Sony Computer Entertainment president Ken Kutaragi was recently quoted saying that the PlayStation 2's release date would no longer make use of Sony's past "1,2,3" release date cliché. (For those who don't remember, in the past, Sony has used dates such as 1/23 or 12/3 for releasing significant PlayStation hardware or software in Japan.) He stated that those will no longer be key numbers. Why? Perhaps Sony fears a release delay for the system and won't be able to schedule its launch for one of those dates. Another clue is that Kutaragi now claims that Sony may not announce the official release date for the system at the Tokyo Game Show in September.

　　However, Kutaragi also commented that Sony is positive that the system will be out for the winter season. The SCE president went on to say that software will not be a problem - Sony can mass-produce it in as little as a month. Production on the hardware will begin in October. With the recent revelation that the PlayStation 2 will be modemless when it comes to the US, Kutaragi reconfirmed that Japanese PS2 will also ship without a modem.