Sony Computer Entertainment was reached for comment regarding the availability of Dual Shock 3 controllers in the US and Europe until spring of 2008, and it was discovered that it was Sony's pre-planned schedule that offset the Western release date. The said peripheral will be in Japanese stores before the year ends.

SCEA Corporate Communications spokesperson Kimberly Otzman responds to the inquiry by saying, "Given our production/manufacturing timeline we plan to introduce the new controller in Japan first and then release it in North America/Europe."

However, Otzman also said that there seems to be no issues at this point if some excited Western consumers are going to order it from abroad. She said she's not aware of anything that would prevent the hardware from being locked out.

The only issue that may arise is from support coming from titles currently released in the American and European markets. Games that have rumble support were announced after SCE President Kazuo Hirai made the Dual Shock 3 revelation.