No PS3 until March next year then....(for us europeans)

[Worm]

TOKYO (Reuters) - Sony Corp. said on Wednesday it would delay the European launch of its PlayStation 3 (PS3) video game console by about four months to March and cut its target for shipments this year by half.

Sony had planned to launch the new version of its blockbuster PlayStation console in November, setting the stage for a three-way showdown with Microsoft Corp. and Nintendo Co. Ltd. during the key holiday shopping season.

Ken Kutaragi, the head of Sony's game unit and known as the "father of the PlayStation", told reporters Sony would ship 2 million PS3 units this year, half a previously forecast 4 million, but would make up the lost ground to hit a target of 6 million consoles shipped by March.

Sony said it still planned to launch the PS3 on November 11 in Japan and on November 17 in the United States.



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

Flagging potential problems with the PS3 roll-out, Mitsubishi UFJ Securities last month cut by half its shipment forecast to 3 million of the new PlayStations in the current business year to March, citing difficulties in procuring its cutting-edge parts.

The success or failure of the PS3 will have a far-reaching impact on Sony's group earnings.

At stake is more than just pole position in the nearly $30 billion (16 billion pounds) 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 PlayStation 3 comes with a Blu-ray high-definition optical disc player and is powered by the Cell microchip, dubbed a "supercomputer on a chip".

Sony holds high hopes that the PlayStation 3 will help Blu-ray technology conquer a rival format called HD DVD in becoming the standard for the next-generation DVD. HD DVD is backed by a group of companies lead by Toshiba.

[Bob_The_Engineer]

Being honest I don't think Microsoft are taking advantage of these setbacks. The games out on the 360 currently are a bit of a lackluster affair, the launch titles were not all that and in the months since it released we are still seeing games that were orginally slated as launch titles hit the market.

I think Gears of War may be the first game to actually be a must-have, but so far nothing has proven a PS3 beater even given the 1 year lead.

[AG40k]

Boo hoo, sony scuffed up again

COme on ninty, wii for christmas will do nicley

[Blade!]

The current 360 games are lacking somewhat...oomf.

However, September to December releases look good.

Dead Rising anyone?

[John Dee]

Thats almost tempting me to buy a 360 but the £280 price tag ontop of £50 per game is still to much cash.

[Assassin]

There probably just saying that to fool everyone into thinking it isnt coming out this christmas, so parents will buy the new best thing. Then WHAM!! PS3 launch. And they all have to get loans to buy there kids one and they'll all be in debt mwuhahahaha.

[sm]

I wasn't going to get one anyway.

[Worm]

The current 360 games are lacking somewhat...oomf.

However, September to December releases look good.

Dead Rising anyone?

Yeah, comes out tomorrow, along with Test Drive Unlimited.

Im pretty impressed with saints row TBH, its going to show how good the next GTA will be.

My problem is that they have a dry period of 2 months with game launches, then all of a sudden, they hit you with 4-5 decent titles withing the space of a month.

I think my future list of games (that are shaping up to be pretty good) are:

Dead Rising
Gears of War
Lost Planet
PES 6
COD 3
Mass Effect
Alan Wake
Resident Evil 5
Golden Axe
GTA 4
Halo 3