The big news is out: Sony just might maybe sorta definitely have a date for the PS3 launch. Kotaku says November 11th, which is one of those days that's great for marketing reasons. I can see the television ads now, where some stupid Matrix effect turns a PS3 logo into 1 1 / 1 1 or vice versa.
In Japan, candy giant Glico owns 11/11 as Pocky Day, since it looks like a bunch of Pocky sticks standing upright. Can you just imagine the business meeting with all these staid Japanese executives from Sony and Glico coming to terms on this?
Sony is going for a worldwide launch, which is traditionally very difficult to pull off. If Microsoft can screw up their Xbox 360 global launch and end up with supply shortages, unwanted core systems, and retailer-spawned overpriced bundles... well, how's the guy with over 70% market share going to do it? Microsoft boned it, and they're (globally) third place... so in raw terms, they had an overpromised and underdelivered launch of the console nobody wanted. The PS3 is the system people are waiting for: all Sony has to do is sneeze incorrectly and the whole thing will fall apart.
There's nice odds that Sony will be forced to delay the US launch anyway, despite what they indicated this week. And if so, I say go right ahead. Nintendo will still hit the Revolution in November, and we can get our shiny blu-ray PS3s in March 2007 or so. That 70% isn't just going to evaporate overnight, nor is it going to make any kind of disasterous shift into Nintendo or Microsoft's waiting arms. There's still some big name games coming for the PS2 anyway, and plenty of time to shit out another Ratchet and Clank game for Holiday '06 should Sony be forced to lie down this Christmas.
I don't agree with some pundits' assertions that a delay is good news for Microsoft. I don't even agree with using the word "pundit" in a sentence. I don't think that there's a huge population out there who is now saying "F this noise, I'm not waiting any longer for the PlayStation3, I'm picking up an Xbox 360!" I mean, I just don't know which audience would say that. Certainly not the fanboys; no PlayStation fan is going to bail out, short of hearing that Sony has fallen into the sun. The Xbox fans have already bought their 360. And the Nintendo fans are in a dreamlike zen trance arranging space in their entertainment center for the Revolution in their minds.
This only turns into good news for Microsoft if Sony bungles the price point. If Thanksgiving of this year shows a $250 Nintendo, a $300 Xbox 360, and a $400 PS3... that's where things get murky for Sony. So it's not the delay that can bite them, it's the dollars. If waiting until Spring of next year means a more reasonably priced PS3 with a stronger launch library, Sony will be unbeatable yet again.
By the way, Sony also announced an EyeToy for the PSP. If this leads to some kind of crazy awesome PS3 / PSP / actual camera Fatal Frame game... I'm sorry, I can't stand to imagine any further.
