Sony just announced that the PlayStation 3 will not launch in Europe on November 17, 2006 as previously announced. Citing "manufacturing difficulties," Sony has now pegged March 2007 for the PS3's European debut. Moreover, the company has lowered its initial shipment estimates for North America, though its launch date remains set at November 17.

Though Sony had previously revealed production difficulties with the diodes of Blu-ray lasers, a pivotal component of the PS3's high-capacity Blur-ray disc drive, the company remained confident it would meet its goal of 2 million PS3 consoles available in time for its global launch this November, and 6 million units by the end of its fiscal year (March). But Sony has now lowered estimates to just 500,000 units at launch, with 400,000 reserved for the US, 100,000 for Japan and 0 for Europe.

Since Canada is traditionally allocated a little less than 10% of U.S. shipments, though no official numbers were announced, distributors expect the Canadian quantity will be 30 - 40,000 units. Also typically, Canadian distribution of freshly minted consoles are allocated almost exclusively to the large national retailers so even if 40,000 PS3s are available in Canada, they're likely to be found only at Wal-Mart, FutureShop, BestBuy and EB Games... your friendly neighborhood game store needs to get in line there to be able to supply his/her store. Monopoly retailism at its finest.

Ironically, Canadians do not tend to suffer the mass frenzy shopping panic the rest of the world seems to enjoy when a new console supply runs dry. Though units may sell out in a week to the "must have" crowd, fresh stock does not tend to move as quickly as consumers think twice about the value of a new, untried technology, especially as it nears the $1,000.00 mark.

Available in two models, the PlayStation3 carries a suggest retail price of $550 Cdn for an entry level model or $660 Cdn for the premium system. Games are expected to list at about $70 Cdn each while a second controller will cost about $40 and a high-def, Blu-ray movie costs about $30.

Considering initial demand will be much higher than supply retailers will often sell new systems as bundles only--makes sense since you have to buy something to play anyway--including the console, a couple of games and a peripheral or two at price nearing $999. In Canada, $999 is also known as a mortgage.