PS3 Delayed

Evidently the official announcement isn't until tomorrow, but the Japanese launch of the much anticipated Sony Play Station 3 has been delayed from this Spring until November. While there's no word on the US release date, usually North American releases are between three and six months behind the Japanese launch. The reason stated for the delay is a problem with the copy protection on the device's Blu Ray disc drive.

Obviously, much of the discussion relating to this announcement has been overwhelmingly interpreting this as a positive for Microsoft's competing Xbox 360. The machine now has potentially another year before the North American launch of the PS3 to get more systems sold and a wider game liberary available. Also, it's possible that this could give Microsoft the ability to line up some extremely anticipated games, like Halo 3, for the PS3 launch as well as a price drop in the 360's hardware. People have also pointed out that Blu Ray players from other manufacturers, which will only play movies, have not had any significant delays and are expected this summer, leading to the conclusion that the real reason for the delay is that there simply aren't enough games that will be ready for a PS3 launch this spring.

Update: The official announcement is out: Sony will release the PS3 worldwide in November, as Microsoft did last November. Of course, Microsoft had trouble producing enough machines to meet world wide demand, leading to shortages pretty much everywhere. Sony had trouble with shortages of the PS2 when it launched, and that machine had a staggered launch worldwide. Long story short; if you want a PS3 at launch, preorder the machine early or expect to either pay through the nose on Ebay or wait several months until production can ramp up to meet demand.