proudly revealed in press release form at E3 2005). And beyond the Kuratagi classic "[gamers will have to work many hours to afford one]", there have been no hints at a price.

If Sony releases the PS3 before June 20 anywhere in the world I'll attend E3 2007 in a tutu.

source: Variety

PS3 release is confirmed for 'Holiday season'

News: Sony CEO Howard Stringer drops the official bomb in Variety.