http://www.gamespot.com/news/6145450.html

Another analyst predicts PS3 delay

FBR's Shawn Milne says Sony will definitely miss spring Japanese launch, perhaps summer as well; US might not see unit until 2007.

Conventional wisdom increasingly indicates that a delay of the PlayStation 3 from its originally intended spring launch date is all but inevitable. Last month a Merrill Lynch report predicted a 6-12-month delay for the system, followed shortly thereafter by a reported Sony acknowledgement that a PS3 delay was a possibility if the supply of parts to make the console lagged.

Yet more aspersions were cast on Sony's purported spring PS3 launch today, as Friedman Billings Ramsey analyst Shawn Milne issued an industry update to investors saying Sony's clearly going to miss its spring window. He added that the Japanese release might miss the summer as well, and North American gamers may not be playing the system in 2006 at all.

"More supply chain data suggest the possibility of a launch delay," Milne wrote. "According to our semiconductor research team, there are further indications that the Sony PS3 launch may be late (although there remains significant confusion on the timing of launches by geography)."

Milne also noted that Sony apparently did not give retailers a release date on the PS3 at its recent Destination PlayStation event as further evidence of a slip in the schedule.

According to Milne, a North American PS3 release in the first quarter of 2007 would cause weakness in the industry and a poor fourth quarter for 2006. However, he projects a sell out for the system even if it does launch in early 2007, and a muted long-term impact on the industry from the delay. Unlike other analysts, Milne didn't offer a prediction on the console's price, which has been targeted anywhere from $399 to $799.

When the system launches, Milne says Electronic Arts will likely get the biggest boost of the publishers, as it has "8-12 titles planned for the PS3 launch." Previously announced PS3 titles from the publisher include Fight Night Round 3, Medal of Honor: Airborne, Def Jam 3, and a next-gen Madden game.


By Brendan Sinclair -- GameSpot
Posted Mar 6, 2006 12:16 pm PT


Chris

Well if it's delayed until 2007, I doubt we'll see Fight Night Round 3 debut with it.

= J

EA has already mentioned that Fight Night 3 on PS3 will be a different game then Fight Night 3 on any other console, to include 360.

Hmm.. Def Jam 3. If it's Def Jam 3 as in made by Aki then :drool:.

This article is pure BS. I mean I doubt they will launch in spring, but this is all speculation. they don't have any direct quotes from Stringer saying it will be delayed. They are speculating like everyone else. Whatever, if it launches by the end of the year (Oct-Nov time frame) with a killer library everyone will be happy.

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=15198

Spring launch for PS3 is "impossible" - Namco Bandai boss

Rob Fahey 13:48 08/03/2006
Top Japanese publisher drives another nail in the coffin for Sony's spring timeline claims

Namco Bandai president Takeo Takasu has publicly described Sony's current target of a Spring launch for the PlayStation 3 as "impossible", revealing that the top Japanese publisher is still waiting for information on the launch date.

"Without any announcements so far, the spring release is impossible," Takasu told Bloomberg in Tokyo this week. "We are developing titles for PlayStation 3, but the release of the games depends on the timing of the hardware."

Takasu's comments are likely to be seen as a final nail in the coffin for Sony's ambitions of a spring launch, as they come from the man at the head of one of the largest game publishers in Japan.

Namco Bandai has traditionally been a strong supporter of new hardware, as seen at the recent launch of the Xbox 360, for which the firm launched an update to the hugely successful Ridge Racer franchise, Ridge Racer 6.

The company is also a close collaborator with Sony; titles such as Tekken and Ridge Racer helped to establish the PlayStation brand, the most recent Soul Calibur title was a PlayStation 2 exclusive, and the firm also publishes a range of RPG and anime-licensed titles which are particularly successful in the Far East.

In other words, if Namco Bandai doesn't know when PlayStation 3 is going to be released right now, then it's safe to say that nobody does - and it also makes Sony's oft-repeated assertion that the PS3 will launch in spring look even less likely.

Not that that has stopped the hardware firm from repeating its statement. "Nothing has changed with our plans," SCEI spokesperson Nanako Kato told Bloomberg, referring to the spring launch date which was originally floated at E3 last May.

While the Japanese release date remains a complete unknown - with some publishers still aiming for early summer, while others don't expect to see the system until autumn - publishers in the west are mostly working towards a Q3/Q4 launch in North America, followed by a Q1 2007 launch in Europe - despite reassurances from Sony that the system will hit Europe before the end of the year.

As for Takasu, he's not pinning Namco Bandai's colours to any mast regarding the release date of the system, telling Bloomberg that he simply " would like Sony to release the PS3 this year for the Christmas season."


Chris

True, but it depends on supply. If they are hard to get as the 360 was last year, it will be a huge boon for the 360.

I know I'll get one, I have a golden ticket receipt from FYE that says I'm #1 on the list. :)

from www.joystiq.com:


In an interview with GameDaily, GDC Director Jamil Moledina has confirmed that Sony's Phil Harrison will reveal some much needed details about the PlayStation 3 during his keynote. In response to being asked if there would be new info, Moledina bluntly replied, "The answer is yes," before going on to promise the keynote would "contain significant editorial value and developer takeaway."

It's worth noting that Phil's keynote is titled, "PlayStation 3: Beyond the Box," so this only confirms what was already a reasonable expectation. Joystiq will be on hand, keyboards at the ready, eagerly listening for anything of value. If they somehow manage to reveal nothing during a keynote with "PlayStation 3" in the title, then we'll eat a (slim) PS2.*

_______________________________________________________

Looks like we have to wait till March 20th for some more PS3 and (Unreal Tounament) action.

Sorry this thread needed some pics!

http://pcmedia.ign.com/pc/image/arti...1115816848.jpg

I REALLY doubt this will happen, but maybe they're going for a Saturn-style surprise launch?

Three days ago Sony's CEO officially announced the delay, ending any speculation. Odd that this article doesn't seem to mention that.

Because that article never had the CEO officially announcing a delay. Speculation on Variety's part and an official announcement are two very, very different things.

Official announcement or not, at this point anyone who seriously believes the PS3 will make a spring launch is in serious denial.

A Spring launch in general is a bad idea... I think Sony can see that the public is lapping up any iota of info from the rumormill and they are feeding that by staying quiet (ironically). Let the HW and SW mature a little bit and then come strong at the end of the year. XBOX 360 is DOA in Japan (pun intended) so the all important Japanese dev's will stick with the PS3. There are also too many high profile PS2 games coming out between now and October so Sony can afford to wait and milk it's 100M+ userbase. I can't wait to see what that number becomes once they reduce the price to $99!

Anyway, here's a tip saying that PS3 will be unveiled March 15th (from kotaku.com):
_______________________________________
A senior Koei Japan exec has let slip that more PlayStation 3 news will be unveiled at a Sony event on March 15th, reports Gamefront (via Japanese site Watch Impress).

This appears to back up ongoing reports that PlayStation global head of development Phil Harrison will reveal more information on plans for the console at his GDC keynote later in March.

Sony has gone completely media dark on PS3 since way back at E3 last May, despite a continuing defense of its (increasingly unlikely) Spring 2006 release date.

While the Koei exec’s comments aren’t exactly a confirmation, don’t forget that original PS2 debut was also at a Japanese event in March, followed by a wider demonstration at GDC. Will history repeat? We’ll know next week.

Speaking of Koei, I want Romance of the 3 Kingdoms 11 :mad:

Chris

Microsoft announced the Xbox 360 release date on September 14th and released on November 22nd. 70 days between announcement and launch.

There are 104 days until the first day of Summer, and thus the last day of Spring.

I believe it is you who is in "serious denial".

Maybe, but I think it is a bigger deal when you are the 2nd guy out. The reason for the Spring launch is to keep some people from buying the 360 and wait for the PS3. But if you end up waiting until the holiday season, it is a long summer for people to decide to upgrade.

What MS did isn't really relevant nor was it brought up, but if you want to take it that route...

At E3 (May of 05), fairly solid launch plans were announced. They let us know what regions the systems were being launched in and a time frame. There were also frequent updates with information up until launch.

They were showing off playable games at E3 last year.

Sony has yet to have any playable PS3 games at any trade show. They've barely shown any in game footage at all. They've yet to show off final casing or their replacement for the boomerang controller.

At this point, Sony has shown almost NOTHING.

They've shown no indication that they're ready for a launch. Developers say they aren't ready for launch. Retail stores have no information.


So yes, my point stands. You are in denial.

Chill guys... why does EVERY PS3 thread degrade into name calling and infantile jabs?

I don't think it's launching in spring either but if it does then call me surprised. early fall sounds more likely, but who knows. We'll see on March 15th

You guys will all be in denial if we close this thread and no one can talk about the PS3. This juvenile non-sense needs to stop.

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=15266

PlayStation 3 launch details may be announced next week

Rob Fahey 13:42 10/03/2006

European sources confirm that a major announcement is on the cards for the 15th

Information from a number of independent sources is suggesting that Sony may announce further details of its plans for PlayStation 3 next week in Tokyo, with the revised launch schedule for the console being at the top of the agenda.

News of a planned Sony Computer Entertainment press conference on March 15th was leaked by Koei boss Kiyoshi Komatsu, who told press at an unrelated conference in Tokyo about the existence of the event and speculated that "some details about the PS3 might be announced there."

Speaking to GamesIndustry.biz, Sony Europe sources confirmed that a major announcement is planned next week, but would not be drawn on details of what will be discussed - which does mean that it's by no means certain that PS3 will be on the agenda.

However, the timing of the announcement suggests otherwise, coming as it does a week before the Game Developers' Conference in San Jose, and two weeks before the end of Sony's 2006 financial year.

Announcing further PS3 details in Tokyo next week would allow Sony to give the Japanese press and business community forewarning of anything that may be discussed at GDC, and would give SCE worldwide studios boss Phil Harrison a far wider range of topics to address in his eagerly awaited keynote speech in San Jose.

Crucially, it would also keep the announcements well away from the firm's year-end, a period when it's generally frowned upon for large Japanese corporations to make major strategy announcements.

Sony's current line is that there has been no change to its original plan of launching PlayStation 3 in spring, but few in the industry find this timescale realistic, with Namco Bandai president Takeo Takasu describing it this week as "impossible".

In related news, Chinese technology website Mydrivers this week reported comments made by an unnamed source at Taiwanese firm COMPEQ, which is one of Sony's manufacturing partners for PlayStation Portable. According to Mydrivers' source, COMPEQ will begin building printed circuit boards for PlayStation 3 in June or July - implying that the assembly of the console won't begin until mid-summer at the earliest, and making an autumn launch seem all the more likely.


Chris

I personally didn't feel that we had gone outside the realm of healthy debate, and it wasn't my intention if it did.

I don't know why it's been so hard for Sony to put this thing together. It's not like they're trying to push flying cars off the assembly line; just put together a gaming console to compete (and hopefully surpass) the 360 in a one-year window. I'm very anxious to see what the announcement is and hope it's not just more non-information

Thanks for clearing that up. :lol:

http://www.gizmodo.com/gadgets/psp-refit.jpg

Sony planning major move into digital distribution

Rob Fahey 16:00 13/03/2006
PlayStation 3 may sport download service for selected PSone, PS2 titles

Reports from development sources close to Sony Computer Entertainment are indicating that the firm is planning a major digital distribution service for game content, which could be a key element of PlayStation 3 - or even of a relaunched PS2.

Several senior developers have confirmed to GamesIndustry.biz that they have spoken informally with Sony about the question of digital distribution on consoles, although these discussions were described as being "purely about technology, not business models" by one source.

However, even the technology discussed could be very revealing regarding the Japanese giant's plans for the coming years - with one source from the development arm of a major third-party publisher claiming that Sony has been discussing the technical feasibility of providing PSone and PS2 titles over digital distribution with them.

This could indicate that Sony is hoping to provide a service for the PS3 similar to Nintendo's Revolution digital download system, which will allow users to access a back catalogue of Nintendo titles through the next-generation console.

In Sony's case the challenges may be significantly more difficult, since PlayStation titles were customarily several hundred megabytes in size, and PS2 titles spanned multiple gigabytes - compared to just a few megabytes or less for NES, SNES and N64 titles in the Nintendo back-catalogue.

However, as Internet connections speed up downloads of this size will be far more reasonable - already, several Xbox Live demos for the Xbox 360 are over 600Mb in size - and our sources indicated that Sony may also be investigating the possibility of remastering certain PS2 titles to allow them to stream later content over the network while the player is already playing early parts of the game.

The move would not be surprising, given that both other next-generation consoles will offer downloadable game content - Xbox Live Arcade and game demos in the case of Xbox 360, and the back catalogue download service on Revolution - which makes it highly unlikely that Sony will miss out on this opportunity.

The information from our development sources comes only days after Electronic Arts' European vice president of sales, Dr Jens Uwe Intat, confirmed to GamesIndustry.biz that the leading publisher is already in discussions with platform holders over digital distribution - telling us that "we as a total industry, software publishers and hardware manufacturers, are already sitting together and working on business models."

One of the key requirements of digital distribution on this scale, however, is a large storage system - such as a hard drive, a component with which Sony has had a patchy history. Although the PlayStation 2 hardware can support a hard drive, the peripheral was unsuccessful and was only ever used to any great degree by Square Enix' massively multiplayer title Final Fantasy XI. The PlayStation 3 hardware will also support a hard drive unit but is set to ship without one pre-installed in the basic configuration.

Sony is expected to announce new information about its plans for PlayStation 3 in Tokyo on Wednesday, ahead of a keynote address from the firm's worldwide studios boss Phil Harrison at the Game Developers' Conference in San Jose next week.


Chris