Namco Bandai President Skeptical of PS3 Launch

According to an interview with the Bloomberg news service, Namco Bandai Holdings president Takeo Takasu declared that it would be impossible for Sony to launch the PlayStation 3 in spring 2006, as the company continues to insist it will. "Without any announcements so far, the spring release is impossible," said Takasu. "We are developing titles for PlayStation 3, but the release of the games depends on the timing of the hardware." Namco Bandai, one of the major game companies in Japan, is the result of a merger between Namco, primarily a game publisher, and Bandai, which handled a variety of animation and toy products. The company is developing next-generation games for both the Xbox 360 and Sony's next-generation system. Takasu expressed concern that the imminent delay of the PlayStation 3 would result in another slow year for the games industry, as a result of a prolonged transition between console generations. When questioned, Sony representative Nanako Kato told Bloomberg that "Nothing has changed with our plans" for the PS3's launch. No playable games have yet been demonstrated at the various outings for the system, from TGS in 2005 to January's CES and February's Taipei Game Show. When combined with reported difficulties in manufacturing Blu-ray drives and Cell processors, two key components of the console, many analysts have become openly skeptical of Sony's chances for meeting the stated timeframe, with some suggesting that the system may be delayed into 2007.