Sony Doesn't Want To Launch PS4 After The Competition
The PlayStation 3 didn't launch until over a year after the Xbox 360 released, which generated a sales gap the PS3 has yet to close (but according to recent sales figures, Sony has almost tracked down Microsoft in worldwide numbers).
It just isn't something Sony wants to do twice. In speaking to Eurogamer TV, PlayStation Europe boss Jim Ryan said it would be "undesirable" for the next PlayStation to repeat that cycle. During a press event for the PlayStation Vita in London, Ryan said:
"I think we would consider it undesirable to be significantly later than the competition [with the next PlayStation]."
Well, that begs the question then: if the new Xbox is indeed set to launch at the end of 2012 - as some rumors want us to believe - does that mean Sony is prepared to be in step with the proceedings? I.e., to have the PlayStation 4 ready to release alongside Microsoft's console? The Wii U comes out next year, but Sony has repeatedly said they don't consider Nintendo to be their competition.
Ryan did add that Sony has "a lot of unfinished business on PS3," and part of that "business" will be to lower the price in the future:
"If you look at PlayStation 2, now in excess of 150m units installed globally, a huge majority of that was done at price points of £120 or lower. [With PS3] we've only just hit £199 in the UK, so clearly there's a considerable untapped part of the market there."
With all this talk of the new generation, we have to remember that the PS2 went strong for several years after the PS3 launched. In fact, the PS2 really did have the 10-year lifespan the PS3 has been reported to have...Sony just launched a new system in between.
And they'll probably do that again, too.
Tags: ps4, playstation 4, sony, new playstation
11/24/2011 10:16:09 AM Ben Dutka
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Comments (32 posts)
main_event05
Thursday, November 24, 2011 @ 11:04:30 AM
FatherSun
Thursday, November 24, 2011 @ 12:14:49 PM
main_event05
Thursday, November 24, 2011 @ 12:35:43 PM
sha4dowknight05
Thursday, November 24, 2011 @ 1:46:20 PM
main_event05
Thursday, November 24, 2011 @ 11:28:26 PM
Yukian
Thursday, November 24, 2011 @ 10:39:01 AM
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Even with the staggering price (and knowing that Microsoft is counting all the consoles that lasted a year or less) it would've been the PS3. True, it would've been by trivial numbers, but on top nonetheless...
FatherSun
Thursday, November 24, 2011 @ 12:16:50 PM
Fane1024
Friday, November 25, 2011 @ 1:59:13 AM
main_event05
Thursday, November 24, 2011 @ 10:39:11 AM
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FatherSun
Thursday, November 24, 2011 @ 12:18:15 PM
Metal Head
Thursday, November 24, 2011 @ 11:32:01 AM
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I want a backward compatible console, price is no problem. No hard drive so I can buy a bigger one. And they should release a cheaper ps4 for the non hardcore fans. Price the same as the next Xbox to keep everyone happy.
Mista
Thursday, November 24, 2011 @ 12:05:36 PM
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main_event05
Thursday, November 24, 2011 @ 12:39:44 PM
DemonNeno
Thursday, November 24, 2011 @ 12:30:46 PM
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If anything, this would make me proud to have supported Sony's product. Only when considering immediate sales would this be an issue. Therefore, I would imagine Microsoft's initial sales will definitely one-up Sony's new machine. Once the generation gap begins to clearly become visible, Sony will chalk up more units sold.
The significance of this will be Microsoft's take on the whole deal. Will they once again produce an inferior product? Is their intention to try and beat the PS3 out of the gate capable of pushing Sony to force their unit out before it should be? So intriguing.
Excelsior1
Thursday, November 24, 2011 @ 12:39:36 PM
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What's weird about that sales spike is no major 360 exclusives came out during that time span. Another intersting data point was that 60 percent of the 360's sales in that time period have been Kinect bundles. It's probably 360 owners looking to upgrade or replace their 360's that have drove those sales but there is really no way of really knowing. Maybe it's just people who like that dancing game picking up these Kinect bundles. I'm sure some 360 owners had to replace their dead 360s as well. Again, no way of knowing. I'm sure Sony wants their next system lauched within a very close time frame of the MS's next system to make sure MS can't ride out any momentum they may have picked up recently uncontested.
Some analyst like our favorite Mr. Patcher have pointed to the 360's recent sales spike as evidence that MS does not need a new system in 2012. Patcher speculated that we might see a new 360 model in 2012 that is windows 8 compatable instead of a totally new system. Ofcourse this is the same person who said the biggest news coming out E3 was MS's incorporation of Bing into 360. That goes against a lot of the rumours that have pointed to a totally new system in 2012. Ofcourse MS could always use a price cut to attempt to lengthen this gen in a similar way they did with Kinect or even just to boost sales.
I'm sure Sony does not want MS to go unchallenged for any length of time. Especially in NA. I hope Sony has a solid plan for the first 3 years of the PS4. Sony has a lot of great developers lined up now. They can use that to their advantage and release exclusives on regular bases. If they space them out correctly and have some key titles early on they should have some success.
I know many are happy with the current gen of consoles but I am very excited to see what the possibilties are next gen. Very exciting to think about what developers like Guerilla Games or Kojima could pull off on a PS4. Can you imagine what Hideo could pull off on a PS4? I am tingling just thinking about that.
Happy Thanksgiving to everybody at PSXEXTREME. Very thankful for this great site and its great community.
Last edited by Excelsior1 on 11/24/2011 12:42:11 PM
Beamboom
Thursday, November 24, 2011 @ 1:38:52 PM
Alienange
Thursday, November 24, 2011 @ 4:05:58 PM
Temjin001
Thursday, November 24, 2011 @ 1:15:41 PM
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I know launching early may not necessarily mean lesser power but this news leads me to believe Sony is positioning itself with different intentions for the next gen cycle. For the health of the business this move makes sense, but for my values it may not be a harmonious one. Time will tell.
Oyashiro
Thursday, November 24, 2011 @ 2:10:19 PM
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Next year... It just feels so rushed. This gen took so long to get off the ground, not to mention the upgrades for the next gen probably wont be that mind-blowing. I know I'm not the only one that thinks so.
Last edited by Oyashiro on 11/24/2011 2:10:28 PM
tlpn99
Thursday, November 24, 2011 @ 2:11:34 PM
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Backwards Compatability.
HD size
Speed etc
I still feel there is a lot of life left in the PS3 though. Unless MGS5 is rleased on the console on day 1 or GTA5 (as that's next year I can't see it on the PS4) I wont buy it. I am prepared to wait.
I never have bought a console on first day of release. So far been lucky, broken down the line yes but that's after a year or 2 of getting battered.
tlpn99
Thursday, November 24, 2011 @ 2:11:39 PM
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Backwards Compatability.
HD size
Speed etc
I still feel there is a lot of life left in the PS3 though. Unless MGS5 is rleased on the console on day 1 or GTA5 (as that's next year I can't see it on the PS4) I wont buy it. I am prepared to wait.
I never have bought a console on first day of release. So far been lucky, broken down the line yes but that's after a year or 2 of getting battered.
Dancemachine55
Thursday, November 24, 2011 @ 7:13:09 PM
gray_eagle
Thursday, November 24, 2011 @ 5:42:56 PM
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BikerSaint
Thursday, November 24, 2011 @ 6:36:03 PM
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Dancemachine55
Thursday, November 24, 2011 @ 7:11:20 PM
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- Keep the 8 core processor, but allow multi-threading so they can emulate 16 cores if the game needs the extra juice.
- 1GB DDR3 RAM, 1GB GPU RAM and 512MB Video RAM to handle a ton of multi-tasking, cross game chat and the games themselves.
- Keep Blu-ray, but allow the PS4 to read quad-layered discs, that's still 100GB of space that I doubt many developers would completely use up.
- An Nvidia 3D graphics card, so hardware instead of software will handle 3D output, perhaps even in 1080p!!
- Keeping the same PS3 structure will allow for full backwards compaitibility with all PS3 discs and PSN software. I don't want my PS3 DLC to be for nothing when I get my PS4!!
- 500GB HDD and 750GB HDD models at launch
- USB 3, blu-tooth and other wireless frequency recognition hardware built in. I'm sick of messing around with USB dongles to play Rock Band 3. Probably the one thing 360 got right.
- Working with both 1st and 3rd party developers to make the PS4 much easier to develop for. I don't wanna see another round of bad ports from the competition again. Switched my original Assassin's Creed from PS3 to 360 cos of all the freezes and lag problems.
In all honesty, I thought the PS3 was a major step up from the last generation, a true radical change that was incredibly risky, but paid off in the end. Fortunately, they've got Kevin Butler to advertise it now, rather than weird or shocking ad campaigns that simply grab your attention but don't advertise what the product does.
As long as they have good games within the first 6 months of launch, I might just be on baord the PS4 love train!!
MyWorstNightmar
Thursday, November 24, 2011 @ 7:11:57 PM
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Hearing this is painful. If the could make the dualshock 3 and move controllers compatible, then that will make this sting less, but I'm sure we will have to get all new controllers.
I have 4 ds3's, move controller, nav, sharpshooter, and eye. Not wanting to do that all over again.
Oh, and I would like to get the Vita too!
I was a late PS3 adopter. Probably will be again for the PS4 I suspect, if it does come in 2013. Please wait till 2014. Please!
___________
Friday, November 25, 2011 @ 1:46:57 AM
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id rather someone come out later though, it gets kinda expensive having to buy a new system let alone having to buy 2 new systems at the same time!
gives you more time to enjoy it too, kinda ruins the experience of both if your giving both new systems half the attention.
better to get one first and get use to it, then get the other.
Douchebaguette
Friday, November 25, 2011 @ 8:42:01 AM
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...but that's not really possible, and releasing the PS4 so suddenly can only mean Sony will go back to their roots and not release a complete powerhouse like the PS3 was, making it more wallet-friendly, regaining mass appeal of the Playstation logo combined with new objectives in the horizon to concentrate on evaluated from their previous console (heavier advertisements perhaps? Simplified architecture and regaining more third party exclusives? Sony heavily relied on their first party tank *which is pretty awesome as there was much variety* but it was a vast change from their previous tendencies.
Of course back in PS1/PS2 era alot of their exlusives were Japanese. One thing I'd love to see them do is prime up and try and influence more Japanese releases again. This stuff practically defined the Playstation predecessors as well as the industry. And with games such as Xenoblade Chronicles, Skyward Sword and Last Story (I know they're all on the Wii) we know it isn't because J-RPGs can't catch up with the current standard, but rather developers and publishers lack the confidence to do so. They're intimidated, and it sucks.
The Playstation 3 was a big risk and didn't exactly pan out or begin as was expected, yet it paid off. Playstation 1 & 2 however, would be considered by many to be Sony's glory days. Perhaps they wish to go back to their routes. If.you.understand.what.I.am.saying.

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Thursday, November 24, 2011 @ 10:37:28 AM
Gotta love those NeoGAFers. They gave up having social lives and Clearasil in order to dedicate their lives to being "gamers".