Sony has announced plans to have a functional version of its next-generation PlayStation video game console ready for E3 2005.
This announcement is expected to tighten the screws on Microsoft's schedule since the software giant will have to be able to produce something by May 18, the date E3 2005 is expected to start.
There has been some talk that development is not going well, but we expect to have a playable version at E3. We are pushing ahead with that schedule in mind, said Sony's game-business head Ken Kutaragi.
Kutaragi, of course, could not mention a launch date for the PlayStation 3 but Sony is not trying to hide the fact that it plans to follow the PS2s timetable which saw the console launch, in Japan, a year after it was first displayed
This would place a U.S. launch within 2006, although in more specific time-range would be simple guesswork.
Sony has realised that the timing of the launch is an essential element of success, especially since the PS2 demonstrated what a head start could mean for a console. PS2 now has a worldwide installed base far larger than its two rivals combined.
The stage is set then for an E3 2005 showdown between the three major players, with Nintendo already having confimed plans to have a working version of its next-generation Revolution console by that time. Microsoft still remains the only competitor not having announced something more tangible, with many analysts expecting the company to do so this month, when it reports fiscal 2004 result.
PSP Launch Dates Confirmed
During the same event, Ken Kutaragi also mentioned his belief that the PSP will get a launch in Japan before the end of 2004 and insisted that a U.S. release was expected by March 31st 2005. Strangely enough, analysts insist that delays, including a worldwide shortage of small LCD displays, (blame cell phones), make the dates Kutaragi announced unrealistic.
Kutaragi ended the meeting with the press on a high note by claiming We've come to the point when there is a PlayStation for almost every television. It's our dream for there to be a PSP for every person...