Microsoft Pushes Back Xbox Debut to Nov. 15

Microsoft Corp. announced Friday it will delay the debut of its Xbox video game console by a week--to Nov. 15--and backed away from earlier promises to have at least 600,000 machines in stores at launch.

At the same time, Sony Corp. soon will cut the price of its PlayStation 2 in England by as much as one-third, according to company sources and industry analysts. The move suggests Sony may be gearing up for a price war with Microsoft and Nintendo Co., which is set to launch its $200 Gamecube console Nov. 18.

Microsoft executives declined to give specific reasons for the delay but reiterated it is the company’s intent to deliver as many as 1.5 million consoles to North American retailers by the end of the year.

“Over the last week, we’ve been doing a lot of end-to-end review of our systems for launching,” said Robbie Bach, Microsoft’s chief Xbox officer. “We’ve decided to move our launch from Nov. 8 to Nov. 15.”

Bach would not say how many consoles will be available Nov. 15. Nor would he comment on analyst estimates that Microsoft will have half as many consoles on store shelves as the company had promised.

Many retailers have been taking advance orders from consumers wanting to reserve the $299 Xbox. But rumors of a possible shortfall in initial supply led some retailers to curtail those programs.