Well, it was bound to happen sooner or later. Despite all Sony’s bullish claims about a worldwide launch for PS3 they’ve now had to go back on their word with the news that PS3 will not be seen in European stores in November. Instead gamers in Europe, Australasia, Russia, Africa and the Middle East will all have to wait until at least March 2007 before they can get their hands on Sony’s new console.

The cause of the delay is being laid squarely at the problems Sony are having creating enough blue laser diodes, the key component in the Blu-Ray drive which makes up part of the PS3 specifications. Sony have also reduced the number of consoles they expect to be able to ship this year to 2 million, meaning both Japan and the US, whose release dates are still scheduled for November, could well be receiving fewer consoles than they may have done.

Sony have been facing a hard time with many gamers being quite vocal in their disappointment at Sony and it’s seeming ineptness. Indeed, when this latest statement was made Sony were still fighting off the flak of the news that the high end version of the console would not be shipping with a HDMI cable. With all the hot air coming from Sony’s direction regarding HD gaming, this does seem to be a bit of an own goal.

Microsoft must be rubbing their hands with glee, especially in the UK where the XBox 360 is selling extremely well, and must be feeling that the have the Christmas market sown up. However, I reckon it could well be Nintendo who end up with the largest smiles. If they hold true to their claims of a Wii launch this side of Christmas they could well sell many more machines to those that we’re holding out for PS3, with gamers opting for Nintendo’s cheaper and different approach to gaming to tide them over during the wait until March. There are likely to be many more converts to the Wii60 brigade, who opt for buying XBox 360 and Wii for less than the cost of a PS3.

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