The tragic Japanese earthquake seems to be one of those gifts that keeps on giving… and that nobody wants. Following suit after companies like Square Enix took servers offline for their MMOs, Sony's considering shutting down its Japanese facilities for two weeks to save power for the stricken country.
Speaking to BBC, Sony Spokesperson George Boyd said that Sony is "looking to provide two weeks of holidays to workers to alleviate the electricity consumption." Any work hours lost would be expected to be made up later in the year, after the situation in Japan has improved (but who knows when that'll be?). He also mentioned that they might try saving some electricity by pushing their work hours forward.
While Sony's gaming division isn't exclusively mentioned, Edge speculates that this could have an impact on the NGP's release. Sony has already waffled around the prospect of a 2011 release, with the latest word being a "reconfirmation" that the quake will have no impact on the company's ability to release the handheld this year. But shutting down for two weeks could have a potential ripple effect on hardware production. We'll just have to wait and see.
