Yesterday, we reported that the
BBC believed that the PS3 wouldn't be launching until late 2007. They didn't cite their sources, but the skeptic in us
figgers the Beeb fell for Microsoft marketing hype. Today, however, we received a tip from a Microsoft
marketer "former GameStop employee" that may shed new light on the subject. He asked to remain anonymous, but
here's what he had to say:
I worked for GameStop over the summer, and this came up during the Madden 2005 [2006?] Release a few
months back, and "confirmed" by our District Manager, I'm not entirely sure how true it is, but if you do some research
on it, here's what you'd be looking for:
The PS3 is delayed until 2007, the decision for this came about through the failure of the initial hardware the PS3
Development Team created. Apparently, 300 PS3 Units were created and sent to various software developers to begin
creating games for the new system. However, design flaws in the PS3 (Specifically, not enough coolant) caused the
systems to overheat and meltdown after moderate
use by the developers.
According to my DM (District Manager), Sony went and fired the entirety of the PS3 Development Team for this flaw. In
short, from what I've heard, if Sony gained anything from this experience, it's minor technical knowledge on what the
PS3 can handle, but for the most part they were sent to square one.
If the above statements are true, could such a monumental setback be enough to postpone the PS3's launch date by over
a year? And if so, how would the Xbox 360 and the Nintendo Revolution benefit from their newfound head start?
Oh, if any fry-cook interns at McDonald's have the inside dope on the rollout of Nintendo DS wi-fi, be sure to drop us a tip.
