Europe is hated??? (What do you think of the PS3 being delayed more?)

Member Name: MrTink12

Product:	What do you think of the PS3 being delayed more?
Date:	11/02/07 (150 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: More release titles

Disadvantages: Europe once again not given the same treatment as US and Japanese gamers

Back in December 1994 Sony released the original PlayStation games console for grateful Japanese gamers. Thirteen years later the PlayStation brand is the market leader, and the third console in the franchise promises to be the best yet. This commentary will briefly outline what qualities the PlayStation 3 (PS3) has, as well as discussing the various delays the console has had to deal with.


There are two versions of the console – (a) one with 20 GB hard-drive and (b) a 60 GB edition. Initially only the latter will be made available in the UK (early unconfirmed indications suggest a October 2007 release for the former). A major selling point of the PS3 is that it will be able to play high definition Blu-ray movies. Also of interest is that it will use wireless controllers, has built in Wi-Fi, and the Internet service will be free to use. Furthermore, the console is backwards compatible, meaning it will play PS1 in addition to PS2 games.


Once upon a time the PS3 was going to be released Spring 2006 in Japan. Nonetheless this proved unachievable and Sony had to delay the console. The PS3 was finally released November 11 2006 in Japan, and in North America on November 17 2006. Unfortunately, Europe and Australia have to wait until March 23 2007. Therefore, once again the UK gets a bad deal. With a long history of delayed consoles, and games being released months/years later for PAL territories compared to NTSC counterparts, you would have hoped Sony could have made good their original assurance of a simultaneous worldwide release of the PS3. Alas, this was not meant to be. As well as a heavily delayed console, we have to deal with the PS3’s high price point of £425 for the hardware and a £49.99 cost for each game. Such prices are way too high for me to initially purchase the PS3 (Sony are more than welcome to send me one free of charge though). Therefore I may have to opt for one of the competitors’ next-generation consoles – Nintendo’s Wii or Microsoft’s Xbox 360. Most likely it will be the former because it is the cheapest option at £179.99, and I really like how Nintendo are focusing on releasing fun games and it has a really unique controller. On the other hand, the Xbox 360, depending on which reports you read is or nearly is as powerful as the PS3, and already boasts a strong catalogue of games (including Gears of War and Project Gotham Racing 3) because it has been on sale for over a year now. In addition the Xbox 360 is a significantly cheaper gaming option, the core version costing £199.99 whilst the premium package would has a price tag of £274.99. All things considered, I believe that the seventh generation of consoles will prove much harder for Sony to dominate.


I never initially buy a console because its wise to wait and see how many top-notch exclusives are on offer. As things stand the PS3 exclusives that really interest me include Final Fantasy XIII, Devil May Cry 4, and Metal Gear Solid 4. All these games will be released some time into the future, so I will just see how the console battle develops before buying, and am not overly concerned by the various delays. Nonetheless many will have been deeply disappointed by the delays and literally bursting with anticipation to play the powerful console come the end of March. One definite advantage of a delay for such gamers is that more games can initially be released compared to the American launch. There will be over 30 launch games, and include the likes of Ridge Racer 7, Virtua Fighter 5, and F.E.A.R. Personally when Sony finally releases the console it will hopefully mean the cost of PS2 games (new and second-hand) decreases, providing the opportunity to snap up a few bargains.


Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed.

Summary: The next generation console war starts after the PS3 is released!