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Sony PlayStation 3 delayed in Europe; Caused by problem of Blu-ray disc laser
Topic Started: Sep 9 2006, 05:18 PM (513 Views)
Game Freak
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King of Games
LOS ANGELES/TOKYO - Sony said Wednesday it would delay the launch of its PlayStation 3 game machine in Europe and other regions to March from November due to inadequate supply of a key component, missing the critical Christmas shopping season.

This is the second time Sony Corp., which competes with Microsoft Corp. and Nintendo Co. Ltd. in the nearly $30 billion video game market, has delayed the sale of its latest blockbuster PlayStation console. Earlier this year, it had pushed back the overall PS3 launch from spring 2006.

The announcement, made after the Tokyo stock market closed, follows recalls of almost 6 million notebook PC batteries Sony provided to Dell Inc. and Apple Computer Inc. , raising concerns over its core manufacturing strength.

"I feel sorry. I think there are so many people out there who hold such high expectations for PS3," Ken Kutaragi, the head of Sony's game unit, told reporters.

Sony said in a statement out of London the delay will affect regions that, like Europe, use Phase-Alternating Line (PAL) as a standard video format, so PS3 launches in Russia, the Middle East, Africa and Australasia will also be pushed back to March.

The United States and Japan, the largest markets for video game consoles, both use the competing National Television System Committee (NTSC) format.

Sony, the world's second-largest consumer electronics maker in the early stages of an earnings recovery, hopes the PS3, as well as its hot-selling Bravia brand liquid crystal display TVs, will put it firmly on the growth path.

But the delay means the PS3 falls far behind rival machines Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Nintendo's Wii in reaching some markets. Microsoft launched its Xbox 360 late last year and Nintendo plans to offer the Wii in the final quarter of 2006.

Kutaragi, known as the "father of the PlayStation", said commercial production of blue laser, a key component for PS3's Blu-ray optical disc drive, has fallen behind the original schedule, forcing the delay.

Sony has kept unchanged its Japan launch on Nov. 11 and its North American launch on Nov. 17.

It has also stuck to its target to ship 6 million units of PS3 worldwide by the end of the current business year to March despite the delay in Europe, while cutting by half its shipment target for calendar 2006 to 2 million.

Far-reaching impact
Shares of top U.S. video game publishers, including Electronic Arts Inc. and Activision Inc., fell in response to the PS3 European delay.

And Daiwa Institute of Research analyst Kazuharu Miura joined a group of industry watchers who are bearish on PS3.

"We had forecast PS3 shipments of 5 million, instead of Sony's 6 million forecast. I think 4 million is a more realistic picture now," he said, adding it was hard to gauge the effect on game division profits in the year to March 2007.

Sony said in April it expected its game division to make an operating loss of 100 billion yen ($860 million) this business year due to heavy start-up costs for the PS3.

Sony is expected to make a loss on each console it sells at the initial stage, making the assessment of a financial impact from the delay difficult. But the success or failure of the PS3 will certainly have a huge impact on Sony's mid-term earnings.

At stake is more than just pole position in the video game industry, but also dominance in next-generation DVDs and the commercial viability of the "Cell" microchip co-developed by Toshiba Corp. and International Business Machines Corp. The PS3 comes with a Blu-ray high-definition optical disc player and is powered by the Cell, dubbed a "supercomputer on a chip".

Kutaragi said production of Cell chips has been progressing smoothly, and the company now has more than 3 million of them in stock, dispelling speculation that Sony may be experiencing difficulty in volume production of the advanced microchips.

"Cell production is going extremely well. In fact, it is going much better than we had anticipated," Kutaragi said.

Sony hopes the PS3 will help Blu-ray technology conquer a rival format backed by a Toshiba-led group of companies, HD DVD, to become the next-generation DVD standard.

The game console is the widely awaited successor to the PlayStation 2, of which more than 100 million have been sold since its launch in 2000.

Source: MSN News
Completed:
- Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (2005)
- Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker (2006)
- Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Dec. '06)
- Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening (7/24/07)
- Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages (8/09/07)
- Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons with Final Ending (8/22/07)
- Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap (4/05/08)
- Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (4/09/08)
- Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (4/12/08)
- Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures (4/21/08)
- The Legend of Zelda (4/23/08)
- Majora's Mask (2/20/09)
Currently Playing:
- Zelda II: Adventure of Link
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wildrj
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Peahat
Of cource its going to be delayed at least 2 more times before it comes out.
Making games for ps3 is no easy matter yet alone burn them to a blueray disk.
Also that damn blueRay player has been giving them trouble from the start.
I know one thing thow it is going to be worth the long wait.
Programming is a way of life.
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Which FF Character Are You? %mh%15%mh%
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burnedalive
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RAWR!!!!!!! GRAH!!!!
haha europeans!!!
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Arnieboy
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Garo
HAHA I DON'T CARE I'M WITH THE WII WOOT RELEASED THIS YEAR NOT AN EXTRA 6 MONTHS WAIT THIS TIME!
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Link_of_animals
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Master of Cows, MASTER..OF THE WORLD!
Well, I'm going to go cry..
In that hole over there....
I didn't really read much of it, what about North America?
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Game Freak
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King of Games
NA = release first for Wii thus putting Sony at the end of the line.
Completed:
- Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (2005)
- Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker (2006)
- Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Dec. '06)
- Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening (7/24/07)
- Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages (8/09/07)
- Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons with Final Ending (8/22/07)
- Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap (4/05/08)
- Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (4/09/08)
- Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (4/12/08)
- Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures (4/21/08)
- The Legend of Zelda (4/23/08)
- Majora's Mask (2/20/09)
Currently Playing:
- Zelda II: Adventure of Link
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Cheese_lover
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The God Of All Cheeses
It's kinda weired thinking that Wii comming out in less than 3 months! :D
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burnedalive
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RAWR!!!!!!! GRAH!!!!
very much so
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Cheese_lover
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The God Of All Cheeses
I'm so excited though, can't wait for SSBB
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Panther III
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Triforce of Power
Cheese_lover
Sep 20 2006, 06:25 AM
It's kinda weired thinking that Wii comming out in less than 3 months! :D

Less than two!
"Would you like to play... Money Making Game?!"
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Cheese_lover
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The God Of All Cheeses
What's the exact date, you know?
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Panther III
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Triforce of Power
November 19, 2006
"Would you like to play... Money Making Game?!"
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Cheese_lover
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The God Of All Cheeses
Panther III
Sep 21 2006, 09:07 PM
November 19, 2006

DANG! My b-day is the 13th! >:|
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Arnieboy
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Garo
Lol i posted all the dates before hand XD

And i agree with you cheese SSBB will be awesome! Hey wait a minute, if it has online multiplayer, who wants to fight the SSB myster online? ;)
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Cheese_lover
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The God Of All Cheeses
We all will, won't it probably a new section on the forum! Totally awesome!
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Naoko
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I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS
If there's an SSBB forum it'll have to be a personal forum. Why're we talking about this, anyway? This is a thread about the PS3! X_x;
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Cheese_lover
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The God Of All Cheeses
Well, we're excited that Wii is beating PS3 at the next-gen console
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Fullmetal
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Moblin
To stay in competition with Nintendo and Microsoft, Sony is officialy going to drop the PS3's price. I saw that in the newspaper yesterday. It didn't say how much it would drop, but anyway.

I guess Sony really wants to stay in competition. When the PS3 was at 600 US dollars, they weren't making any profit on it, in fact they were losing money. Imagine what they're going to lose now if the price really drops.
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Arnieboy
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Garo
It's dropped to the full X-box 360 with hard drive etc, price apparently, they obviously knew that their price was OUTRAGEOUS...FINALLY! XD

In the end though Wii will win the don't XD (crap pun i know :P)
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Ricky
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With 200 posts I can enter a rank. Long rank. Looooooooonnng.
He he, now I'm not gonna get it! They can't even keep a deadline! <_< Look out Sony! I'm coming with the Chinese that make your products!!!! :nervous:
Please, I need 300 Rupees to buy a personal forum!

Click!!!

Oh, and do not email me...my email is down... :(

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