PS3 launch: This was waiting

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We chart the PS3 story from E3 2005 to this week's Euro launch

September 2006
Sony's slo-mo, boxing ring advert released this month might have been promising super-gaming, but we were all too busy weeping as our worst fears were realised and PlayStation 3's release in Europe was delayed until March 2007. Oh, and there'd be no HDMI cable bundled in the box, either. Still, at least Kutaragi would come to the rescue at the Tokyo Game Show with some incredo-game news? No? Oh God...

October 2006
Finally! We had a PlayStation 3 in the office, all powered up 'n' stuff. Meanwhile, Sony's Europe peeps were busy explaining how gutted they were about the delay, while stressing that it would definitely, definitely be released in March. We also got to see the first of 40 downloadable games promised for the PlayStation Network, although more pressing was our discovery that the Sixaxis battery wasn't replaceable.

However, Sony did tell us that should your battery develop problems there would be a replacement service, although without confirming if it'd replace your pad for free.

Back to the Network, and info suggested that online gaming would definitely be free, though there'd be plenty to spend your (real cash) money on. Try not to clog up the hard drive too quickly, though, as it can also be used to speed up load times.

Oh, and as well as confirming that there'd definitely be no Live-esque Gamerscore, Sony said "Sorry" for making all us poor, neglected Euro gamers wait extra long for PlayStation 3.

November 2006
More controller grumbling this month, because we discovered you wouldn't get a USB charging cable with each new Sixaxis you buy. But this disappointing news was lost as the PS3's launch in America turned the country into a wholly disturbing place. Even more so than usual, that is.

December 2006
Just in case we'd forgotten, as the year ended Sony restated that PlayStation 3 could be upgraded, meaning that we wouldn't have to go through all this nonsense again for the PS4 until at least 2010. Small mercies, and all that.

Ben_Richardson

Ben Richardson is a former Staff Writer for Official PlayStation 2 magazine and a former Content Editor of GamesRadar+. In the years since Ben left GR, he has worked as a columnist, communications officer, charity coach, and podcast host – but we still look back to his news stories from time to time, they are a window into a different era of video games.