Howard Stringer, Sony's CEO and Chairman has confirmed that the Playstation 3 will be delayed in an interview with Variety.com, and that Sony are now aiming for a Christmas 06 release. The reason given is that Sony has been 'fine-tuning the chips that are crucial to the success of the console's Blu-ray function.' This is as was previously thought, with the delay of the Blu-ray consortium to finalise the specifications for the format having a knock-on result on the possible release date. There are also rumours that the graphics chipset is also holding back the console, with nVidia, the makers of the chipset reportedly saying that they will be unable to deliver the goods before the end of this year.
The delay will mean that the Playstation 3 will release a year after the Xbox 360 will give the Xbox 360 a significant advantage in taking the lion's share of the market. Sony run the risk of no-one but hardcore gamers who buy all consoles or avid Sony fans buying the Playstation. They will have to go overboard providing unique features which cannot be found on either the Xbox or the Revolution (Nintendo's next gen product). The price will also have to be right, with concerns that the Playstation will cost $850 or more being quashed, and urgently to avoid yet more impatient gamers choosing the Xbox.
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