No PS3 Competitor This Christmas

For all of you who have been lining up for the new Sony PS3 this Christmas consider Nintendo's Wii Console instead!

Sony recently notified us that they won't be shipping in Europe until March 2007 (just like the Pleo Robotic Dinosaur has been delayed).

They announced previously that they would have 2 million consoles available for a simultaneous launch in the US, Canada, Japan and Europe. But now it looks like they'll have 400,000 for North America and 100,000 in Japan. Us Europeans will have to wait until March.

By the end of 2006 they hopefully will have 1m available in those to regions.

The delay is as a result of the difficulty in producing the Blu-ray HD storage elements which allow it to store between five and ten times more data than a typical DVD.

The reason why Sony have such a large market share (70% compared to 15% odd for Microsoft is that they launched the next generation of consoles nearly two years ahead of everyone else. Wuth Nintendo launching their console before Sony who knows what will happen to that market share.

A spokeswomen for EA said in a statement:

"This is disappointing news for European consumers who were anticipating the arrival of the PS3 this year. Although delayed, Sony should still have opportunity for a strong launch next year in Europe. EA will have a great portfolio of games ready when the console arrives in Europe. EA has a strong line up for all next-gen consoles - the Xbox 360, the Wii and the PS3. There is room in the industry for a multi-console market and EA is well positioned with great games for all next-gen platforms."

We look forward to the release of the Wii Console however! Bring it on!