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PlayStation3 launch date in question

pcostabel

pcostabel

Gold Member
MarketWatch

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- What Sony Corp. Chief Executive Howard Stringer didn't say at the recent Consumer Electronics Show about Sony's PlayStation 3 video game console spoke volumes about the key product's timetable, analysts say.

Giving a keynote speech at the huge Las Vegas trade show earlier this month, Stringer provided no updates about the product's U.S. launch.

Although Sony had a prominent location on the showroom floor at the annual convention, the Japanese giant showcased televisions and portable music players, while the PlayStation 3 was tucked behind glass in the back of its booth. Sony offered only non-playable, demonstration versions of a limited number of games.

Industry watchers now expect the product's U.S. launch in the second half of 2006, although Sony may get a Japanese version out during the "Spring 2006" launch window that the technology giant first predicted last year.

Any delays could make it much harder for Sony next holiday season as it races to put out its own new product to take on Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox 360 in the market for video game players.
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SolidSnakex said:
So in other words, a launch Sony never said was going ot happen is now in question.
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ps3conf26pk.jpg
 
There wasn't 'prominent' presence of PS3 at CES. There was one screen showing some game reel stuff, and a mockup under glass.

And stringer hardly said anything about PS3 at the show. He brought Kaz Hirai on for a couple of minutes to bleat about how good PS2 and PSP did at Christmas, then mentioned how PS3 will be worth waiting for "The next generation doesn't start until we say so"

That was it.

Way more focus on bluray, bringing out Tom Hanks etc. They even spent more time on the ebook than the PS3.

Yes I noticed no reiteration of the spring timing, but I don't smell consipracy, just a keynote aimed at a particular audience.
 
The article is actually a good read and presents comments from lots of investors. Here is the full text for those too lazy to click.

Sony's PS3 release date in question - analysts
Article layout: raw
SAN FRANCISCO (AFX) - What Sony Corp. Chief Executive Howard Stringer didn't say at the recent Consumer Electronics Show about Sony's PlayStation 3 video game console spoke volumes about the key product's timetable, analysts said.

Giving a keynote speech at the Las Vegas trade show earlier this month, Stringer provided no updates about the product's US launch.

Although Sony had a prominent location on the showroom floor at the annual convention, the company showcased televisions and portable music players, while the PlayStation 3 was tucked behind glass in the back of its booth. Sony offered only non-playable, demonstration versions of a limited number of games.

Analysts now expect the product's US launch in the second half of 2006, although Sony may get a Japanese version out during the "Spring 2006" launch window that the technology giant first predicted last year.

Any delays could make it much harder for Sony next holiday season as it races to put out its own new product to take on Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox 360 in the market for video game players.

Sony , which has sold more than 90 mln PlayStation 2 game players since 2000, faces increased competition from Microsoft , which sold more than 24 mln units of its first Xbox version. Microsoft said it is on track to sell between 4.5 mln and 5 mln units of its new Xbox 360 by June.

And Sony faces a manufacturing challenge related to its switch to more-powerful computer chips, just as Microsoft did. Even the most optimistic analysts say Sony will wait and miss its predicted launch window to ensure it maximizes the ratio of usable chips per silicon wafer, better known as a chip's yield, before Sony begins mass production.

After touring the Sony booth at CES, analyst William Drewry of Credit Suisse First Boston wrote that "the decision as to whether to delay the PS3 launch has yet to be made and is dependent on (improving its chip yield)."

Sony has said the computing power of the PlayStation 3 will be superior to that of the Xbox 360 thanks to a new microprocessor - dubbed the "Cell" processor - jointly developed by Sony, International Business Machines and Toshiba Corp.

"We view any potential delay as being one to two months rather than six months duration," wrote Drewry.

Another analyst, Evan Wilson of Pacific Crest Securities, said "the most likely scenario" is that PS3 will be released in Japan this summer with about 1 million units and in the US in November with 1 million units, followed by a European launch in March 2007.

Even if Sony follows a staggered launch schedule, as it did with it PlayStation Portable (PSP) device - it will likely have a smaller slate of new software titles than Microsoft during the critical 2006 holiday sales season.

The chatter about PlayStation 3 delays heated up after Sony downplayed the product at its booth and Stringer, in his high-profile speech to the US electronics industry, did the same.

Stringer elected to showcase the firm's less-expensive PlayStation Portable and its ability to let consumers access television programs and other video content on the go. Portable devices generated all the growth in video game hardware and software last year.

The theme of mobile digital content delivered over the Internet was a major one at the huge consumer show this year, with everyone from Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates to top executives from Google Inc, Yahoo Inc. and Intel Corp forging mobile-related partnerships.

While the PlayStation Portable is a fast-selling new product, its revenue contribution is just a fraction of the PlayStation console.

For his part, chief executive of Sony Computer Entertainment of America Kaz Hirai in his keynote dubbed the PS3: "a key pillar of Sony growth in 2006."

But the box will have an uphill challenge if the slate of published software gaming titles isn't up to snuff by the key 2006 holiday sales season, which is looking likely.

Hirai said that Sony had shipped 4,000 development kits for PlayStation 3 games. At the biggest game-industry conference in May 2005, developers had their hands on developmental kits for only few months.

With the latest generation of video games now taking as long as 18 months to develop and bring to market, it's likely that Sony will have fewer new software titles at the PlayStation 3 launch than the 19 games Microsoft had for the Xbox 360 launch in the U.S.

During Take-Two Interactive Software's recent fourth-quarter earnings conference call, chief financial officer Karl Winter said he believes the introduction of the PS3 will "occur near the end of our fiscal year." Take-Two's fiscal year ends Oct. 31.

Wilson, the analyst from Pacific Crest Securities, expect Sony's launch line-up in the U.S. to be similar to that of the Xbox 360, but "clearly weaker then the Xbox 360 holiday 2006 line-up."

If video game developers encounter production hiccups and would-be launch titles are pushed out, then Sony could be better suited to launch in Japan with fewer titles, another analyst said.

"You don't need to come out with 20 games for a Japan launch, whereas in the US you need about 15 to 20 games, plus a few that really stand out," said analyst Schelley Olhava of IDC.

Sony launched the PlayStation Portable in Japan in December 2004 and the US in March 2005. It wasn't until September 2005 when Europeans saw it on their shelves.

Wilson notes that industry analysts are starting to make predictions about hardware and software market share for Sony out as far as 2009, yet the company still has yet to unveil a functioning version of the hardware.

"All we've seen are (demonstration games) running on a box supposed to be the equivalent of the PS3," said Wilson. "We really have no idea."

Among issues potentially clouding the PS3 release, none looms larger than the noise surrounding next-generation DVD formats. There are two competing standards for next-generation of DVD players: HD-DVD, backed by Microsoft and Intel, among others, and Blu-Ray, backed by Sony.

While most Hollywood film studios have aligned themselves behind the new, competing formats, it's unlikely that consumers will see a tremendous amount of playable film content in 2006, says Olhava.

Sony's Stringer has maintained that the PS3 would contain a Blu-Ray player. Yet at CES, electronics powerhouses Samsung and Pioneer announced Blu-Ray players that would cost 1,000 and 1,800 usd, respectively.

Those costs won't fly among video game buyers, especially with the Xbox 360 going for as little as 300 usd for a scaled-down version. Most analysts expect the PS3 unit to be priced at 400 usd: a loss-leader for Sony, but competitive with the Xbox 360, which does not have an internal HD-DVD drive.

At CES, Microsoft chairman Bill Gates said that the Xbox 360 would be selling an external HD-DVD player.
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Something is happening over at the Official Japanese PlayStation site.. They have started listing PS3 games. :)

http://www.playstation.jp/scej/title/list_pre.html

Undecided THE EYE OF JUDGMENT (temporary)　
Undecided GENJI 2 (temporary)
Undecided Angel Rings (temporary)
Undecided Monster Carnival (temporary)
Undecided GOLF of everyone 5 (temporary)
Undecided ' グランツーリスモ ' series
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Wilson, the analyst from Pacific Crest Securities, expect Sony's launch line-up in the U.S. to be similar to that of the Xbox 360, but "clearly weaker then the Xbox 360 holiday 2006 line-up."
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Mr. Wilson, why do you hate Warhawk so? :(
 
European Launch in 2007 will definitely help X360 if there are new Winning Eleven/FIFA/F1/Rally titles available. I would be really surprised if Sony has nothing for Europe in 2006.
 
DenogginizerOS said:
European Launch in 2007 will definitely help X360 if there are new Winning Eleven/FIFA/F1/Rally titles available. I would be really surprised if Sony has nothing for Europe in 2006.
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Howard Stringer doesn't care about European people.
 
SolidSnakex said:
Notice that it doesn't say where?
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You make a presentation at a North American trade show event it can be assumed that the information is pertinent to North America unless they specify otherwise.
 
KeithFranklin said:
You make a presentation at a North American trade show event it can be assumed that the information is pertinent to North America unless they specify otherwise.
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It can be assumed, but that doesn't make it the case. If they launch the PS3 in Japan this Spring, they've met what they said they were going to do.
 
KeithFranklin said:
You make a presentation at a North American trade show event it can be assumed that the information is pertinent to North America unless they specify otherwise.
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It's a fair point and I personally still put even odds on it. We keep hearing that a few games in development by American teams are either in advanced stages of development or planned for launch. There seems to be more rumors in support of the scenario that Western games are further along than Eastern games...whatever happened to the speculation about Sony launching the PS3 first in NA?
 
I don't see why not launch PS3 in the US first, other than having little to no content, if that turns out to be the case.

The US is where the real battleground will be in this 'console war' I think, unless you count Rev's supposed launch later this year w/ the Japanese. Then again, maybe I'm giving Nintendo too much credit? :)
 
Sony is ready for the launch of the PS3 in Japan:

1. Microsoft made the Xbox 360 launch 3 months after the final hardware kits was given to the developers. Sony could do the same without any doubt.

2. The BluRay high priced players in the CES are all a big fake in terms of final price. Do you believe that the BluRay consortium will launch BluRay Players for 999$ or more knowing that the direct enemy has players for 499$? Is ilogical and doesn´t make sense.

3. Kaz Hirai said that the PS3 is a "sub-500$ system".

4. All the people in Sony is playing a role in this game, thay are denying that they have received the final development kits but they are lying. They have a lot of games developed for PS3 and ready for be showned.

5. The case of the 3D artist that Sony has fired for talking about the fact that in the E3 2005 they only had a box, a controller and a development kit is strange to me, is a weird case for giving the image that PS3 is incomplete.

We are the puppet and the tools from Sony.
 
I'm just wondering what this big 'surprise' in Feb. is suppose to be.

Kenny K walks up to the mic, announces the price, and the curtain pulls back revealing retail boxes for PS3 ready to go on sale THE NEXT DAY! :D

...or it could just be the surprise of Battle Arena Toshinden 4.
 
Nightbringer said:
Sony is ready for the launch of the PS3 in Japan:

1. Microsoft made the Xbox 360 launch 3 months after the final hardware kits was given to the developers. Sony could do the same without any doubt.

2. The BluRay high priced players in the CES are all a big fake in terms of final price. Do you believe that the BluRay consortium will launch BluRay Players for 999$ or more knowing that the direct enemy has players for 499$? Is ilogical and doesn´t make sense.

3. Kaz Hirai said that the PS3 is a "sub-500$ system".

4. All the people in Sony is playing a role in this game, thay are denying that they have received the final development kits but they are lying. They have a lot of games developed for PS3 and ready for be showned.

5. The case of the 3D artist that Sony has fired for talking about the fact that in the E3 2005 they only had a box, a controller and a development kit is strange to me, is a weird case for giving the image that PS3 is incomplete.

We are the puppet and the tools from Sony.
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Hahahahahahahahahahhahahahaha. Awesome.
 
So Sony lied to steal Xbox 360's thunder and to make those sitting on the next-gen fence think they only had 6 months to wait for PS3 when really they have to wait a year?

Wow, never saw that coming.
 
TheJollyCorner said:
I'm just wondering what this big 'surprise' in Feb. is suppose to be.

Kenny K walks up to the mic, announces the price, and the curtain pulls back revealing retail boxes for PS3 ready to go on sale THE NEXT DAY! :D

...or it could just be the surprise of Battle Arena Toshinden 4.
Click to expand...

Kutaragi/Stringer takes the microphone:

Playstation3 is going to be launched in 2 months with Vision GT as a launch game and with a price of 449$

Kutaragi/Stringer closes the microphone and the results are:

HD-DVD with a mortal blow in its head.
 
I think people should wait for the february showing before calling other people(that expect Japanese spring launch) retarded.
 
jetjevons said:
So Sony lied to steal Xbox 360's thunder and to make those sitting on the next-gen fence think they only had 6 months to wait for PS3 when really they have to wait a year?

Wow, never saw that coming.
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How'd they lie? Besides, MS has done a better jobof getting people to wait for the PS3 launch than Sony has.
 
The big surprise in February: nothing compared to the E3 presentation...

Ken Kutaragi will walk up on stage accompanied by Kaz Hirai dressed of only printed powerpoint slides regarding hardware and software sales of PSP and PSTwo and he will present each slide slowly taking it off and projecting it on screen... no detail if he will do a "Full Monty" or not.

Kutaragi will then introduce a PLAYSTATION 3 real-time reel of games that will appear playable at the show floor while inviting Beat Takeshi( Takeshi Kitano) for a tap-dancing number.

zatoichi-dance-2.jpg
 
SolidSnakex said:
How'd they lie? Besides, MS has done a better jobof getting people to wait for the PS3 launch than Sony has.
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Even if it's late, I doubt Sony lied. They probably tried really hard to make Sring happen. There are very few folks in the know who still think that's going to happen. Fall and winter folks.
 
jetjevons, where's the confirmation that PS3 won't be out in Spring 2006? Surely you're not simply taking analyst predictions at face value, right? A dev like yourself would never be so unprofessional, right?
 
Panajev2001a said:
The big surprise in February: nothing compared to the E3 presentation...

Ken Kutaragi will walk up on stage accompanied by Kaz Hirai dressed of only printed powerpoint slides regarding hardware and software sales of PSP and PSTwo and he will present each slide slowly taking it off and projecting it on screen... no detail if he will do a "Full Monty" or not.

Kutaragi will then introduce a PLAYSTATION 3 real-time reel of games that will appear playable at the show floor while inviting Beat Takeshi( Takeshi Kitano) for a tap-dancing number.

zatoichi-dance-2.jpg
Click to expand...

Real time PS3 footage:

jeanclizaude.gif
 
SolidSnakex said:
Yes that's already been posted. If it comes out in Japan in Spring how did they lie?
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I'm not talking about Japan and neither were they.

Come on, the ONE big thing Microsoft had going for them was the year lead (even by their own admission) and Sony have very cleverly worked to essentially nullify that.

I don't know the Japanese launch date but I do know how far along the PS3 projects I'm working on are.
 
BlueTsunami said:
They lied, because its Winter, when they said it would be out in Spring but its Winter. They lied
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Why is it than when I estimate what time I'll be home and don't make it, it's a mistake, but whenever a video game company makes an estimate they can't then consequently meet, it's A LIE!

Sony is running late, you can bet they wish they weren't, but that doesn't make them LIARS!!! It makes them mistaken.

We, GAF, hardcore gamers, take this stuff too personally. They didn't fuck with YOU, they ran late. It happens.
 
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