Sony CEO Howard Stringer may have just been confused when he announced during an interview the European launch of the PlayStation 3 wouldn’t come until April. He has been quoted as saying, “the European launch in April … is very important to us.”A Sony spokesperson has since been quoted as saying, “[President of SCEE] David Reeves has confirmed again today that we are still on course for a March release."
Only time will tell whether it’s Stringer or the spokesperson who is right, but the fact of the matter is a further delay could put a serious beating on the console’s popularity in Europe. Already, it’s hard to believe the European launch “is very important” to Sony considering the several-month delay the continent has faced versus the November North American launch. Add to that the fact Irish gamers will have to pay even more, and it almost seems like Europe is an afterthought.
The console will sell for about $815 in Ireland for the 60GB model. The pricing is blamed on the country’s VAT rate.
While a real launch date is expected to come next week, Sony needs to take care to ensure Europe is handled with kid gloves. Gamers here are already upset and further delays or insults could be a big problem for sales.
In the meantime, the PS3’s popularity in North America is questionable as consoles are being reported as available on store shelves all over the place. One report had many stores with a few consoles and one with 60 plus. It doesn’t sound like a console shortage to me – more like an interest shortage.
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