CNN Money reports that Sony was planning to stun the world and release the PlayStation 3 this year. At least one major wire service took the bait and ran the story, forcing Sony to issue a quick and firm denial. Even the most optimistic sources don't expect to see the next "next generation" consoles until late 2004 – and that's almost certainly a fantasy. More and more, it appears that the PlayStation 3, Xbox 2 (or, as some are calling it, the "Ybox") and next Nintendo game machine won't see the light of day until 2006.. A price cut is widely expected for PS2 in May, but publishers and analysts are starting to reign in expectations for that as well. $179 is being batted around as a potential new price point, rather than the $149 everyone was so certain about last year.