“Your loss is my gain” – Anonymous

Or something like that. Can’t remember the exact quote, but the premise remains the same. By now, you’ve all heard Sony announcing that their PS3 will be delayed until March 2007 in all PAL territories. That’s Europe, Russia, Australasia, Middle East, South America – basically every important gaming nation (sorry Greenland) except USA and Japan. This is a severe hit on their plans for world domination.

And the reason? A delay in the mass production schedule of the blue laser diodes for Blu-Ray, thus affecting key components to be used in the PS3. Meaning, Sony’s gambit ain’t paying off. Least not until March 07.

So what does this mean for Sony? An uphill battle at best. There’s only so much crap you can feed to your (ex)fans Sony. Europe has to be feeling a bit like Oliver Twist, with all the delays they get.

“There there, you’ll get your very own PS3 next week. Promise.”

Can they recover from this? Short answer: no. Blu-Ray is Sony’s ace card, and it’s pulling them behind. Badly. Microsoft already has a gigantic lead; Sony doesn’t need to give them more time. And Nintendo? Their executives are probably rubbing their hands with glee. “Another delay? Ha! What fun this is, watching the downfall of Sony! Samuel, get me another beer!” Nintendo can take advantage of this opportunity to get a Wii under everybody’s Christmas trees. By now, people have made up their mind whether they want a 360 or not. The Wii now has the advantage of being the only new console in PAL stores at Christmas, the best window of release.

If Sony does manage to get the PS3 out to PAL by March 07, and Nintendo hits their Q4 06 release date, Sony can kiss their number 1 position in this console race goodbye. Remember the lead the PS2 had over the Xbox and Gamecube? I think it was something like a year. That definitely helped.

The reaction? Outrage. Fans are already denouncing their love for Sony in forums all over the world. They can only take so many lies. I love this comment, taken from a Joystiq blogger. “Normally people only dig graves 6 or so feet deep. Sony is subcontracting oil drillers for theirs.”

In this point of the article, I’d normally offer some positive news for Sony, and how all is not over. If you’re hoping for that, I suggest you leave now. Lets take a look at some figures. Remember the launch of the 360, and how awful that went? Shortages everywhere, consumers fuming, some poor chap was even killed for his 360. Microsoft launched with 1.5 million units. Sony is planning to launch with a mere 500,000. 400,000 for USA, 100,000 for Japan. Ouch. Here comes the point in the article where I thank Sony for handing the next-gen race over to Wii60. Japan laps up their gaming hardware, selling 100k+ DS’s in one week, and Sony is hoping to satisfy them with 100,000 for a month? Hello eBay.

Come on Sony, get serious. This time you have some competition to contend with. And don’t go thinking your Blu-Gay is going to save you; the world isn’t ready for it.

What do you think then? Can Sony recover? Have you left Ken in the dust? Share your thoughts below.

And for anyone feeling the hate? Maybe this will help.

- Aaron Kleemann.