PS3 Due In November
After months of speculation and rumor about the PS3, Sony finally decided to put an end to all the speculation and rumor surrounding its next generation console by holding an official press conference today in Tokyo. The headline item to come out of the briefing with Sony games chief Ken Kutaragi (reported on in detail by Joystiq) is that the system won’t be available until November. On the upside, we can at least expect to see the game console this year as opposed to next spring as some had been speculating, and we will have plenty of time to save up those shekels: PS3 retail price in the US is being reported anywhere between $399 and $500.
Maybe the most surprising news to come out of the announcement is that Sony will launch the system worldwide at the same time, rather than in regional phases. That’s good news for gamers in Europe, who have traditionally been the last to get the new systems, but somewhat bad news for Japanese consumers, some of who may have thought they might still get a chance to buy PS3 late this spring or during the summer.
Among the other key points to come out of the press conference, Kutaragi said the system will come with a 60GB HDD that will be loaded with Linux and that game makers are being encouraged to develop titles that will actually use the storage. Sony also indicated that the PS3 could become a home media server, able to store and stream audio and video. The system will come with Gigabit Ethernet capability to connect to home networks and the Internet and Kutaragi revealed Sony is developing an online gaming service to be called the PlayStation Network Platform. The basic service is expected to be free, though no details as to what a premium service might provide.
As for the reasons behind the delay, Sony is apparently citing problems with its copy protection technology for the Blu-ray Disc drive, as well as some other glitches. However, Engadget has pointed out that AACS is clearly not the problem because the first Blu-ray devices are coming out in the first half of this year, so this could all be a smoke screen for some other problems Sony is having. The company did say, though, that they plan on producing more than 6 million units by March of 2007 and thus avoiding the shortage problems that hampered early sales of the Xbox 360.
Oh, and for you gamers hoping for a price drop in the PS2 sometime soon, you can stop holding your breath: Sony says they’ll hold the line on the $149 US price through most of the rest of this year.
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