STRINGER: "PS3 - THE GAME IS UP!"

Despite the usual internet headlines, Sony boss Howard Stringer has not just confirmed the release date of the PS3 in an interview with US entertainment bible Variety.
It's the usual case of Chinese whispers we have to report, with some sites taking a statement by the mag's writer - 'Sony will roll out the PS3 by year end, in time for the holidays' - and running with the quote as an actual confirmation of the PS3's release date from Stringer himself.

However, that statement wasn't actually a direct quote from Stringer. What the Sony boss actually said, was that if PS3 "delivers what everyone thinks it will, the game is up". Well it's challenging statement, but we don't exactly expect Microsoft to sell up and leave Dodge just yet.

Another interesting snippet from the Variety interview refers to the ongoing battle between Sony and Microsoft over next generation optical disk formats, with MS's HD-DVD competing against Sony's Blu-ray in a battle reminscent of the great VHS versus Betamax war.
Stringer observed: "Once Microsoft picked sides it was clear we were going to be in a battle royale". However the Sony boss also vowed, "We won't be stampeded [into making decisions] that are there forever."