Although the launch day for the PS3 in Europe is scheduled for March 23, some retail stores are breaking away from Sony’s official date by offering the PS3 to customers two days early, according to GamesIndustry.biz. The move by stores in Italy is puzzling, as this is the first time that an official company launch has been broken by retail outlet stores at such an early date. Davide Sher of Trading Interactive Magazine said, "It’s a strange situation. This is the first time retailers have broken street dates by two days."
Darty, the retail chain store behind the move, may have opened Pandora’s box by putting pressure on other retailers in Europe to follow suit, such as GameStop and Media World, in order to offset the advantage gained by the rebel stores in releasing the PS3 ahead of schedule.
Sony doesn’t sound to pleased with what happened, stating, "Sony Computer Entertainment Europe is deeply disappointed by the unilateral decision of some Italian retail chains to commence the sale of PlayStation 3 to consumers before this official launch date. "Such decisions run counter to our policy of consumer protection which seeks to ensure that all of our consumers have an equal opportunity to purchase PlayStation 3. ["We will] carefully consider all available options in relation to retailers who have commenced sale of PlayStation 3 prior to 23rd March 2007"
