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Official: SCEI re-confirms spring PS3 launch
- Thread starter Vibri
- Start date
inthezone said:If the delay was true Sony would have kept quiet, like they have for all this time. I kinda believe it.
I would like to think its still Spring.
A devil's advocate could argue Sony made a comment not because the story was true, but because the stock value was plummeting downward and they wanted to slow or cease it's descent.
sonycowboy
Member
Well, either Sony is just stringing folks along, until they have good news to go with the bad (which there is quite a bit of good news yet to be released), or they are planning on launching in Japan in June with a very small launch list.
Which I'd say they should NOT do. It's likely going to be ~$500 and Blu-Ray will not hold much appeal at this point, from a consumer standpoint, unlike DVD last round. They need to lead with the games, because the Blu-Ray market is going to take at least a good year to get going with enough releases and enough buzz to make John Q Public take notice.
(Which incidentally, it seems quite strange to me that the focus of Blu-Ray conversation has predominantly been Hollywood & the PC industry battling over security and access. I know all of the Japanese CE companies are on-board, but I haven't heard anything yet which would make me think that Japan is gung-ho on Blu-Ray at all. But, given that I have no knowledge of that region, maybe there's some discusion out there that hasn't made it's way to GAF or to google news?)
Sony, IMO, would be making a mistake to lead with Blu-Ray or any other non-gaming agenda at the outset. They need to have titles that show the promise of next-gen and the acknowledgement that the DS has revealed something about the market and that they get it. Or else, it could face similar challenges to the what the PSP has faced. The PSP is CLEARLY sex graphics-wise vs the DS, but it being out-gamed by Nintendo, and Sony better be paying attention to that.
Which I'd say they should NOT do. It's likely going to be ~$500 and Blu-Ray will not hold much appeal at this point, from a consumer standpoint, unlike DVD last round. They need to lead with the games, because the Blu-Ray market is going to take at least a good year to get going with enough releases and enough buzz to make John Q Public take notice.
(Which incidentally, it seems quite strange to me that the focus of Blu-Ray conversation has predominantly been Hollywood & the PC industry battling over security and access. I know all of the Japanese CE companies are on-board, but I haven't heard anything yet which would make me think that Japan is gung-ho on Blu-Ray at all. But, given that I have no knowledge of that region, maybe there's some discusion out there that hasn't made it's way to GAF or to google news?)
Sony, IMO, would be making a mistake to lead with Blu-Ray or any other non-gaming agenda at the outset. They need to have titles that show the promise of next-gen and the acknowledgement that the DS has revealed something about the market and that they get it. Or else, it could face similar challenges to the what the PSP has faced. The PSP is CLEARLY sex graphics-wise vs the DS, but it being out-gamed by Nintendo, and Sony better be paying attention to that.
sonycowboy said:
I think there's a difference in cost of development that's an issue at the DS/PSP level that's also playing a factor there... not exactly a straight comparison to what the PS3 is going to be looking at as there will be/is a machine out there that is also similarly spec'd with similar costs associated with its development(360).
sonycowboy
Member
DarienA said:
But, a very, very similar comparision to what they will be facing with the Revolution.
PSP ~= 1.5-2* DS
PS3 ~= 1.5-2* Rev ??
And game budgets should reflect something similar.
I think the budget is some of the issue, but IMHO, it's much more fundamental than that. The Japanese public ~seems to be hungering for something different that last gen which could be argued to have gotten a bit stale in it's offerings. And I think it's as much a vote against the status quo (even moreso I'd say) than as a vote for intelligence games and dog simulators.
PhoenixDark
Banned
Sony is seeming almost as secretive as Nintendo with respect to the PS3. Everyone knows it will be at E3, but I'm starting to get a little skeptical of the whole thing. You'd think Sony would have shown more by now. In reality, they have shown nothing. EA showed us Medal of Honor on the PS3 and Konami showed off MGS4, and they look amazing, but Sony has yet to show anything.
I'm not insinuating that they have nothing to show, I'm just starting to believe whatever they have is not as impressive as they want us to believe. I hope I'm wrong. But come on: if you are launching in the freaking Spring, we should have some solid details by now. We should at least have a clue on what the possible Spring launch titles will be.
Sony is not launching in the Spring of 2006. There's no way that's happening. April-June...nein.
I'm not insinuating that they have nothing to show, I'm just starting to believe whatever they have is not as impressive as they want us to believe. I hope I'm wrong. But come on: if you are launching in the freaking Spring, we should have some solid details by now. We should at least have a clue on what the possible Spring launch titles will be.
Sony is not launching in the Spring of 2006. There's no way that's happening. April-June...nein.
PhoenixDark said:
Well what good did showing stuff early do for MS? Everyone basically bashed the hell out of all the launch titles bar PGR3 (especially PDZ after E3 and the MTV thing) right up untill a month or so before launch when the visuals came together.
Secrecy is far better for all concerned imo.
I guess MS dont really have secrecy as an option becuase anything remotely interesting leaks out of there within minutes of being announced.
Its pretty clear to me Spring means Japanese Spring, which means september - november as i've already posted.
BenjaminBirdie
Banned
Ghost said:
Probably staved off a three point stock plummet? I could be wrong here but I think the last thing on Sony's mind today (and I'm not saying this holds for the next few months) is the perception of Gamers.
Of note too is the fact that they announced the delay of the PSP 10 months in advance of the launch timeframe they had previously stated for it - initially it was to be a worldwide launch at the end of 2004 but they announced the NA/EU delays in February 2004. I think it's fair to say that SCE isn't planning to delay at this point, else they probably would have announced it well before now.Nintendo Ate My Children said:
sonycowboy
Member
BenjaminBirdie said:
This is a widely misunderstood issue. Obviously, Sony cares about it's stock price, but this annoucement is not an attempt to halt the 3.5% slide the company has had today (BTW, 3.5% usually isn't considered a plummet.) Regardless of what the announce today, the stock is going to reflect when the PS3 is released. If it's late, it's going to drop. If it's on time, it should rebound. However, that issue IS GOING TO BE RESOLVED, and not because some talking head said something. Once the release date is out, the stock will reflect that.
Certainly, there's a fear in the industry that the date is sliding (and it's quite a pronounced fear by many at this point), but Sony is living is stock volitilty at this point with the reorganiziation and the unknown factors of the Blu-Ray and PS3 launch. It's been bouncing around for months and will continue to bounce around. Same is true for Apple, Nintendo, Google, Take-Two, etc. Basically, every company at some point if there are ANY SIGNIFICANT unknowns. That scares the crap (or excites the crap) out of financial folks.
Sony owns this market. They don't HAVE to show anything now.
They know full well that when they're ready, BOOM. Whether at E3 or earlier, they can show their hand and send GAF and the gaming world into an orgy of PS3 love. It's a foregone conclusion. And it will make for much greater impact than a slow leak of screens and news lasting weeks or months.
BOOM. That's how Sony's going to do this. Because they can.
They know full well that when they're ready, BOOM. Whether at E3 or earlier, they can show their hand and send GAF and the gaming world into an orgy of PS3 love. It's a foregone conclusion. And it will make for much greater impact than a slow leak of screens and news lasting weeks or months.
BOOM. That's how Sony's going to do this. Because they can.
BenjaminBirdie
Banned
sonycowboy said:
Thank you for clarifying that. I appreciate that I have very little knowledge of the stock market and it's intricate machinations.
Ghost said:
Hmmm...after doing a bit of Googling, this is what I came up with.
4 February: 立春 (Risshun) - Beginning of spring
19 February: 雨水 (Usui)
5 March: 啓蟄 (Keichitsu)
21 March: 春分 (Shunbun) - Vernal equinox, middle of spring
5 April: 清明 (Seimei)
20 April: 穀雨 (Kokuu)
May 6: 立夏 (Rikka) - Beginning of summer
So nevermind what I was saying about June...if spring is their intention, they've got till May 5th to follow through on it.
Interestingly enough, the government fiscal year in Japan apparantely begins on April 1st. So I imagine Sony will want to at least unveil the sucker before that date, if not have it released already.
sonycowboy
Member
Kolgar said:
I sure as hell Sony doesn't feel this way.
They've owned the market for the last 10 years (getting ~2/3rds of the market) and this next generation, IMO, will see that percentage drop to, if they're lucky, 1/2 of the market, and that's between the PSP, PS3, & PS2.
They certainly don't have any room to rest on their laurels, IMO.
sonycowboy
Member
Shinobi said:
We've been through this ad naseum. The very definition of Spring in the Northern Hemisphere is through June 21st. Now, Sony may well not make that date, and it may not been what they were meaning back at E3, and thirdly it might even be deceptive, but that's what it is.
Panajev2001a
GAF's Pleasant Genius
DCharlie said:DC : ... why do i need you to clarify which of the three you are meowing over?
Pana : how dare you! I'd go for the sexiest person in that picture....
... and after i'm done with that ass, i dunno... it's a toss up between the wife and the daughter...
:lol
You read my mind, but it clearly is not a toss-up between the daughter and the wife... how can you not fall for the daughter
.That makes me almost very gay, but like Singh would say... "how can you not be GAY for Kutaragi ?"
Look a little closer at the DS/PSP situation though and determine which one is really more in keeping with the status quo for the handheld gaming market. Following the technology curve suggested by GB to GBC to GBA, DS follows more closely while PSP skips ahead a "generation". PSP introduces full-blown multimedia functions while DS sticks to games OOTB and offers backward compatability to the existing library of GBA games. Pricing for the DS is more in keeping with that of previous handhelds that dominated the market more than the PSP is. As for the software like Nintendogs and BT, these are published by Nintendo whose endorsement is historically very important to the handheld gamer. The growth curve for game budgets is more in keeping with what's the expected increase from the last handheld gen. Once you factor everything in, the DS is more in keeping with the status quo for the handheld space than the PSP is.sonycowboy said:
Mac the KNife
Member
Sony will launch PS3 @ E3. Ken will get up on stage and announce it, then all the geeks will flood out into the street to their nearest Gamestop.
Nightbringer
Don´t hit me for my bad english plase
Sometimes Pana smells to viral marketing. Only sometimes.
Lord Error
Insane For Sony
I actually think, and hope they do. An example of this was their E3 conference last year. Wasn't that much more fun to see and discuss than some slow stream of screenshots and info crawling out month after months?sonycowboy said:
Also, that's kinda what Apple does, and it works fine. I think it's very nice that they announce things that surprise everyone, and you can buy them really soon after (often even the same day).
Ghost said:
Heh, I thought Japan was in the southern hemisphere as well...instead they're closer to Canada then Australia. So yeah, I guess geography isn't my strong suit.
sonycowboy said:
WTF is this "we" shit? This is the first time I've yapped about it!
But okay, fine...I'll give 'em till June 21st. No one can say that ole' Uncle Shinobi isn't generous.
BudokaiMR2
Member
bloke said:
Hmm...06/06/06...
If you flip it upside down....IT IS ALMOST LIKE 9/9/99!!
omg you heard it at GAF first! Sony is giving all their money to Sega to make the best console ever!!!
....But seriously, this speculation is killing me. Still skeptical of a Spring date. Either that or it is gonna be a hot spring...
eeyore the donkey
Banned
i just saw a tech report on Headline News about a possible PS3 delay, they sourced the merill article and even quoted the $900 manufacturing cost......this is just pathetic
Whether the story is true or not, Sony has no one to blame but themselves. In the absence of information, bad and good rumours/reports are going to spread. Sony has to realize this, but for whatever reason they're stretching out the reveal time. Sony is obviously not responsible for making sure the content of every report is true, but it's bad strategy. I hope they know what they're doing, because imho the two N64-level mistakes would be:
- Launching in USA in 2007
- Launching at a price of $449.99+
- Launching in USA in 2007
- Launching at a price of $449.99+
Amir0x said:
I don't know if it's bad strategy...if anything I think it's something they want to see. If the 299/spring release stuff drops in the next few weeks or months, it'll make Sony look ultra bad ass and push that stock right back to the moon.
But otherwise yeah, if Sony is pissed about the rumours being generated in lieu of concrete info, they can look in the mirror for that fault.
Uh.... no?
Specifications were released summerish 2003, They showed a non-final hardware concept that November, they showed the first software (death Jr) at GDC in March and the 'final unit' they showed at that E3 only played Videos at the conference with PSP's on the showfloor running off of Dev Kits.
The psp was then released a year later in the US.
Amir0x said:Well if they actually would manage a 299 thing. Which, for the record, I think is pretty much impossible
I reckon it'll be 399 myself...but unlike most everyone in these threads, I'm not ruling out ANY possibiliity. Well, except for PS3 coming out here in the spring. :lol
krypt0nian
Banned
Kolgar said:
The stock price drop and the supposed "Sony in trouble" headlies say otherwise. Any decent PR department knows when enough peolpe talk shit about you, you clear it up.
krypt0nian
Banned
DarienA said:
Like far wiser people have told me stocks rise and fall on the silliest of things so there's no way to attribute it to anything really. Its just the timing that is suspect.
It just makes my head hurt at this point.
Its hard to be a launch whore when they won't give me anything to obsess about.DarienA said:
Because Merril Lynch downgraded Sony's shares to 'sell' after their PS3 forecasts.
Anyway probably we have to thank Merril Lynch because shareholders are not crying gamers and with a stock drop Sony is forced to tell them how things really are,so the silence game is gonna end pretty soon now.
krypt0nian
Banned
Elios83 said:
Praise the gods!
Elios83 said:
I'd love to think so, but I have my doubts. I'd say Sony PR is monitoring the situation, though. It probably doesn't please them that there are still new stories cropping up that cover the Merrill Lynch report without Sony's response, and that a lot of the headlines might lead you to believe the system was officially delayed, and officially will cost the earth.
The problem is, the best solution to this - to announce the launch - probably isn't an option right now, since they probably don't know for sure themselves yet. They could give a date, probably, but while there's even a small chance they could miss that, I don't think they would do so. They'll wait until they're 100% sure. So I'm not sure how much a more general "progress report" would help here..
Panajev2001a
GAF's Pleasant Genius
Nightbringer said:
:lol.
I <3 Katamari
Banned
Kolgar said:
Too bad that isn't true at all.
Because thinking that way worked out so well for Nintendo when they released their third home console.
Fact is, they can't just "show their hand". If for some reason PS3 released next spring in America, that wouldn't be good. 360 will over a year of NO competition from Sony in the next gen market and Nintendo will also get a headstart (and most likely do incredible during the holidays if there is no Sony).
Contrary to popular believe, Sony won't be #1 forever in this market "just because they're Sony".
And as far as this news goes, Sony is denying a rumored delay of their most important product of the next 10 years? I'm shocked! Chances are it'll make it out this year, but it's not happening in the spring. They'd have to show off playable games now. And they're not going to until E3. (I'd love to be wrong though.)
mckmas8808
Mckmaster uses MasterCard to buy Slave drives
Piper Az said:
How do you know that almighty one?
DenogginizerOS
BenjaminBirdie's Thomas Jefferson
Right now, if you google "Xbox 360", 98% of what you get back is a story about the PS3 delay. On a day when Fight Night 3 is shipping, most news is focused on this bizarre delay story. Even when bad news hits, Sony is still the top dog in media coverage.