Comment: Sony cries wolf over PlayStation 3 launch plans

PlayStation 3 remains the mystery console for which far more questions have been posed than answers have ever been offered. Information on the console remains sparse, but to date, Sony hasn't actually broken any of its commitments regarding the platform - largely, it has to be said, because the firm has been incredibly evasive about ever making any such commitments.

All of that may be about to change. Every sign now suggests that Sony is about to break the first of its PS3 promises - specifically, the very tentative "Spring 2006" date which has been attached to the system since the very first official pronouncements were made about the PlayStation's next-generation sibling.

The problem is that the first day of spring on the calendar falls next Wednesday, and from that day Sony has a three-month window in which to launch the console, at least in some form, in order to make good on its commitment. That may not sound unreasonable, but bear in mind that as yet we have no idea what price point is planned for the console, what territory is to be targeted for launch first, what software will be available, what the marketing campaign will look like or even whether the system is being manufactured as yet.

Despite this, Sony is adamant that it will get the machine out the door on schedule. Third parties are less convinced, and we know of few if any in the west who are working on products for a Spring release - although we can't speak for Japanese publishers, who for all we know could be supporting a Spring launch to the hilt, however unlikely that may seem. Retail, meanwhile, is preparing for an autumn / winter launch for the system, and the industry in Europe is hopeful of a pre-Christmas launch, but will express little surprise if we end up seeing the PS3 in March 2007 - despite constant assurances to the contrary which European publishers claim to have received.

Ultimately, the simple problem here is that nobody trusts a word Sony says about its launch schedule. While the paranoid and often overtly negative comments of some analysts and journalists have suggested massive delays to the PS3 for often entirely spurious reasons - and some of the price estimates for the console floating around are downright ridiculous - there's no doubt that Sony's already dubious track record for delivering hardware has taken a serious battering from the botched launch of the PlayStation Portable, and the firm's silence on PS3 isn't helping matters much.

We understand perfectly what a tricky balancing act Sony faces at the moment and over the coming years, with no fewer than three platforms to keep healthy simultaneously in very closely related markets. We understand that Microsoft has forced Sony's hand, and that the Japanese electronics giant would be far happier to just bury the PS3 for many more months and focus on selling more PS2s, more PSPs and more software. However, none of those things change the fact that its current information blackout on PS3 is coming across as sheer arrogance to the rest of the market - and that the industry's implicit assumption is that the firm is lying about the spring date.

After all, if you're going to launch a brand new console platform in three months time, you'd rather if your partners - not just in publishing, but in development, in retail, and even in media - knew about it by now. Secrecy is all very well, but with each passing day the sales of Microsoft's Xbox 360 grow stronger, the software line-up improves, the supply channels become more robust and the company's offering becomes more attractive to consumers. If the spring launch isn't going to happen, or just as importantly, if the spring launch is going to see a dismal trickle of units released into the Japanese market followed by a wait of several before it hits the rest of the world, Sony needs to start telling people now, and letting them know where it goes from here.