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PlayStation 3 Launch Details Expected Next Week

Posted on Saturday 11th March 2006 at 14:14 by SilverFork
Playstation 3
Koei president Kiyoshi Komatsu, who recently spoke to the Tokyo press of an unrelated issue, noted at the time that a Sony Computer Entertainment press conference is scheduled for the 15th of this month, suggesting that "some details about the PS3 might be announced there." Sony Europe, while not implying whether or not Komatsu's prediction was true, later confirmed that a largely important announcement will indeed be made at the conference next week.

With the company's fiscal year soon coming to a close, and the San Jose Game Developer Conference only a scant week away, a major announcement made by Sony on Wednesday - perhaps even regarding a definite target date for the PlayStation 3 release - would occur at the perfect time. By revealing the revised info as public knowledge, the head of Sony Computer Entertainment's worldwide studio, Phil Harrison, would greatly benefit by being provided with several topics to divulge during his essential GDC speech; the local press and businesses in Tokyo would also receive a head start on any related news prior to the San Jose conference.

On the other hand, although Sony's recurring stance is that their spring launch schedule will continue on despite difficulties with production, a more realistic viewpoint would be that these problems can indefinitely hold back the console's release from their projected time frame, thus resulting in a possible lack of any new information of the sort in the near future. Probably even less assuring is the latest word concerning COMPEQ, the manufacturer of the circuit boards for the PlayStation 3: As of now, the system allegedly will not be ready for launch until this fall at the earliest, seeing as COMPEQ reportedly plans to do their crucial part in either June or July.

Source: EuroGamer
Posted in: News from Japan

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Comments

HamedoComment 1: 2006-03-13 13:54
Hamedo I'm wondering what the release will say? Anyone think they will give us a concrete release date or ballpark?
karasumanComment 2: 2006-03-13 14:37
karasuman
Quote (Hamedo @ 13th March 2006 08:54)
I'm wondering what the release will say? Anyone think they will give us a concrete release date or ballpark?

Personally, I doubt it. I really think that Sony is going to have to massively delay the PS3's debut, and that they're going to want to keep from announcing that publicly until the end of their fiscal year, so their shares don't take a huge dive. I wouldn't expect a firmer release date until April at the earliest.
laszlowComment 3: 2006-03-14 21:53
laszlow And here we have it. Evidentally it's been delayed until November. And to answer Hamdeo's question, they give no specific date.

Edit
Evidentally Sony's also holding a big conference tomorrow to discuss the PS3. More on that, well, tomorrow.
FallingHeartComment 4: 2006-03-14 21:58
FallingHeart Oh my. November launch? Scandilous. Who would have thought?

Sony, give us some real info.
HamedoComment 5: 2006-03-14 22:26
Hamedo Surprised? No. Disappointed? Yes. Thanks for the info, laszlow
laszlowComment 6: 2006-03-15 13:43
laszlow Here's a link that says everything I'm about to say.

Evidentally the big conference went down sometime very late last night. Sony reported that the absolute minimum price for the PS3 will be fifty thousand yen, or around $$425 US. It's going to have a simultaneous Japanese, North American, and European release in November, and plans to ship one million consoles worldwide every month for six months in the initial run.

The article goes reasonably deep into hardware specs, but what's important to know is that every PS3 game will run on BD-ROM technology, the system is fully backward compatible, and the PS3 will require the system's 60 GB hard drive, which is Linux-compatible, "fully upgradeable", and act as "home server".

The online capabilities of the PS3 will include voice chat, "online commerce", and lobby matching, all free of charge. Joystiq's reporter speculates (and justifiably, I think) that additional features will probably be bundled in a different service package, not unlike XBox Live's Premium features.

There, that's about it. The article I linked is set up as a newspost with twenty seperate updates, so the info's scattered a bit. I hope my summary was adequate, and let the hype begin.
HamedoComment 7: 2006-03-15 15:34
Hamedo The free online is a big bonus, but it'll probably be largely unmoderated which will hurt it.

The price, though, will hurt sales IMO. Cutting edge or not, most folks will probably go with the 360.

Please bear in mind, I am almost always wrong about such things. The PS3 will most likely make more money for Sony than God has.
Zeromus_XComment 8: 2006-03-15 20:19
Zeromus_X Ew! What a big price tag! Do you think this will hurt sales? Well, I'm sure there'll be people who'll buy it regardless. Thank goodness it can play ps1 and ps2 games! (At least, I assume that's what "fully backwards compatible" means.)

HamedoComment 9: 2006-03-15 20:54
Hamedo You are correct in your assumption. It means that the PS3 will play all PS generation games.
RujukenComment 10: 2006-03-15 23:16
Rujuken Man, I'm never going to be able to afford these next gen consoles. Makes me wanna cry. user posted image

Nice to be getting some info about the console I want the most, though. The online components sound great. Free is always good. Buying a PS3 might actually be cheaper than a 360 in the long run, considering the best feature for the 360 is XBox Live and you have to make monthly payments on that. But the 360's online service will most likely be better because you have to pay for it.
laszlowComment 11: 2006-03-18 21:55
laszlow Joystiq and 1up tell me that the PS3 is indeed going to ship with that aforementioned 60 GB hard drive, but no word on exactly how it's going to affect the console's price.

This fully upgradeable hard drive will be preinstalled with Linux, and run PS1 and PS2 games in higher-definition resolutions. This news is mostly the same age as the earlier bits I've mentioned, but I personally was concerned about the PS3's shipping with or without the hard drive, and I found an answer.
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