Digital Trends

Delays finalizing copy-protection technology for the PS3's Blu-Ray disk drive push the release of Sony's next-generation gaming platform to the end of 2006.

Sony had previously been aiming to launch the Playstation 3 in May. Although Sony currently dominates the game console market with an estimated 70 percent market share worldwide, the six-month delay means the system will get to market a full year after Microsoft's Xbox 360 gaming platform, and launch nearly simultaneously with Nintendo's forthcoming Revolution console. Although analysts view the delay as a negative—Microsoft gets more time to build market share—at least Sony would still have systems available for the critical end-of-year holiday season. Sony plans to release the systems simultaneously in Japan, Europe, and North America.

They delay is also bad news for game developers, many of whom rely on revenues derived from the popularity of the Playstation. Developers will not be seeing finalized developer tools for the Playstation 3 until May, and revenue on existing products is likely to dwindle as buyers put off purchases until the new systems are available.

The Playstation 3 will ship with a 60 GB hard drive, a 3.2 GHz Cell processor, and will support games developed for both the Playstation 1 and 2. The system will sport a Blu-Ray DVD drive for games, video, and other content, gigabit Ethernet, 5.1 Dolby digital surround, 802.11g Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, USB 2.0, HDMI and S/PDIF output, plus high definition (up to 1080p) video output. No pricing information has been released for the Playstation 3.