UPDATE: There are also only going to be 500,000 units available upon launch for the USA and Japanese market. The previous estimate of 4 million has been lowered to 2 million by the end of the year. Ken Kutaragi mentioned the exact reduction in a gamespot interview but the interview was pulled shortly after.

PS3 has joined the ranks of Windows Vista and other overly delayed new technologies. For those of you in Europe start saving up even more money as our counter parts over the pond will no doubt be selling there first few PS3 for 5 times the price on ebay.

How long delayed for?
Till March

Reason?
"the delay in the mass production schedule of the blue laser diode within the Sony Group, thus affecting the timely procurement of key components to be utilised in Playstation 3."

Who does it affect?
Europe, Russia, the Middle East, Africa and Australasia

If we were waiting for an improvement in the PS3 then perhaps we would be pleased to wait but to be waiting because an essential part of the blue ray drive is in short supply takes the Michael. So its Nintendo Wii vs Xbox 360 in Europe. We are down to two contenders, for now!

Source: Playstation.com

Was a bit slow to post this one apologies, but the Register has posted news that the PS3 has had its memory clock speed downgraded to 500/560 from the previously posted 550/700. 10% less we will see how much it makes a difference. 

There is no word on why this happened but the article continues:

"As a help to the fanbois who inevitably write in somewhat curious broken englishish every time their precious console gets re-specced in a downward manner, please cut and paste the following. It will save you at least an hour trying to figure out the parts of the keyboard that are not WASD:

You teh sux0r 2 sae teh PS3 is not going to teh r0x0r! Yew lie, yew 360 luvr. U teh sux! U maek thing up, go die!!!1111one!1!!!1 heheheheh"

Source: TheRegister

Sony has created a replica of the PS3 for comparison purposes with the Xbox 360. Gamesradar has posted images (though only very small thumbnails) of the PS3 and Xbox 360 side by side. The difference between the two can clearly be seen. Check out the link below:

GamesRadar

Gametrailers.com have posted a great video showing a next generation racing game heading for the PS3 upon launch. The game "Motor Storm" shows impressive graphics, fun gameplay and a lot of crashing cars into other cars which is always good... (maybe not in real life). Take a look.

Upon launch the PS3 will be available in both flavours for gamers (the 60gig and 20gig version) though why anyone would go for the 20 gig version still baffles me! This cancels out previous claims that the PS3 would only be launching its 60gig version in the UK and indeed most of Europe.

Additionally Sony has confirmed claims that a £150 deposit will be needed on any PS3 that are pre-orded. Full article available at the link.

Source: GamesIndustry.biz

According to PlayStation Magazine the PS3 game Resistance: Fall of Man will now feature up to 40 players on its online game play mode. Woow some of you seasoned computer games are sarcastically exclaiming. Well for a PS3 game this is an impressive number. Additionally the game is set ot offer a split-screen deathmatch or a complete the campaign together mode (im sure theres a technical term for that.. ow yer co-op). 

Playstation Magazine has the following information:

Meltdown is an extension of another mode called "Node," in which two teams race to take over as many nodes as possible. Nodes are large chambers that contain several cylinders, you can re-configure the nodes for your team. Once you control a node, you can choose to re-spawn there after you die, adding strategy to the order in which your team goes after them. Meltdowns adds the twist that these nodes are actually coolants for each team's base, so by taking them over, you're overheating the enemy's headquaters. At certain heat levels a base's defenses will temporarily go down, allowing the opposing team to get inside and deal major damage.

The iPod and Apple in general has an amazingly dedicated following and part of that following appears to be SCE president Kutaragi "Steve Jobs could slap an Apple logo on the PS3 and sell them for $2,000 each," he said. "We couldn't do that. That's the difference between the PlayStation brand and a computer brand, like Apple.". He also revealed, on the japanese games site PC Impress that the PS3 will not infact be coming with Linux pre-installed on the hard drive and will instead have its own operating software. 

Gamespot | Original Source - (Its a japanese site good luck in reading it) 

SCE UK has confirmed that the retail price of the 60GB Playstation 3 is currently planned to be £425 (not the price that is being paid in the US of £325. This is still liable to change however currently seems like a big mistake and obviously fans reactions in the UK is likely to be negative.

Additionally the less appealing option of the "cheaper version" of the PS3 may perhaps not be even launched in the UK. Post your reactions in the forums.

Brief overview of what the updates are:

• There will be two version of the PS3:
  
  20 gig version
  IBM/Sony processor
  512MB RAM
  BD drive
  Wireless Controller with Motion Sensing
  20GB HDD
  PlayStation Network (online gaming)
  
  60 gig version
  Same as 20 gig but..
  WiFi
  MemoryStick/SD/CompactFlash Reader
  HDMI output
  
• Release dates are as follows:
  Japan: November 11th
  North America: November 17th
  Europe: November 19th
  
• Prices are as follows:
  20gig - $499 US
  60gig - $599 US
  20 gig - 499 EURO
  60 gig - 599 EURO - £341 (roughly) - xbox 360 is £280
  
• New controller has also been revealed and it looks a lot like the dual shock but with some added functionality including bluetooth wireless capability. (30 feet max - 10 metres)
  
• E3 will see playable versions of PS3 games

GamesIndustry.biz has posted an interesting article that states the PS3 is going to achieve its backwards compatibility using software and not hardware (As was with the PS2 emulating the PSOne).

Any games that adhere to Sony's technical requirements checklist will be compatible with the PS3 and the article hints that a number of games are already running comfortably on the PS3.

GamesIndustry.biz 

Sony has set up a new website called E-Distribution Initiative. Pressumably this will be to provide downloadable games for the PS3 and the PSP when it is fully set up. For now the website exists for game developers to enter their names down for further information about E-distribution and "Partnership opportunities".

So if you are a games developer and want to distribute "e's" lol.. didnt take too long to think of that name did it Sony. And the website doesnt even have a nice snazzy logo I can copy and paste into this news post.. lazy!

Perhaps this is Sony's answer to Xbox Live Arcade and one of the features our users have been suggesting as their " Features You Want The Ps3 To Have? looks like one of them has just been provided!

View: E-Distribution