PlayStation 3 — Cell, Blu-ray and a Delayed Europe

The PlayStation 3 went on sale in North America on 17 November 2006, at $499 for the 20 GB model and $599 for the 60 GB model. Japan had it six days earlier, on 11 November 2006. Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Australasia were also meant to launch on 17 November, but a delay announced in September 2006 pushed them to 23 March 2007. Japan was first; North America followed within a week.

SIE's company timeline lists the November 2006 launch territories as Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan and North America.

8 May 2006: a "worldwide simultaneous launch"

On 8 May 2006, timed to E3 in Los Angeles, Sony Computer Entertainment issued a press release for each region: Japan on 11 November, North America on 17 November, and mainland Europe and Australasia on 17 November as well. Each release described its date as part of a worldwide simultaneous launch.

The machine they described looked like this:

North American prices were $499 for 20 GB and $599 for 60 GB, or C$549 and C$659 in Canada. In Japan, Sony announced on 22 September 2006 that the 20 GB model would also come with HDMI output as standard, at a new recommended retail price of ¥49,980 including tax.

Europe slips: the blue laser diode

It was Europe's plan that broke. According to The Register's report of 6 September 2006, Sony said a delay in the mass-production schedule of the blue laser diode within the Sony Group meant it could not procure key components on time, and moved the launch in Europe, Russia, the Middle East, Africa and Australasia from 17 November 2006 to March 2007. Japan's 11 November and North America's 17 November were unchanged, as was the forecast of 6 million units shipped worldwide in the fiscal year to March 2007.

The blue laser that reads Blu-ray discs was the very component that separated the PS3 from the DVD-based PS2. In Europe, the new optical disc was also what cost the launch four months.

The European machine changed inside, too. On 23 February 2007 SCEE announced that the PS3 it would release on 23 March would use a new hardware specification: a 60 GB hard drive, Wi-Fi and the SIXAXIS wireless controller, with compatibility handled by a mix of hardware and software emulation—broad for original PlayStation titles, limited for PS2 titles. SCEE said that rather than concentrating on PS2 compatibility, it would put more of its resources into games and features made for the PS3.

PlayStation Network

According to SIE's company timeline and official history, PlayStation Network opened in November 2006, alongside the PS3. The official history describes it as an evolution of the PS2's first steps online, and notes that PlayStation Store, running inside the PS3 itself, followed in April 2008.

On 16 January 2007 SCEI announced that cumulative PS3 shipments in Japan had reached 1 million units that day. The same release said the PS3 had reached 2 million worldwide two months after its Japanese and North American launch, the fastest of any PlayStation platform, and that more than 500,000 users in Japan and North America combined had gone online with it. These are SCEI's own figures.

Smaller and cheaper

The PS3 was redesigned twice during its life. SIE's official history says a smaller, lighter, lower-power model arrived in 2009 and, though never officially called that, became known as the Slim. On 19 September 2012 Sony announced a further, smaller model; the press release said its volume and weight were less than half those of the original 60 GB PS3, and priced it in Japan at ¥29,980 for 500 GB and ¥24,980 for 250 GB, both including tax. Against the ¥49,980 of the launch 20 GB model, that was ¥20,000 less six years on.

Totals, and what came next

SIE's official history says the PS3 sold more than 87 million consoles worldwide—short of the more than 160 million of the PS2 before it.

Its successor, the PlayStation 4, launched in North America on 15 November 2013 and in Japan only on 22 February 2014, reversing the PS3's order. In the same November of 2006, Nintendo's Wii launched in North America on 19 November, two days after the PS3.

For the wider story, see the game consoles timeline.