Bandai Namco Says No PS3 for You!

The chorus of voices that sing, PS3 will be late for launch, has added yet another member to the vocal group. The first indications of the PS3 being late for launch were rumored by Wall Street analysts, which then progressed to insider Sony informants, and then finally, from Sony™s very own CEO, Howard Stringer. The new voice to express this opinion is no less than the president of Namco Bandai. Takeo Takasu told Bloomberg Japan that, “Without any announcements so far [from Sony], the spring release [of the PS3 for May] is impossible. We are developing titles for PlayStation 3, but the release of the games depends on the timing of the hardware.” Evidently, the PS3 dev kits, which are pre-release units of the game console, are not working properly. To put all of this in perspective, dev kits which are shipped to game developers are expected to be full working models. These consoles are used to develop the games. Dev kits are the final, or next to final version of the launch unit. The kits may differ in form factor or look from the launched versions, but they are *fully* functional. In this late stage of the game, with only a scant two months to go for the first-implied PS3 launch, if the dev-kits are still not working, it is not only a problem for Sony, in terms of bad press, but it will cost them in the pocket book with lost sales. But this has a trickle-down effect because the game developers and publishers are losing money too, by not being able to recap their costs from selling their games. This situation is also a boost for the Xbox 360 and Revolution. If developers realize that the PS3 will be late, they just may be weary about the reliability of the PS3 and may switch their energies to the other next-gen console manufacturers. After all the negative news about the PS3™s development problems, there is a chance the expected rush, on launch day for the PS3, may be smaller than anticipated. Why? The public may have a low confidence level in buying a first run PS3. They may wait until a second run to be assured of a unit that has most of the bugs worked out of it. Anyway you cut it; Sony is in a world of hurt with their PS3.