PS3 Launch Descending Into Farce

Sony delays the launch of the console in Europe to 2007 and shreds launch allocations for the US and Japan.

What's been bubbling beneath the surface of PlayStation 3 news for the past few months has at last come to pass. Faced with a rabid worldwide audience and equally severe component delays, Sony has decided to hold back the release of the PlayStation 3 in Europe and other PAL countries until March.

"The revision of the launch date in the SCEE territories," says the gloomy press release, "is caused by the delay in the mass production schedule of the blue laser diode within the Sony Group, thus affecting the timely procurement of key components to be utilised in PlayStation 3."

The blue laser diode, which is a key part of the much-ballyhooed Blu-ray drive that sits at the technological heart of the PlayStation 3, is about a month behind schedule, according to PlayStation boss Ken Kutaragi.

And it's not just Europe getting hit by the diode shortage. Kutaragi said on Wednesday that shipments in the US and Japan would hit just more than 2 million units by the end of the year instead of the 4 million that were originally promised.

Both launches will also take major numbers hits. In the US, Sony will have 400,000 units for the launch on 17 November, while Japanese gamers will find just 100,000 units waiting for them on 11 November, according to the Associated Press. It's not clear how Sony will divvy that up into 20 GB and 60 GB models.

Despite all this, Sony says it will still hit its target 6 million PlayStation 3s shipped worldwide by the end of March.

The timing of the delay suggests that Sony's European arm was caught off guard. Just this week Sony launched the official PlayStation 3 site, which is filled with information for would-be buyers. Now it seems like taunting.

SCEE's marketing plans are shelved for now

The delay is nothing new for Europe, of course. Sony's European boss, David Reeves, said last year that his company likes to go last when it comes to hardware launches. Despite the ill will it elicits from early adopters, Reeves said, a later release means more stable hardware and a more mature line-up of games.

Still, it will be vexing to the throngs of Sony fans who have already circled 17 November on their calendars.

The big question now is whether Microsoft and Nintendo, which is set to release the Wii in Europe later this year, will be able to take advantage of Sony's stumble.

Things were very similar in the handheld space last year, with the PSP coming out months after the DS, and that hasn't turned out well for Sony. Considering the current console distribution, though, that's not a completely fair comparison.

Sony is, for now, the big winner in Europe and has sold more than 40 million PlayStation 2s here. Will it be able to stave off the Xbox 360 and the Wii and do as well again? We'll have to wait until next year for a better idea.

Alex Wollenschlaeger
Editor, Kikizo Games