PlayStation 3 Officially Delayed, Worldwide Launch Set for November

At long last, we have official details about the release of the fabled PlayStation 3. Yes the delay is here, but the worldwide launch more than makes up for it.

For most of this year Sony representatives have insisted that the PlayStation 3 would still be coming this spring. It seems they were fibbing. At a meeting in Tokyo on Wednesday, Sony finally admitted that the PlayStation 3 has been delayed and will arrive early this November. The good news, though, is that all three major regions, Europe, North America and Japan, will be getting the console simultaneously.

The announcement comes as a disappointment to the Japanese and importers, who were expecting to get the console this spring. The release date is in line with what was expected for North America, but it's Europeans (and Australians too) that score big. Many thought Europeans would be waiting until winter 2007 to get their hands on Sony's new console.

"We are absolutely delighted that we will be able to bring PS3 to gamers in Europe and Australia before Christmas.," said Sony's European boss, David Reeves. "This is an exciting first for Europe, and is a huge endorsement and vote of confidence in the strength of the European market and its importance globally"

As Microsoft has learned with the Xbox 360, getting a complicated games console out to a worldwide audience at the same time is not easy, but Sony appears to have taken the rabid demand into account. The company has revealed it'll be pumping out a million consoles a month to make sure that there are plenty of PlayStation 3s to go around this Christmas.

It's not clear when production will kick in, but recent reports suggested that things will be running in earnest by June, meaning that there would be about 5-6 million PlayStation 3s ready by launch day.

There's no word yet on which games will launch along side the console, other than Sony's promise that it'll launch with a "strong and attractive" line-up of games.

The PlayStation 3 promises to pack in some of the most advanced technology available today, including the much-hyped Cell processor and a next-generation DVD Blu-ray drive.

For more information on what you can expect from the console when it launches this November, check out Kikizo's exclusive hands-on report from earlier this year, based on our time with an early version of the console.

Look for more from Sony and the PlayStation 3 later this month when Phil Harrison delivers the keynote address at the annual Game Developers Conference.

Alex Wollenschlaeger
Editor, Kikizo Games