Sony 'really sorry' for PS3 delay
Phil Harrison, Sony's president of worldwide studios, has apologised for the severe delay to the launch of PlayStation 3 in Europe, but reckons that the March release can still be a positive thing.
Harrison has also revealed that the decision to hold back Europe's induction into the PS3 club was only made "literally a few days before we made the announcement," suggesting Sony did everything it could to avoid letting us down.
"We are better to do a launch in two markets, rather than do a diluted launch in all three," Harrison states. Sony "couldn't predict the quantities [of a critical component]" and so "did the analysis and had to make the decision to delay Europe".
In an interview with gaming mag PSM3, Harrison explains that with only one language in Japan, and three in the US, it was easier to focus on those areas. Harrison also proclaimed, "I'm really sorry that we had to delay the launch".
Finally, PSM3's grilling brought up a confirmation of Sony's online plans: "As we've said before, it's free. Video chat, voice chat, text chat, web browsing, friend lists - all of that will be free," Harrison stresses, adding that "[Sony's] strategy is to deliver multiplayer gaming free of charge". Although he also mentioned that we may see World of Warcraft-style MMOs that "will require additional fees".
For more from super-tall spokesmouth Phil Harrison, click your way over to PSM3's official blog. Or for the full info-packed interview session pick up issue 81 of PSM3, on sale today for £3.99, which also includes reviews for Canis Canem Edit, Vice City Stories, Splinter Cell Double Agent and Scarface - plus 10 things you've never seen in Lego Star Wars II - and loads more.
Still majorly pissed over the Lik Sang incident - wraggster
