PS3 Informer

PS3 to launch in Europe and Australasia on 23rd march 2007

Sony Computer Entertainment Europe today announced that PLAYSTATION(R)3 will be launched in the PAL territories of Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Australasia on 23rd March 2007 at a price of EUR599 (GBP425, AUD 999.95, NZ 1199.95). This is now some time after the North American launch.

Responding to retail and consumer demand, SCEE confirmed that initially only the 60GB model would be available, with the 20GB model to follow later in the year dependent on demand. An expected one million PS3 units will be made available during the initial launch period.

(20GB left, 60GB right)

SCEE also announced a stellar launch line-up of over 30 game titles for PS3, including eagerly awaited titles published by SCEE such as Resistance: Fall of Man(TM), MotorStorm(TM), Genji(TM): Days of the Blade, FORMULA ONE (TM) CHAMPIONSHIP EDITION and Ridge Racer(TM) 7.

An impressive plethora of titles in every genre will also be available at launch from leading third party publishers, such as Electronic Arts, Activision, Namco Bandai, Sega, Take 2, Ubisoft, Vivendi Universal, and Sony Online Entertainment.

In addition to disc, the PS3 will boast an exciting range of fully-featured downloadable games to debut on the PLAYSTATION(R)Network. These will include gaming icons such as Tekken(R) 5: Dark Resurrection and Gran Turismo(R) HD Concept; the fully-featured PS3 debut of the best-selling franchise Gran Turismo, realised with full HD (1080p) visual quality. Created by Polyphony Digital Inc and published by Sony Computer Entertainment, Gran Turismo(R) HD Concept has been downloaded by more than 350,000 users since it was released in December 2006 in North America and Japan. Many titles will be designed exclusively for PLAYSTATION 3 by non-traditional developers and publishers.

Concurrent with the European launch, a new System Update to further enhance the entertainment potential of PS3 will be issued. Announcing the launch details, David Reeves, President of SCEE said,

"Following the hugely successful launches of PS3 in Japan and North America, we are absolutely delighted to be able to bring significant numbers of PS3 to the SCEE territories. To be able to launch with over 30 titles across every genre shows that this is our strongest launch line-up in the history of PlayStation, and is what PlayStation fans in Europe have been crying out for."

UPDATE: IGN reports on missing features in the 20GB PS3 model. "We noticed that the PS3 with the 20 gigabyte hard drive seemed to lack HDMI support. This seems to be confirmed by an offical press release from SCEA, which indicates via comparison between the two systems. However, it also indicates that the 20 gigabyte system won't have Memory Stick, SD or Compact Flash reading capability or WiFi support. Even worse, it appears that rumble doesn't appear to be included with the new six axis sensing controller."