Yesterday rumors arose from the BBC reporting that the Sony Playstation 3 could be delayed until late 2007. Obviously this is just a rumour and not a single word should be taken seriously right now. A former employee from GameStop has produced a statement about the PS3, which also states that it will not be released until the end of 07.

The former employee stated -

"I worked for GameStop over the summer, and this came up during the Madden 2005 [2006?] Release a few months back, and “confirmed” by our District Manager, I’m not entirely sure how true it is, but if you do some research on it, here’s what you’d be looking for:

The PS3 is delayed until 2007, the decision for this came about through the failure of the initial hardware the PS3 Development Team created. Apparently, 300 PS3 Units were created and sent to various software developers to begin creating games for the new system. However, design flaws in the PS3 (Specifically, not enough coolant) caused the systems to overheat and meltdown after moderate use by the developers.

According to my DM (District Manager), Sony went and fired the entirety of the PS3 Development Team for this flaw. In short, from what I’ve heard, if Sony gained anything from this experience, it’s minor technical knowledge on what the PS3 can handle, but for the most part they were sent to square one."

If the above statement is true this could mean a possible two year difference between the PS3 and the Xbox 360. With such a long delay you have to wonder what Sony will do to make its loyal fans wait out and not buy another system in the meantime. But don’t forget that at this time it is only speculation, but we'll keep you updated on the topic.