PlayStation 3 launch delayed for Europe and others
By Thomas Ricker 
posted September 6th 2006 4:42AM
posted September 6th 2006 4:42AM
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]
Every retailer will grab the PS3s from the stockroom and sell it on eBay.
JET = SONY REPRESENTATIVE trying to put spin on the bad news.
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...
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?
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
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.
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.
@Jet
48bit color won't be around for another couple years even though the hdmi 1.3 standard can do it(I think they are opting for 32). Most games will not be 1080p. Actually I have a monitor than can accept 1080p w/ hdcp through hdmi and dvi :)(samsung and a few other companies also have a couple out on the market) and even I am not that excited about it. At 42" you have to be sitting around 7' or closer to really see a benefit and I don't think the extra color will be an even small factor for another 2-3 years with the adoption of LED lcd's, SED & OLED. Oh and as a videophile I doubt I will eve use a ps3 as a movie player, even if I already owned one, as I doubt it will not be even close to a stand alone player in regards to quality. Even though I have a 360 I will buy a dedicated HD-DVD player if that formats wins for $900 instead of a $200 for a addon if there is a noticable difference. Oh, and HD-DVD is owning blu-ray in terms of PQ at 1080i (samsungs isn't even native but upconverted to 1080p) and we won't get a chance to see what blu-ray can do until fox releases there mpeg4 disks in a few months. Your a videophile?
There's not even a ghost of a doubt left that this is not completely intentional. The original shortage of PlayStation 2s created pandemonium as people scrambled and fought to get them, which turned out to be absolutely brilliant for PR. Sony has decided that since the ploy worked last time, consumers will be none the wiser this time. Shipping 400,000 units to the ENTIRE UNITED STATES is not a supply problem, it is a supply decision.
Sony, whatever they may have been in the past, is immoral, deceitful, scheming, insulting and unworthy of our trust -- and especially our money.
Does anyone know how many each big chain usually gets? 400,000 seems like each BB or CC would get 1 or 2. And we know thier employees are getting those.
We in the UK pay the MOST for the console and yet have to wait till LAST to get it...
No wonder people are annoyed...
It was obviously going to happen...
It did with the PSP, and it will do with the PS4.
Stupid delays.
ShMeE
... and where can I preorder one? I want to be in that first 500,000 !
Sony will have a hit on their hands, and all this will seem like a faint memory in 6 months time. New console launches always run into snags.
I really hope everyone here that says they're not interested in PS3 really isn't interested...but yet I have a feeling getting a PS3 this November will be much harder than getting a 360 last November (even though there will be more PS3s than there were 360s).
For Shunnabunich, 360 launched with right about 400,000 units last year and every Wal-Mart in my area (Louisville, KY) received 12-20, Target had 12, Best Buy had 32, and EB had 8. EB and Target had great success holding back units and selling them in bundles online, so I expect they'll do that to a greater extent with PS3. Wal-Mart and Best Buy are your best bets, but get in line early; 360 sold out at both 14 hours before release.
If you have $1500-2000, no worries. You'll find them readily available in online bundles with loads of games you don't want. I expect eBayers will have a litter harder time selling systems this year because they'll be competing with readily available online bundles.
And despite what some have suggested, I am in no way affiliated with Sony. I'm actually more excited about Wii than PS3! Yes, despite its low res graphics.
JET
News for 1080p fan boys: more is not always better.
Your eye can only determine the most minute difference in a 720p to 1080p image on a TV that could posibly fit in your living room. At even 60", the difference will be very negligable. The resolution is not the most important factor in image quality, it's the compression in the signal, and a consistent frame rate for real time content. PS3 will have plenty of frame rate to throw around, which will only get better over time as it did with the PS2. To add to this, when your brain perceives fast motion, it's only going to look at certain points in the image as opposed to the entire image-- essentially wasting the bandwidth used to pump out a ton of pixels that don't do anything.
Fact: 720p has 400% more pixels than a standard defintion broadcast, and it's progressive scan. 1080p will have more-- but consider the spatial area of your TV set. 1080p, while nice if you can sit 20 feet away from a 70" TV set, is visibily identical to sitting 13 feet away from a 50" set unless you can afford the immersion a larger set with 1080p would provide. That's the only compelling benefit.
Your friends will claim they see the difference. They will be wrong. You will have to decide for yourself if the exceptionally marginal increase in quality will really make a damn bit of difference for yourself.
I like the PS3. I don't think 1080p gives it an edge over the 360 at all. What gives it the edge is that it's not PC games on my TV-- I have a PC for that. It's console games with original titles. It's quality. Time will tell if they deliver on that promise, but you can bet your ass the first 10m+ units of the PS3 will sell just as well as the would have the day they announced a PS3 as they will right now.
I think Sony's plan is to miss this generation. I bought my 360 at the end of 2005 and I'll be able to buy (maybe) a ps3 at the end of 2007. 2 years later!!!
Europeans need to come out with their own console and screw the rest of us some time.
oh my gorsh! 500,000 in NA and Japan. That's insane! Man, I should preorder one of these ASAP and sell it on ebay afterwards. I could make a friggin' mint!
"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."
THIS IS CLEARLY SONY'S FAULT!!!! A BLU-RAY DRIVE IS NOT NECESSARY TO HAVE GREAT GRAPHICS THAT THE PS3 PROMISED! SONY SCREWED UP BY GAMBLING ON BLU-RAY!!! NOW THEY MUST SUCK MS'S PENIS!
Wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii
Sony is just a wave of bad news each week. I guess this means all those providing Blu-Ray movies will have a tough time this year. I'd also expect that Sony's own stand alone Blu-Ray player will be scarce.
This is beginning to look like a fiasco.
Sony can never keep their word and its gonna bite them in the butt big time. They're are not going to win this console war with promise after promise and then not being able to deliver.
I looked up the origins of the word 'Sony' today, All I could came up with, was this,
ha‧ra-ki‧ri[hahr-uh-keer-ee, har-uh-, har-ee-]
–noun
1. Also called seppuku. ceremonial suicide by ripping open the abdomen with a dagger or knife: formerly practiced in Japan by members of the warrior class when disgraced or sentenced to death.
2. suicide or any suicidal action; a self-destructive act: political hara-kiri.
Also, hari-kari.
I admit, I used to be a Sony fan boy but now it's a case of 'BABAS' Buy Anything But A Sony.
I totally agree with Kamalot... Due to Wii´s low price and DS´ popularity, Nintendo will dominate the Japanese market...
And all of those that are geting some money together to buy a new Video game for the holydays in Europe (like me) are going to spend their money on the Wii60 combo... I thought about getting a Wii and PS3 but that does it... Im getting a 360 and Wii now... Dead Rising and Gears of war sounds more fun than any PS3 launch title I´ve seen so far anyway...
Say hello to Blu-ray... The new Betamax... I believe that the PS3 is going to be huge nonetheless but making so many F*ck-ups to your costumers (and loyal fans) have a limit...
I hope that Microsoft and Nintendo take advantage of this...
SONY’S BIG MISTAKE IS THAT THIS IS REALLY A PS4! THE MISSING LINK PS3 WOULD HAVE LOOKED SOMETHING LIKE THIS:
1. BlueRay - OUT | 50x DVD ROM - IN
2. CELL Processor - OUT | 2 Dual Core Processors - IN
3. Bluetooth - OUT | RFx2 - IN
4. GPU - Stays
5. Physx PPU - Stays
ALL OTHER HARDWARE STAYS
TOTAL COST = $299.99
Is BlueRay really needed for compelling gameplay and nextgen graphics? NO! We would rather not wait for the 10min 1x or 2x load times. Why CELL? Especially when some consoles will be approved and shipped without all cores functioning (what is it 6 of 8 gets a pass?). The existing GPU coupled with 2 Dual core CPUs enhanced by a PPU IS nextgen! Bluetooth? Who cares! There are 2000dpi laser gaming mice that use RF and they are plenty precise. All of this can easily be wrapped up for under $350!
NOW SONY WE ARE NOT UNGRATEFUL. We appreciate what you are trying to do. The problem is that you are trying to play “long ball” in a “short ball” world. You will NOT get 10 years out of this box. The Console life span has shrunken and your competition knows this. The mistake of long ball is by the time the devs start to get into the machine’s capability (say 5 years out) the competition would have moved on to the X-Box 780 and Wii x2.
You more than anyone knows that TECHNOLOGY FOLDS EVERY 6 MONTHS. All one needs to do is look at the Wii controller and how it has impacted gaming without a single console being shipped. The future gaming landscape will be littered with cutting edge technology that push the envelope and comes to market much quicker, and trying to front load a console with bleeding-edge hoping to get 10 years is, well, silly!
Now if the PS3 is simply a “test bed” and your ultimate long term goal is to get BLUERAY in homes and CELL in a multitude of devices then ignore all that has been said above. We as gamers however, simply want to, well, play games and these incessant delays and shortages will only help to “drive us in the arms” of others!
THE NEW GAME IS SHORT BALL AND APPLE, MS & NINTENDO ARE ALL PLAYING IT. WHEN WILL YOU?? WE DIDN’T NEED A PS4. PS3 WOULD HAVE SUFFICED!
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AND JUST IN CASE YOU NEED ANOTHER REMINDER, OH, NEVER MIND!
I'm a sony fan but I hope the xbox do some serious damage this time, so that they stop toying with us!!
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Suckers! If you buy PS3 after this, just write the word "Sucker" across your forehead, so everyone will know you got taken for a ride on the Sony PR train.
Did you REALLY not see this coming? Please....
I can't afford it anyway. I have to wait until the prices drop. but I hate the 360 and the Wii sounds babyish, and we dont eat eggnog in england. I dont even know what it is.
But I agree, being treated as second rate customers again just isnt fair,
Is this another ploy for Sony to "create" constraint of a hot product? I foresee people preordering and selling on eBay for ridiculous prices.
The first game consoles off the assembly line have historically had a rather bad track record. Add in the fact that Blu-Ray already has several news items about difficulties coming out of the gate. And add in the fact that this whole manufacturing of the PS3 seems to be rife with difficulties. I don't see how anyone cannot see the handwriting on the wall with this one = a whole lot of problems with the first PS3's for sale. I agree with anyone who wants to buy one early and put it on ebay, because not only will you see a tidy profit, but you will probably escape a whole lot of headache.
"...the competition would have moved on to the X-Box 780 and Wii x2...."
360 x 2 = 780? Your maths is deliciously baffling!
JET = TOOL
"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."
I love how Sony has repeatedly promised Jet... man you're a fool. I think everyone is venting on this thread because Sony over promises and under delievers.
It's more than Microsoft saying there will be negligible differences between the 360 & PS3. It's also the developers of these systems. Plus no one has even played a PS3 game yet. Plus most of the PS3 launch games are just touched up Xbox 360 launch titles.
sony is having serious problems, Microsoft has a history of illegal activities and runs around like a bully in a playground, nintendo make games for little kiddies.
take your pick. or better still, go buy a book and have a nice read.
waddo
http://www.waddo.net/
PS3 + eBay = ChaChing$$$$
I think Nintendo has really done a nice job with their marketting. My wife never would have touched a video game but now she loves the Nintendo DS because of the Touch Generation games and she's interested in the Wii also.
Even if Nintendo does not become number 1 this generation, they will certainly become the most memorable player of this generation.
@Keith Waddington,
Stop frontin’ like you DON’T own a DS? You’re NOT fooling anybody.
i see alot of people complaining about the cost of the system...but if you think about it, by the time the ps3 is released in europe the price will probly have dropped...one of the reasons for the high price is that besides the ps3 hardware, it is also packing an entire ps2 chipset, because sony is still trying to perfect a software emulator for backwards compatibilty for the ps2 games
AHAHA! WHOA! people are sooo clueless! Everyone is so hyped up on the specs that they don't even know what they want.
One of the earlier posters (I think JET) was all hyped up about the 48bit colour-depth that the 1.3 HDMI spec will offer, that he does not understand that the HUMAN EYE CAN ONLY DETECT 24000000 colour variations which is the equivalent of 24bit color scaling.
So if you are going to believe every filth that they feed u, then the $600 excuse of a console is for you. I mean come on, this delay just makes it above and beynd retarded to invest in the PS3. Think about it, everyday that passes, the PS3 stats become more and more stale. Imagine, by March, everytime you go to a computer store and u see all the shiney computers with kick-ass graphics that are months newer, when you do finally get your PS3 with high expectations, it suddenly wont look so good because you would have seen better in stores.
This is exactly why it makes it so important to be out the door the earliest. The competition is not only between consoles people. Its in the fact that when you see something better even in a completely unrelated system such as a PC, the PS3 won't look so good in comparison...
PS3 is gona kick Xbox 360's ass. PS3 has beter graphics than Xbox 360. The bru-ray can hold upto 10 times the DVDs and more then HD-DVD, does Xbox 360 had bru-ray drive? i dont think tho. great games like GTA4 comming out november 2007 for PS3 and Xbox 360, its gona be great on PS3 compaired to xbox one. the movies maight be maid on HD-DVDs but Bru-ray would be beter for games and software.
I really appreciate your help.
http://www.edhardyplus.com
This allways happends with all systems sony or nintendo or Microsoft. It's all about supply and demand you try comeing out with a next gen system and see if you can meet the demands of the whole world lol.It's worth the wait just make sure you get a good warranty with your system all new computer products have bugs thats just the way it is you can't test all 5 million of the systems that are going to be shipped over the next year lol.Good luck everyone