It’s all over the place. Yup, Sony won’t be released the PS3 in the spring of 2006 as promised. Rather, it’ll be fall. A whole years head start for the Xbox 360. … Yeah, right.

I find it funny that everyone is jumping on this story that Ubisoft thinks that the PS3 will be released in the fall of 2006. Even if the console is released a year from today it is still within the release window stated by Sony. Ubisoft really knows enough to say that it’ll be released three months (or up to six) after that?

First of all, Sony promised that the PS3 would be released in the spring of 2006. Sony’s face will be a nice shade of crimson should they miss the date. Sony’s no Microsoft, where people expect them to miss their dates. This is Sony’s profit center, the Playstation brand, being put on the line here. Sony will try everything to save face.

Also, they can’t afford to miss the date. Not only do they have to hit the date to save face, they have to meet the target to do well in the market. We all know that being first to market isn’t everything (Microsoft’s assertions to the contrary). Sony was second to market with the PS2, behind the Dreamcast. Yet the PS2 overtook the Dreamcast and went on to become the dominant platform of its generation. Even so, it’s easily understood that the sooner Sony puts its platform on the market, the better its chances are. So Sony will try to release its platform as soon as possible.

Link: PUNCHJUMP – Ubisoft estimates U.S. Playstation 3 in late 2006