Tuesday 9 January 2007
Despite persistent games industry speculation that the European PS3 launch may be subject to further delay, online retailer Play.com has told GamesRadar that it has full faith in Sony achieving its March date.
"We're confident that Sony will meet the March release date," Play.com's senior games buyer, Gian Luzio, told us. "There are always scare stories about slippage but Sony has been reliable in the past and until we hear differently from Sony directly we believe a level of stock will be ready for launch."
Meanwhile, during a presentation at the Consumer Electronics Show 2007 in Las Vegas, Peter Dille, vice president of marketing for Sony America (SCEA) also reconfirmed that Sony Europe (SCEE) were still on track, "They're [SCEE] set for March release and looking forward to it," he said.
Furthermore, Sony UK has maintained its stance in a recent phone call, with no new comment issued except a reiteration of David Reeves' "still on schedule" statement originally given in December 2006.
So the month's seemingly set in stone (we reserve the right to retract this at a later date) but what about the actual date?
Currently Sony UK is promising an announcement "before the end of January" but we've heard from other unofficial sources to expect a 30 March release. This seems to fit in a business sense as the new financial year begins on 1 April. A Sony UK spokesperson was, predictably, unable to confirm or deny this speculation.
We'll bring you more news on a confirmed date as soon as we get it.
