Sony revealed the PS3’s pricing and release dates at a pre-E3 press conference held in Los Angeles yesterday. The system will come in two bundles. PS3 with a 20GB hard drive (confirmed RRP of AU$829) and one with a 60GB HDD (confirmed RRP of AU$999). The Australian launch date will come one week after the Japan release for Sony’s next generation games console. European territories and US will also receive the PS3 on 17 November. The almost simultaneous worldwide launch date is a stark contrast to Microsoft’s Xbox 360, which was released in Australia a number of months after its US release.
First Blu-ray Titles Delayed Until Late June May 4, 2006
Even though HD-DVD are titles already trickling on to store shelves, titles on the rival Blu-ray format won’t be available until the end of June. The reason for the holdup? Samsung, manufacturer of the first commercially available Blu-ray player, says that its Blu-ray units won’t be on store shelves until June 25th. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment president Benjamin Feingold said that their first Blu-ray titles will be ready on May 23rd as planned, but at the urging of their retailers and hardware partners they have agreed to hold back on their release for a month in order to coincide with the availability of the players.
The first Blu-ray titles slated for release on June 20th are “Underworld Evolution” (arriving the same day as the DVD), “50 First Dates,” “The Fifth Element,” “Hitch,” “House of Flying Daggers,” “A Knight’s Tale,” “The Last Waltz,” “Resident Evil Apocalypse” and “XXX.”
More here: Reuters
