PlayStation 3 may miss November 17 launch

While recently reducing its profit forecast, Sony said it may miss the November 17 target for the PlayStation 3 launch due to shortages of the Blu-Ray drive. "The honest answer is it's more of a target," Jack Tretton, co-chairman of Sony Computer Entertainment America, said in an interview. "Clearly we've had production issues."

Many are concerned about the ramifications of this potential delay on the PlayStation 3's chances against the Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii, the latter of which launches a mere two days after the November 17 target of the PS3.

"It would be a big hill to climb with a console that costs twice as much," said John Broady, an analyst for GameSpot. "A lot of this is driven by mothers. When they look at their budget, I think the Wii is going to be very attractive."

Sony has planned to ship two million PlayStation 3 units to the U.S. and Japan by the end of the year, and a total of six million worldwide by next March. A Sony Computer spokesperson from Tokyo said that Sony has not changed its launch plans.