Is PS3 Spring 2006 at all possible?

shreddedloops

Have sony announced that it will be later? or is evryone just expecting the delay? last time i saw sony was still pushing Spring 2006 but i havnt been up to date so correct me if im wrong.

Slippin Jimmy

I would say the earliest in Ireland that it will be released would be this Christmas. It will be more than likely earlier in the US and Japan. So to answer your question, no.

projectmayhem

september for US/Japan and November for europe are the latest projected dates

kc66

Now they dont expect it to be released in the US till 2007 according to an article I came across on Google news. Its gone now so dont have a link.

came across this: http://www.ps3news.ca/02162006/10/ps3_to_hit_europe_march_2007

4Xcut

Its getting harder and harder to resist that XBOX 360.:D If sony would just release some informaion to keep us from surrendering to a new Far Cry.mmmmmm.........Far Cry.

GrumPy

Far cry yeah, some really sweet 360 titles are finally hitting our shelves this march, ghosts3, elder scrolls: oblivion, fight night round3, battlefield, football manger 2006.

LookingFor

kc66 wrote:

Now they dont expect it to be released in the US till 2007

Yeah, that's not gonna happen. It'll hit the US by Nov at the very very latest, and word is September. That could line things up nicely for a November launch here, ala PS2.

Sony's silence is bringing out a lot of crackpot theories though. People need to just hang tight for another month or so. The head of Sony's worldwide studios will be making a keynote about PS3 at the Game Developers Conference next month..we should get a better idea then of what's coming down the pipe for the system, and obviously by E3 in May we should have a LOT more to go on.

edit - oh, I see the report you're talking about, the Merrill Lynch report? It's laughable. Their cost estimates for PS3 production are just way off the base, and even wholly contradict their own earlier reports. They didn't even add up their own figures correctly. They also got it wrong about PS2's launch - and that was supposedly with data from Sony. Basically these analysts pull stuff out of thin air, I would not pay any attention to it.

monument

LookingFor wrote:

Yeah, that's not gonna happen. It'll hit the US by Nov at the very very latest, and word is September. That could line things up nicely for a November launch here, ala PS2.

Sony's silence is bringing out a lot of crackpot theories though. People need to just hang tight for another month or so. The head of Sony's worldwide studios will be making a keynote about PS3 at the Game Developers Conference next month..we should get a better idea then of what's coming down the pipe for the system, and obviously by E3 in May we should have a LOT more to go on.

edit - oh, I see the report you're talking about, the Merrill Lynch report? It's laughable. Their cost estimates for PS3 production are just way off the base, and even wholly contradict their own earlier reports. They didn't even add up their own figures correctly. They also got it wrong about PS2's launch - and that was supposedly with data from Sony. Basically these analysts pull stuff out of thin air, I would not pay any attention to it.

...

Sony's plans for the launch of PlayStation 3 are likely to be one of the biggest factors defining publisher and developer planning for 2006 - but in the absence of hard facts, it's essential to be wary of uninformed speculation, says Rob Fahey.

http://gamesindustry.biz/feature.php?aid=14211

UberNewb

LookingFor wrote:

Yeah, that's not gonna happen. It'll hit the US by Nov at the very very latest, and word is September. That could line things up nicely for a November launch here, ala PS2.

Sony's silence is bringing out a lot of crackpot theories though. People need to just hang tight for another month or so. The head of Sony's worldwide studios will be making a keynote about PS3 at the Game Developers Conference next month..we should get a better idea then of what's coming down the pipe for the system, and obviously by E3 in May we should have a LOT more to go on.

edit - oh, I see the report you're talking about, the Merrill Lynch report? It's laughable. Their cost estimates for PS3 production are just way off the base, and even wholly contradict their own earlier reports. They didn't even add up their own figures correctly. They also got it wrong about PS2's launch - and that was supposedly with data from Sony. Basically these analysts pull stuff out of thin air, I would not pay any attention to it.

So you haven't a clue either then... :rolleyes:

LookingFor

UberNewb wrote:

So you haven't a clue either then... :rolleyes:

My clue's as good as Merrill Lynch's

Seriously, in the history of analyst expectations vs what actually has happened, the analysts almost always "lose", particularly for some reason when it comes to Sony game product. I still remember talk of $700 PS2s, $500 PSPs :eek: :rolleyes: I'm sure there's some well defined metric and approach to how they come up with these things, but they may as well be pulling things out of their asses for how accurate they are.

UberNewb

Well we'll just have to wait and see. I would rather it sooner than later but I'm not holding my breath...

steviec

That article quotes a blu ray drive as being $350?

Isn't it just a DVD drive with a different colour laser. It even spins slower! I'm no expert on lasers but I'd be shocked if thats what the drive is costing them. I reckon Merrill Lynch may have looked into the price of standalone drives and forgot to take into account that those drives include a whole lot of circuitry which in the case of PS3 is just offloaded to the Cell.

I mean if thats how much it costs, just for the drive, to the creator of the medium who will be mass producing it in huge quantities, then the format has no chance in hell of taking off outside of PS3 where manufacturers need to include a drive, hardware to decode high def signals, and try to make a profit on top.

Dont be at yourself

The cheapest standalone blu-ray player will retail for about $1,000 - and I presume that`s as competitive as they can get it at this stage, as they`re going to want them out as cheap as possible to steal a lead on HD-DVD. As you say, the Cell and RSX can replace a lot of the gubbins contributing to that $1,000, but even so, $350 sounds somewhat realistic.

But then again, everyone should remember what analysts, not to mention publishers, were saying before the PSP launch. Figures upwards of $500 were quoted as pretty much a certainty.

LookingFor

NekkidBibleMan wrote:

The cheapest standalone blu-ray player will retail for about $1,000 - and I presume that`s as competitive as they can get it at this stage

Not at all. Most new technology milks the market starting out, the high-end early adopters (though videogame machines are an exception to this..). These $1000+ machines are aimed at the high-end videophile market, and you can be sure there's a healthy margin built in to those.

Anyway, Sony has responded to the Merill Lynch report:

http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/NewsArticle.aspx?type=technologyNews&storyID=2006-02-20T053050Z_01_T157501_RTRIDST_0_TECH-SONY-PLAYSTATION-DC.XML

Sony Corp. said on Monday it still aims to launch its next-generation PlayStation 3 video game console this spring, but it could be delayed if industry specifications for some of its technology are not finalised soon.

The launch of Playstation 3 (PS3) has been the subject of heavy speculation in the industry as expectations are high for the powerful machine, which will feature cutting-edge technology in its DVD, processors and graphics.

PS3 will be competing with Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox 360, which went on sale last November, and Nintendo Co. Ltd.'s Revolution, which is expected later this year.

"We're aiming for spring, but we haven't announced specific regions," a spokeswoman for Sony Computer Entertainment said, adding that it was waiting for the final specifications on some of the technology it is using in the PS3, such as that related to the Blu-ray drive and to input and output video and sound.

The specifications are decided by industry consortiums.

"We're waiting for them until the last possible minute, but the launch could be pushed back if they're not decided soon," the spokeswoman said. If the PS3 is not ready in time, the company will choose the next best timing for the launch, she said.

The company's shares fell as much as 4.4 percent on Monday after Merrill Lynch said in a research note last week that the PS3's launch might be delayed by six to 12 months and the cost of materials could initially approach $900 per unit.

I think it's safe to say it won't be delayed till 07 as Merrill Lynch suggested. The specs they're talking about include the AACS spec, which there's actually an interim workaround available for now (which HD-DVD is using to launch on time), but it could be "properly" finalised as early as next week. The next-generation HDMI spec is due to be finalised in Apr/May IIRC, or possibly earlier.

My guess is it'll launch in Japan by July.

projectmayhem

phil harrison gives a keynote speech next week at GDC... we'll get some info there

LookingFor

That's next month (March 22), and I don't think they'll announce launch dates or the like there, it's not that kind of show.

Vegeta

It'll be out July in Japan and for Thanksgiving in America and we might have it by xmas! That's my guess anyway

projectmayhem

LookingFor wrote:

That's next month (March 22), and I don't think they'll announce launch dates or the like there, it's not that kind of show.

i thought it was feb 27 - march 3

zAbbo

the blu-ray spec isn't even settled on, you can safely say no ps3 for 2006

monument

projectmayhem wrote:

i thought it was feb 27 - march 3

No... Harrison is on March 22 - Wednesday

http://www.gdconf.com/

LookingFor

zabbo wrote:

the blu-ray spec isn't even settled on, you can safely say no ps3 for 2006

The AACS spec - Blu-ray and HD-DVD's content protection scheme - is not finalised. They were close to finalisation two weeks ago - the next meeting is this week, and it could well be finalised then. The only impact this has is a software one - they can't get encryption keys and stuff onto the players until the spec is finalised. Once it is finalised, apparently 2 or 3 weeks later players can be on the shelves.

Even that asides, there's an interim workaround available - that's what's letting HD-DVD launched as planned in March, instead of in April.

So no, this won't push PS3 out of 2006, not by a long stretch.

Winters

Sony are still confirming Spring '06 launch anyway.

Kristok

msnbc had a thing on ealier with so called experts saying the release date is looking like it could be a year off now cause there having problems with the protection on blue ray and other problems with the graphics chips. Dont know how true any of it is.

LookingFor

The copy protection stuff is not a big problem, it may in fact be finalised this week, and there's an interim solution available for systems to use if they want to launch in the meantime.

I've heard of no problems with the GPU, that's purely speculative. I've seen some comments in a few articles that developers don't have final hardware yet - though some have "near-final" hardware - but that's hardly significant. Devs didn't have final hardware for Xbox 360 until a couple of months before launch, at the earliest.

Oh, and just to show you how meaningless analyst estimates as to manufacturing cost are, another analyst has come out and said they've calculated the cost to be $533 (as opposed to Merrill Lynch's $900) :rolleyes:

I think the system will be delayed..but only by a couple of months. It'll be out in Japan before autumn, and in the US by winter at least, I think. One can only hope and pray regarding Europe..we'll see how that goes.

tosh_thedude

Interesting article on the delayed release of the Playstation 3, I've always be patient for the release but maybe this is getting at little out of control. Looks more like Xmas in Ireland before the release.

Here's the Artical:

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117939258?categoryid=18&cs=1&s=h&p=0

4Xcut

Just keep saying to yourself: Location free with psp, Location free with psp.
Seriously if it doesn't have this after i'm waiting for it i'll be royally p|ssed

Ciaran500

4Xcut wrote:

Just keep saying to yourself: Location free with psp, Location free with psp.
Seriously if it doesn't have this after i'm waiting for it i'll be royally p|ssed

Why? Its been nothing but rumours, don't get your hopes up.

Franky Boy

Last year when they were announcing the psp date for Irealand,they said it would be 29th April and then when it came to the end of March it was put forward to 1st Septmber.
They will probably give 6 months notice i would presume!

Captain Trips

This sucks, but at least now I know I should not put off getting a 360 as it's realistically going to be a year before the PS3 and games are actually going to be in any shops (or at least, not having to import one).

I'd be hoping for an official launch in EU for christmas 06.

projectmayhem

the last thing sony wants is to veer off into 2007. i've said it before, and i'll say it again, sony need to have a worldwide launch in 2006 for financial reasons

EasyBoy1974

projectmayhem wrote:

sony need to have a worldwide launch in 2006 for financial reasons

What financial reasons PM? A company's financial (fiscal) year typically does not run from January to December. In my company we just finished financial year '06 at the end of January '05. :rolleyes:

I could understand if they wanted the majority of launch sales revenue to show up in a fiscal year, but when does the fiscal year run from and to?

Just have this horrible sinking feeling that it's gonna be AGES b4 i gots my shiny PS3 :mad:

kellxor.1337

They'll have to have it out by xmas, They'd never wait a whole year after the 360 was out, pMost of the news is just speculation, FACT, I've seen a few articles online about the DELAYS and whoever wrote the article cant even spell, I'm not sayin i'm Perfect but I'll only trust what SONY say,

And still no idea of the price, If it's more than €500 I might have to pass up on it, Thats kinda steep



Kellxor

Slippin Jimmy

kellxor.1337 wrote:

I'll only trust what SONY say,




Kellxor

Well said. Sony are the only ones who know when it will be out. I would imagine that it would be out sometime this year. But that is only my opinion. As said before, I don't think sony will wait another year seen as the 360 is out. I would also say that if it is this year that the product will be out by/for Christmas. But again this is only what I think, Sony are the only ones that know.

Ciaran500

Why would you trust what Sony said up recently they were insisting it would be out for Spring 06.

Not to mention their terrible track record of lying.

Slippin Jimmy

Ciaran500 wrote:

Why would you trust what Sony said up recently they were insisting it would be out for Spring 06.

Not to mention their terrible track record of lying.

I can't really see sony holding it much longer because the 360 is out and people are getting used to it.They cannot afford to hold it for much longer.

shortys94

the psp was released nearly a year after japan release, i think we can expect long delays with this console, i means theres hardly any factual information about the console, the design isnt even finalised, who knows maybe there renaming it:P

Slippin Jimmy

shortys94 wrote:

the psp was released nearly a year after japan release.

I see the point you are making here. But I was talking to a manager in Game and he said that he would rather get the PS3 in after it was released in Japan first, for the simple reason that all problems would be sorted out when it got to us.

i think we can expect long delays with this console

There is no information as of yet to suggest that the console was delayed. I know the PSP was delayed, but am not sure of the reason why it was. It is your opinion and you are entitled to it.

i means theres hardly any factual information about the console,

This is a very interesting statement to make and you are right in saying this. There is not much info on this console at all.

I have taken this from PS3land
Official PS3 Specs

Here are the official technical specifications for the PS3, taken directly from Sony:

CPU
Cell Processor
PowerPC-base Core @3.2GHz
1 VMX vector unit per core
512KB L2 cache
7 x SPE @3.2GHz
7 x 128b 128 SIMD GPRs
7 x 256KB SRAM for SPE
* 1 of 8 SPEs reserved for redundancy
total floating point performance: 218 GFLOPS

GPU
RSX @550MHz
1.8 TFLOPS floating point performance
Full HD (up to 1080p) x 2 channels
Multi-way programmable parallel floating point shader pipelines

Sound
Dolby 5.1ch, DTS, LPCM, etc. (Cell- base processing)
Memory
256MB XDR Main RAM @3.2GHz 256MB GDDR3 VRAM @700MHz

System Bandwidth
Main RAM 25.6GB/s
VRAM 22.4GB/s
RSX 20GB/s (write) + 15GB/s (read)
SB< 2.5GB/s (write) + 2.5GB/s (read)

System Floating Point Performance
2 TFLOPS

Storage
Detachable 2.5" HDD slot x 1

I/O
USB Front x 4, Rear x 2 (USB2.0)
Memory Stick standard/Duo, PRO x 1
SD standard/mini x 1
CompactFlash (Type I, II) x 1

Communication
Ethernet (10BASE-T, 100BASE-TX, 1000BASE-T) x 3 (input x 1 + output x 2)
Wi-Fi IEEE 802.11 b/g
Bluetooth 2.0 (EDR)

Controller
Bluetooth (up to 7)
USB 2.0 (wired)
Wi-Fi (PSP)
Network (over IP)

AV Output
Screen size: 480i, 480p, 720p, 1080i, 1080p
HDMI: HDMI out x 2
Analog: AV MULTI OUT x 1
Digital audio: DIGITAL OUT (OPTICAL) x 1

Disc Media
CD PlayStation CD-ROM, PlayStation 2 CD-ROM, CD-DA, CD-DA (ROM), CD-R, CD-RW, SACD, SACD Hybrid (CD layer), SACD HD, DualDisc, DualDisc (audio side), DualDisc (DVD side)
DVD: PlayStation 2 DVD-ROM, PlayStation 3 DVD-ROM, DVD-Video, DVD-ROM, DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD+R, DVD+RW
Blu-ray Disc: PlayStation 3 BD-ROM, BD-Video, BD-ROM, BD-R, BD-RE

This is supposedll list of the specs that will be with the PS3. I am not sure how much is right and how much is wrong. But only time will tell.

projectmayhem

EasyBoy1974 wrote:

What financial reasons PM? A company's financial (fiscal) year typically does not run from January to December. In my company we just finished financial year '06 at the end of January '05. :rolleyes:

I could understand if they wanted the majority of launch sales revenue to show up in a fiscal year, but when does the fiscal year run from and to?

Just have this horrible sinking feeling that it's gonna be AGES b4 i gots my shiny PS3 :mad:

well first, christmas. but the financial year is a big one. sony have had a horrible time getting back into profit overall and have only gotten back in the last year or two. having blu-ray AND a ps3 out in the same fiscal year is important. they also have to close each fiscal year in each territory with the consoles out, so that their reports are valid (or something - i forget all the terminology)

EasyBoy1974

projectmayhem wrote:

well first, christmas.

D'Oh! - Xmas of course ... sorry not got me thinkin head on

tosh_thedude

Anyone hear anything on the price of the PS3??? For Ireland that is..... One of my mates said 600euro :eek:

Captain Trips

The first Blu Ray movies are being launched in May 06, so maybe by then Sony will have some solid info, or indeed, just send me one in the post with Final Fantasy XIII and Wipeout Crack Injection or whatever. That would be sweet.

LookingFor

It seems Sony may be planning a press conference related to PS3 for March 15, next Wednesday. That is, according to the President of Koei:

http://bb.watch.impress.co.jp/cda/news/13128.html

There was a press conference for Koei's Dynasty Warriors MMO on PCs, and the president was asked about their PS3 games. She replied:

"though we have nothing to announce for PS3 today, apparently SCE is going to hold its conference on 15th (March), so some information about PS3 will emerge there."

Worth noting that the following week is Phil Harrison's GDC keynote on PS3.

So..this time next week, all going to plan, some of the curtain should have been lifted I'd be reasonably hopeful that Japanese launch details and price could be announced at this conference next week, if it goes ahead as planned, and that might give us an indication of where the rest of the world is in terms of timing etc. Obviously also, we'd hope for more information on the system itself, the controller, online perhaps, and of course, games! /dreams

edit - turns out, this conference is a closed-door affair for Japanese publishers only, no press See: http://www.gamespot.com/news/6145681.html

WarZoneBrother

the ps3 is going to be realesed this year.

Slippin Jimmy

WarZoneBrother wrote:

the ps3 is going to be realesed this year.

How do you know this. I would be interested in knowing where you heard this information from.

LookingFor

Further to my post above, it turns out the March 15 conference is for publishers only, no press. At least that's how Gamespot reports it:

That may soon change, though. At a Tokyo press conference today, Koei president Kiyoshi Komatsu stated that SCE is holding a conference next week, and he expects to receive updates then. "I really have no [new] information on the PlayStation 3," said Komatsu. "[But] SCE will be holding a presentation next week on the 15th. We expect there will be some new information regarding the PS3 then."

GameSpot confirmed with SCE that a meeting will indeed be taking place next week. However, it will be limited to third-party publishers only, with no press access.

From: http://www.gamespot.com/news/6145681.html

So we probably won't hear anything from this..

In other news, though, SCEE's head has said that PS3 is "on track" and that he's working to have the European release of PS3 follow as closely as possible after the US release. Though what he hopes for and what'll happen may well be too different things:

Speaking to European trade newspaper MCV, Reeves said, "There are so many rumors out there but no-one really knows the facts. I know what's going to happen and I am honestly very, very confident about it."

He spoke about the timing of PS3's European launch. "It is my job to match day and date with the U.S launch," he said. "I am doing my very best to make that happen."

http://www.next-gen.biz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2450&Itemid=2

However, a SCEE spokesperson has also said that Sony definitely is not commiting to a simultaneous US and European PS3 launch, in the wake of Reeve's comments:

A senior spokesperson for SCEE has told GamesIndustry.biz that Sony has made no commitment to launching PS3 simultaneously in the US and Europe, despite comments seemingly to that effect made by SCEE boss David Reeves this week.

"He was referring to the fact that as boss of the European organisation, it's his job and his responsibility to try and get PlayStation 3 into Europe as quickly as he possibly can," Sharples explained. "That's what he's trying to achieve."

"Traditionally, it's gone Japan, then the States, then Europe - not just on our console, but on other games consoles and on other consumer electronics. So he's making the point that personally, his role is to make sure that we get it into Europe absolutely as soon as we can. It's certainly not meant to imply that there will be [simultaneous] day and date, or anything like that."

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=15235

jesus_thats_gre

DonnybrookGhost wrote:

How do you know this. I would be interested in knowing where you heard this information from.

Tut.. Common sense dictates that they will launch before Christmas, at least for 2 of the 3 biggest markets!!

WarZoneBrother

i heard it in a magazine late 06 it said and im sure it will be late 06

Vegeta

I'd be very surprised if this console was out before xmas 06 in Europe. Obviously it makes better sense to have it out before xmas so ppl can buy them but just because it makes sense doesn't mean it'll happen. Sony aint holdin on to the console, it just isn't finished.

Its also worth noting that Spring doesn't start in the rest of the world for nearly 2 weeks. Ireland is a freak when it comes to seasons.

My guess is June in Japan for summer holidays, Thanksgiving for US and maybe if we are lucky December in Europe.

Slippin Jimmy

jesus_thats_gre wrote:

Tut.. Common sense dictates that they will launch before Christmas, at least for 2 of the 3 biggest markets!!

Ok then, I take it you work for Sony. Somehow I doubt it very much. There is noting to suggest that the console will be released by Christmas 06. But I would say if I was to have a guess, that it would. There is no point guessing these things because we don't know if they are right or wrong. These are all just rumours at the moment. The only statement I will listen to is the one from Sony. They are the only people that know when the console will be out. I think that we should deal with facts and not keep on guessing.

LookingFor

FWIW, March 15th might be "on" afterall, as far as new PS3 announcements go. At least one PS3 game's media is embargoed til that date, and possibly others (the screens for that one game actually leaked early - it was a very unremarkable looking Untold Legends game from SOE). There's also rumblings that the conference isn't just for devs afterall, but press will also be there.

DemonOfTheFall

IBM only recently released their Cell "Octopiler" thingy, which can make a basic stab of running normal code on the PS3. That doesn't bode well for the launch titles not sucking balls...

Sony should keep the release delayed until they have GOOD games to release, unlike the 360 that released with whatever cack was lying around.