PlayStation 3 launch delayed for Europe and others

Oh man, not again. Sony just announced that the European launch of the PlayStation 3 will be delayed. So instead of seeing a worldwide launch of the PS3 in early November which nobody really expected anyway, Europe, Russia, the Middle East, Africa, and "Australasia" will see the console shipping in March. Sony blames the delay on production issues with blue laser diodes needed for the Blu-ray (and HD DVD) Disc drives. Stockholders, beware.

UPDATE: According to Kaz Hirai, the production issues with the blue laser diodes will also mean that North America and Japan can only expect 500,000 units at launch. As a result, Sony has officially reduced its estimate of 4 million consoles shipped by the end of calendar year 2006 to a more conservative 2 million.

[Via Joystiq]

[Scott @ Sep 6th 2006 4:48AM]

It makes sense now why that pink ps2 will be making an appearance here (UK) at christmas, Sony are idiots... they knew all along.

[Bojanglez @ Sep 6th 2006 4:48AM]

Typical, treating us as second rate consumers again!

[Randall @ Sep 6th 2006 4:54AM]

Heh - who cares?

Europe was set to pay over the odds for it anyway!

I say let the dust settle on the US and Nippon roll-out, let all the 1st-run bugs get worked out (there are BOUND to be lots - this is Sony, remember how flakey 1st-gen PS2's were?).

It's not as if the launch line-up is that compelling anyway.

My fellow Europeans, this Christmas sit back, pour an egg-nog and switch on the Wii! By the time the European PS3 launch occurs the Blue-Ray/HD-DVD debate should be a little clearer too.

Steve

[tc @ Sep 6th 2006 4:54AM]

something like this was bound to happen

[Kroc Camen @ Sep 6th 2006 4:55AM]

Doesn't affect me; I'm not going to be buying one of them anyway. Sony are dead in the water. My local GAME store is scheduled to only get 2-5 PS3s (Yes, 2-5 for a busy game retailer expected to sell thousands)

[Taylor Alexander @ Sep 6th 2006 5:01AM]

Hah, Sony really hasn't done one thing right in a long time... It's too bad; I love the 360 (a lot) but i was interested to see if something better might come along... This doesn't say it won't be better, but with as much as they've been screwing up, i wouldn't be surprised if it wasn't all they cracked it up to be...
-Taylor

[Andreas @ Sep 6th 2006 5:02AM]

That just gives us europeans more time to spend with Nintendo Wii, if they're holding on to their release schedule.

[Steve @ Sep 6th 2006 5:02AM]

And once again Sony dons the steel toecapped boots and takes a good ol' swing at the collective crotch of European gamers...

A few thoughts:

1) Bet the retail channel is particularly unhappy this morning as they'd already started the PS3 preorder hype.

2) Ninty and MS on the other hand must have already put in for planning permission on the new money bin. MS especially must not believe their good luck at getting two christmas seasons as the premier console for shiny graphics to themselves.

3) Wonder how badly this might affect Blu-Ray take up in Europe as HD-DVD arrives before christmas, especially if MS get the add-on drive for the 360 out in numbers?

4) March 2007 you say? Hmm, wait, isn't there another '3' coming out around then... Hako 3 or something like that wasn't it?

5) Someone who probably will be celebrating is Redoctane. Guitar Hero 2 might see a BIG rise in sales if gamers have to hang on to their PS2's for a while longer.

6) And finally, who the HELL is going to drop £500+ (including a game or two) in March other than the true 'hardcore' gamers? Everyone will still be recovering from Christmas and that seems like a LOT of cash to drop on a birthday present for little Timmy...

[MacroEQ @ Sep 6th 2006 5:07AM]

This is not a surprise after Sony's track record and will no doubt give more weight and a stronger case to those who say Sony is treating the UK & Europe like second class customers.

I'd hate to see the reation if Sony decide to make the selling price in Europe more expensive after this huge delay.

[Noah @ Sep 6th 2006 5:08AM]

Aww fuck. Just when i though the wait was over. Now this

me thinks that the Americans pressured Sony into this.
"no ps3 for you[Australia]!"

seriously, does this mean the psp download service will also be delayed?

We lose irwin now we lose getting the ps3 before america:

whats next?

[Scotty @ Sep 6th 2006 5:10AM]

Bad move Sony... treat your customers with contempt and they won't be your customer for long. What's the odds that when it eventually (assuming it ever does) launch in Europe the price has gone up even further becuse the dollar strengthens or they don't get the yield on thier clearly difficult to produce components?

I was going to pick one up and a nice new Bravia as well... Looks like they've jsut lost £1500 worth of business. Maybe I'll pickup an XBox at lunchtime instead...

[tombland @ Sep 6th 2006 5:17AM]

Ha. Not surprised.

Why is Australasia in quotation marks though?

It's a continent!

[Reg @ Sep 6th 2006 5:24AM]

Well at least by then the firmware released to European models will have the most up-to-date revision. 4 months should be enough time to fix any issues with the US/Japan release....Not that there should be anything wrong with a machine that whose official release has been delayed twice and has been in development for several years.

[phyl0x @ Sep 6th 2006 5:32AM]

AP is reporting that Sony will only have 400,000 units available for US launch, 100,000 for Japanese.

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

ouch!

[Sickpuppy @ Sep 6th 2006 5:35AM]

I can't believe anyone will want to buy this heap o junk if it ever arrives.
Sony have been burning their loyal fans for too long.

[Michael Robertson @ Sep 6th 2006 5:37AM]

Oh Well, I suppose it was expected news, seeing as production hadn't even started the other day. I agree with Randell's comments that it might be a blessing in disguse for us Europeans to let the dust settle and allow the problems associated with a new console to iron themselves out. also other issues like the HD DVD/Blu-Ray battle as the machiines and films start to hit the U.K shores.
I just can't wait to see what prices the US/Japanese PS3 will go for on Ebay for any hungry Europeans wanting to get their hands early on it.

[Reg @ Sep 6th 2006 5:40AM]

"AP is reporting that Sony will only have 400,000 units available for US launch, 100,000 for Japanese."

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

So, that only leaves 5.5 million more units needed to reach the international target of 6 million by March 2007? Umm, OK. Sure.

[James @ Sep 6th 2006 6:26AM]

Any doubts I had of getting one just dissipated... No chance, I get something else. Probally Wii beside the very poor choice of not launching in Europe after having announce a woorld-wide launch... Launching in March??? Too soon after the holidays... not at all clever. Like many families will be willing to buy a "toy" costing 600 or more euros then.

[Flavio @ Sep 6th 2006 6:31AM]

Poor Europeans always get screwed anyways. . .

Maybe Sony can make the PS3 cost (US Price) + VAT only to make amends rather then charging ridicilous fees like all the other consoles on market.

[Mobster M @ Sep 6th 2006 6:31AM]

This was always on the cards. Sony like to treat the PAL regions with utter contempt and charge higher prices. Sony need to fire the people who have patently lied (and knew about this) for the last 12 months in the hope of holding off people buying a 360. This has backfired spectacularly for them. Also Kutaragi said this morning that Sony aim to ship 2 million PS3's worldwide by the end of this year... Now my limited geography says US and Japan only DOES NOT equal worldwide. The guy needs to to back to class. The bigger ramification of this fiasco is Software. Many developers have deployed phenomenal resources in getting "European" games ready for November, on which their earnings are dependant. This will be pretty bleak news for them indeed, and I am pretty sure Sony will have kept them totally in the dark. This generation Sony, even with their user base will not come out of it on top. Oh and i recommend Mr Stringer fires the whole PS3 PR team.

[Ed B @ Sep 6th 2006 6:33AM]

Dissapointing behaviour from Sony! Why is it that Europe gets it last? Surely were closer to Japan than the US????

[Daniel @ Sep 6th 2006 6:39AM]

They should just delay it worldwide and launch it next year at $400 with a good spec boost.

[MJ @ Sep 6th 2006 6:43AM]

I just thought, maybe this was done on purpose seeing as HD-DVD and BluRay products are just now rolling out in Europe (after IFA that is)... so maybe they want to start selling when the market has established itself? Hopefully selling other BluRay equipment first?

[Jiggsaw @ Sep 6th 2006 6:45AM]

I don't understand all the "ooh gee I didn't know" "oh golly gee this is a shock!" "wow I"m surprised" listen morons the PS3 has been a vaporconsole from the get-go. I wouldn't even count on a march '07 launch... even if it does, expect it to go the way of the 3D0. The PS3 was a cute concept if only they'd actually gotten it out before the XBOX360. Unfortunately, XBOX360 has its jaw firmly locked onto the video-gaming public like a pit-bull, and no half-assed overpriced vapor box from japan is going to be able to unlock those jaws. SHAME on you Sony. You make good TV's (i just love your Ruby projector sitting in my living room) but your video-game-console ERA ended with the PS2. Better luck next time around with the PS4.


-JiggSaw

[Matt @ Sep 6th 2006 7:01AM]

March 07 - doubt it.

There will be another mandatory delay whilst they scramble to "fix" the DRM when it will be inevitably cracked within a few weeks/days/hours when its launched in Japan/US.

And then when it is launched there will be huge supply issues as the lion's share of production will probably go the US.

Basically I reckon you're not going to be able to get your hands on a PS3 in the EU - without having to wait or pay over the odds etc - until around Q3 07.

I used to be a hardcore playstation fan boy but I'll be getting a Wii for sure this time around. Maybe I'll pickup a PS3 when they are on for a tenner on ebay.

[Mirage @ Sep 6th 2006 7:14AM]

WOW, biggest.sony.mistake.ever. They just handed Nintendo this generation in a plate. Nintendo will sell atleast 3 million of these babies before year end in Japan alone, and just like the PSP, it's see you later from then on.

[Dan @ Sep 6th 2006 7:26AM]

I fail to see how this is Sony's fault. I'll admit that it is a little shortsighted to not get a backup source for the blue laser diodes but this was bound to happen since HD-DVD and Blu-Ray players are also gearing up for the holiday season. I'm not a Sony Fanboy, more excited about the Wii, but it seems that a lot of people are calling foul on Sony when it's clearly a parts issue.

[ninja @ Sep 6th 2006 7:45AM]

Sony have killed it they are dead for SURE in Europe. By time it comes out the majority of people will already own Wii60! SONY! 2 year advantage to 360!

SONY! R.I.P :(

[Sir Chuks @ Sep 6th 2006 7:46AM]

who care xbox360 is £199, should be £10-£20 cheaper by xmas and wii would be about £150 or less. so sony kiss my candy as**

[Ryan McD @ Sep 6th 2006 7:49AM]

[IMG]http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h137/mcdrye/San%20Andreas%20Today/SonySuckcopy.jpg[/IMG]

[T0E TAGG3R @ Sep 6th 2006 7:55AM]

@ DAN

Well maybe they wouldn't have a parts issue if they didn't include a bluray drive in the console. Microsoft opted not to put an HD DVD because they wanted consumers to have a fair say in the next generation format. MS did not shove it in your face and say THIS is the format you will have to buy! Clearly SONY wanted the biggest piece of the pie, they wanted not only to have the best next console but also the next format. GREEDY GREEDY and they wanted us to pay for it too. Now they get NOTHING...atleast from me anyway.

[Bojanglez @ Sep 6th 2006 7:56AM]

But Sony must have known that parts might be an issue for a long time, they dangled the carrot of a 2006 launch in Europe to stop 360 sales this year. I have a feeling, that they have lost a lot of good will in Europe. I will be able to wait, providing that the Wii is released before Christmas and Pro Evo Soccer does not look too good on the 360.

[Lokiz0r @ Sep 6th 2006 8:03AM]

It *is* Sony's fault.

Only Sony could put a console into production, claim that 4 million consoles will be manufactured by the end of 2006, then halve that number 2 months before launch - and then claim that only 500,000 units will be available on November 17th, much below their original estimate.

They've lied about release dates and numbers before - and, shock horror, they're doing it again.

I wouldn't have minded a more solid launch schedule next year, or a more realistic set of numbers - but no, that's too much to ask for.

I mean, nobody's actually had a chance to play one yet, to tell us if it's worth waiting or not. I guess that's a good thing - you guys in the US and Japan can tell us lot in the EU if it's worth waiting until March, eh? :)

Even so - all this does is turn us EU gamers away. I don't give a shit if this is a manufacturing problem - this smacks of incompetency. We had the same bullshit with the PSP (y'know, absorbing the entire EU stock for the US market before the original launch date here, which was pushed back again) - so I'm not surprised they're just sticking it to us again.

Well, fuck you too Sony. Evidently, by your strategy, we're insignificant, not worthy of a worldwide release anymore - so I'll take my money elsewhere, yeah?

... Roll on, Wii release.

[Ken @ Sep 6th 2006 8:22AM]

Don't worry, at those numbers, even Americans will be clawing each other to get a PS3. 500,000 at launch for 127,417,244 people of Japan and 295,734,134 people of the US?? So fewer than 1 in a 1000 will a see a PS3 this year.

Everything that Sony could do to eff up, they've done. I'd rather give my money to Microsoft and happily play Halo 2 on a game console that's been out for over a year (by the time PS3 finally ships) that wait to get eff'ed over by Sony. Sony deserves to get reamed financially. They're doing everything they possibly can to piss off their customers.

[Dav @ Sep 6th 2006 8:35AM]

Ahhh here we go again, yet another problem with the PS3.

Any faith I had left in Sony has just been blown away. Why did they even bother with Blu-ray? What the heck was wrong with a traditional DVD drive??? It works doesnt it? Blu-ray will probably fail anyway.

1. Why would anyone want to pay for an overpriced console that will be months old when it actually launches in europe when they can just get a cheaper 360 or Wii?

2. It isnt going to have any decent games lined up for it, whereas the 360 will have had its next wave of great games and the wii is made by nintendo so naturally its going to have good games.

3. It looks like a bread bin or George Foreman grill, come on that thing is damn ugly for a next gen console.

To be honest I don't think anyone will care that it is going to be a few months late, people with any sense wont be buying the damn thing!

Sony have screwed up big time, I am sticking with my 360 and eventually I am getting the Wii. I don't want Sony's garbage can of a console!

[CRH @ Sep 6th 2006 8:45AM]

"AP is reporting that Sony will only have 400,000 units available for US launch, 100,000 for Japanese.

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

ouch!"

It is just a way to generate more buzz. The news will be full of stories about the "must have toy of the season" and Sony will get more adertising out of it than a billion $$ could ever buy.

[ben @ Sep 6th 2006 9:03AM]

I think this is the end of the Playstation. WAYYYYYYYYY too much negative news.. First,the price. Really, that alone could deter a lot of people. Second, games. They are losing all of their exclusive licenses. (IE. Final Fantasy, GTA to name a few) Third, just recently, the load times are going to be slow. Slower, by quite a bit, than it's rival 360. Now, for most of the world, delayed. For the rest that will be getting it on time will be getting fewer.

I think that the Wii alone will blow away this system. This about it, it's basically the opposite of all the PS3's flaws. Cheaper, faster, wayyyyy BETTER press/news/buzz.

[JET @ Sep 6th 2006 9:13AM]

Good move on Sony's part. Trying to launch worldwide with only 1,000,000 units would be a very bad move. Xbox 360 actually launched with less, but they have no Japanese market so it really didn't matter too much.

500,000 units for US launch will still make it extremely hard to find. With over twice the resolution of 360, double the color depth, and the cheapest non-crippled HD player on the market, PS3 will likely have the videophiles fighting with the gaming enthusiasts to get one. I only hope Sony has a 1.3 HDMI LCD TV scheduled for release alongside it or we'll have to wait until next year for those advantages I listed above to mean anything!

(For those who don't know, there are no true 1080p sets on the market right now. True 1080p will only be achieved by connecting a 1.3 HDMI playback device to a 1.3 HDMI display. Toshiba's first 1.3 HDMI HD-DVD player will cost ~$900, basically eliminating the cost difference between HD-DVD and Blu-Ray. Want a crap-ass "next-gen" HD player without 1080p, half the color depth, no DVD upscaling, and no support for lossless soundtracks? Buy the Xbox 360 add-on drive. Want all the features listed above? Buy a PS3!)

JET

[Thill @ Sep 6th 2006 9:25AM]

Well, I am not surprised in the least. I also don't think that they (Sony) will make their release date either. You know that Bill Gates has a big smile on his face right now. MS and Nintendo are going to own this holiday season and MS is going to have a HUGE lead over everybody in the next gen console wars.

Game developers must be furious.. I would not be surprised to see more 360 exclusive games coming out in the near future. I am not even sure that Sony will own Japan anymore with all of the hype the Wii is making, and the fact that the PS3 is so expensive.

[jpxdude @ Sep 6th 2006 9:27AM]

@JET

way to go for appealing to videophiles, HD enthusiasts and an pigeonholed market...The vast majority of people world-wide can do without HD for another 2 years at least...

The fact that Sony is enforcing these requirements on the consumer is more pressure to spend spend spend, which is going to be unfavourable in the long run, especially at 600 bucks a pop. Whereas the 360, and the Wii will perform great still with current gen material.

I'm running 'HD' for my 360 through my PC Monitor...sucks really for the people wanting 'TRUE HD' as this isn't an option, even though the difference at those resolutions and colour depths is so minute that only the anally retentive need apply.

[Aaron @ Sep 6th 2006 9:45AM]

Haha, yeah, they totally gave Nintendo a huge advantage. Despite the stupid name, the Wii has a lot of momentum behind it and I think the launch is going to be huge. It'll only get better as developers have time to really figure out what they can do with the hardware.

I love all video games and I know I'll get a PS3 eventually... This is good, gives me more time to save money for it, I guess. And it makes me feel better about picking up a Wii right away.

[JET @ Sep 6th 2006 9:59AM]

@ipxdude

I know the majority of the world can live without HD for the next two years. But being a console gaming enthusiast, a videophile and a movie fanatic, I'm really looking forward to PS3. Microsoft has done an excellent job in convincing the world there will be a negligible difference between 360 and PS3, but it simply isn't so. Sony has repeatedly promised to exceed expectations with PS3 and I believe they will. If you don't want one for two years, fine - there will still be plenty of great games for the other systems between now and then. The price will drop by then as well. But it is all a matter of perspective: In these days of $800 TIVOs, I can't believe the PS3 is so cheap. $600 for a high-end movie & game system is unreal.

I've got a second 360 (and a Dreamcast) connected to a PC monitor as well, and it looks pretty nice. But c'mon, it is not 1080p with 48-bit color, and to say only the anally retentive could tell the difference is silly.

JET

[Pal @ Sep 6th 2006 10:09AM]

Every retailer will grab the PS3s from the stockroom and sell it on eBay.

[Wanax @ Sep 6th 2006 10:12AM]

JET = SONY REPRESENTATIVE trying to put spin on the bad news.

[Nate @ Sep 6th 2006 10:13AM]

Audio/Videophiles are a dying breed. I think it's ridiculous that there is even a market for people who want to spend exorbitant amounts on something you eventually get desensitized to anyway. Think about it, how long did it take for that amazing picture quality/graphics to fade until you were left with nothing but content (take older gen systems for example, they looked awesome when they came out, but your eyes got used to it and the luster faded). Sure, you can spend $5000 on a new home theater to get 1080p, but does it really make the games/movies more fun? If it's a shitty game running at 1080p, it might look great but it's still a shitty game...

[Tom Boucher @ Sep 6th 2006 10:25AM]

Am I the only one not excited at all about the PS3 and much more interestd in the Xbox 360 and Wii? Sony seems to have not just missed the boat, but showed up at the wrong coastline.

I mean I bought a DS instead of a PSP because there aren't any games that interested me, while the DS seems to consistently coming out with some fun stuff.

What am I missing?

[Perrey Z. @ Sep 6th 2006 10:32AM]

Ah! forget this piece of Sh!t. The way this is going, the machine will NEVER be release in 2006, period!
Constant dissapointments, false release dates and defective overpriced products is what Sony does best.

[Abdomen @ Sep 6th 2006 10:33AM]

Jet, most PS3 games will render at 720P (and then be scaled for 1080 displays). Games that do render at 1080 will do so at the cost of simpler scenes. Though only time will prove the point, an article on Spong today discusses this.

[brian peppers @ Sep 6th 2006 10:37AM]

man, im going to sell the shit out of this on ebay, I'm numberz 1z in line at FYE, I know they will get atleast one of these puppies and this thing is going straight on ebay. wiii pay for college another year

[Chris @ Sep 6th 2006 10:42AM]

I used to think fanboys had it all wrong, but Sony, really.. this is just teetering on sloppy and unprofessional.

They're afraid to go the way of Sega, because their franchises are mockerys of the company itself.