PlayStation 3 Delayed Until November?

In spite of the announced Spring 2006 release date during last year's pre-E3 press conference, it appears that Sony Computer Entertainment will not be able to deliver the highly anticipated PlayStation 3 on time for its scheduled launch. Leading business newspaper Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported this morning that the copy protection elements inherent to the Blu-ray technology in the system has stalled production on units, and the system likely won't see the light of day until early November. Citing insider sources, the article states that Blu-ray is the central reason behind the delay, but other technologies, including the Cell processor, are ready to roll out.

GameSpy contacted Sony Computer Entertainment America for more information, but at the time this article is being written, we have not heard an official comment. However, at midnight PST, Sony's PlayStation Business Briefing is slated to begin, and hopefully, SCEI will shed more light on the delay.

What does this mean for gamers around the rest of the world? The details are still hazy right now, as the mention of a worldwide versus Japan-only launch was not stated in the article. However, the possibility of a North American and European hardware release in 2007 can't be ruled out at this point, which could prove critical in the early parts of the next-gen wars, as Microsoft would have two Holiday seasons of potential sales over Sony. However, with Sony's conference coming within 24 hours from now and Sony's development head Phil Harrison slated to make a keynote speech at next week's Game Developers Conference, news could come out sooner than later regarding the PS3 launch.