Could the PS3 really be delayed until 2007?

by Ben Striegel { Oct 30th 2005 at 1:00PM }

PlayStation 3 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.

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 5)

Ross Miller @ Dec 18th 2005 10:05PM

If a District Manager were to know about it, someone at that low of a level, I feel like we would have heard about this during the Madden (whichever year) release. Also, NDA's aside, has anyone reported been fired from Sony over the last year? Sure, lay offs are natural, but still might've we had been hinted at something in this regard by a pissed-off ex-Sony engineer?

I could buy that the PS3 did not have enough coolant, as powerful as it has been claimed, and that indeed it might have caused melting (a light caused the Xbox 360 case to melt inside a kiosk, so why not?), but that all this information came from a retail outlet? If GameSPOT had heard about this, I would be more inclined to believe it, but for now I am just going be curious and doubtful. A district manager at a retail outlet is not privy to this type of information - they only know what they need to know to sell the product and make pre-orders; if Sony were to tell them anything, it would be "Hey, don't take pre-orders yet, just trust us."

Nes Rocker @ Dec 18th 2005 10:05PM

YAY Nintendo Lover And Proud (LOL MELT BABY MELT STUPID PS3 Yeah Melt Babby Melt) YAY

Sienar @ Dec 18th 2005 10:05PM

This could explain why some devs supposedly recieved hardware late last summer but it was just reported that the (fixed?) dev kits were shipped out in the past week.

Either way Sony seems to be behind when it comes to shipping dev kits.

aemac @ Dec 18th 2005 10:05PM

Seems entirely reasonable really...I'm jumping ship from Sony as we speak actually, so this is good news to me. I'm pretty sure this, the ridiculously high costs asscoiated with the systems release, the HUGE gap, and 2 much cheaper, established next-gen systems already out for over a year, will absolutely mangle any chances this system had. It's going to be Nintendo and MS this time people...it's bad in some ways and good in others.

Tom @ Dec 18th 2005 10:05PM

If PS3 is really delayed until 2007, Mircosoft should be holding a party. I feel that people arent going to wait almost another year for a console that maybe just a tad better. and with news like that, you might as well throw away all known facts about the PS3.
Now for Nintendo, this could be there chance. They need to move quickly to get the Revo out early in 2006 so they can start grabbing market share. If Nintendo could grab 50-60% of Japans market share, they can sail on that until the next round of next-gen consoles! This is the chance for Nintendo and Mircosoft to dethrone Sony.

Laughing Man @ Dec 18th 2005 10:05PM

Oh please, I find your average Gamestop employee to be as well informed and honest as the President and his staff. This is the most ridiculous post ever. I could easily write an email that says "I used to be a box manufacturer at Sony, they tells us that we aren't making PS3 boxes until 2008 cause the Xbox 360 scares them and also we heard how in Japan some developers used the new controller as a sex toy and it scared everyone off considering how psycho America is these days about sex and games and stuff. Also, the consoles explodes when they come into contact with sunlight and you cannot feed them after midnight".

Mark B @ Dec 18th 2005 10:05PM

Microsoft would just love for everyone to rush right out and buy a 360.

Hurry up now and get one before the PS3 is released and crushes the 360.

Anyone with any common sense knows that the PS3 will be more powerful and have superior games.

All that's left for Microsoft is to "scare" people into thinking the PS3 won't come out until 2007.

Personally, I believe the PS3 will hit North America at least in time for the 2006 holiday season (if not earlier) and it will be worth the wait.

The1 @ Dec 18th 2005 10:05PM

Time will tell. However, if SONY has nothing to say in rgeards to a static launch date in later December or January then we know something is wrong.

My opinion, is that SONY will give a launch date of April 2006 in November to slow down the X360's thunder; then in January SONY will delay the launch of the PS3 until 2007.

Shapyi @ Dec 18th 2005 10:05PM

Well GameStop employees are usually the lowest rung on the trustable source ladder. But I think it could be possible that PlayStation 3 won't come out until 2007. What have they really shown from the system except videos and small demos? The technology on the system is fairly new to the consumer market.

Sony might just be showing off the PlayStation 3 now with no plans to get it out in 2006 so that it can prevent people from buying the xbox360 while they complete the system. I'm sure if they had good news to report that would prevent people from buying xbox360 they would anounce it.

The1 @ Dec 18th 2005 10:05PM

9. Posted Oct 30, 2005, 1:17 PM ET by Mark B
Microsoft would just love for everyone to rush right out and buy a 360.

Hurry up now and get one before the PS3 is released and crushes the 360.

Anyone with any common sense knows that the PS3 will be more powerful and have superior games.

All that's left for Microsoft is to "scare" people into thinking the PS3 won't come out until 2007.

Personally, I believe the PS3 will hit North America at least in time for the 2006 holiday season (if not earlier) and it will be worth the wait.

.......
Show one one Iota of TRUTH to what you stated. I am so amazed that people saw powerful and have nothing but BS to back it up.

stez @ Dec 18th 2005 10:05PM

stop posting rumors. honestly.

The Truth @ Dec 18th 2005 10:05PM

What to say in this comment board for each respective fanboy camp:

PS3 fanboys: OMG the PS3 is so powerful that it melted itself!!!!!!!!11!! (or just deny, you've been doing a lot of that lately)

Xbox 360 fanboys: OMG you complain about the 360 kiosks malfunctioning, but your dev units melt!!!!!!!!11!!! lol

Nintendo fanboys: OMG look at our controller!!!!!!!11!!!
[/end]

As for the rumor, I think that it isn't true that the PS3s melted, and that the WHOLE staff would be fired, putting them even more behind. I still bet that the PS3 will be delayed for a good 4-6 months because their tools for developers were JUST released. You can't make a decent PS2 game in 4 months, let alone a PS3 game. If it DOES launch on time, then Microsoft's cutting corners on a game to make launch will pale in comparison to the corners cut for PS3 launch. Even the U.S. games will suffer because corners will still have to be cut for the fall US release. Also, with the inherent difficulty to make PS3 games (what I've heard from disgruntled developers), it is not a good mix.

If Sony can somehow get their act together and try being honest about things for a change, then all the power to them, because equal competition breeds innovation. If you don't beleive me, just look at the Madden series. As it looks to me now, all that people are getting from PS3 are empty promises. Everyone fell for the hype once with PS2 when there wasn't any competition and they could do whatever they wanted. To me, the PS3 looks like the sequel to PS2 not in a technological form (obviously the PS3 is more powerful than the PS2), but in a theoretical form, a system that promised a lot more then it could deliver, and everyone knows that sequels are never as good as the original.

Billy Zelsnack @ Dec 18th 2005 10:05PM

Nonsense. You can not fire your entire dev team. It's not like its easy to find decent engineers for one, and for two, ramp up time on a project like that is huge.

The Truth @ Dec 18th 2005 10:05PM

anonymous coward:

if Joystiq is so horrible and biased, then why are you even AT this site, let alone commenting?

Eric @ Dec 18th 2005 10:05PM

I'm going to agree with most of the posts above regarding the trustworthiness of Gamestop employees. I do think, however, that Sony has been exceptionally close-mouthed about the PS3; it's very unlike them, especially if we were within a year of the product launch in one territory or another. I doubt we'll see any announcement of a 2007 release until after the holidays though; that way Sony can at least keep a few more people from picking up the 360 during Christmas.

matt @ Dec 18th 2005 10:05PM

roflroflroflroflroflrofl

never in my life have i seen so many rumors started about one thing. Seriously

Now I will admit I prefer playstation over xbox but im not gonna get my panties in a twist over some stupid "console war". But this is just rediculous. Seriously its like people are afraid of the PS3 or something since they keep going on and on about some delay.

Now if Sony says hey we are gonna delay then everyone can go OMG. But till then everyone should just stfu.

And frankly I think Microsoft should just stfu and worry about their own console.

Nin10dude @ Dec 18th 2005 10:05PM

As you can tell by my name, I'm a huge Nintendo fan,(not fanboy... fanboys have no reason to love one company, and hate all of the others. I just love Nintendo, with good reason, and I still like the other consoles) and I can't help but be uber happy over this. :D

...That is, if this is real.

ImPatiently Waiting @ Dec 18th 2005 10:05PM

I heard this exact same thing from an EB Games employee. It was the day that March Madness 06 came out, and I went to go buy it at our local EB Games somewhere in Michigan (I mean, if this really is the guy im thinking of, i dont want him to get fired). so anyways, i asked him, so, when does the xbox 360 come out, and he told me the date, but that if i wanted it i would have to be on like, the 6th waiting list that they have for it. i said that i was just gonna wait till the ps3 came out anyways. he said back to me, "Ha ha ha. yeah right buddy. maybe when they stop catchin on fire," really quick and kind of under his breath. i was thinking, um, is this some sort of metaphor or something, when they stop lighting on fire?? i asked him about it, and his friend who was there talking to him, who maybe did work at gamestop, because there both in the same mall, said, "we'll, a friend of mine works at Sony Labs and he told me that there doing testing for the ps3 on the new thin ps2 models, and after a while, they start to catch on fire." i really didnt believe this guy. he told me, "your not gonna see it till 2007." ever since then, ive been going on Google News and typing in "PS3" to see if anything comes up. now that this article came out, im definitly getting worried. if its true, it could explain why playstation didnt have playable demos in tokyo. but i want my PS3 in SPRING!!!!!

Best Buy Employee @ Dec 18th 2005 10:05PM

I seriously doubt this information has even an inkling of truth. I would like to say, from a first hand perspective, the Sony Representatives that the Sony corperation sends to the stores is not very knowledgeable. They know basic things, and usually release dates, but absoloutley nothing to the technical level, Nor the sensitivity shown here. Such information about a Dev kit would surely be something called secret information. Things like that are not meant to be disclosed, period.
It seems to be just another rumor, since I am still hearing the spring 2006 release, from my Sony representative, none the less.

Rabiddog @ Dec 18th 2005 10:05PM

Somebody just got served....

prooie @ Dec 18th 2005 10:05PM

Sounds totally reasonable. In other news herbal v1agra works great and some dude from Nigeria just sent me 50 million $.

Area51 @ Dec 18th 2005 10:05PM

lol@20

Im more of an xbox fan a ps fan, but i usually go with the system that has better games. This time out i'll most likely end up with all 3 systems. That being said...

I'd wait for any kind of real info from Sony regarding launch dates. If dev kits shipped, then the system is pretty much finalized. To ramp up production wont take much time, i remember seeing pictures of 360's being built just about a month ago, and it launches in 3 weeks or so. As for now, anything regarding a launch date for the ps3 should be considered just what it is... a rumor.

Jeremy Wright @ Dec 18th 2005 10:05PM

While I don't really believe the rumour, I also don't believe Sony will be releasing the PS3 anytime before the summer of 2006 (in Japan, later in North America). Primarily because we haven't heard of production starting yet, and it takes 4-6 months for production to ramp up to deliver a solid release.

I'm not a PS3 hater (though I do have an Xbox and plan on getting a 360)... Just that for the same reason I don't believe this rumour (ie: 300 devs that have been fired not telling a journalist), I can't believe the PS3 is in production or nearly in production (thousands of plant workers and managers not telling journalists).

Best of luck to all next-gen consoles. May the best one for me be the one I buy ;-)

1up_clock @ Dec 18th 2005 10:05PM

ATTENTION EVERYBODY WHO SAYS IT CANT BE TRUE BECAUSE OF THE FIRING PART.

Remember how Sony had, like, 10,000 layoffs not too long ago? :]

But, if you ask me, this sounds reasonable to me. But then, again, I thought the idea behind Jacko's Modest Proposal sounded reasonable, albeit the most violent-sounding game I've ever heard of.

Alkaiser @ Dec 18th 2005 10:05PM

Coolant?!

What the hell do people this this is? There's no effing coolant system inside your off the shelf electronics. The only time coolant ever goes into a system is when those wacky overclocking guys who put watercooling system in their PCs.

Open up your Xbox...even your 360 when it comes out...you sure as hell aren't going to find a coolant tank inside.

I can't believe you guys fell for something that obviously fake.

Leomar @ Dec 18th 2005 10:05PM

Damn, I can't understand why some people are getting so pissed off for a rumor, just chill younglings, you need to calm that hate. Whatever the outcome will be between this console war why don't you just keep you money in your wallets before some official news comes along so you can make your decisions.

Slashbunny @ Dec 18th 2005 10:05PM

Hahahaha.... news from a former Gamestop employee. That's rich. This is so fake. The story is highly implausible, more likely impossible. It seems like every day there is a "the sky is falling!!!" PS3 post. This isn't news worthy in the slightest. Is there any evidence that such a story could be true? Could this person even have such knowledge? Do a little research. Most people could make up things more possible and likely than something like this. This is just absurd.

First of all, the Cell processor is going to use less power, generate less heat, and promote heat dissapation more than standard chips. In fact all multicore CPUs have these features. Next, why would they fail under "moderate usage"? Don't you think they would stress test the hardware as much as possible? It's likely the dev kits would be more like a bunch of hardware in a larger case, with even lesser chance of overheating. What the hell else would melt? The nvidia chip? Right... Nvidia and IBM are going to stress the hell out of the hardware, just like any other hardware manufacturer.

This is just some ridiculous FUD from people who are anti-Sony and Joystiq is gleefully supporting it. I have no problems with rumors, but this one is just idiotic. There should at least be a chance in hell it's true. Even if it was a dumb rumor, it would be nice to have a better source. This one has nothing going for it.

jimmi @ Dec 18th 2005 10:05PM

A major BBC headquarters is near my university. Not sure how it'll go but i'll ask about their sources.

1up_clock @ Dec 18th 2005 10:05PM

Alkaiser

Sony is shouting "THIS IS THE BEZT CONSOLE EVER, IN FACT IT'S TO GOOD FOR ANY OF YOU" while saying it's going to have the greatest graphics ever (and, in true Sony-hype fashion, having absolutely no evidence to back it up), I wouldn't be too shocked if it had some from of cooling system other than a fan.

Mark B @ Dec 18th 2005 10:05PM

Message to The1 and Venomous,

You two boys enjoy your 360 (aka Xbox 1.5) while you can.

I'm still enjoying the hell out of my PS2 (so many good games out right now) and to a lesser extent my Xbox.

I'm more than happy to wait for the PS3, the far superior and true next-gen system. :-)

b @ Dec 18th 2005 10:05PM

Mark B

Exactly. I'm still getting a 1.5, but I'll probably keep enjoying PS2 with Kingdom Hearts 2, Final Fantasy XII, and Dirge of Cerberus (let alone Devil May Cry 2, 3, God of War and Shadow of Colossus which I still have to get) so in the end it's worth the wait.

And that's just assuming the rumors are true.

Brian @ Dec 18th 2005 10:05PM

Either Sony is lying about the hardware on the PS3 or Sony is going to lose LOTS of cash. Sony can say a lot of things about their new product, but as the say, "seeing is believing". If the cell processor is as powerful as Sony says, then I doubt it will be cheap. Ken Kutaragi himself said that their product will not be aimed toward households(meaning us). Sony announced that the PS3 would be released somewhere around May in 2006, this might be true only to the Japanese population. In the U.S it can be shipped in 2007 for all we know. Personaly I prefer not to wait another whole year, might as well stick to the 360. If Sony can show proof other than fake demos and comments on what they "hope" their system will be like, then I will probably wait, but as Sony has shown, it doen't convince me.

1up_clock @ Dec 18th 2005 10:05PM

Mark B

ARGH, XBOX 1.5 JOKE. JUST IGNORE HIS UNCLEVERNESS, PEOPLE. Also, I find it hard to blieve it's the true-next-gen console, when it's the exact same thing as the last one with pretty graphics, and so far I've only heard Hideo have good things to say about it, while almost every developer has nothing but good things to say about the Revolution. Also, I wonder if your wallet's looking forward with "Oh great, he's gonna need a new console, AND a new HD TV with a new refresh rate, or all his shallow friends will call him a fag. Just what I need right now".

Mark @ Dec 18th 2005 10:05PM

How many of you want to bet that this & other rumors were started by Microsoft (more FUD) to convince anyone who adopted a "wait and see" attitude to run out and buy a 360 tomorrow.

Tamo @ Dec 18th 2005 10:05PM

Well it seems obvious to most of us that this is a rumor, escpecially since the information came from an anonymous summer Gamestop employee. However, this new just seems to me to be another way of explaining why the PS3 will come out at a later date. If you remember marketers were speculating that if the Xbox 360 doesn't sell as well as Microsoft hopes, the PS3 could be delayed so that Sony could make more money with their allrady widely distibuted PS2. So this rumor coming up could just be somebody's imagination as to why the system might be delayed, as well as to fuck around with the many rabid fans on all sides. The only kind of delay I can see for the PS3 is that it gets bumped back to 2006 holiday season and the only 2007 release would be VERY early, which isn't very likely at all. Sony will probably do what they did to the Dreamcast, hype their own system so much that everyone waits on buying the newest system so that they could get a potentially better one next year. Thise kind of strategy is good for Sony since they allready own most of the market and could keep making money without spening huge production and development costs for some time and gives time for developers to make some decent games for launch. So in short the rumor is bogus and don't be surprised to see the PS3 being delayed to 2006 holiday season.

Venomous @ Dec 18th 2005 10:05PM

Well its about 4-10 times more poweful as the first X-box. So why call it 1.5? Shouldnt that be 4.0? And hey man, enjoy your PS2...so you settle for less in life, its not my problem.
And "the far superior and true next-gen" how do you figure when there about neck and neck? The X-box is so next-gen that I wonder how can you miss the next-gen part of it? HD-movies? X-360 can stream HD from you PC making it compatible with all HD formats. Your PC is your wirless server and the 360 is the receiver. X-box live got a fresh coat of paint. Wireless controllers out of the box. Hell if you dont get it, then your just ignorant and would find fault with it no matter what it did or how much it cost, haters NEVER finnish first anyways....goodluck!!!

Brian @ Dec 18th 2005 10:05PM

If What Sony says is true about the PS3, then the PS3 will cream the 360. It will make the 360 look like a an old upgraded DreamCast.

Ryun Patterson @ Dec 18th 2005 10:05PM

That's interesting, considering the comments J Allard made to Ign recently about the PS3 having no air vents. Does he know something he's not telling us?

Snakey J @ Dec 18th 2005 10:05PM

I'm so sick of hearing from former Gamespot employees. These people think they are industry insiders, lol. Oh yeah, just in case you didn't know Gamespot employees are also arrogant, konw-it-alls.

Ledger @ Dec 18th 2005 10:05PM

If the PS3 is so good as claimed, then im not bothered by the delay. Ill simply buy both 360 and PS3. But consider the PS3 the next-gen up from 360 Rev level.

Mark B @ Dec 18th 2005 10:05PM

Venomous,

Dude, IF I wanted a 360, I would get one. I don't want a 360 though. I'm not interested in having one. How hard is that for you to understand?

And I don't "settle" for just any product or game system. The 360 needs to have more than two or three good games worth buying, before I would even remotely consider getting it.

I'm waiting for the PS3. Deal with it and enjoy your Xbox 1.5 (whoops I mean 360). :-D

mike @ Dec 18th 2005 10:05PM

a few of the sony fan boys on here are embarrasing i am looking forward to the ps3 mostly for high def movie playback but here does seem a total lack of info for a system that is maunching in 5 or 6 months time, hell even MS has more info about the 360 6 months before launch we had seem actual gameplay....

CapAmerica @ Dec 18th 2005 10:05PM

I'm not sure if its true or not, BUT in the past with some of the early small PCs there were heating issues that would cause the systems to suffer a "meltdown". Apple ran into some similar issues with the G4 Cube. Sony could be facing the same problem with the PS3, they might need to go back to square one on the design so the can add a better cooling system. I don't think the hardware would get redesigned but I think the look might.

joe @ Dec 18th 2005 10:05PM

"If What Sony says is true about the PS3"

Thats the key part there, "if" should probably be in bold, italics and underlined for good measure.

vc @ Dec 18th 2005 10:05PM

Comments get zapped because they're either:

1. off-topic
2. full of flames
3. a personal attack (or a response to one)
4. boring

Keep it clean and stick to the subject, folks.

Venomous @ Dec 18th 2005 10:05PM

Zo @ Dec 18th 2005 10:05PM

Don't know if anyone here knows where to get the financial documents for Sony -- but, one would be able to go to the financial report for the last or current quarter and see if they say anything about the PS3. If they mention anything about a 2006 release date in those quarterly filing and that results in how it will impact its bottom line or forward statements and then something happens to delay the product, then Sony would then be required to file a 10K that states a material change in forward financial results. The 10k filling would put an end to the rumor mill. If there is no 10k filed, then one could look into the next quarters filling and see what they say. For example, Microsoft (which I own stocks) had statements indicating that the 360 would launch this year.

Mark B @ Dec 18th 2005 10:05PM

Venomous,

It's not a matter of what I can afford.

I can afford a 360 and IF I wanted one, I would get one.

By the way, how old are you? You come across as a very young kid.

Tamo @ Dec 18th 2005 10:05PM

CapAmerica might be on to something here. As we know with the first run of PS you would have to lay the system on its side after a while so you could keep playing. This might be the case with the design of the electronic placement, not a flaw in the system itself. So maybe adding some vent areas on the system oculd help on any potential heating issue. And besides I wouldn't mind seeing a design change of the current PS3 and its controller(they both look ungly to me).

1up_clock @ Dec 18th 2005 10:05PM

Allow me to restae something I said;

"ATTENTION EVERYBODY WHO SAYS IT CANT BE TRUE BECAUSE OF THE FIRING PART.

Remember how Sony had, like, 10,000 layoffs not too long ago? :]"

Now, I have one question for everybody: Who would you believe? A Gamestop employee, Microsoft, who actually had the balls to reveal hardware AND GAME DEMOS at the same time, or Sony, who claimed the PS2 would have "Super computer powers with Toy Story graphics in real-time"?