NEWS
PSP STILL SOME MONTHS AWAY IN EUROPE?
Nintendo's DS is on sale now, but it looks like we've still got quite a wait before we pick up PSP
11:52 Sony has informed its European development teams that the launch of the sleek handheld on this continent is still months away, according to reports.
Developers were told of the prolonged delay in releasing the PSP in Europe in a series of meetings, but were not given details about a confirmed date. A European launch around May or June is now looking likely, according to comments coming from retailers - and from Sony's camp.
Last month Kenichi Fukunaga, vice president of Sony Computer Entertainment International, spoke of how the European launch would be delayed until as late as June. Component shortages have been blamed for the hold up.
The PSP was originally scheduled to launch in Europe before the end of March, but these plans have evidently fallen by the wayside.
"Sony has no official announcements or additional comments to make on the European launch of PSP," we were told by a spokesperson from SCEE this morning. "Release date and pricing details are still to be confirmed." The delays must be especially frustrating for dev teams keen to get their titles on shelves, especially when many games have already been finished - Archer Maclean's Mercury, for instance, was completed before the end of last year. Mercury will take a place among the 25-game US launch line-up when the PSP goes on sale there on March 24. But it's even more frustrating for the legions of European gamers desperate to get their mitts on the sexy pice of kit.
No such problems for Nintendo's DS, which launched across Europe this morning.
