No PS3 for Christmas!

[Wizzo]

Hear that rustling? That’s the sound of gamers everywhere screwing up their Christmas lists, following the devastating news that the PS3’s European launch has been put back to March 2007.

After missing its spring launch earlier this year, the world’s most powerful console has nicely screwed up any hope UK gamers had of enjoying its next-gen delights this year.

To rub it in, the launch dates for Japan and North America have been unaffected, with both markets getting the full shipment of 6 million units on November 7th and 17th respectively.

As expected, it’s that damn Blu-Ray drive that’s causing all the problems, with Sony citing a delay in its production schedule as the reason for the disaster.

This leaves the Xbox 360 and the Nintendo Wii, due later this autumn, free to sweep up in the next-gen market this Christmas, with the PS3 facing a huge battle to regain European gamers’ trust next year.

All is not necessarily lost for PS3 zealots – as the console’s games are region-free free you’ll be able to import one in November from sites such as Amazon.com. The only problem will be that, as Blu-Ray films are region-encoded, you’ll have to import all your high-def movies from the US too.
 

[Wizzo]

Looks like Sony’s paying the price for denying us the PS3 this Christmas. Universal Pictures has told US-based PC Magazine it won't be supporting the machine's Blu-Ray format. Instead, it will release its hi-def movies on bitter rival HD DVD.

Sony's bottom lip may be quivering but it’s not swallowing back tears just yet. A huge 70 titles are still slated for release in the blue-laser camp. A quick search for Jay And Silent Bob Strike Back, one of four Disney/Buena Vista films released yesterday, revealed it was indeed in stock at Barnes & Noble's US store – but nowhere to be found here in the UK. Ditto for Warner Bros’ Training Day, released 1st August.

Blu-Rayers looking to import discs may want to consider that they are region encoded. Boo, hiss.