A well-placed mole tells me that Sony has green-lighted the Playstation 3 for a Fall release in North America. Sony is still evaluating when it will hit in Japan, but they are apparently still shooting for the increasingly-imminent Spring.

Key Sony personnel, I'm told, are on the ground there now trying to figure out how to handle the launch.

If true, and this is by no means official, that means Nintendo will be doing exactly what it doesn't want to do: Duking it out shoulder-to-shoulder with Sony for the hearts and minds of gamers everywhere.

Of course, if this is true it might also mean that Nintendo could be pressured to rush to market and get something out sooner rather than later. I just don't see them holding off until next year.

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