Sony Announces PS3 Delayed Until November 2006.

Well, it is now official. In a special short-notice press briefing yesterday by Sony Playstation head Ken Kutaragi, Sony announced that the PS3 will launch in "early" November of 2006, not "Spring 2006" as Sony had been claiming up until today. Also, Kutaragi indicated that the PS3 launch, unlike any other Sony game console launch so far, and like the Xbox 360 launch, would occur "worldwide" - i.e., simultaneously in Japan, US, and Europe in November.

See http://www.engadget.com/2006/03/15/ps3-november-delay-official-other-deets-revealed/ and http://www.joystiq.com/2006/03/15/ps3-press-conference-it-begins/ for some initial report roundups.

And see http://www.gamespot.com/news/6146007.html for a good summary of the briefing details.

Some details mentioned in today’s briefing reportedly include:

Sony is claiming that the PS3 launch date change was a result of delays in finalizing the copy protection schemes for the Blu-Ray disc formats;

at least one configuration of the PS3 will include a 60GB hard drive;

while no specific pricing was stated, it was indicated that the lowest-priced configuration of the PS3 will cost not less than about $425;

a free online service similar to Xbox Live Silver will be included with each PS3, with "premium" services available as well;

it was confirmed that the PS3 will be "100%" backward compatible with PS1 and PS2 games;

final PS3 development kits will ship to developers in June (which seems a somewhat short timeframe in which to get games ready for a November launch); and

Sony asserted that it plans to ship one million units per month starting in November (presumably that is a worldwide number, meaning the distribution is likely to be something along the lines of about 400,000 in Japan, 400,000 in the US, and 200,000 in Europe - not unlike Microsoft's hoped for distribution on the 360).

Spot Analysis: While Sony has now essentially admitted that the launch of the PS3 is being delayed due to what amounts to development details, Sony clearly does not want to cede another holiday selling season to Microsoft and the Xbox 360. As a result, Sony will attempt to do what Microsoft tried with the Xbox 360 in November-December of 2005 - a simultaneous worldwide launch.

As a global consumer electronics company with long years of experience coordinating electronics product introductions around the world, I would expect Sony to have somewhat more success with managing the launch of a device like the PS3 than Microsoft, a software company at its core. Many of the difficulties consumers faced with the Xbox 360 launch, especially unfilled pre-orders, may be eased somewhat by the lessons learned by retailers through the Xbox 360 launch. However, looking at Sony's claimed shipping numbers, there are certainly going to be shortages and long lines at launch time, not unlike those seen for the Xbox 360 this past holiday.

Sony has also left the door open to Microsoft (and, for that matter, Nintendo) to maintain a lower price point than Sony. What has long been expected now seems clear: even without a price cut from Microsoft this holiday for the Xbox 360, the base PS3 will be at least as expensive as the current high-end Xbox 360 package (currently $399, with hard drive).

Speculation: I would not be surprised to see Microsoft: (a) announce a new, upgraded top Xbox 360 package with a larger hard drive (say 100GB) at the same $400 price (depending on what Sony's final pricing on the PS3 actually will be); and/or (b) drop the price on both the current "Core" and "Premium" 360 units by $50 each. And there's always the likelihood that Microsoft will make available the add-on HD-DVD drive for the Xbox 360 that they announced at CES 2006, probably for not more than $200-$300. Whatever happens, you can bet that Microsoft will take some action to counter the PS3 launch and make the Xbox 360 as attractive an alternative as possible to consumers in this coming Holiday season of 2006.

Parting Thought of the Day: Let the rampant speculation begin (and it already has – check any gaming news site): Will we see Halo 3 in November, or even on "new-release Tuesday," October 31st, 2006!?!? Can you say Happy Halloween from Microsoft? I think so.